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Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the net sustainability percentage for the ability in each local authority area to provide drinking water for the local population. [192335]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 18 October 2004]: The Environment Agency is the statutory body with a duty to manage water resources in England and Wales and as part of its role produces national and regional water resource strategies. The Government expect water companies to take a twin track approach of managing demand and developing sustainable resources where needed. The resource strategies are complemented by water companies' 25 year water resource plans, which set out how they plan to achieve a sustainable balance between supply and demand for water. This process ensures that there is sufficient drinking water to supply the local populations served by water companies.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what role the Government intends regional advisory councils to have in the management of fisheries; and what steps they are taking. [190635]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) needs better stakeholder engagement and a more regional focus, and Regional Advisory Councils (RACs) are a key part of the reforms agreed in 2002. They are international stakeholder-led organisations that will advise the Commission and the Member States on sustainable fisheries management.
The Government are taking a leading role to facilitate the establishment of RACs (the North Sea RAC will be the first) and will continue to support them as they become functioning advisory bodies. We have worked closely with the Commission and other Member States as well as the Scottish Executive, provided funding for stakeholder meetings and secured a three year contribution to the running costs of the North Sea RAC from Member States. As the RACs become functioning
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advisory bodies, we will continue to work with the Commission and other Member States as well as the Scottish Executive and provide practical assistance.
If successful, RACs will lead to improved decision-making under the CFP. We see them as a potential first step towards regional managementa principle we will develop in our response to "Net Benefits", the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit Report on fisheries management.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects the National Fallen Stock Company to be operational. [190720]
Mr. Bradshaw: The National Fallen Stock Scheme Company Limited began work on developing a national scheme in December 2003. The Scheme is due to start collecting fallen stock later this autumn.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farmers in the Business Link region of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire have received free consultancy advice from the Farm Business Advice Service. [189855]
Alun Michael: By 31 August 2004, a total of 369 farmers in the Business Link region of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire have received free consultancy advice under the Farm Business Advice Service since it began in October 2000. In addition, 41 of these farmers are in the process of receiving the service for a second time because their circumstances have changed significantly since first receiving the advice. This results in a total of 410 cases either completed or underway in these areas.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the insurance industry on the new Environment Agency maps of zones susceptible to flooding. [191097]
Mr. Morley: My department has discussed the latest flood risk maps with both the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the Environment Agency and I welcome their production.
Defra, Environment Agency and ABI officials meet regularly to discuss progress against the ABI's Statement of Principles, which includes improved flood risk mapping. I am planning to meet the ABI later this year and this will provide an opportunity to discuss this issue further.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the rural proofing by her Department of the Government's scheme to provide free fruit to children in primary schools. [190664]
Alun Michael: The National Free Fruit Scheme was launched in November 2000 and has been expanded upon since then. The scheme pre-dates the introduction of rural proofing, which was launched in the Rural White Paper, also of November 2000. It was not initially subject to rural proofing, but all new policy is subject to Regulatory Impact Assessment, which includes an element of rural proofing. This would normally be done by the Department introducing the policy, in this case, the Department of Health. Clearly, the policy applies to both rural and urban schools and as well as providing health benefits it uses produce from rural areas and promotes consumption which is likely to help the rural economy in the long term.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has made to the European Commission about the GM maize Monsanto 810. [190091]
Mr. Morley: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has made no representations to the European Commission about GM maize line MON 810.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much her Department has spent on independent research into genetically-modified crops in each year since 1994; and what proportion has been spent on research into crops specifically aimed to be grown in developing countries. [190093]
Mr. Morley: The following table shows spending by Defra since its formation in 2001 on independent research on genetically modified crops. None of this has been spent on crops specifically aimed to be grown in developing countries.
£000 | |
---|---|
200102 | 3,633 |
200203 | 3,844 |
200304 | 1,950 |
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list public bodies who will be responsible for enforcing the GM Food and Feed Regulation (EC) No.1830/2003 in the UK; and what estimate has been made of the cost to each body of the enforcement role. [192233]
Mr. Morley:
Local authorities are responsible for monitoring and enforcing food labelling requirements. They are responsible for inspection and control measures to ensure compliance with Regulation (EC) 1830/2003, concerning the traceability and labelling of genetically modified organisms and the traceability of food and feed products produced from genetically modified organisms, and Regulation (EC)1829/2003, on genetically modified food and feed. Depending on the authority the responsibility may be passed to Port Health Authorities and/or Trading Standards Officers.
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Local authorities in England estimate that in 200405 they will spend £120-£150 million on food law enforcement in total, of which these regulations form part. Each authority manages its budget according to local needs and priorities, and no estimate has been made to date of the overall cost of enforcing these regulations. Nevertheless local authorities are being encouraged to collate information on the cost of enforcing these regulations, which will be used to contribute towards the European Commission's review of these regulations in November 2005.
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her estimate is of the percentage of the grain harvest that is likely to be successfully harvested this year. [190525]
Alun Michael: Defra figures published on 14 October estimate that the total UK cereals harvest was some 4 per cent. higher than last year, including an increase of around 10 per cent. for wheat, reflecting higher planted areas and a higher overall yield. Very few crops have been reported as unharvestable, but in a number of areas quality has been significantly affected by the very difficult weather conditions in the second half of July and in August.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she will take to alleviate the problems of (a) crop failure and (b) low value crops caused by the weather conditions during harvest this year; and if she will make a statement. [190745]
Alun Michael: Defra figures published on 14 October show that this year's UK cereals production is estimated to be some 4 per cent. higher than in 2003, despite the serious delays and difficulties experienced in parts of the country during the harvesting period. Very few crops have been reported as totally lost, though in many areas quality would appear to have been significantly affected by the poor weather conditions.
Following consultations with farming organisations, we announced on 22 September that we had concluded that the most effective action we could take would be to give priority to farmers in the worst affected counties so that they receive their EU arable area aid at the start of the normal payment window on 16 November, rather than attempting to make partial advances which would have to be topped-up in a separate operation later on.
We are continuing to work closely with farming organisations to ensure the most effective targeting of these efforts and to explore other ways in which existing schemes and resources can be used to help to mitigate the marketing problems which we accept many arable farmers are facing.
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