| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
28 Feb 2008 : Column 1860W—continued
Devolution
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how often (a) he and (b) his officials are in contact with (i) Scottish, (ii) Welsh and (iii) Northern Ireland counterparts to discuss (1) fisheries, (2) the marine environment, (3) agriculture and (4) rural affairs; and if he will make a statement. [188439]
Jonathan Shaw: My ministerial colleagues and I, and our officials, are regularly in contact with our counterparts in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and discuss the full range of our common interests in agriculture, fisheries, the environment and rural affairs. My most recent meeting with my Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland colleagues was on 6 February where we discussed the outcome of the December Agriculture and Fisheries Council and future work on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he and his predecessors met counterparts in the devolved administrations in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [188440]
Jonathan Shaw: My ministerial colleagues and I have regular contact, both formal and informal, with our counterparts in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Department does not retain central information on the meetings held between my predecessors and their counterparts in the devolved Administrations. To provide a full response to the hon. Member’s question would incur disproportionate costs.
Electricity
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what total quantity of electricity in kilowatts was consumed by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in each of the last five years. [188976]
Jonathan Shaw: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) can confirm that annual electricity consumption from buildings on the DEFRA and Executive Agency estate for which we have contractual responsibility for electricity use are shown in the following table:
| Electricity Consumption (kWh) | ||||
| 2005-06 | 2004-05 | 2003-04 | 2002-03 | |
| (1) Consumption is total for 2005-06, we are unable to split the data before and after the Agency was formed. | ||||
Sustainable Development Commission are verifying government data for 2006-07 which are expected to be published in March.
Fisheries
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many non-UK vessels have historic rights to fish within the UK 12 nautical mile limit, broken down by country of origin; what the quota of each is; and if he will make a statement. [188547]
Jonathan Shaw: There is no stipulation of the number of non-UK vessels that are entitled to fish within the UK's six to 12 nautical mile zone. However, vessels are restricted entry to our inshore waters on the basis of country and gear type. Those countries who have historic rights to fish are laid down in Annex 1 of the Framework Regulation for the Common Fisheries Policy (Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy), which can be found at:
Quota is allocated to member states on the basis of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) sea areas. There is no specific quota for the six to 12 mile zone. Details of the quotas for each species that individual countries have access to can be found in Council Regulation (EC) No 40/2008 of 16 January 2008 fixing for 2008 the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and
groups of fish stocks, applicable in Community waters and, for Community vessels, in waters where catch limitations are required, which can be accessed at:
Fisheries: Closures
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what fishery closures have taken place in each year since 1997; what the reasons for each closure are; what the duration of each closure is; and if he will make a statement. [188425]
Jonathan Shaw: Details of fishery closures, at a UK level, during the last five years, where a fishery has remained closed until the end of the year are shown in the following table. The reasons for these closures are the exhaustion of UK quota. Some fisheries, such as pelagic ones, have a short season so the impact of what may appear to be a lengthy closure will have had a minimal impact on most fishermen.
| Fishery | Closure date | Duration | |
Fisheries: Enforcement
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what dates there were no (a) River Class offshore and (b) inshore patrol vessels operating in UK waters as part of the Fishery Protection Squadron in each month since April 2007; and if he will make a statement. [188545]
Jonathan Shaw: During the period 1 April 2007 to 31 January 2008, the dates when no River class patrol vessels were in operation on fisheries protection duties are shown in the following table.
| Date(s) | Reason | |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |