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29 Sep 2008 : Column 2418W—continued
Food
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will bring forward proposals to increase food production through (a) agriculture, (b) horticulture, (c) allotments and (d) residential gardens; and if he will make a statement. [224064]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 17 September 2008]: Promoting a strong domestic farming sector is central to Defra's work, which is why one of its departmental strategic objectives is "a thriving farming and food sector with an improving net environmental impact".
Defra is spending half its research budget on supporting the farming and food sectors. £27.5 million is aimed at resource management in farming and food industries, including energy and water use, and on climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The Government are working with food producers and processors to help prevent animal and plant disease, and with the farming industry to ensure there are enough workers with the right skills through the Skills for Farming project.
The Prime Minister's Strategy Unit's recent study entitled “Food Matters: Towards a Strategy for the 21st century” published in July this year, identified a number of areas requiring further examination by the Government. Defra is taking forward the report's recommendation on the need for a sustainable vision to guide future food policy in conjunction with the Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency.
Mr. Paice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the extent to which the UK was
self-sufficient in food production in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) type of food and (b) indigenous types of food. [224218]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 17 September 2008] : The UK self-sufficiency ratio for all food and indigenous type food is given in the following table.
| UK self-sufficiency in: | ||
| All food | I ndigenous- type food | |
| (1 )Provisional. | ||
Information on production as a percentage of total supply for selected commodities is given in the following table. These estimates are not directly comparable with the headline measures of self-sufficiency since they are volume rather than unprocessed value based, are not adjusted for feed, seed and livestock and do not include processed food.
| UK production as a percentage of total new supply for use in the UK | ||||||||||
| Cereals | Fresh vegetables | Potatoes | Fresh fruit | Beef and veal | Pork | Bacon and ham | Mutton and lamb | Poultry meat | Eggs | |
| (1) Provisional. | ||||||||||
Food: Genetically Modified Organisms
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of publicly-procured food exceeded the 0.9 per cent., genetically-modified labelling threshold in each of the last three years. [223451]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 10 September 2008]: This information is not available and could be collected only at disproportionate cost. In practice, there are no wholly GM foods on sale in the UK, and very few processed food products with GM labelled ingredients.
Greyhounds: Animal Welfare
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what meetings have taken place between representatives of the greyhound industry and Ministers and officials from his Department to discuss proposed regulations on welfare of greyhounds under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. [224055]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 17 September 2008]: There have been a number of meetings already between officials and representatives of the greyhound industry, animal welfare organisations and local authorities to discuss proposals for regulations to promote the welfare of racing greyhounds, and further discussions are planned in the future.
Inland Waterways
Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many vacant moorings British Waterways recorded in (a) 2005, (b) 2006, (c) 2007 and (d) the first half of 2008. [224021]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 17 September 2008]: The information is not available in the form requested. The precise number of moorings (residential and non-residential) depends on the lengths of the canals (which can be split into a higher or lower number of berths) and the lengths of the boats which moor alongside the canal. British Waterways estimate that they have around 4,600 moorings of which approximately 7 per cent. will become available for tender by the end of this year's trail.
Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what expenditure his Department incurred on the British Waterways Mooring Trial, including set-up costs and the cost of computer systems, between 1 March 2007 and 31 August 2008. [224022]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 17 September 2008]: My Department has not incurred any expenditure on the mooring trial which is an operational matter for British Waterways.
Inland Waterways: Fees and Charges
Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what income British Waterways accrued from mooring fees in (a) 2005, (b) 2006 and (c) 2007; and what the projected income from this source is for 2008. [224019]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 17 September 2008]: The income earned by British Waterways from mooring fees in each year is as follows:
| £000 | |
| (1) Full year forecast income | |
Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many boat owners paid mooring fees to British Waterways in (a) 2005, (b) 2006 and (c) 2007; and how many have paid such fees in 2008 to date. [224020]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 17 September 2008]: The number of boat owners who have paid mooring fees to British Waterways (including short term mooring fees) are:
| Number | |
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