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ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Bees

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what evidence she has collated on the incidence of European foulbrood disease in bees; [1289]

(2) what decisions she has made on the assessment of European foulbrood disease, with particular reference to its incidence over the last five years. [1290]

Jim Knight: The number of confirmed cases of European foulbrood is collated annually by the national bees unit of the Central Science Laboratory and is published on their website. These figures indicate that incidence in England has declined over the past five years from 1,007 cases in 2000 to 672 in 2004.

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many meetings she has had with the British Beekeepers' Association since May 2004. [1291]

Jim Knight: The Department has had five meetings with the British Beekeepers' Association since May 2004, including one with the then Minister, Lord Whitty, last November.

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) if she will make a statement on plans to deregulate European foulbrood disease; and on what evidence those plans are based; [1292]

(2) what plans she has to remove European foulbrood disease from the list of notifiable diseases. [1293]

Jim Knight: European Foulbrood (EFB) is a disease of honeybees for which effective means of control are in place or under development. We are therefore working towards removing EFB from our list of notifiable bee diseases by 2008, subject to making satisfactory progress with trials of the 'shook swarm' technique which the National Bees Unit is currently evaluating.

Once we have further results from these trials—probably towards the end of 2006—we will revisit the issue, taking account of all current threats to bee health and will consult further with beekeeping associations before reaching final decisions on any changes to the control arrangements.

British Waterways Board

Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will change the policy of the British Waterways Board regarding achieving a return from surplus non-operational land. [1152]

 
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Jim Knight: The Government recently carried out a five yearly review of British Waterways and endorsed its vision of being largely self-sufficient by 2012. British Waterways' non-operational estate is an essential part of this strategy and produced around £26.5 million of rental income in 2004–05, out-performing the Industry Investment Property Database for total returns from property and investment by almost 3 percentage points.

British Waterways relies on income from its assets to contribute to the cost of maintaining its waterways andto improve their attractiveness, use, amenity and interest to the wider public. Without this income, British Waterways would be more dependent on Government funding. There are no plans to change this policy.

Climate Change

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether it is the Government's policy that the post-Kyoto strategy to tackle climate change should be target-based on a country basis. [1493]

Mr. Morley: As yet, there have been no formal intergovernmental discussions of the design of a future commitment period under the Kyoto protocol. The UK will chair the EU at the UN climate change conference at the end of this year at which these discussions are due to commence. Our presidency of the EU gives us an excellent opportunity to galvanise work on preparing for future action. Nevertheless, experts have been considering what different approaches might look like and a number of approaches have been suggested for the design of future action on climate change.

At this stage, it is important that we remain flexible in looking at the options, that all existing suggestions for future frameworks remain on the table, and that full consideration is given both to the possible frameworks themselves and to the elements within them that could be used to form part of a workable solution.

In considering any future regime, the Government's long-term view is that the architecture of a future framework needs to be realistic (relevant to countries with different national circumstances), robust (capable of being adjusted in the light of experience) and durable (will not become irrelevant after a few years) but for any such framework to be effective, it would be necessary for it to achieve a wide global acceptance and to deliver results in terms of significant emissions reductions. The Government are committed to finding a solution to the issue of climate change that meet these criteria.

Common Agricultural Policy

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) net contribution by the UK to and (b) net income received by the UK from the common agricultural policy has been in each year since 1980. [1526]

Jim Knight: The information requested is as follows:

(a) The UK contributes to the whole EU budget rather than to specific components.
 
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Net contributions to EC budget

	£ million
1998–99 outturn	4,111
1999–2000 outturn	3,325
2000–01 outturn	4,318
2001–02 outturn	1,477
2002–03 outturn	3,080
2003–04 estimated outturn	3,295
2004–05 plans	3,306

Source:
HM Treasury European Community Finances Statement on the 2004 EC Budget and measures to counter fraud and financial mismanagement".

(b) The following table lists receipts from the EU in relation to the common agricultural policy. Receipts do not always relate to expenditure in the year in which they are received.

	£ million
1979–80	412
1980–81	606
1981–82	742
1982–83	805
1983–84	1,200
1984–85	1,203
1985–86	1,282
1986–87	1,481
1987–88	1,128
1988–89	1,597
1989–90	1,226
1990–91	1,645
1991–92	1,812
1992–93	1,593
1993–94	2,885
1994–95	2,478
1995–96	2,674
1996–97	3,304
1997–98	3,466
1998–99	3,343
1999–2000	2,563
2000–01	2,682

Source:
Annual Review of Agriculture" 1979–1988, Agriculture in the UK" 1988–2001.




Receipts from the EAGGF Guarantee and Guidance Fund

	£ million
2001	2,507
2002	2,481
2003	2,665
2004 (Forecast)	2,907

Source:
HM Treasury European Community Finances Statement on the 2004 EC Budget and measures to counter fraud and financial mismanagement".

Dangerous Wild Animals Act

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the timetable is for the review of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, with particular reference to the review of species listed in the Schedule to the Act. [1361]

Jim Knight: I intend to proceed with revision of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act by a two-stage process, addressing first the Schedule, which lists the species which are required to be licensed, then the main body of the Act.
 
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Following public consultation carried out on the Schedule last year, my aim is to revise it during 2005 before the next round of licensing at the end of the year. On the main body of the Act, the Department is developing new options which aim to deliver the public safety benefits of the legislation but also to reduce the level of regulatory burden on local authorities and animal keepers. This will require a slightly longer timescale which may be affected by other initiatives such as the Animal Welfare Bill. I expect to consider the options this year with a view to further developing new proposals for consultation early in 2006.

Departmental Assets

Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to realise the value of under-performing assets held by (a) her Department and (b) its associated public bodies. [1090]

Jim Knight: In response to Sir Michael Lyons's Report 'Towards Better Management of Public Sector Assets' published in December 2004, Defra is developing a comprehensive Asset Management Strategy covering both the core Department and its associated public bodies (i.e. its Executive Agencies, NDPBs, and Public Corporations). A key aim of the strategy will be to rationalise and improve the use of assets, and to dispose of those assets that are under-utilised or under-performing. It will be closely integrated into our overall efficiency programme which itself will present important opportunities for asset rationalisation and disposal. The strategy will also consider opportunities to exploit the value of Defra's intangible assets particularly intellectual property.

As part of our strategy, plans are already in place to dispose in 2005–06 of (a) approximately £5 million worth of land and buildings owned by the core Department, and (b) a further £14 million of property assets owned by Defra Executive Agencies and NDPBs. There will be further significant disposals of land and buildings in the coming years, but firm details and values have yet to be agreed.

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