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8 July 2008 : Column 1473W—continued
Grey Squirrels: Pest Control
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons Warfarin is not permitted to be used for the control of grey squirrels during autumn and winter. [216367]
Joan Ruddock: The use of Warfarin is controlled by the Grey Squirrel (Warfarin) Order 1973, which permits the poisoning of grey squirrels for the purpose of tree protection. Grey squirrel bark stripping damage is seasonal, occurring from late April until the end of July. Squirrels will re-colonise woodlands from which they have been cleared within one to three months and therefore removing squirrels at any time of the year, other than just prior to and during the damage period, will have little effect on tree damage prevention. In accordance with the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986, the product label specifies that Warfarin may be deployed to control grey squirrels between 15 March and 15 August.
Warfarin may only be used to control grey squirrels for tree damage prevention, and only ‘grey squirrel bait’ is approved for use against grey squirrels. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Warfarin cannot be used where red squirrels or pine martens are present.
No consideration has been given to extending the period in which Warfarin can be used. The Increased use of Warfarin would go against the stringent requirement in the UK Woodland Assurance Standard for pesticides reduction.
Institute for Animal Health
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has for the Institute for Animal Health research facility at Compton. [215369]
Jonathan Shaw: The Institute for Animal Health (IAH) is a company limited by guarantee with charitable status. It is sponsored, as are six other research institutes, by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), a non-departmental public body whose parent Department is the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS).
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Newbury (Mr. Benyon) on 13 June 2008, Official Report, column 534W.
Leishmaniasis
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) companion animals and (b) wild animals have been diagnosed with leishmaniasis in each of the last 10 years. [216273]
Jonathan Shaw:
Leishmaniasis is not a notifiable disease, so no definitive data is available for the total number of diagnoses made in companion or wild animals. However, in order to assess the implications of certain exotic diseases, DEFRA set up a voluntary exotic diseases surveillance scheme for dogs and cats across Great Britain, in consultation with the BVA (British Veterinary Association) and BSAVA (British Small Animal Veterinary Association). This scheme is known as the Dog and Cat
Travel and Risk Information scheme (DACTARI) and was launched in March 2003. Between 1 January 2003 and 30 September 2006, 19 confirmed and a further five suspected cases of Leishmaniasis in dogs were reported to DACTARI. Two of the confirmed cases were identified by veterinary surgeons in dogs living in Scotland; the remainder were from dogs living in England.
10 suspected cases of Leishmaniasis were reported to DACTARI in 2003, eight in 2004, five during 2005 (including one dog that was also diagnosed with Babesiosis), and one case was reported up to 30 September 2006. There were no reports for cats. Currently, there is no data available after September 2006. DEFRA does not undertake targeted surveillance for Leishmaniasis in wildlife, and no cases have been identified via the wildlife scanning surveillance system to date.
Nutrition
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what support his Department is giving to the 5-a-day campaign for consumption of fruit and vegetables. [216790]
Jonathan Shaw: We work closely with the Department of Health on a variety of issues, including the 5-a-day campaign.
One of the ways we promote the programme is through the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative (PSFPI), which has a key objective to increase the consumption of healthy and nutritious food.
In support of the objective, catering contractors are advised under the PSFPI to encourage the consumption of fruit and vegetables in accordance with the 5-a-day programme. Suggestions include displaying bowls of fruit in canteens or staff rooms to make it easy for people to grab healthy snacks on the run, providing more fruit and vegetables options as part of meals and using 5-a-day resources (which include posters, books and postcards) which illustrate portion size and what counts towards 5-a-day.
Additionally, the Catering Services and Food Procurement Toolkit of the PSFPI specifies that contractors shall show support for the Government’s 5-a-day programme by, for example, increasing fruit and vegetables in composition dishes and signing up for the national 5-a-day logo for use on menus and promotional materials. There is also a case study on the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme, part of the 5-a-day programme, in the “DIY guide to implementing the PSFPI—advice for practitioners”, found on the DEFRA website.
Pesticides: EU Action
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent agreement by the EU to introduce a positive list of pesticides; and how many pesticides he expects will be prohibited in the UK as a result of this decision. [216794]
Mr. Woolas:
The Agriculture and Fisheries Council reached political agreement on 23 June on a compromise text of the Slovenian presidency for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the placing of plant protection products (i.e. agricultural
pesticides) on the market. The regulation would include a positive list of active substances approved for use in plant protection products in member states. We expect the text to be adopted as the common position of the Council and communicated to the European Parliament for its second reading in the autumn.
The Pesticides Safety Directorate recently published an assessment of the potential impact of these proposals on 286 active substances. It concludes that up to 15 per cent. of those substances could be withdrawn under the Commission’s original proposals, which have been largely reflected in the presidency’s compromise text, and up to 85 per cent. if amendments proposed by the Parliament in its first reading report were adopted.
A copy of the assessment has been placed in the Library of the House.
Warm Front Scheme
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the value of Warm Front grants made to people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) south Tyneside, (c) the north-east and (d) England was of the Warm Front scheme. [215717]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House. Values are calculated by scheme year, 1 April to 31 March, except for 2000-01 where the scheme commenced on 1 June 2000.
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the average waiting time for (a) heating measures and (b) insulation measures to be introduced under the Warm Front scheme in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) south Tyneside, (iii) the north-east and (iv) England in each year since the inception of the scheme. [215724]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House. Timelines are broken down by area as outlined above and are measured by scheme year 1 April to 31 March.
It has not been possible to provide the requested level of detail from the scheme's inception and so detail is provided from the commencement of scheme year 2005-06.
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many back boilers have been replaced under the Warm Front scheme in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) south Tyneside, (c) the north-east and (d) England in each year since the inception of the scheme. [215725]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House and illustrates all boiler replacements fitted by eaga through the Warm Front scheme split by area, as outlined above, and by scheme year, 1 April to 31 March, except for 2000-01 where the scheme commenced on 1 June 2000.
It has not been possible to separate out the number of replacement back boilers fitted through the scheme in the time allowed, nor is it possible to provide these data for the eastern region before 2005, where the scheme was previously delivered by Powergen. This only affects figures provided for England as a whole.
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people have received a Warm Front Scheme grant in (a) Jarrow Constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England in each year since its inception. [215726]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House. Figures are split by scheme year, 1 April to 31 March, except for 2000-01 when the scheme commenced on 1 June 2000.
Treasury
Aviation
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 17 June 2008, Official Report, column 861W, on domestic flights, if he will list the destination of each flight. [215387]
Angela Eagle: The information requested could not be provided within the disproportionate costs threshold.
Child Benefit: EC Nationals
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many European Economic Area nationals claiming child benefit in respect of children living overseas have been investigated for fraud in the last 12 months. [215385]
Jane Kennedy: Statistical information on child benefit compliance interventions broken down by nationality of the individual is not available.
Debts
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average level of personal (a) secured and (b) unsecured debt expressed (i) in cash terms and (ii) as a percentage of income was in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [215873]
Mr. Watson: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 8 July 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your questions on what the average level of personal (a) secured and (b) unsecured debt expressed (i) in pounds and (ii) as a percentage of income was in each year since 1997. (215873)
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the average total personal debt servicing level as a percentage of income; and if he will make a statement. [215874]
Mr. Watson: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 8 July 2008:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question on what estimate has been made of the average total personal debt servicing level as a percentage of income. (215874)
Total household loans as a percentage of gross disposable household income for 2007, is estimated to be 160 per cent.
Source :
Total loans—table A64 in UK Economic Accounts identifier NNRE.
Households’ gross disposable household income—table A38 in UK Economic Accounts identifier QWND.
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