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ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Meat Imports

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of EU import controls in preventing the import of meat from areas of high risk into the United Kingdom. [128060]

Mr. Bradshaw: European Community law sets out the import conditions which must be met by all meat imported into the community from third countries. These conditions do not permit meat to be imported from areas where veterinary controls cannot guarantee that the meat poses negligible disease risk to human or animal health. Defra veterinary experts and the Food Standards Agency are fully engaged in negotiations to develop Community import conditions. Should the disease situation in an exporting country change, for example if a new outbreak of disease is notified, the European Commission will introduce safeguard measures to control imports so that there is no increased risk of disease as a result. Pending these changes to community rules, in such a situation individual member states are permitted to introduce unilateral provisions to control imports. The Government take such unilateral action whenever the situation demands it.

Community import rules require all meat imported from third countries to enter the community via specified Border Inspection Posts where it is subject to veterinary examination to ensure the import conditions are being observed. The system of veterinary examination is operated by local authorities and is monitored by Defra and the European Commission to ensure effective controls are in place.

The Government have produced an Annual Review of Controls on Imports of Animal Products April 2002–March 2003 which concentrates on the action against illegal imports. This has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Gatwick Airport (Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty)

Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty lie within 15 miles of Gatwick airport; and what assessment she has made of the impact on these AONB's from new flight paths to the proposed new runways at Gatwick. [129008]

Alun Michael: Parts of four Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty lie within 15 miles of Gatwick airport. The Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty concerned are the Kent Downs, Sussex Downs, High Weald and Surrey Hills. We have worked closely with the

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Department for Transport to ensure that the noise impact of the proposed new airport developments is given full consideration. Taking the 57dB contour as the onset of significant community annoyance, the options for a single close parallel or wide parallel runway are likely to have a minimal impact on the surrounding Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The option of building two additional runways at Gatwick would have a greater impact on the Surrey Hills and High Weald Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Cattle Passport Scheme

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the operation of the cattle passport scheme. [129065]

Alun Michael: The cattle passport scheme is operated by the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) and became part of the Rural Payments Agency on 1 April 2003. The cattle passport scheme has been in operation for over six years and the national cattle database contains the details of the 9.7 million animals that make up the national herd. We are currently investing a further £12 million to upgrade the system and improve its performance.

BCMS operates to ISO 9001:2000 standards, is registered with the British Standards Institute and its operating practices have received the Kite mark. In addition to paper reporting systems, we have provided online facilities via a website for cattle keepers to use. BCMS are constantly striving to improve their service and efficiency.

Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000

Andrew Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 13 May 2003, Official Report, column 142W, on the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, if she will set out the timetable for the implementation of regulations under Part I of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. [129973]

Alun Michael: The following table records the progress we have already made towards bringing the regulations into force and our timetable for completing the process. As I explained in my answer of 13 May, the precise timing may vary but we are firmly committed to ensuring the necessary regulations are made to allow the new right of public access under the Act to be rolled out as planned. Regulations enabling persons to dedicate land for access came into force on 1 September and I expect to lay regulations relating to the exclusion or restriction of access soon.

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Regulation	Section	Consultation commenced (not later than)	Date regulationsin force(not later than)
Regulations regarding mapping of access land and consultation on draft maps	Section 11	March 2001(ended June 2001)	1 November 2001
Regulations regarding issue of provisional maps, appeals, and issue of conclusive maps	Section 11	November 2001(ended 8 February 2002)	29 July 2002
Regulations regarding the establishment of LAFs and the appointment of members	Section 94 (Part V)	July 2001(ended October 2001)	7 August 2002
Regulations on correcting minor errors and omissions in provisional and conclusive maps	Section 11(2)(1)	October 2002(ended 7 November 2002)	21 July 2003
Regulations regarding dedication of land for access	Section 16	January 2002(ended 15 April 2002)	1 September 2003
Regulations relating to exclusion or restriction of access under Chapter II, including appeals (but not emergencies)	Section 32	December 2001(ended 22 March 2002)	October 2003
Regulations on removal or relaxation of restrictions on access land	Paragraph 7,Schedule 2	July 2003(ends October 2003)	December 2003
Regulations to exclude access in emergencies	Section 31	October 2003	February 2004
Regulations on appeals relating to notices	Section 38	October 2003	February 2004
Regulations on references to public places in existing enactments	Section 42	October 2003	February 2004
Regulations regarding review of conclusive maps	Section 11	February 2004	August 2004

Departmental Staff

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) special advisers, (b) press officers, (c) civil servants, (d) advisers to civil servants and (e) permanent staff were working for her Department in each year since 1996. [126481]

Alun Michael: Defra came into being in June 2001 and the following information relates to the period since then.

(a) The Secretary of State has two Special Advisors.

The Department employs an Environmental Advisor, who reports to the Director for Environment Protection Strategy.

Ewen Cameron, who is also Chair of the Countryside Agency, is the Rural Advocate, arguing the case on countryside issues and for rural people at the highest levels in Government and outside. While this role has no formal line of accountability, Sir Ewen works closely with me as Minister of State for Rural Affairs on a range of issues of rural proofing and also has access to the Secretary of State and other senior members of Government.

Dr. Chris Fay holds the title Emissions Trading Champion. Reporting to the Director for Climate, Energy and Environmental Risk, he assisted the Government in recruiting participants to the UK's voluntary Emissions Trading Scheme launched in April 2002, and plays a role in communicating with business on emissions trading issues.

Lord Haskins acted as Rural Recovery Co-ordinator during the latter part of the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001. His role was to help local authorities and other agencies plan for the economic recovery of Cumbria, and to consider what lessons were also applicable to other areas affected by the outbreak. Lord Haskins began work on 14 August 2001 and reported to me in October 2001.

(b) When Defra was established in June 2001 there were 19 press officer posts. In March 2002 there were 20, in May 2002 there were 22 and as at September 2003

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there are 20 press officer posts. These figures include the post of Head of News but not that of Director of Communications.

(c) and (e) This information is available in Table C of the annual publication Civil Service Statistics, which covers permanent staff numbers in each department and agency from 1996 to 2002. Copies of the publication are laid in the Libraries of both Houses. The latest edition, based on April 2002 data, was published on 24 July 2003. The figures will include press officers, although they are not separately identified. The total number of permanent and casual civil servants on both a head-count and a full-time equivalent basis at 1 April 2002 is available in Table A of Civil Service Statistics. Full-time equivalents are preferred to head-counts when examining trends over time. Also, the number of permanent staff is preferred as a basis when looking at trends as casual staff numbers reflect short-term responses to changes in workloads.

Alternatively, this information is available at the following address on the Cabinet Office's website: http://www.civil-service.gov.uk/statistics/css.htm.

(d) The term "advisers to civil servants" is not one that is recognised.

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