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3 Nov 2008 : Column 153W—continued
Common Agricultural Policy
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate his Department has made of spending under the Common Agricultural Policy on (a) intervention buying and (b) export subsidies in each of the last 10 years; what he expects it to be in each year to 2013; and if he will make a statement. [230842]
Jane Kennedy: Tables 1 and 2 present expenditure on export subsidies and intervention for the budget years 1998 to 2007.
| Table 1: Expenditure on export refunds for 1998 to 200 | |
| € million | |
| Note: Includes export subsidies to 'other sectors' pre-2006. 'Other sectors' category no longer exists Source: European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) Financial Report 2007. | |
| Table 2: Expenditure on Intervention for 1998 to 2007 | |
| € million | |
| (1) Accounting basis differs pre-2000, these figures are total market support excluding export refunds and direct aid. Sources: 1998-2006 data from annual publications of 'Agriculture in the European Union: Statistical and economic information', EC. 2007 data compiled from (EAGF) Financial Report 2007. | |
Future expenditure on export subsidies and intervention purchases is very difficult to accurately forecast as it will depend on future movements in agricultural prices and exchange rates. Nevertheless, the European Commission have presented budgeted expenditure for export refunds and intervention for 2008 and 2009, as presented in table 3.
| Table 3: Budgeted expenditure for export refunds and intervention in budget years 2008 and 2009 | ||
| € million | ||
| Export refunds budgeted expenditure | Intervention budgeted expenditure( 1) | |
| (1) Total market support less export refunds. Source: 2009 Preliminary Draft Budget, EC. | ||
The EU has committed via the WTO's Doha development agenda negotiations to end export subsidies by 2013 and to cut them in half by 2010. A full DDA has not yet been reached, but the UK remains committed to the ending of export subsidies in an ambitious DDA agreement.
Departmental Public Relations
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies spent on each of the external public relations and marketing companies included in the Central Office of Information's Public Relations Framework in each of the last 36 months. [221934]
Huw Irranca-Davies: In DEFRA, public relations activity forms an important element of a broader communications mix which can include advertising, direct marketing, live events and publications. Public relations covers a range of activity, including “experiential” events. The following table shows what public relations activity was procured via DEFRA's Communications Directorate since financial year 2005-06 using the COI Public Relations Framework.
| Financial year | PR agency | Campaign | Expenditure (£) |
|
ACT ON CO2 campaign (including a series of regional road shows) | |||
There was no PR spend recorded through COI's PR framework for any of DEFRA's agencies.
Fisheries: Quotas
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he last discussed reforming the sea fishing quota system with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations; and if he will make a statement. [228051]
Huw Irranca-Davies: Since my recent appointment I have begun meeting with counterparts in the devolved Administrations. Further meetings will be taking place over time which will include a wide range of fisheries issues, including the way in which we manage the common fisheries resource.
Floods: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will visit Canvey Island to review areas which the Environment Agency's Thames Estuary 2100 scheme is considering for flooding purposes; and if he will make a statement. [224625]
Jane Kennedy: The Thames Estuary 2100 project is still in development and we expect a public consultation to be held in spring 2009. There will be many opportunities for ministerial representation when the final report is published and so I do not think a visit is appropriate at this stage.
Floods: St Albans
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment the Environment Agency has made of flooding risk in St Albans constituency. [230641]
Jane Kennedy: The Environment Agency undertook a Flood Risk Management Study of the Upper Colne catchment in 2005. This included the constituency of St Albans. A catchment flood management plan has also been prepared by the Environment Agency for Thames Region, this was approved in July 2008. The catchment flood management plan is publicly available on the Environment Agency website.
The Environment Agency provided flood risk data to St Albans city and district council in 2007 to help the council prepare a strategic flood risk assessment (SFRA). The Environment Agency also provided the council with information on areas susceptible to surface water flooding in August 2008.
Fly Tipping
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions have been made for fly tipping and illegal dumping of waste abroad in each of the last three years. [231008]
Jane Kennedy: The Environment Agency has taken no prosecutions for offences that involved illegal dumping abroad in the last three years. The FlyCapture database shows that local authorities in England and Wales have taken the following successful prosecutions for fly tipping offences:
| Number | |
The Environment Agency has taken the following successful prosecutions for fly tipping offences (classified as s.33(1)(a)):
| Number | |
The Environment Agency has taken the following number of prosecutions under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations:
| Prosecutions | Offences | |
Food Supply
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact of the current economic situation on national and international food transportation and distribution systems. [231671]
Jane Kennedy: Globally, food security is about whether enough is being produced to meet demand and whether there are efficient and effective trading and distribution systems to get food to where it is needed.
In July this year the DEFRA published a discussion paper entitled ‘Ensuring the UK's Food Security in a Changing World’ which drew together a broad range of key issues and opened a public debate on what more needs to be done in the UK and the rest of the world.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps have been taken in partnership with retailers and food suppliers to increase the resilience of the food chain. [231677]
Jane Kennedy: The Government work with the food sector to promote business continuity planning to build the resilience of food supply chains. DEFRA chairs the Food Chain Emergency Liaison Group, a forum at which other Government departments, the food industry and the relevant trade associations can share information, discuss business continuity and jointly consider developing Government policy.
Additionally, in July this year DEFRA published a discussion paper entitled ‘Ensuring the UK's Food Security in a Changing World’ which drew together a
broad range of key issues and opened a public debate on what more needs to be done in the UK and the rest of the world.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what systems are in place to monitor and assess the resilience of the UK food chain. [231678]
Jane Kennedy: DEFRA chairs the Food Chain Emergency Liaison Group (FCELG), a forum at which other Government departments, the food industry and the relevant trade associations can share information, discuss business continuity and jointly consider developing Government policy.
DEFRA is also engaged in the central Government programme to improve civil contingency planning, which includes work on the UK food chain. This programme includes building resilience across all parts of the United Kingdom, horizon scanning and risk assessment. Information in the public domain about the Government's work in this area can be found on the official Government website, the UK Resilience homepage.
Additionally, in July this year the DEFRA published a discussion paper entitled ‘Ensuring the UK's Food Security in a Changing World’ which drew together a broad range of key issues and opened a public debate on what more needs to be done in the UK and the rest of the world.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of food imports were from (a) EU and (b) non-EU countries in each of the last 10 years. [231679]
Jane Kennedy: The proportion of food imports despatched to the UK from EU and non-EU countries in each of the last 10 years is given in the following table.
| Proportion of UK food imports despatched from EU 27 and other countries, based on traded value: 1998 to 2007 | |||
| Percentage | |||
| EU | Non-EU | All food imports | |
| Source: H M Revenue and Customs Data prepared by trade statistics, Food Chain Analysis Group, DEFRA | |||
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