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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 17 November 2005
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Offshore Wind Turbines
10. Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on tackling climate change through increasing the level of electricity generated by offshore wind turbines; and if she will make a statement. [29240]
Margaret Beckett: I have regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on sustainable energy issues, both as part of the Climate Change Programme review process, and our involvement in the Sustainable Energy Policy Network. This includes the development of renewable generating capacity including offshore wind.
Biodiesel
14. David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether her Department has commissioned research into the effects of biodiesel power generation. [29245]
Mr. Bradshaw: There has been a lot of research into the benefits of biodiesel. We announced last week that 5 per cent. of all UK road transport fuel will have to come from a renewable source by 2010. The benefits of biodiesel in power generation are less obvious because it is more efficient to use biomass.
Energy Consumption
19. Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she has taken to reduce energy consumption in her Department. [29251]
Jim Knight: Energy use is closely monitored and site-specific benchmarks are set for all but the smallest sites. Energy audits and remedial action are triggered for sites above benchmark. We are working with the Carbon Trust to identify scope for significant energy and carbon savings over the entire DEFRA and Executive agency estate.
Fish Stocks
20. Mr. MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to protect fish stocks in UK waters; and if she will make a statement. [29252]
Mr. Bradshaw:
We are working to ensure depleted stocks are not over-exploited, while maximising catching opportunities for our fishing industry where this is justified.
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0870 Numbers
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the occasions in the last five years on which 0870 telephone numbers have been used by her Department as contact numbers for members of the public; and how much revenue was received from the use of 0870 contact numbers in each of the last five years for which records are available. [24464]
Jim Knight: Of the helplines operated by the core Department only the Pet Travel Scheme Helpline operates a 0870 telephone number (0870 241 1710). This has been available to members of the public since late 1999. No revenue has been received from the use of this number.
Animal Snares
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will ban the (a) sale, (b) manufacture and (c) use of animal snares; and if she will make a statement. [27651]
Jim Knight: The Government considers that where there is a need for wildlife management then the proper use of snares is one of a range of control methods. Used according to best practice, snares can be an effective and practical means of wildlife management and are needed where other forms of pest control are ineffective or impractical. In these circumstances snares restrain rather than kill and may prove to be more humane than other methods. If snares were to be banned entirely it may encourage the use of more dangerous and illegal alternatives such as poisons.
The Government is also committed to working to improve the legal use of snares. Following an informal consultation on snares and traps and their use carried out in 2003 Defra convened an independent snares working group chaired by the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare. The working group was given a remit of producing a good practice guide and advising Defra on next steps on improving the use of snares. On 18 October we published the working group's report together with the Defra Snares Action Plan and the Defra Code of Good Practice on the use of Snares in Fox and Rabbit Control in England. These documents can be found at: http://www.Defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/vertebrates/snares/index.htm
Bee Hive Inspection
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with her EU counterparts about EU proposals to restrict inspection of bee hives to veterinary surgeons. [27093]
Jim Knight:
The Department is not aware of any EU proposals to restrict the inspection of bee hives to veterinary surgeons nor has it entered into discussion with other member states on this subject.
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Bee Keeping/Research
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate she has made of the annual value of the bee keeping industry to the (a) agricultural and (b) horticultural industries. [26965]
Jim Knight [holding answer 10 November 2005]: The most recent assessment of the economic value of beekeeping in England was undertaken by ADAS Consulting Ltd in 2001. The report can be found on the bee health pages of the Defra website at www.defra.gov.uk/hort/bees/econ-eval.htm. It estimated the value of pollination by bees of commercial crops at around £118 million p.a., with agricultural crops (oilseed rape) accounting for £11 million and horticulture (beans, top and soft fruit) for £107 million of this total respectively. The researchers excluded protected cropping, such as glasshouse-grown tomatoes, as honey bees are rarely used for pollination of these crops.
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what the planned funding is for the National Bee Unit at the Central Science Laboratories at York; and what funding has been allocated to the unit in 2005–06; [26899]
(2) if she will increase investment in the National Bee Inspectorate. [26966]
Jim Knight
[holding answer 10 November 2005]: The Department's expenditure with the National Bee Unit, which includes the field force of the Bee Health Inspectorate, is £1.235 million in 2005–06. Funding will
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remain at this level until 2007–08. Future funding and investment in the unit and the inspectorate will be considered with other areas of the Department's work as expenditure plans for future years are developed.
Beef
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on her planned measures to help the English beef market. [25305]
Jim Knight: My noble Friend, the Minister for Food and Farming (Lord Bach), chaired a meeting of key industry stakeholders on 14 October to consider the issues currently facing the beef industry. A detailed report is contained in Defra Press Release number 450/05 issued on 14 October.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the countries which permit import of UK beef; and how much each imported in each of the last three years. [25516]
Jim Knight: The following table shows a list of countries who currently do not ban the importation on beef from the UK.
Data as recorded by HM Revenue and Customs shown for all of these countries the UK has exported to. This will include re-exports of beef of non-UK origin.
Exports to EU countries is permitted under the Data Based Exports Scheme which mostly covers exports from Northern Ireland into the Republic of Ireland. Otherwise exports are from cattle slaughtered outside the UK.
Note:
2005 data are subject to amendments
Source:
H M Revenue and Customs
Data prepared by Trade statistics, Food Chain Analysis 3, DEFRA
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Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the countries which do not permit the import of beef from the UK; and which of the countries export meat to the UK. [25517]
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Jim Knight: The following table shows a list of countries who currently ban the importation of beef from the UK. Data is shown for all of these countries who have exported beef to the UK 2002 to August 2005.
Note:
2005 data is subject to amendments
Source:
HM Revenue and Customs
Data prepared by Trade statistics, Food Chain Analysis 3, Defra
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