| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
6 Jul 2005 : Column 411W—continued
Vehicle Fires
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2005, Official Report, column 822W, on vehicle fires, what the figures are for 2004. [9527]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested for 2004 is contained in the following table.
(7) provisional
Source:
Fire and Rescue Service FDR1 returns to ODPM.
6 Jul 2005 : Column 412W
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Abandoned Vehicles
Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance her Department provides to local authorities on the removal of abandoned vehicles. [9214]
Mr. Bradshaw: There is currently no central guidance supplied to local authorities on the removal of abandoned vehicles.
However, as part of the implementation of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, the government is in the process of drafting statutory guidance to local authorities on the discharge of their duty on abandoned vehicles. This guidance will be fully consulted on later in the year.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many abandoned vehicles were reported in each year for which figures are available in (a) England, (b) each government office region and (c) each local authority area. [9545]
Mr. Bradshaw:
Local authorities are not asked to supply figures on how many reports of abandoned vehicles they receive, rather the number that they remove and destroy.
6 Jul 2005 : Column 413W
Numbers of abandoned vehicles reported does not give an accurate picture of the problem as a report of a vehicle being abandoned does not necessarily mean it will turn out to be abandoned. Also, reports can be malicious and single vehicles reported by more than one person.
Bees
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reason the annual budget of the bee health progamme is being reduced by 20 per cent. [8347]
Jim Knight [holding answer 30 June 2005]: The decision to reduce expenditure on the bee health programme by around £250,000 per annum from 2008 was taken last year as part of a package of decisions on the future allocation of Defra's financial resources.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the threat of the varroa mite and other parasites to the UK bee population; and if she will make a statement. [8348]
Jim Knight [holding answer 30 June 2005]: Controlling varroa is still an important challenge to beekeeping today, but one which we believe beekeepers can manage through the application of good bee husbandry. The pest is now endemic across much of the UK and has become so despite its notifiable status. Defra has concluded that maintaining a statutory enforcement role for this pest is no longer appropriate and we plan to remove Varroosis from the list of notifiable diseases.
In terms of other bee parasites, the National Bee Unit has made an assessment of the exotic parasitic mite, tropilaelaps, and considers that its introduction could have a serious impact on UK beekeeping. We are developing contingency measures accordingly.
Bovine Tuberculosis
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been paid for cattle slaughtered because of bovine tuberculosis since 2000; and to how many farmers. [9661]
Mr. Bradshaw: The following table provides details for compensation paid against cattle slaughtered since 2000 in Great Britain. Information about the numbers of farmers receiving compensation is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
(8)TB Reactors plus Direct Contacts
(9)Data downloaded from State Veterinary Service database on 19 May 2005. All data provisional and subject to change as more data become available.
(10)TB Compensation data taken from the Animal Health 2004, Report of the Chief Veterinary Officer, page 161.
(11)provisional figures data taken from the Animal Health 2004, Report of the Chief Veterinary Officer, page 161.
(12)In 2001, the TB testing and control programme was largely suspended due to the foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak. When testing resumed in 2002, resources were concentrated on herds with overdue TB tests which would have had a longer period in which to contract the disease. Also the proportion of high risk herds tested immediately after the FMD outbreak was greater than that prior to the outbreak. As a result, data for 2001 and 2002 are not comparable with other years.
6 Jul 2005 : Column 414W
BSE
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what monitoring the UK Government have put in place following the discovery of BSE in a French goat; what discussions she has had with the French government; and if she will make a statement. [8986]
Mr. Bradshaw: In line with EU legislation agreed following the discovery of BSE in a French goat slaughtered in 2002 and the announcement of a possible UK case slaughtered in 1990 which is subject to further investigations, the UK has arranged for all goats aged over 18 months that die or are put down on farms to be tested for BSE. In addition all goats aged over 18 months slaughtered in abattoirs handling significant numbers of older goats will be tested.
The Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) in its role as Community Reference Laboratory for TSEs is in regular contact with counterparts in France. The Food Standards Agency and Defra, including VLA, met the French Food Safety Agency in June and briefly discussed testing arrangements for goats.
Cattle Restriction Orders
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle herds are under restriction orders. [9660]
Mr. Bradshaw: On 30 April 2005, 4,164 cattle herds were under bovine TB restriction in England. This includes herds under restriction due to a TB breakdown and herds restricted due to an overdue TB test.
In addition, there are currently 36 cattle herds in Great Britain under restriction for cattle identification irregularities. These restrictions will be lifted once the correct identification requirements have been met.
Cod Beck
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will take steps to speed up the proposed en-maining of the Cod Beck and bring it under the Main Rivers category. [9470]
Mr. Morley: Hambledon district council, have recently completed a feasibility study for a flood risk improvement scheme for Thirsk. The Environment Agency is working with my officials and the council to determine the most appropriate way of promoting such works.
Cod Beck is one of the watercourses for which we plan to transfer responsibility to the Environment Agency on 1 April 2006. If the current classification of the
6 Jul 2005 : Column 415W
watercourse creates difficulties in proceeding with a possible scheme we shall be prepared to consider bringing forward the proposed transfer date.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |