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17 Nov 2003 : Column 620W—continued
Agricultural Subsidies
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) UK and (b) other EU countries she estimates would be affected if (i) 300,000 euro, (ii) 250,000 euro and (iii) 200,000 euro limits were placed upon public support for agricultural holdings. [135771]
Mr. Bradshaw: England would be affected by each of these limits. Questions regarding the payment of direct grants and subsidies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should be directed to the devolved authorities in Scotland and Wales and the Northern Ireland Administration.
According to commission figures, in the 2000 EU financial year 11 of the 14 member states excluding Greece would have been affected by each of these limits. Statistics are not available for Greece.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farm holdings in (a) the UK and (b) each member state she estimates would be affected if the EU were to place a 300,000 euro limit on the payment it makes; and how many euros would be held back from agricultural support under such a system. [135772]
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Mr. Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 23 October 2002, Official Report, column 314W. We have not made an assessment of what funds would be generated in this hypothetical policy scenario.
According to figures from the European Commission, in the 2000 EU financial year, 11 of the 14 member states excluding Greece would have been affected by each of these limits. Statistics are not available for Greece.
Bechtel
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the contracts for consultancy and other work carried out by Bechtel for agencies responsible to her Department and its predecessor in each year since 1997, stating in each case (a) the nature of the work, (b) the value of the contract and (c) the duration of the contract; and if she will make a statement. [137883]
Alun Michael: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 5 November 2003, Official Report, column 628W. From information held centrally, Defra and its agencies have let no contracts with Bechtel.
Scottish Beef Exports
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much Scottish produced beef has been exported by (a) weight and (b) value in the last five years for which figures are available; and how much of these exports comprised (i) beef of Scottish origin and (ii) beef of foreign origin. [135827]
Mr. Bradshaw: This is a matter for the Scottish Executive.
For information, the following table shows UK exports of beef in the last five years.
| Exports of beef | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tonnes | £000 | ||
| 1998 | 4,884 | 12,157 | |
| 1999 | 5,647 | 19,720 | |
| 2000 | 5,387 | 20,983 | |
| 2001 | 5,409 | 18,763 | |
| 2002 | 5,318 | 18,057 | |
Sources:
HM Customs and Excise
Data prepared by Statistics (Commodities & Food) Consultancy Trade & IT, ESD, DEFRA
Bovine Tuberculosis
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what arrangements she will put in place to assist dairy farmers affected by herd breakdowns as a result of bovine tuberculosis. [138028]
Mr. Bradshaw: There are already a number of measures in place to help farmers, including dairy farmers, with herds affected by bovine TB. Compensation is paid at the market rate for all animals slaughtered under TB control measures and in late 2002 we introduced licensed movements of non-reactor cattle on to and off farms under restriction, subject to veterinary risk assessment. In seeking
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ways to assist farmers dealing with TB, a balance must be struck between reducing the burden on industry and effective disease control.
We have a wide ranging research programme in place which is seeking, amongst other things, to develop a vaccine for TB, to improve diagnosis of the disease and establish how bovine TB is spread. All farmers are likely to benefit from the outcomes of the research. The bovine TB programme is under review and we will be consulting on proposals for a new long-term strategy, and on short term policy options, around the end of the year.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of cattle which are awaiting tests to identify bovine tuberculosis. [138029]
Mr. Bradshaw: At the end of September 2003 there were just over 3,300 cattle herds awaiting bovine tuberculosis tests. Details of the number of overdue herd tests are published each month on the Defra website at
defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/stats/index.htm
The number of individual animals awaiting tests is not available.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of (a) the funding for and (b) the number of veterinary surgeons which would be required to ensure there was no waiting list for cattle tests to identify bovine tuberculosis. [138030]
Mr. Bradshaw: In 2002/03 we spent £14 million on TB testing to bring the backlog of 27,000 overdue tests built up during the outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) under control. We expect to spend in the region of £10.3 million on the testing programme in this financial year.
At the end of September 2003 the number of outstanding herd tests had been reduced to just over 3,300. This is about the same level as that prior to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease. The rolling nature of the testing programme means that herd tests are falling due all the time and we are therefore unlikely to reduce the overdue list to zero.
We propose to consult on additional testing (pre and post-movement testing and changes to testing frequencies) as part of a short term measures package and are preparing estimates of the veterinary resource input for such proposals.
We recently consulted on proposals to permit suitably trained and competent non-veterinarians to carry out TB tests. Responses are still being analysed. However, there is no intention in the proposal to require local veterinary practices to use lay testers.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what system she has in place to monitor bovine TB factor compensation payments; and whether her Department collates and publishes the results of monitoring. [136411]
Mr. Bradshaw: Bovine TB compensation payments are based on the market value of the animals. The valuations are agreed between the Department and the farmer, or between professional valuers working on behalf of the Department and on behalf of farmers.
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A consultation on proposals to rationalise existing compensation arrangements for all notifiable animal diseases is underway. The main aim of that exercise will be to increase transparency and operational simplicity by creating a single approach for all notifiable diseases. In the interim, the Department is considering what can be done to monitor valuers and the level of valuations in recognition of deficiencies in the current system which were highlighted in recent audit reports.
The Department publishes aggregated data on the numbers of stock slaughtered and compensation paid in Great Britain in the annual report of the Chief Veterinary Officer.
Foxes
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the (a) State Veterinary Service and (b) Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals about the re-homing of captured foxes. [138378]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 13 November 2003]: The release of foxes and other wild animals from animal rehabilitation centres is an issue that is being considered as part of our consideration of the proposed Animal Welfare Bill. We hope to be able to propose that animal rehabilitation centres should be licensed and required to operate to a code of practice, including provisions for a code for the release of wild animals. Discussions on the rehabilitation of wild animals have included representatives of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the State Veterinary Service.
Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will reply to the letter of 24 September from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State with responsibility for nature conservation and fisheries. [138829]
Mr. Bradshaw: I responded to the hon. Member on 6 November 2003.
Crematoria
Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what estimate she has made of the effect upon the cost of a cremation arising from (a) the cost of installing gas cleaning filtration systems to remove mercury emissions and (b) the need to travel a greater distance to the nearest crematorium if closures take place; [137918]
- (2) what representations she has received about the review being undertaken by the Environment Agency's Local Authority Unit into the Best Available Techniques Not Entailing Excessing Costs for crematoria; [137919]
(3) what estimate has been made of the cost of fitting gas cleaning filtration systems into crematoria; [138017]
(4) what estimate has been made of the number of crematoria which would be likely to close if there was a requirement to fit cleaning and filtration systems; [138018]
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(5) what plans she has to conduct (a) quantified and (b) qualified research into mercury emissions from crematoria prior to reaching a decision on whether gas cleaning filtration systems should be fitted; [138019]
(6) what account she will take on any decision to enforce the fitting of filtration systems into United Kingdom crematoria of trends on levels of mercury emissions; [138020]
(7) what assessment she has made of the content of the Local Authority Unit report into Best Available Techniques Not Entailing Excessive Costs (BATNEEC) for crematoria; and what representations she has received which disagree with the report's recommendations. [138563]
Mr. Bradshaw: Estimates of the impacts of controlling mercury from crematoria were contained in a consultation paper the Department issued on 7 May 2003. A summary of the responses to the consultation has been placed on the Defra website at www. defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/crematoria
The main interim conclusions reached from this consultation exercise are as follows:
- reducing emissions of mercury from crematoria should aim to be achieved without forcing any crematoria closures due to physical constraints such as insufficiency of space or heritage considerations
a requirement to remove teeth prior to cremation is not acceptable
the next step should be to explore developing a fair mechanism for reducing emissions from only a proportion of existing crematoria
any improvements required for existing crematoria should be spread over a number of years
detailed proposals on the basis of the above will be subject to full consultation in due course
new crematoria should be required to install mercury abatement.
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