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21 Mar 2007 : Column 946W—continued
Barry Gardiner:
It would not be possible to subsume the board's functions within the national minimum wage. In particular the board sets statutory minimum rates for overtime which are not provided for under the national minimum wage arrangements. Loss of statutory
protection for overtime would significantly reduce the protection given to agricultural workers and would be contrary to the Government's commitment to maintain the agricultural minimum wage arrangements.
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost to his Department was of developing a proposal for a regulatory reform order in respect of the Agricultural Wages Board. [125963]
Barry Gardiner: The possible development of a regulatory reform order (RRO) was considered by staff in the DEFRA agricultural wages and labour team. This work was integral to the Department's overall policy considerations in this area and no specific record of time spent on RRO activities was kept.
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost was of the Agricultural Wages Board in each of the last five years. [125964]
Barry Gardiner: The cost of the Agricultural Wages Board in each of the last five financial years was as follows:
| £ | |
Agriculture: Cumbria
David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many Single Farm Payment Scheme claims (a) have been adjusted and (b) are under review in Cumbria. [126862]
Barry Gardiner: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 22 February 2007, Official Report, column 59WS. Detailed analysis of payments made under the 2005 Single Payment Scheme is not yet available.
Agriculture: Subsidies
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many Single Payment Scheme claims (a) have been adjusted and (b) are under review. [126121]
Barry Gardiner [holding answer 8 March 2007]: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 22 February 2007, Official Report, column 59WS.
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in which agricultural sectors in each EU member state Common Agricultural Policy support remains coupled to production. [127594]
Barry Gardiner: This information can be found in the “Overview of the implementation of direct payments under the CAP in Member States” copies of which are available in the House Libraries or on the Europa website at:
Animal Welfare
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance he has issued under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 on the distribution of animals as prizes in fairs and fetes. [128487]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Animal Welfare Act 2006 contains a provision relating to the giving of pets as prizes. The ban has been limited to unaccompanied children under the age of 16. This is in line with another provision which raises the age at which children can buy a pet from 12 to 16.
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 is accompanied by a set of Explanatory Notes and an additional Guidance Note to help enforcers of the Act. DEFRA has also produced the leaflet, ‘Your Duty to Care’, for owners and keepers and animals, which sets out the Act’s provisions.
We also plan to make the Guild of Showmen aware of relevant information on the new law, which we have made available on the DEFRA website.
Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle have been tested for bovine tuberculosis using the gamma interferon test in each English region since October 2006; and how many cattle tested positive to the test in each region. [127574]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested, for the period between 23 October 2006 (the launch date of the new policy on the use of the gamma interferon (g-IFN) blood test) and 31 January 2007, is set out in the following table.
| Animal health divisional office region (England) | Number of animals tested with g-IFN | Number of these animals testing positive for bovine tuberculosis |
Regions are omitted where no sampling has taken place.
Monthly data on the numbers of cattle g-IFN tested will be available on the DEFRA website shortly.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what account he plans to take of evidence obtained from badger culling operations at Steeple Leaze, Dorset and Thornbury, Gloucestershire in the future development of a bovine TB strategy. [127582]
Mr. Bradshaw: We are taking into account all the available evidence in considering a way forward on badger culling, including the badger culling operations at Steeple Leaze, Dorset and Thornbury, Gloucestershire. However, there were no scientific controls set up at the time of these operations. The Krebs review pointed out that the scientific merit of the results was limited because controls allow us to reduce the impact of possible confounding factors on the results observed. In the absence of scientific controls, it is not possible to distinguish the contribution of such factors from the effects of badger removal.
However, the review also suggested that both a before and after comparison, and a comparison with incidence in geographically close areas where no contemporary systematic removal of badgers occurred, provide useful information about the effect of culling.
A complete assessment of previous tuberculosis (TB) control strategies can be found in the 1997 ‘Report on Bovine Tuberculosis in Cattle and Badgers’ by Professor John Krebs and the Independent Scientific Review Group, which is available in the House Library.
Cattle: Transport
Gwyn Prosser: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many live calves were transported across Great Britain in 2006 and January 2007 in the course of being exported from the Republic of Ireland to the continent; how many of those calves were unloaded at a staging point or control post in Great Britain and given food, liquid and at least 24 hours rest; and if he will make a statement; [128170]
(2) what steps he takes to ensure that live calves that are transported from the Republic of Ireland via Larne and Great Britain to the continent are unloaded at a control post in Great Britain and given food, liquid and at least 24 hours rest; and if he will make a statement. [128171]
Mr. Bradshaw: The export health papers and journey logs are issued by the Republic of Ireland authorities so this information is not readily available. It may be possible to provide some information on the number of cattle which have transited the United Kingdom from Ireland via the TRACES (Trade Control and Expert System) database. This is not currently functional, but I will write to my hon. Friend when information becomes available.
It is the responsibility of the Republic of Ireland authorities to check that transporters factor in any required rest stops into their planned journeys when approving journey logs for journeys starting in Ireland.
Staff at Dover have a target of checking at least 30 per cent. of cattle leaving the country for slaughter or fattening. Any Irish cattle inspected and found not to have complied with the journey and rest time requirements will be returned to a control post to take a minimum 24 hour rest before continuing their journey.
Claims Annual Report
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department’s Claims Annual Report 2005-06; and when the next report is due to be published. [121398]
Barry Gardiner: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs does not, as a matter of course, prepare a Claims Annual Report. There is no plan to publish such a report.
Departments: Air Pollution
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate has been made of the carbon footprint of his Department. [124523]
Ian Pearson: Carbon emissions from the DEFRA estate and its business travel over the last five years is given in the following table where data are available.
| Total carbon emissions | |||
| Tonnes | |||
| Buildings | Business travel | Total | |
| (1. )Not known (2 )Carbon emissions from road vehicles (3 )Carbon emissions from road vehicles and air travel Buildings | |||
There has been a temporary increase in the size of the DEFRA estate while refurbishment works have been undertaken. DEFRA is seeking to reduce the size of its estate, and is working with the Carbon Trust to implement a Carbon Management Programme which will maximise energy efficiency and carbon saving.
The Department is working with the Carbon Trust to develop a carbon footprint label for each building on the DEFRA estate.
Reporting mechanisms to capture carbon emissions from all forms of business travel (road, air and rail) will be available for financial year 2006-07.
The Department offsets air travel (from April 2005), rail travel (from June 2006) and will offset vehicle travel from June (2007).
It is the Department’s intention to publish its carbon footprint later this year.
Departments: Meat
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what account he takes of animal welfare standards in the countries from which food procured by his Department is produced. [127596]
Barry Gardiner: DEFRA ensures its catering services providers supply meat that satisfies EC meat hygiene and animal welfare regulations. DEFRA ensures its catering services providers specify farm assurance standards in accordance with the model clause in DEFRA’s catering services toolkit.
Farmers: Income
Paul Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he
has made of changes in the average income of farmers in each sector of the farming industry in each of the last five years. [128097]
Barry Gardiner: The average net farm income for all types of farms in the United Kingdom is expected to be around £20,600 in 2006-07, about 20 per cent. higher than 2005-06 in real terms. Incomes are forecast to have doubled for cereals and general cropping farms due to better prices for crops, while lowland livestock farms and mixed farms also benefited from improved prices. Specialist poultry, specialist pigs and dairy farm incomes are expected to fall, as are incomes for less favoured area (LFA) grazing livestock farms. Figures for the net farm income by type of farm in each of the last five years are shown in the following tables.
| Average net farm income per farm (£/farm) at current prices | ||||||
| Farm type | 2002-03( 1) | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | Annual percentage change 2006-07/2005-06 |
| (1) Net farm income accounting years end on average in February Source: Farm Business Survey | ||||||
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