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3 May 2007 : Column 1796W—continued
Rights of Way: East Anglia
Mr. Anthony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many Rights of Way have been established since the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000; how many were in East Anglia; and how much land has been affected in (a) England and (b) East Anglia. [135212]
Barry Gardiner: Local highway authorities are responsible for the management of rights of way and hold the relevant information on them. DEFRA does not hold the information requested which could be gathered only at a disproportionate cost.
Rural Areas: Environment Protection
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many agreements have been made under the (a) Countryside Stewardship, (b) Entry Level and (c) Environmentally Sensitive Areas schemes, broken down by year of expiry. [134076]
Barry Gardiner: The following table shows numbers of agreements currently recorded broken down by the year of expiry expected at the time the agreement was entered into under the three agri-environment schemes in question.
Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Scheme
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations he has made to the Home Department on the future of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Scheme. [134341]
Barry Gardiner: My Department has regular discussions with the Home Office on a range of issues. The Government are aware of the importance of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Scheme (SAWS) to farmers and growers. The scheme plays an important role in helping the industry to meet its demand for seasonal and casual workers, particularly during periods of peak activity. The views of DEFRA Ministers are fully represented in decisions taken by the Government about the future of SAWS.
Seeds: Imports
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many lots of seeds for (a) maize and sweetcorn, (b) winter oilseed rape, (c) spring oilseed rape, (d) sugar beet, (e) fodder beet, (f) beetroot and (g) winter brassicas were imported into the UK in (i) 2005 and (ii) 2006; and what the (A) weight and (B) country of origin of the seeds was in each year. [133933]
Barry Gardiner: The following table gives the volume of seeds imported to the UK by country of despatch in 2005 and 2006 for the seed types recorded in the official overseas trade statistics. Note, some of the seed types requested are not separately available.
The statistics are provided by country of despatch rather than country of origin. Details of country of origin are not available for the vast majority of imported seeds.
The data are subject to a degree of statistical error. The overall level of errors is low, but these errors have a much greater proportional effect on countries with small values or volumes of trade. Therefore, care is needed when interpreting the data.
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