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15 Nov 2004 : Column 986W—continued
Birds of Prey
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under what circumstances birds of prey may be impounded; and what facilities are available for keeping impounded birds. [193153]
Mr. Morley: A court shall order the forfeiture of any bird belonging to a person convicted of an offence under section 7 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 or Regulation 8 of the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997. In certain other circumstances, birds may be seized if they were illegally imported or for the protection of evidence.
Furthermore, there are powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 for police to seize animals where they consider that they have been subject to unnecessary suffering (an offence under section 1 of the Protection of Animals Act 1911).
As regards suitable facilities, neither the police nor HM Customs and Excise have their own, but they ensure that suitable accommodation that can hold the animals is found.
Bovine Subsidy
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many errors were found in bovine subsidy claims in 2003–04; and if she will break down by proportion the types of errors. [196111]
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Alun Michael: Information can be provided on the number of producers, claims and animals with 2003 bovine scheme year errors that have resulted in the application of an administrative penalty. This is given as follows for all bovine schemes.
A breakdown by type of error is only available at animal level covering the Beef Special Premium Scheme (BSPS), Suckler Cow Premium Scheme (SCPS) and the Slaughter Premium Scheme (SPS). Such figures for the Extensification Payment Scheme (EPS) are not available.
| Scheme | Claims with errors | Percentage of total claims |
|---|---|---|
| BSPS | 452 | 0.5 |
| SCPS | 591 | 3.5 |
| SPS | 805 | 0.8 |
| EPS | 2,472 | 9.4 |
Notes:
Percentages have been rounded to one decimal place.
Figures do not include errors that have not resulted in the application of administrative penalties e.g. notified errors and obvious errors.
Information for the 2004 scheme year will not be available until August 2005 when the scheme year has officially closed, post payment checks are complete and data is compiled for submission to the European Commission.
Bovine TB
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the farmers who have agreed to take part in the gamma interferon TB test, broken down by area. [194284]
Mr. Bradshaw: It is not our practice to publish the details of herds affected with TB. To publish a list of the individual farmers who have agreed to take part in the gamma-interferon policy pilot could disadvantage those helping Defra with its research. However, summary figures are available. On 31 October 2004, 125 herds were actively taking part in the pilot. A breakdown by State Veterinary Service (SVS) Division is given in the table:
| SVS animal health divisional office area | Number of herds recruited pilot |
|---|---|
| Stafford | 14 |
| Worcester | 46 |
| Caernarfon | 8 |
| Cardiff | 18 |
| Carmarthen | 39 |
| Total | 125 |
In addition to the pilot, since November 2003 the SVS has used the gamma-interferon test in parallel with the skin test:
A breakdown of ad-hoc use of gamma-interferon by SVS Division is given in the following table.
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Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which authority in the UK is responsible for maintaining a register of (a) farmed deer herds and (b) park or estate deer. [197323]
Mr. Bradshaw: Keepers of deer in England are not required to register their herd with any central authority. Deer must, however, be identified in accordance with the Tuberculosis (Deer) Order 1989, as amended, before they move. Movement of deer must be notified to the appropriate local authority within three days. The official identification mark required for the purposes of deer identification is either a Defra mark or a mark issued by the British Deer Farmers Association. Keepers can obtain the official Defra mark only through registration with Defra.
Brewing Industry
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what assistance she offers to overseas brewers with manufacturing bases in the UK to encourage their use of UK-grown raw ingredients; [193718]
(2) what recent discussions her Department has had with overseas brewers with manufacturing bases in the UK to encourage the use of UK-grown raw ingredients. [193717]
Alun Michael: There is no financial assistance available for this purpose since this would be contrary to the principles of the EU single market and the WTO. We have had no discussions with overseas brewers on this issue.
British Overseas Territories
Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Joint Nature Conservation Committee spent on work in (a) 2001–02, (b) 2002–03 and (c) 2003–04 in (i) each of the UK overseas territories and (ii) the UK overseas territories collectively. [196306]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The Joint Nature Conservation Committee spent the following sums on work relating directly to the UK Overseas Territories for the years in question. JNCC accounting does not enable the sums to
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be divided between the individual Overseas Territories nor, for the years before 2003–04, is it possible to separate all of the expenditure on Overseas Territories from expenditure in other programme areas. In those years, advice relating to Overseas Territories was generally supported from budgets for wider programmes of work, for example, those on Multi-lateral Environmental Agreements, rather than specifically on the Territories themselves. Accordingly, the figures in the following table should be seen to be indicative rather than definitive. However, to give a feel for JNCC activities relating to Overseas Territories, some key areas of work by the JNCC which relate to specific Territories, or to them all collectively, are summarised in Annex 1.
| Spend 1 (£000) | |
|---|---|
| 2003–04 | 39 |
| 2002–03 | 40 |
| 2001–02 | 43 |
(26) Including staff costs and associated overheads.
Annex 1: JNCC activities relating to Overseas Territories from 2001–04
JNCC contributed to the development of priorities for, and the panel assessing bids to, the Overseas Territories Environment Programme.
We commissioned a review of invasive/non-native species in all UK Overseas Territories (completed in 2004) and held a UK workshop on the same.
We commented on management plans for Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory) and Henderson Island (Pitcairn).
We contributed to training, in Anguilla, of enforcement officials at the UK Caribbean Overseas Territories Wildlife and Trade Law Enforcement Workshop.
We continued to support a PhD studentship assessing the impacts of climate change in UK Overseas Territories.
We represented the UK at the 2nd meeting of the Parties to the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Marine Turtles and their Habitats of the Indian Ocean and South East Asia.
We participated in the steering group for the review of the Ramsar site series in the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
We contributed to the review at the CITES Animals Committee of trade in queen conch Strombus gigas, a species of significant economic importance to the Caribbean Overseas Territories.
We represented the UK at the 2nd Meeting of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee of the Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife in the Wider Caribbean region (SPAW) and contributed to the revision of the SPAW listing criteria.
We continued to provide advice and support to FCO and other Government Departments on nature conservation issues in the Overseas Territories, including advising on sources of advice for Environmental Impact Assessments in the Falklands, on applications to the FCO Environment Fund, and on draft Overseas Territories legislation.
We provided advice and support concerning the Cayman Island's proposal to register the Cayman Turtle Farm as a captive breeding facility under CITES at the 12th Conference of the parties.
We participated in the conference on conservation in UK Overseas Territories and other small island communities in Bermuda.
We supported the UK delegation to the 2nd meeting of the CITES hawksbill turtle dialogue meeting for the wider Caribbean, held in the Cayman Islands.
We supported the UK delegation to the 2nd meeting of the CITES hawksbill turtle dialogue meeting for the wider Caribbean, held in the Cayman Islands.
We supported the UK delegation to the 7th Conference of the Cartagena Convention and the 10th meeting of the Caribbean Environment Programme.
We supported the UK delegation to the 1st meeting of the CITES hawksbill turtle dialogue meeting for the wider Caribbean in Mexico.
We supported the UK delegation at meetings (in South Africa and Australia) negotiating the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, directly relevant to the South Atlantic Overseas Territories.
We provided assistance to Defra into the specification and commissioning of research into exploitation of marine turtles in UK Caribbean Overseas Territories.
We supported the UK delegation to the 1st Conference of the parties to the SPAW Protocol and its Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee in Cuba.
We provided support to the UK delegation to a meeting on the Conservation and Management of Marine Turtles of the Indian Ocean held in the Philippines (prior to a formal memorandum of understanding being signed).
We concluded our work on Seabirds at Sea in the South West Atlantic (under contract to Falklands Conservation) with the publication of "Vulnerable Concentrations of Seabirds in Falkland Islands Waters", but continued to provide consultancy advice to Falklands Conservation on seabirds.
Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the sources of the funding is for the work carried out in the UK overseas territories by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. [196309]
Mr. Bradshaw: The source of funding for the JNCC's work on UK overseas territories is predominantly through grant in aid received via the three GB country nature conservation agencies (English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Countryside Council for Wales). This is in line with the funding arrangements for the JNCC set out in the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Exceptions to this have been where the JNCC has provided advice on seabirds and cetaceans around the Falkland Islands in a consultancy role to Falklands Conservation (£3,000 in 2001–02 and £2,500 in 2002–03). In addition, small contributions to travel and subsistence costs (but not staff time) have occasionally been made by FCO to support attendance of JNCC officials at meetings relating to the overseas territories (e.g. CITES and wildlife law enforcement seminar
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for Caribbean overseas territories in Anguilla, 2003; hawksbill turtle range state dialogue meeting in Mexico, 2001).
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