Written Answers to Questions
Monday 1 June 2009
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Competition
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the level of competitiveness in the farming industry; and if he will make a statement. [274932]
Jane Kennedy: British farmers work extremely hard in challenging circumstances and the competitiveness of the industry is a key concern of the Government. Between 1973 and 2008, the productivity (measured as total factor productivity(1)) of UK agriculture grew by 55 per cent.(2) In addition to productivity, the international competitiveness of UK farming also depends, at least partially, on the strength of sterling against the currencies of our major competitors. The recent weakening of the pound against the euro since mid-2008 has meant that British agricultural exports are priced more competitively against our European competitors thereby strengthening our position on the EU export markets. However, in order to maintain competitiveness in the longer term, the industry must improve its productivity performance relative to the farming industries in our main competitor countries, and the Government are committed to helping them do so.
(1) Total factor productivity is a physical measure of productivity and encompasses all businesses engaged in farming activities, including specialist contractors. Total factor productivity excludes subsidies.
(2) Source: AUK 2008 Chapter 10, paragraph 6.
Animal Welfare Act 2006
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the measures in the Animal Welfare Act 2006, with particular reference to the tethering of equines; and if he will make a statement. [273874]
Jane Kennedy: We have not yet made a full assessment of the effectiveness of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which came into force on 6 April 2007.
Animals: Diseases
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for which animal-borne diseases inspectors posted at UK points of entry are instructed to search. [275797]
Jane Kennedy: For intra-community trade in live animals, there are no checks at point of entry. There are risk based post-import checks at point of ultimate destination (e.g. farm, market), which are carried out by Animal Health for diseases that are notifiable under EU and UK law.
Live animals can only be imported to the European Community from third countries approved as having equivalent animal health status to an EU member state for the species in question. They must be accompanied by veterinary certification which must confirm, among other things, that the live animals being transported have been examined by an official veterinarian within 24 hours of loading and showed no clinical signs of disease.
Live animals imported into the European Community from such approved third countries must enter at designated Border Inspection Posts (BIPs) where they are again subject to veterinary inspections by Animal Health for clinical signs of disease and the accompanying health certificates verified.
Animals: Imports
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many live wild animals have been imported into the UK in each of the last five years; [275938]
(2) what proportion of live animals imported into the UK was taken from wild populations in each of the last five years. [275941]
Huw Irranca-Davies: This information is not held centrally.
However figures are available for imports into the UK from non-EU countries of species listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Permits to allow the import of such species are issued by Animal Health's Wildlife Licensing and Registration Service. The vast majority of these relate to imports of species of the class Anthozoa, which includes sea anemones and corals.
| Live wild-taken specimens | Of which : are of the class Anthozoa | |
These figures exclude some CITES listed leeches, which are measured in kilograms rather than number of specimens.
Cabinet: Glasgow
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much expenditure was incurred by his Department in respect of the Cabinet meeting in Glasgow on 16 April 2009. [273907]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The total amount incurred by the Department for this trip was £1,309.92.
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what expenditure on (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) food (i) he and (ii) officials in his Department incurred in connection with the Cabinet meeting in Glasgow on 16 April 2009. [273908]
Huw Irranca-Davies: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's travel costs to and from Glasgow were £744.67. The Department incurred no accommodation costs or food costs associated with his travel.
One departmental official accompanied him, and his travel cost was £500.25. The official also stayed overnight in London prior to the meeting at a cost of £65.00. He incurred no food costs or other accommodation costs.
Departmental Lost Property
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) BlackBerry devices and (b) mobile telephones have been lost by (i) Ministers, (ii) special advisers and (iii) civil servants in his Department in each year since 2005. [274465]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The following figures show the total reported number of losses of BlackBerry, personal digital assistant and palm-top devices and mobile telephones since 1 April 2004.
| Mobile phones | Personal digital assistants including Black B erry and palm-top devices | |
These losses were reported by officials of this Department. There were no losses involving Ministers or special advisers.
Departmental Safety
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on compliance with requirements of health and safety at work legislation in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [274543]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The information requested is not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Fisheries
Mr. Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many fisheries officers have been based in each principal coastal town in each year since 2004. [276706]
Huw Irranca-Davies: Data for the number of fishery officers in the principal coastal offices of the Marine and Fisheries Agency are contained in the following table. Details are only available from 2006 following the creation of the agency towards the end of 2005(1).
(1 )Information sourced from internal Marine and Fisheries Agency staff lists.
| Office | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 |
| Key: D1 = District Inspector SFO = Senior Fishery Officer FO = Fishery Officer | |||
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