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10 Nov 2005 : Column 678W—continued
Liver Fluke
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the incidence of liver fluke in each of the last five years. [25503]
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Mr. Bradshaw: Liver fluke is not a notifiable disease and so there are no records of total numbers of cases occurring nationally. The Veterinary Laboratories Agency retain records of the number of diagnoses made in samples which have been submitted to its laboratories in England and Wales in its Farmfile/Veterinary Investigation Diagnosis Analysis (VIDA) database.
The total number of liver fluke diagnoses recorded are:
| Cattle | Sheep | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 393 | 131 |
| 2001 | 366 | 91 |
| 2002 | 373 | 164 |
| 2003 | 468 | 167 |
| 2004 | 348 | 91 |
Micro-generation Power Supplies
Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to encourage the use of crops for energy in micro-generation power supplies; and if she will make a statement. [26255]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 8 November 2005]: The Government support the use of energy crops in micro-generation power plants. We are working closely with industry and others to develop markets and promote uptake. DTI and the big lottery fund's bio-energy capital grants scheme has allocated £66 million of funding to develop end-use markets for biomass, including small-scale combined heat and power plants. The Community Renewables Initiative's local support teams are working to develop local projects in their areas. Support is also available to develop heat projects.
The Biomass Task Force, led by Sir Ben Gill, was set up to identify the barriers to developing biomass energy, including energy crops, and to recommend ways to overcome the problems. Their report was published in October and a number of their recommendations are relevant to micro-generation. The Government have committed themselves to publishing a full response to the report within the next six months.
Single Payment Plan
Mr. Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she has taken to ensure that farmers will receive their entitlements in time to complete their Single Payment Plan applications for 2 April and 15 May transfer deadlines. [25586]
Jim Knight:
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is responsible for implementing the Single Payment Scheme and making payments in England. RPA intends to issue definitive entitlement statements as soon as practical, following the validation of the 120,000 claims made to the 2005 scheme. RPA remains on target to issue entitlement statements in advance of the notification deadlines established for the 2006 scheme.
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Stewardship Scheme
Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will authorise the manual processing of all higher level stewardship applications which have been submitted within existing departmental guidelines. [26257]
Jim Knight: A delay with the new IT system in support of Environmental Stewardship has meant that a 1 November start date for the initial higher level stewardship applicants has not been possible.
In the interim, all higher level stewardship applications are being processed on a manual basis as far as possible, however regulatory requirements mean that agreements must be properly cross-checked and validated with other agreement data and Single Payment Scheme declarations. As there are numerous options available under higher level stewardship, this complex part of the process can only be undertaken through the IT system. As a consequence of these IT system delays, it is now our intention that the first higher level agreements will come into force on 1 February 2006.
TRANSPORT
A21 Upgrade
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has for public consultation on plans to upgrade the A21 between Flimwell and Hurst Green. [27218]
Dr. Ladyman: A public consultation was held from November 2002 to March 2003 on proposals to upgrade the A21 between Kippings Cross and Lamberhurst and between Flimwell and Robertsbridge. The Preferred Route was announced in February 2005 and an information exhibition was held at Hurst Green Village Hall on 4 March 2005.
A further meeting has been scheduled for 28 November 2005, chaired by the Hurst Green Parish Council Chairman, where the Highways Agency will discuss, with individual groups, the plans to upgrade the A21 between Flimwell and Hurst Green. As part of the scheme development, there will be further discussions with key stakeholders and local interest groups.
Cycle Lanes
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of cycle lanes are due to be established in the next (a) 12 months, (b) five years and (c) 10 years. [26533]
Derek Twigg: Local highway authorities forecast they will establish 327 km of cycle lanes in 2005–06. Local authorities intentions for future years will be set out in their 2nd Local Transport Plans which are being finalised and will be submitted to the Department at the end of March 2006.
Light Rail Systems
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the environmental effects of light rail systems. [26248]
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Derek Twigg [holding answer 8 November 2005]: It is for scheme promoters to undertake a detailed assessment of the environmental effects of their light rail scheme, as part of their bid for major scheme funding. The Department takes account of environmental effects on a scheme by scheme basis.
M3
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles use (a) junction 6 and (b) junction 7 of the M3 motorway each day; and what he estimates the capacity of each junction to be. [26398]
Dr. Ladyman: Traffic counts were carried out at the southern roundabout of junction 6 in September 2005 during morning and evening peak periods. From these it is estimated that between 55,000 and 75,000 vehicles per day use the roundabout. The capacity of the roundabout is approximately 5,500 vehicles per hour, but capacity is very sensitive to traffic flow patterns.
There have been no recent traffic counts for the roundabout at junction 7.
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the daily number of vehicles which will use (a) junction 6 and (b) junction 7 of the M3 motorway in (i) five years, (ii) 10 years and (iii)15 years, based on (A) current house building plans and (B) the South East of England Assembly plans for increased house building. [26400]
Dr. Ladyman: No recent estimates have been made of the daily numbers of vehicles using junctions 6 and 7 of the M3 in the future. However, at the public local inquiry, held earlier this year, into the Basingstoke and Deane Local Plan Review, the Highways Agency concluded that, in 2016, the peak flow between junctions6 and 7 would be around 5,400 vehicles per hour in either direction.
Traffic flows on the M3 between junctions 6 and 7 based on the South East of England Regional Assembly's current proposals for house building will depend upon the future location of housing and other factors such as the future regional transport strategy, all of which are subject to ongoing discussion between the Assembly and regional stakeholders. The Highways Agency is continuing to contribute to deliberations on the draft South East Plan.
Maritime Rescue
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people were rescued by HM Coastguard working together with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in each of the last 30 years, broken down by region. [25599]
Dr. Ladyman:
The numbers of persons rescued by HM Coastguard, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution or other search and rescue facilities during the period 2000–04 is shown in the table.
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In 2002, the former southern region was divided and the two parts incorporated into the Wales and west and eastern regions. Comparable information for the period prior to 2000 is not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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