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Correspondence

Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the hon. Member for West Worcestershire will receive a response to his letter to the Parliamentary Secretary for Food, Farming and Sustainable Energy of 5 May. [182931]

Alun Michael: My hon. Friend the Minister for Nature Conservation and Fisheries replied on 8 July.

Donkeys

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many donkeys were imported into the UK in the last 12 months; and for what purposes. [181687]

Mr. Bradshaw: It is not possible to provide figures for the number of donkeys that entered the UK in the last 12 months. Imports of all horses, ponies, zebras, asses, mules and donkeys are recorded simply as Equidae, in accordance with the requirements of European Community law.

During the last 12 months a total of 9,795 equidae entered the UK:

7,575 from the EU

2,220 from third countries

These equidae were imported for a variety of purposes including:

Breeding and production

Import of registered equidae

Re-entry of registered horses

Temporary admission of registered

Import of non-registered equidae.

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what checks and controls are in place to control the importation of donkeys. [181688]

Mr. Bradshaw: When equidae (including donkeys) are sent from another EU member state into Great Britain, Community law requires the Veterinary Authorities of that member state to enter the details of the movement into a Community-wide computerised messaging system, so that the member state of receipt is made aware of the movement. Community law provides for random checks by the authorities in the receiving member state at places of destination, but not at the point of import unless non-compliance is suspected. In GB these checks are carried out by the State Veterinary Service (SVS).

Equidae may only be imported into the EU from approved third countries and are required to undergo veterinary checks at a Border Inspection Post (BIP) in the first member state of entry. All imports of equidae must have an official Export Health Certificate from the exporting country. The veterinary check consists of a documentary, identity and physical check, which may include sampling.

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what animal health checks are carried out on donkeys and other equidae entering the UK. [181689]

 
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Mr. Bradshaw: To be eligible for import into the UK, donkeys and all other equidae must meet the health requirements of the European Community in relation to freedom from dourine, glanders, equine encephalomyelitis, vesicular stomatitis, equine infectious anaemia, rabies and anthrax. The donkey must not have had contact with other equidae suffering from infection or contagious disease and it must be fit to be transported on the intended journey.

In respect of movements within member states, an Official Veterinarian of the member state of origin must inspect the animal within 48 hours of export and issue an Export Health Certificate (EHC), confirming that the health requirements have been met.

There are strict controls on the health of donkeys entering from third countries. They must enter from an approved country and must be accompanied by a veterinary health certificate, this will confirm that all health requirements have been complied with.

The EHC must be presented at the Border Inspection Post (BIP) upon arrival on EU territory. Here the animal will be subject to veterinary checks consisting of a documentary, identity and physical check, which may include sampling.

Drainage Rates

Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the level of drainage rates paid by landowners is in each region of England. [182024]

Mr. Morley: Information on the individual level of drainage rates raised by Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs) is not held centrally. The amounts collected through drainage rates paid by landowners to IDBs in 2002–03 (the last year for which we have information) were:

Region	£ million
Anglian	9.36
Yorkshire	1.2
Severn Trent	1 0
Wessex	0.43
Southern	0.3

As regards the Environment Agency's Anglian Region a General Drainage Charge is payable on agricultural land and buildings that are outside IDB districts. These rates differ in each area of the region but yielded a total of £3.2 million in 2002–03 the latest year for which figures are available.

Essex Local Flood Defence Committee

Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the future of the Essex Local Flood Defence Committee. [182028]

Mr. Morley: In March 2003 the Government announced the intention to create a single tier of flood defence committee by abolishing the local tier which exists within three of the nine regional flood defence committee areas in England. I have now completed my consideration of the Environment Agency's proposals
 
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for new committee structures and have decided to accept their recommendations as set out in my written ministerial statement to Parliament on 1 July.

As a result, I intend that all local flood defence committees in the Agency's Anglian Region, including the Essex LFDC, will be wound up with effect from 1 April 2005. I also intend that the present Anglian RFDC area be split to create three new RFDCs. One new RFDC would comprise the areas of the present Essex and Norfolk and Suffolk local flood defence committees; one the area of the present Great Ouse local flood defence committee; and one the area of the present Welland and Nene and Lincolnshire local flood defence committees. I also said that we would review the splitting of the current Anglian region after three years of operation.

Fisheries

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what fishing rights will accrue to each of the 10 new countries that have acceded to the EU in (a) British waters and (b) the North Sea. [181733]

Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 7 July 2004]: None of the 10 new member states have fishing rights in British Waters, no other member states' fishing vessels have access to the coastal zone within six nautical miles of the UK's shoreline, and within 6–12 mile zone, access to certain fisheries in certain parts of the zone is limited to the following five member states with historical rights there: France, Belgium, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands.

While the principle of free access in the Community's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) from 12 to 200 miles offshore applies to all member states, none of the 10 new member states has been allocated quota in the North sea.

Fly-tipping

Dan Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what resources are being provided to tackle fly-tipping in Bath and North East Somerset. [182499]

Mr. Morley: The Environment Agency and local authorities have a range of powers to deal with illegally dumped waste or fly-tipping. Local authorities receive funding through the EPCS element of their block grant and will decide resource allocations according to local priorities.

Defra has recently consulted on its Fly-Tipping Strategy and is looking at bringing forward proposals to encourage all local authorities to tackle fly-tipping with preventative policies. This should lead to cost savings as authorities focus on prevention and deterrence rather than expensive clearance.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many contractors that provided goods, services and works to her Department during the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001 were investigated for fraud offences;
 
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and how many of those investigated (a) were prosecuted, (b) had the cases closed and (c) remain under investigation. [180792]

Mr. Bradshaw: Seven contractors were formally investigated by Defra Investigation Branch for fraud offences arising out of services provided during the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2001. No prosecutions took place in relation to those seven investigations and there are no outstanding investigations or prosecutions. In Scotland one contractor remains under investigation by the Police.

There were various allegations of fraud by contractors, farmers and others during the outbreak. 33 of these were investigated by the Defra Investigation Branch (see The National Audit Office Report "The 2001 Outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease" Executive Summary at page 9 (HC 939 Session 2001–2002; 21 June 2002). Six people were ultimately prosecuted by Defra for fraud offences:

Three members of staff were prosecuted and pleaded guilty to making false subsistence claims and were ordered to complete Community punishment orders and to pay compensation to Defra totalling £5,883. All three were dismissed.

Three farmers were prosecuted for making false compensation claims; one farmer pleaded guilty and was fined £3,500, two other farmers were acquitted. No money was obtained from Defra in these cases.

There are no outstanding prosecutions by Defra of anyone for any offences during the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2001.

There were a significant number of contractual disputes between Defra and contractors in relation to work completed during the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2001, some of which were and continue to be the subject of legal proceedings.

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she has taken to ensure that an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease can be contained. [183241]

Mr. Bradshaw: The measures that the Government would take in the event of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease are set out in the Defra FMD Contingency Plan, the latest version of which was laid before Parliament at the end of March 2004. These include the immediate imposition of movement controls on all susceptible livestock, strict biosecurity requirements and enhanced options for controlling the disease. Vaccination would be considered from the outset of an outbreak in addition to the culling of all susceptible animals on infected premises and those that have been exposed to infection, as required by EU law. We are engaging with operational partners and with stakeholders to ensure they are aware of their responsibilities and the measures that would be taken in an outbreak. Plans are also in place in the event of an outbreak to enable a rapid increase in staff resources and the implementation of contingency contracts including that for vaccination. We have revised the instructions for staff and are ensuring that they are trained and equipped to deal with an outbreak of disease.
 
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A national exercise to test the contingency plans and the Government's preparedness was held on 29 and 30 June, involving people from across Defra, other government departments and operational partners enacting days seven and eight of an FMD outbreak. The Department will be publishing a report of the lessons learned from the exercise in the autumn and a revised Contingency Plan will be laid before Parliament next March.

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