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18 Sept 2003 : Column 916W—continued
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Abattoirs
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to publish the action plan to support small and medium-sized abattoirs and slaughterhouses. [128331]
Mr. Bradshaw: The steps we are taking to help ensure there is a network of abattoirs and meat cutting plants complement our wider "Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food" which was published on 12 December 2002. Currently, in co-operation with the Meat and Livestock Commission and the Meat Hygiene Service, we are compiling data on the slaughtering and meat supply industry to help us develop a strategic approach. Compilation and analysis is expected to be complete by mid October and data suitable for the public domain will be published thereafter.
Bluetongue Disease
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the risk of an outbreak of bluetongue disease in the United Kingdom; and what discussions she has had with her colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office to prevent the spread of this disease to Northern Ireland. [130404]
Mr. Bradshaw: My officials have consulted experts at the Institute of Animal Health on the risk of an outbreak of Bluetongue in the UK. The Institute of Animal Health is both the National and European Union reference laboratory for the disease. At present the risk is considered to be very low.
Bluetongue is active in countries around the Meditterranean basin. It is transmitted by midges of Culicoides species. However, the disease has recently spread a little further north and the possible causes of this move are being investigated. The main vector of disease (Culicoides imicola) has not been found in the UK.
A Bluetongue Control Strategy for the United Kingdom is already in place and is available on the Defra website at http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/disease/bluetongue control strategy. PDF Defra staff have worked closely with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Northern Ireland (DARDNI) on the preparation of contingency plans as required under Directive 2000/75/EC. These Contingency Plans can be obtained from:
http.V/www.defra.gov.uk/animaih/diseases/notifiable/disease/bluecontin.PDF and a copyhas been placed in the main Defra library.
from the Animal Disease Control Branch, Dundonald House, Belfast.
Common Agricultural Policy
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made in reforming the Common Agricultural Policy during the last six months. [129495]
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Mr. Bradshaw: On 26 June EU Agriculture Ministers agreed an historic reform of the Common Agricultural Policy which will provide a more sustainable basis for European agriculture, as well as reducing some of the damaging impacts of the CAP on developing countries.
The agreement breaks the link between farm subsidies and production in order to reconnect farmers to their markets, reduce damaging environmental impacts and reduce bureaucracy, this is at the heart of our approach to sustainable food and farming. Subsidies will also be dependent on farmers meeting standards in areas like environmental protection, and animal health and welfare. For the first time there will be an EU wide switch of money from production subsidies to environmental and rural development objectives, and there is a new financial discipline which will trigger action to reduce subsidies if CAP expenditure is in danger of exceeding the agreed budget ceilings.
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the latest estimate is of the cost to the average family of the Common Agricultural Policy through higher consumer prices and levels of taxation. [129439]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 11 September 2003]: The consumer cost of the CAP can be estimated by examining the difference between UK and world prices for agricultural food products. The notional taxpayer contribution to CAP expenditure can also be estimated though, in practice, UK taxpayers contribute to the whole EU budget rather than to specific components. Our latest provisional estimates for 2002 show a cost of the CAP to a notional family of four from higher consumer prices and levels of taxation of approximately £8 to £9 a week.
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many claimants received a direct grant or subsidy under the Common Agricultural Policy in the latest year for which information is available; and of the payments made, how many were (a) under £1,000, (b) between £1,000 and £2,500, (c) between £2,500 and £5,000, (d) between £5,000 and £10,000, (e) between £10,000 and £100,000, (f) between £100,000 and £500,000, (g) between £500,000 and £1 million and (h) in excess of £1 million. [129441]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 11 September 2003]: The number of claimants who received direct grants or subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy in England was 93,542 in the 12 month period to 31 August 2003. This is broken down into the requested payment bands in the following table. We are unable to identify the total payments received by any individual or business making applications using more than one name. The payment of direct grants and subsidies in that period in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland was the responsibility of the devolved authorities in Scotland and Wales and the Northern Ireland Administration.
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Commercial Whaling
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with representatives of the Icelandic Government to try to prevent them from resuming commercial whaling. [130567]
Mr. Bradshaw: When Iceland rejoined the IWC in October 2002, its application for renewed membership contained a declaration in which Iceland undertook (under certain conditions) not to resume commercial whaling until 2006 at the earliest.
When the Icelandic Ambassador to London called on me on 3 September, I stressed that the Government (and the UK public) was highly critical of Iceland's unjustified and unnecessary plan to kill 38 minke whales this year, (and possibly larger numbers of minke, sei and fin whales next year).
On 10 September the British Ambassador to Reykjavik delivered a demarche on behalf of the Governments of the UK and 22 other countries, urging the Icelandic Government to rescind its decision to start so-called "scientific" whaling.
Construction Industry (Magnesium Carbonate)
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the letter from the former Minister of State for Environment of 16 September 2002 (171977/JW), what action has been taken since April 2003 on the use of magnesium carbonate in the construction industry. [128414]
Mr. Morley: BRE (formerly known as the Building Research Establishment) submitted a successful bid in the 2002 DTI Partners in Innovation competition round to carry out an independent assessment of the potential benefits, including those of carbon sequestration and low embodied energy, reported for novel cements such as magnesium carbonate. The research work is due to commence shortly with a completion date of March 2006. The outcome will be a report assessing the technical and environmental performance of novel cements, their cost competitiveness compared to conventional cements, and, if appropriate, their potential use in the UK construction industry.
EU Enlargement
Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of enlargement of the European Union and the rights of nationals of the applicant countries to work in other member states on English farming and horticulture. [129772]
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Mr. Bradshaw: After accession on 1 May 2004 nationals from the new member states and members of their families will have the right to work in the United Kingdom on the same basis as those from existing member states. While this will significantly increase the potential pool of workers able to work in English farming and horticulture, a number of independent studies looking at the scale of migration flows into the EU after enlargement suggest that there are likely to be only relatively small inflows into the UK. Predictions of migration flows are difficult to make, even at national level, so the impact on a particular sector such as farming and horticulture is even more uncertain.
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