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6 Nov 2003 : Column 729W—continued

CABINET OFFICE

Civil Service Secondments(Science and Technology)

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what action has been taken to bring more people from science and technology backgrounds into the Civil Service on secondments as recommended by the Council for Science and Technology in its review in 1999 of Science and Technology Across Government. [133944]

Mr. Alexander: The Government are committed to developing a modern, flexible and outward focused Civil Service that works in partnership with all sectors of society. A key tool in meeting that commitment is the Interchange initiative, which promotes and encourages

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the exchange of people and good practice between the Civil Service and other organisations. Most organisations from anywhere in the country can take part and all sectors of the economy are encouraged to do so.

Individual Departments are directly responsible for the staff they bring in to help them deliver their objectives, including secondees. Information on secondments into the Civil Service is recorded separately by Departments. The Cabinet office holds aggregate data, though not specifically on secondees from a science and technology background.

Since financial year 1998–99, there have been, on average, around 4,000 instances of interchange taking place each year of which about half are inward to the Civil Service.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture and Horticulture Holdings

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many agriculture and horticulture holdings in the United Kingdom there were which were mainly (a) beef, (b) dairy, (c) sheep, (d) pigs, (e) poultry meat, (f) poultry egg, (g) fruit and vegetables, (h) flowers and other non edible crops, (i) energy crops, (j) arable, (k) mixed and (l) other in each of the last 10 years for which records are available. [135769]

Mr. Bradshaw: Agricultural and horticultural holdings are classified annually from the June agricultural and horticultural census into 27 different types.

For the last 10 years the figures are:

Main farm type—1993 to 2002: June agricultural census—England

Main farm types	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997
Cereals	20,443	20,212	19,960	20,379	21,085
General cropping	13,318	13,031	12,909	12,828	11,696
Specialist fruit	1,589	1,578	1,408	1,435	1,492
Specialist glass	3,472	3,346	3,034	2,808	2,743
Other horticulture	3,593	3,307	2,990	2,858	3,227
Specialist pigs	2,441	2,342	2,137	2,080	2,236
Specialist poultry	2,903	2,801	2,445	2,557	2,959
Mixed pigs and poultry	129	121	111	110	152
Dairy—LFA	3,797	3,673	3,421	3,213	2,996
Dairy—lowland	16,987	16,906	16,211	15,691	15,011
Specialist sheep—SDA	2,641	2,524	2,390	2,320	2,318
Specialist beef—SDA	1,805	1,725	1,737	1,703	1,618
Mixed cattle and sheep—SDA	3,537	3,395	3,257	3,003	2,843
Cattle and sheep—DA	3,365	3,266	3,129	2,941	2,866
Cattle and sheep—Lowland	31,880	32,589	31,024	31,173	30,878
Cropping and dairy	1,714	1,615	1,604	1,578	1,634
Cropping cattle and sheep	6,155	6,221	6,256	6,128	5,858
Cropping pig and poultry	1,191	1,161	1,109	1,106	1,118
Cropping and mixed livestock	633	666	658	572	602
Mixed livestock	2,009	1,940	1,799	1,896	2,121
Specialist mushrooms	173	183	167	155	146
Specialist hardy nursery stock	1,094	1,077	1,126	1,188	1,104
Specialist set-aside	1,309	1,238	1,104	1,044	937
Specialist grass and forage	17,563	18,260	16,506	16,638	16,897
Specialist goats	520	512	355	359	337
Specialist horses	8,301	8,879	8,590	9,149	9,166
Non-classifiable—fallow	401	406	296	283	285
Non-classifiable—other	459	452	379	443	452
All types	153,422	153,426	146,112	145,638	144,777

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Main farm types	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Cereals	21,473	20,905	20,996	21,340	21,258
General cropping	11,239	11,119	9,861	9,991	9,200
Specialist fruit	1,645	1,554	2,647	2,675	2,553
Specialist glass	2,826	2,771	2,741	2,671	2,604
Other horticulture	3,026	3,019	3,260	3,143	3,368
Specialist pigs	2,171	1,920	1,893	1,981	2,160
Specialist poultry	3,179	3,437	4,100	4,680	4,685
Mixed pigs and poultry	113	104	129	130	146
Dairy—LFA	3,014	2,895	2,605	2,584	2,662
Dairy—lowland	14,000	13,418	12,614	11,522	11,680
Specialist sheep—SDA	2,665	2,845	2,875	2,996	3,388
Specialist beef—SDA	1,901	1,885	1,652	1,850	1,943
Mixed cattle and sheep—SDA	3,154	3,037	2,913	2,915	3,043
Cattle and sheep—DA	2,835	2,880	2,657	2,944	3,389
Cattle and sheep—Lowland	29,893	31,269	32,816	31,306	33,778
Cropping and dairy	1,679	1,565	1,401	1,198	1,181
Cropping cattle and sheep	5,772	5,680	5,573	5,397	5,179
Cropping pig and poultry	1,173	1,046	959	930	809
Cropping and mixed livestock	611	647	998	1,086	1,048
Mixed livestock	2,044	1,814	1,984	2,045	2,067
Specialist mushrooms	140	152	141	94	40
Specialist hardy nursery stock	883	848	995	999	995
Specialist set-aside	859	988	1,035	1,340	1,341
Specialist grass and forage	18,256	21,175	24,298	25,781	23,476
Specialist goats	346	408	809	1,127	1,690
Specialist horses	9,420	9,026	14,326	14,967	16,845
Non-classifiable—fallow	302	305	541	548	580
Non-classifiable—other	474	508	11,036	19,694	26,763
All types	145,093	147,220	167,855	177,934	187,871

Abbreviations:

LFA—Less Favoured Area

SDA—Severely Disadvantaged Area

DA—Disadvantaged Area

Notes:

1. 1993 to 1999 figures refer to main holdings only.

2. 2000 onwards—main and minor holdings.

Aquaculture Research

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many aquaculture research projects were commissioned by her Department from the Ardtoe Marine Farming Unit in each year since 1997; and what the (a) subject and (b) cost of each project was. [136157]

Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 3 November 2003]: Aquaculture research projects commissioned by Defra from the Sea Fish Industry Authority's Marine Farming Unit at Ardtoe since 1997 are as follows:

FC0107—environmental control of halibut broodstock and rearing procedures for feeding larvae; 1993–98; total cost £515,400;

FC0905—halibut egg and early larval rearing; 1998; total cost £20,000;

FC1011—development strategy for the UK shellfish cultivation industry; 2000–01; total cost £45,000; and

FC1140—economic evaluation to assess the output potential of the UK shellfish cultivation industry; 2000; £45,000.

Details of Defra research projects may be viewed at the following website: http://www.defra.gov.uk/research/project.

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Chemical Industry

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the REACH proposals for regulation of the chemical industry. [136681]

Alun Michael: The Government are committed to the new EU Chemicals Strategy which aims to improve protection for human health and the environment. The new EU Chemicals Strategy is trying to address the fact that thousands of chemicals have been used for many years without adequate information about their hazardous properties or what risks are involved in their short-term and long-term use. In doing so, the proposal for new chemicals legislation, which was adopted by the European Commission on 29 October 2003, should create greater transparency and help identify chemicals of concern.

In the forthcoming negotiations the UK has three overarching objectives:

To create a fast, efficient and workable process of testing, screening and assessing substances of concern, starting with the most harmful, because of their impact on human health or the environment;


To keep animal testing to the minimum necessary to protect human health and the environment; and


To maintain or enhance the competitiveness of the chemical industry and downstream users.

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We are currently considering the Commission proposal to assess how far it meets these objectives. The Government will carry out a UK consultation early in the new year which will be accompanied by a regulatory impact assessment, and provide an opportunity for all interested stakeholders to express their views.

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