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31 Mar 2008 : Column 486W—continued
There were 68 persons registered as missing in Northern Ireland as of early November 2007. Only a very small number of persons reported missing are not subsequently located.
Olympic Games 2012
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funding has been secured for the construction of a new stadium in Belfast to host the football finals of the London 2012 Olympics Games. [197489]
Mr. Woodward: This is a devolved matter and the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure.
Sexual Offences: Convictions
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 12 March 2008, Official Report, columns 389-90W, on sexual offences, of what offences sexual offenders residing in each police command area were convicted. [195593]
Paul Goggins: This information is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agricultural Products
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the percentage of each major agricultural commodity consumed in the UK which was produced in the UK in the last period for which figures are available. [196384]
Jonathan Shaw: A suitable measure is UK production or UK home-fed production as a percentage of total new supply for use in the UK(1), for which data are available for the calendar year 2007 for a range of agricultural commodities as detailed in the following table.
| Commodity | Production as percentage of total new supply for use in the UK( 1) |
| (1) New supply for use in the UK is defined as UK production plus imports minus exports. For beef, veal, mutton and lamb the measure and term used is home-fed production and home-cured production for bacon and ham. | |
Bluetongue Disease: Disease Control
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what contingency arrangements are in place for tackling a serotype of bluetongue, other than serotype 8, if it enters the UK. [196215]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 25 March 2008]: The UK Bluetongue Control Strategy, which was developed in close collaboration with a core group of farming and veterinary stakeholders, the devolved Administrations and scientific experts on Bluetongue, sets out the contingency arrangements for dealing with an outbreak. The control strategy applies to all serotypes of Bluetongue, not just serotype 8.
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what estimate he has made of how many and what proportion of livestock farmers in protection zones will take up bluetongue vaccine; [196437]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of (a) sheep and (b) cattle in protection zones which will be eligible to receive the bluetongue vaccine. [196438]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 25 March 2008]: Data on livestock in England are only immediately available to cover the protection and surveillance zones as they stood on 25 February 2008:
| PZ only | SZ only | All England | |
Following further confirmation of infected premises, the Protection and surveillance zones have subsequently been enlarged.
Under European Community law, bluetongue vaccination can only be carried out in a protection zone. Once vaccination is progressing broadly across the protection zone, the intention is to extend or modify the zone in order to permit further vaccination, allowing a phased approach as vaccine comes on-stream. However, when vaccine first becomes available from May, it could initially be necessary to limit vaccine availability within the protection zone in accordance with the supply of vaccine and the epidemiological situation.
Although we have made no formal estimate of likely take-up of vaccine, the advice of industry stakeholders is that take-up will be high in a voluntary scheme, especially if an active approach is taken to promoting vaccination. As individual keepers will be responsible for the costs of vaccination, our aim, in close collaboration with a core group of industry stakeholders, has been to develop a vaccination programme which will reduce the cost of vaccination to a minimum by using existing delivery chains and reducing regulatory burdens in order to encourage maximum participation.
Bluetongue Disease: Vaccinations
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what dosage will be necessary for vaccinating each (a) sheep and (b) cow against bluetongue; [195782]
(2) when he expects the bluetongue vaccine doses on order from Intervet to be available in (a) England and (b) Wales; [195783]
(3) what percentage of livestock susceptible to bluetongue in protection zones in (a) England and (b) Wales he expects the bluetongue vaccine to be available for. [195784]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 20 March 2008]: The UK was the first member state affected by the current outbreak of bluetongue to place an order for vaccine; 22.5 million doses. 20 million doses are reserved for use in England and 2.5 million doses are reserved for use in Wales. The first batches of vaccine are expected to be available from May.
Vaccination is limited to the Protection Zone, and so vaccine will be available to all keepers of susceptible livestock in the Protection Zone, who will be able to purchase vaccine through their private vet. However, as vaccine begins to be delivered by Intervet, it may be necessary to prioritise vaccine availability to reflect supply and the epidemiological situation.
The vaccine being produced by Intervet will require one dose in sheep and two doses in cattle. The size of the dose is likely to be one millilitre but this is subject to ongoing discussions between Intervet and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate as part of the vaccine licensing process.
Bovine Tuberculosis
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle have died or been slaughtered in (a) England, (b) Cumbria and (c) Copeland constituency because of bovine tuberculosis over the last five years. [196206]
Jonathan Shaw: Our extensive bovine TB testing programme ensures that, generally, cattle showing signs of exposure to bovine TB are identified and slaughtered before the disease has become too advanced. Cattle with advanced bovine TB, or cattle dying from the disease, are very rarely found.
The number of cattle slaughtered under bovine TB control measures in England and Cumbria is shown in the following table. It is not possible to break the data down to a constituency level.
| Number of cattle slaughtered( 1) | ||
| England | Cumbria | |
| (1) Includes cattle slaughtered as skin and gamma-interferon test reactors, skin test inconclusive reactors and direct contacts. (2) 2005-07 figures are provisional, subject to change as more data become available. | ||
Caravan Sites
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) whether his Department has held a consultation on proposed amendments to the time limit given in paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 to the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960; [195761]
(2) what organisations have exemption certificates under paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 to the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960; [195762]
(3) what discussions his Department has had with the devolved administrations on proposed changes to Schedule 1 to the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960; [195763]
(4) what representations his Department has received on the proposed changes to the time limit given in paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 to the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960. [195764]
Jonathan Shaw: Any proposal for amendments to the time limit given in paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 to the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 would require new primary legislation. DEFRA has no plans for any such legislation.
DEFRA and Natural England, who now deal with the issue of exemption certificates under the 1960 Act, are updating, and consolidating into a single document, the existing guidance on applications for exemption certificates for both caravans and camping. We have consulted the devolved administrations and the major camping and caravanning organisations, including the Association of Caravan and Camping Exempted Organisations, about the new document.
The document reiterates previous guidance on the time limit for paragraph 6 exemptions—consisting of a maximum of five periods of 24 hours commencing when the first caravan is stationed on the rally site.
Exempted organisations which, prior to any exempted rally, wish to have a single caravan on the rally site to assist with the setting up of an event may rely on the additional exemption under paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 of the 1960 Act. This provides that a site licence is not required for the use of land by a person travelling with a caravan for not more than two nights. The exemption is subject to the condition that only one caravan is allowed and the total number of days in any twelve month period on which a caravan was stationed anywhere on the site, or any adjoining land in the same ownership, cannot exceed 28 days.
DEFRA and Natural England are considering representations from the major camping and caravan organisations. We expect to finalise the single guidance document by the summer of 2008.
There are over 300 organisations who hold exemption certificates under paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 of the 1960 Act, so it is not practical to list them. A list of the organisations is publicly available on the Natural England website.
Carbon Emissions: Housing
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of progress in meeting targets for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from the housing sector; and if he will make a statement. [196885]
Mr. Woolas: DEFRA is monitoring annual changes in household energy consumption, by fuel, and hence the corresponding CO2 emissions.
Against a long-term trend of rising gas consumption, over the period 2004-06, consumption of gas by household consumers fell by over 8 per cent. Of this, possibly up to half could be attributed to higher prices; weather changes had little effect. Improved energy efficiency for heating, particularly higher levels of insulation (installed via the Energy Efficiency Commitment) and more efficient boilers (required by Building Regulations), is likely to have contributed to the remaining reduction of gas, the principal heating fuel. However, more detailed analysis is required to quantify this effect.
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