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7 July 2009 : Column 634W—continued
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Subsidies
Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to ensure the accuracy of mapping of land for the purposes of 2010 single farm payments. [284787]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is in the process of updating land information used to support the single payment scheme (SPS) and other direct support schemes. A programme of work is under way to deliver a more effective and up-to-date geographic information system, as required under EU Regulation.
The programme of work includes a mapping update project which will gain agreement from farmers to updated maps of their land parcels and ensure the mapping information held by RPA to support the SPS and direct support schemes reflects the most up to date actual land and features on the ground. For the first time permanent features ineligible for support under the SPS are included. There are more than 2 million land parcels in England.
Completion of the work this year will enable the updated maps to be used for next year. The programme will also provide the potential for future new services, such as the ability to view maps online.
Animal Welfare
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations he has received in respect of his Department’s consultation on proposals to remove strict liability from animal owners under the Animals Act 1971; and if he will make a statement. [284683]
Jim Fitzpatrick: DEFRA has received 33 responses from a wide range of respondents, including private individuals, large national organisations, small local or regional groups, independent equine businesses, insurance companies and legal firms. We are now considering these detailed responses and will publish a summary of responses shortly.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what new slaughter welfare rules he proposes to introduce; and what estimate he has made of the cost of administering such rules in (a) Lancashire, (b) the North West and (c) England. [284783]
Jim Fitzpatrick: On 22 June the EU Council of Ministers reached political agreement on the final text of a Council regulation on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter. The regulation is expected to apply from 1 January 2013. It will replace the current directive 93/119 which the European Commission considers out of date. The regulation updates the existing regulatory framework to take account of technological improvements and opinions by the European Food Safety Authority and the World Health Organisation.
The regulation permits the use of national rules to maintain existing levels of welfare protection where these exceed those in the regulation. We would wish to maintain existing welfare standards and will be considering how national rules can be used to achieve this objective. Any changes to domestic legislation will be subject to a formal public consultation.
An initial estimate of the costs associated with the initial Commission proposal was published on the DEFRA website on 27 January 2009. Revised estimates are currently being prepared to reflect the changes made in the final text. These will be made available later in the year when the final text of the regulation is published. However, we have no plans to publish local or regional cost estimates.
Animals: Quarantine
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many animals of each species were kept in quarantine facilities operated by his Department in 2008. [284098]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The following species arrived in the UK in 2008 and went into quarantine. This does not include animals which entered into quarantine at the end of 2007 and were released in 2008.
| Species | Number in quarantine |
| Note: The figures in the table are taken from Animal Health’s bespoke quarantine system. | |
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many animals in quarantine were vaccinated against rabies while in quarantine in each of the last five years. [284108]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of animals which went into quarantine in the following years (from 1 January until 31 December for each year) and were vaccinated against rabies are as follows:
| Number of animals in quarantine and vaccinated against rabies | |
| (1) Figures from 1 January 2009 until 1 June 2009. Note: The figures in the table are taken from Animal Health’s bespoke quarantine system. | |
Only domestic (i.e. pet) cats and dogs are required to be vaccinated against rabies in quarantine unless they have been prepared for the Pet Travel Scheme for early release, in which case they can waive the requirement for rabies vaccination. Other mammals, zoo or research animals do not have to be vaccinated against rabies in quarantine.
These figures do not include animals which, for example, entered the UK (and entered quarantine) at the end of 2004 and were vaccinated, but released from quarantine in 2005.
Bovine Tuberculosis
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle aged (a) over 15 months, (b) 12 to 15 months, (c) nine to 12 months, (d) six to nine months and (e) 42 days to six months have tested (i) positive and (ii) inconclusive for bovine tuberculosis under pre-movement testing regulations in each year since its introduction. [283009]
Jim Fitzpatrick:
DEFRA does not compile statistics for pre-movement testing in the format which the hon. Member for South-East Cambridgeshire requests. However, we can provide the number of bovine tuberculosis (TB)
positive and inconclusive reactor (IR) cattle identified in England each year since TB pre-movement testing became mandatory in 2006 (table 1); and a breakdown of the reactor and IR animals over 15 months and under 15 months (table 2).
| Reactors | IRs | |
| Source: Animal Health database (30 April 2009) | ||
| 1 March 2007 to 29 February 2008 | 1 March 2008 to 28 February 2009 | |
| Source: Animal Health database (30 April 2008 and 30 April 2009) | ||
The published figures are an underestimate of the impact of the policy and show the minimum benefits. The number of reactors identified does not take into account the benefits of herd owners utilising Government paid surveillance tests as pre-movement tests or the number of IRs identified by pre-movement testing which have ended up as reactors when retested.
Veterinary Services
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons on its review of the training and employment of veterinary nurses. [283641]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) is the awarding body for veterinary nurse qualifications. Students achieve NVQ levels 2 and 3 before being awarded their RCVS certificate. The RCVS is currently conducting a survey of veterinary nurses, training practices, training course providers and other interested parties as part of a forthcoming review of its awards.
DEFRA has held no discussions with the RCVS on this issue.
Wildlife: Disease Control
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what financial support is available for his Department’s surveillance strategy to guard against the spread of wildlife diseases in 2009-10. [283639]
Jim Fitzpatrick: A total of £1.5 million is allocated to financing activities to guard against the spread of wildlife diseases in 2009-10. This figure includes funding to support a range of activities including surveillance for diseases in wildlife, for example avian influenza in wild birds, contingency planning and disease control for rabies and collection of wild bird population data.
Transport
A1
Mr. Moss: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the merits of introducing (a) separated junctions at Sandy, Beeston and Biggleswade and (b) new bypasses for Sandy and Biggleswade on the A1 between the Black Cat roundabout and the A1(M) at Radwell north of Baldock. [284486]
Chris Mole: The A1 trunk road through Bedfordshire is identified as a road of regional importance. As such the priority to be given for separated junctions at Sandy, Beeston and Biggleswade and new bypasses for Sandy and Biggleswade is initially for the East of England to consider.
In March 2009 the region submitted advice to Government on public spending priorities for transport, housing and regeneration, economic development and skills as part of the refresh of the Regional Funding Advice (known as RFA2). This includes transport priorities in the region through to 2018-19. The Government expect to respond to the region’s advice later this year. However, the region did not include these junctions and bypasses in its submitted priorities.
Airports: Regulation
Susan Kramer: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what representations he has received on his proposal to introduce a special administration regime for regulated airports. [283959]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport has received 34 representations in response to its proposal to introduce a special administration regime for regulated airports.
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