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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
29 Sep 2008 : Column 2419W
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.


29 Sep 2008 : Column 2420W
UK self-sufficiency in:
All food I ndigenous- type food

1997

68

82

1998

67

82

1999

68

82

2000

67

80

2001

63

75

2002

62

76

2003

63

77

2004

62

75

2005

60

73

2006

59

72

2007(1)

61

74

(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

1997

113

70

91

10

77

118

51

95

96

95

1998

115

71

88

9

83

122

52

98

93

97

1999

109

72

90

12

80

108

52

101

91

95

2000

113

71

87

10

79

99

46

98

89

91

2001

97

67

81

11

72

79

44

78

91

89

2002

99

64

83

9

71

81

43

85

91

87

2003

113

63

82

8

70

71

43

86

91

84

2004

103

62

81

9

70

73

42

85

88

85

2005

103

60

85

10

74

70

44

90

88

86

2006

102

59

88

11

80

68

45

88

87

83

20007(1)

100

58

79

11

82

69

42

82

90

81

(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.


29 Sep 2008 : Column 2421W

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

2005

4,378

2006

4,885

2007

5,196

2008(1)

5,666

(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

2005

7,490

2006

7,837

2007

7,777

2008(1)

6,457

1 To date


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