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31 Oct 2005 : Column 675W—continued
Animal Welfare
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to introduce the Animal Welfare Bill. [19804]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Animal Welfare Bill had its First Reading in the House of Commons on 13 October.
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what qualifications animal welfare inspectors will be required to have in order to carry out their duties under the Animal Welfare Bill; and whether such standards will be set at a national level. [22247]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 27 October 2005]: The Animal Welfare Bill will not impose minimum qualifications for local authority inspectors.
However, local authorities will receive guidance and training from Defra on the new requirements to ensure that standards are as consistent as possible.
Avian Influenza
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of the possible timescale for avian influenza spreading (a) through Continental Europe and (b) into the United Kingdom. [21596]
Mr. Bradshaw: The risk assessment that we have carried out on the spread of the avian influenza virus indicates that there is a high risk that the geographical spread will continue, given the recent detections of the virus in various geographical areas since May 2005.
On the evidence that is currently available it is reasonable to conclude that there is an increased risk that the virus may be introduced to the UK as a result of spread elsewhere.
The significant uncertainties associated with an analysis of this sort mean it is impossible to assign reliable time scale to any changes.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether each animal health office has appointed specialist vets among the State Veterinary Service to deal with potential outbreaks of avian influenza. [20760]
Mr. Bradshaw: Many vets in the SVS have considerable experience and expertise in poultry diseases including avian influenza. Furthermore, confirmation of disease is based on laboratory analysis and not clinical diagnosis in the field. The SVS has recently run a programme of training for veterinary officers to update them on dealing with a potential outbreak of avian influenza.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Department plans to spend on avian influenza research in each of the next five years. [22862]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The amount the Department invests into research activity on Avian Influenza (AI) will rise from £463,000 during 2005–06 to at least £545,000 during 2006–07.
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This level may be an underestimate as further new research may be put in place related to questions arising as a result of the current spread of AI.
Because of this it is not possible to give absolute figures for the next five financial years. Other than to state that the level of funding will at least be maintained.
Biosecurity
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish the advice offered by her Department to owners of equine animals which travel abroad with regard to (a) avian influenza and (b) West Nile fever. [20764]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department does not offer advice to owners of equine animals about avian influenza and West Nile Fever. However, notes for guidance accompanying official export health certificates are issued by the Department to certifying veterinarians and exporters of equine animals. Where appropriate these notes give guidance about the need to certify that the exported horse is free from West Nile Fever.
Carbon Allowances
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on the allocation of individual carbon allowances in order to help the UK meet Kyoto targets for carbon emissions. [19853]
Mr. Morley: The Government have no plans to use individual carbon allowances or Domestic Tradable Quotas (DTQs) to help the UK meet its Kyoto target. Such concepts, although interesting, are not developed to an extent that would make them feasible.
Correspondence
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Minister for Nature, Conservation and Fisheries will reply to the letter from the Member for Banff and Buchan dated 27 August (DEFRA ref 223198) regarding his constituents Mr. and Mrs. W. Ritchie. [21651]
Mr. Bradshaw: I replied to the hon. Member on 26 October.
Cuttlefish
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) if she will fund a study of trends in the number of cuttlefish off the South Devon coast and the causes of changes in numbers; [19796]
(2) if she will make a statement on the state of the cuttlefish population off the South Devon coast. [19797]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The cuttlefish population off the South Devon coast is part of the English Channel stock. The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) have only recently completed collaborative studies on this stock. These suggest that the biomass may have increased in recent years. In the meantime, CEFAS continue to monitor trends in landings of the species and catch per unit effort
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by the beam trawl fleet, the main UK participants in the fishery. Further more detailed analysis will be undertaken as appropriate.
Fallen Stock Scheme
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the operation of the Fallen Stock Scheme. [20512]
Mr. Bradshaw: The National Fallen Stock Scheme will have been running for one year next month. The Scheme now has 34,000 members and has made 200,000 fallen stock collections. The Scheme has generally been successful although there were some localised collections difficulties last spring. The National Fallen Stock Company is working with farming organisations and the fallen stock collection industry to address these difficulties and to provide an improved nationwide service in 2006.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on how the fallen stock scheme has performed since its inception, with particular reference to the north west. [22177]
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Mr. Bradshaw: The national fallen stock scheme will have been running for one year next month. The scheme now has 34,000 members and has made 200,000 fallen stock collections. The scheme has generally been successful despite some early teething problems and localised collection difficulties last spring during the lambing season—although these were relatively few in the north west of England. The National Fallen Stock Company continues to work with local and national farming organisations and the fallen stock collection industry to provide an improved nationwide service in 2006.
Fly-tipping
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 6 July 2005, Official Report, column 418W, on fly-tipping, if she will provide the most recent information she has in the same format. [21042]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Flycapture database was established in April 2004 to record all fly-tips reported to and dealt with by waste collection authorities and the Environment Agency. The following data were recorded to the Flycapture database by waste collection authorities between April 2005 and August 2005.
It is important to note that the data are likely to increase as more authorities submit returns and get better at collecting and reporting the data.
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Note:
1. Fly-tipping data based on returns reported to the Flycapture database between April 2005 and August 2005.
2. No data are shown where an authority has failed to submit returns.
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