Written Answers to Questions
Monday 20 July 2009
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Subsidies
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farmers did not receive Common Agricultural Policy subsidy payments because of inaccuracies in the maps of their land which they submitted to his Department in the last two years. [284408]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The data required to provide the number of farmers that did not receive CAP subsidy payments because of inaccuracies in the maps of their land is not held in a form that is easily accessible. The process to reconcile such information is resource intensive, time consuming and would cost more than £750 to collate.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how the new set of maps issued by the Rural Payments Agency in connection with claims for payment under the single payment scheme will seek to prevent claims being submitted by more than one farmer per field. [286069]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Single payment scheme applicants can only claim for land at their disposal for the relevant scheme year. Instances where the same field is being claimed by more than one farmer are identified and resolved through the SPS claim validation process.
The rural land register mapping update exercise will increase the accuracy of the map data used to validate these claims for payment.
Air Pollution
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to reduce levels of (a) particulate matter, (b) nitrogen dioxide and (c) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons adjacent to main roads to within the limits prescribed in EU legislation. [285514]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 9 July 2009]: EU air quality limits are already met across 99 per cent. of the UK (land area). For the very small parts of the country where limit values are not yet met, including London, roadside locations present the greatest challenge. The UK, like most other member states is using the provisions in EU legislation to secure from the European Commission additional time to meet the limit values for both particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide. If successful these would extend the compliance deadlines to 2011 for particulate matter and to 2015 for nitrogen dioxide.
The Government submitted in April their application for particulate matter:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/airquality/euint/eudirectives/airqualdirectives/notification.htm
and is working with the Mayor of London and relevant local authorities with a view to consulting on the application for nitrogen dioxide early in 2010. Applications need to set out the measures that will be taken to meet the limit values by the extended deadlines. The additional time will allow current and planned measures to take effect.
EU target values for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons do not come into force until 2012. In 2008 all monitoring sites at roadside locations exhibited concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon below the target value. Measures to reduce emissions from traffic source will continue to reduce concentrations at urban sites.
More widely, Government are working to improve the regulation of biomass heating systems to ensure that their rollout minimises any negative impact on air quality.
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made on his Department's request for a derogation from EU air quality standards in respect of particulate matter; and if he will make a statement. [287840]
Jim Fitzpatrick: EU air quality limits are already met across 99 per cent. of the UK (land area). For the very small parts of the UK where limit values are not yet met, roadside locations present the greatest challenge. The UK, like most other member states, is using the provisions under directive 2008/50/EC to secure additional time from the European Commission to meet the limit values for particulate matter (PM10).
In April, following public consultation, the UK Government submitted a notification to the Commission applying for the additional time available for eight areas across the UK. These are areas where at some point since 2005 exceedences of the PM10 limit values have been reported to the Commission.
Additional information was submitted to the Commission at the beginning of July in response to a request from them following their initial examination of the application. The Commission has indicated that it will conclude its examination in the autumn.
The UK application is available on the DEFRA website at:
The additional information provided to the Commission shall be available on the website shortly.
Animals: Exports
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent progress has been made in reducing levels of live animal exports. [288011]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The export of live animals is a lawful trade and to restrict it would be contrary to free trade rules. Such trade must, though, adhere to the standards set out in health and welfare rules.
The Government would prefer a trade in meat to the long distance transport of live animals to slaughter, whether in the UK, or across borders.
Batteries: Recycling
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government are taking to increase rates of battery recycling to meet the requirements of the EU batteries directive. [288709]
Dan Norris: The Government have introduced new UK regulations to transpose the EU's batteries directive. The regulations make battery producers responsible for collecting, treating and recycling waste batteries.
Most industrial and automotive batteries are already recycled. The regulations seek to ensure that this will continue. However, few portable batteries are currently recycled. The new regulations require portable battery producers to join a Battery Compliance Scheme. The schemes will be responsible for increasing battery collection rates. DEFRA and the schemes will also carry out publicity activities to encourage consumers to recycle their batteries. From February 2010, most shops selling household batteries will collect waste batteries from consumers.
Batteries: Waste Disposal
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the environmental effects of the disposal of batteries. [286359]
Dan Norris: The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform published an impact assessment on the Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009 (SI No. 890/2009) in May. This covers environmental effects and can be found at:
Beef: Imports
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will estimate the volume of Brazilian beef imported into the UK which was raised in illegally deforested areas in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [285558]
Jim Fitzpatrick: We do not hold figures on the volume of Brazilian beef imported into the UK which would link across to deforestation.
For animal health purposes, Brazil is split into 'safe' and 'unsafe' disease regions, to prevent the arrival of disease into either the UK or EU. The meat imported to the EU must be accompanied by appropriate animal and public health certification and must come from EU approved plants in the exporting country (in this case Brazil).
Any illegal imports of Brazilian meat would be seized, destroyed or re-exported.
We are working hard internationally, including under the UNFCCC to find ways of helping developing countries to address deforestation. The approach aims to provide incentives to reduce deforestation through reflecting the real value of forests, including their role in reducing emissions.
Bovine Tuberculosis: Devon
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has for the introduction of practical steps to reduce levels of bovine tuberculosis in Devon; and what the timescale is of those plans. [287782]
Jim Fitzpatrick: This Government remain committed to working with industry to monitor and enhance TB control measures. Most recently, the TB Eradication Group was set up in November 2008 to make recommendations to the Secretary of State for developing a plan for reducing bovine TB in all parts of England, including Devon, with the ultimate objective of moving towards eventual eradication.
We are also actively pursuing the future use of vaccination of cattle and wildlife, through vaccine research, and the Badger Vaccine Deployment Project (BVDP), alongside our current control measures. Two of the areas for the BVDP are in Devon and the aim is that the vaccination of badgers will commence in summer 2010 and take place for at least five years in each area.
Bovine Tuberculosis: East of England
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farms in (a) Essex and (b) the East of England were under bovine tuberculosis restrictions on the latest date for which figures are available. [288111]
Jim Fitzpatrick: DEFRA cannot provide the information in the format requested. DEFRA collects data on the number of herds under restriction because TB measures apply to a herd and not a farm.
We can provide the latest data from Vetnet (1 June) which shows that the number of herds under bovine TB restrictions on 31 March 2009 was (a) 19 herds in Essex, and (b) 636 herds in the East of England region.
Note:
Data downloaded from the Vetnet system is provisional and subject to change as more data becomes available.
Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many vaccinations of each badger will be required under the new Badger Vaccine Deployment Programme. [287212]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Badgers only need to be vaccinated with BCG once to confer a protective effect on an individual badger. However, it is unnecessary to vaccinate every individual, although the more badgers vaccinated the better overall.
We do not know how long the protection lasts but an annual vaccination campaign is consistent with published results that BCG protection lasts at least one year in animals. Safety data from the Badger Vaccine Study (BVS) on repeated annual vaccinations will be reported in the final report of the BVS which is expected in March 2010.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how long the temporary tag on badgers as part of the Badger Vaccine Deployment Programme will last. [287213]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The temporary marks on vaccinated badgers will last for at least several weeks, depending on weather conditions. This is so a marked badger re-trapped in any given trapping session can be released without further vaccination. There is no need for long-term marking as there is no detrimental effect if a badger is injected again in subsequent years.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the timetable is of the Badger Vaccine Deployment Programme. [287214]
Jim Fitzpatrick: DEFRA has recently had a series of meetings with key regional representatives and local veterinary practices in each of the proposed deployment areas. The next step is speaking with farmers in these areas, followed by signing-up participants and training contractors, which will begin during the autumn.
Sign-up will be in phases to allow capacity to be built up and early lessons to be implemented. Therefore, during 2010, vaccination will be carried out in a lead demonstration area, where contractors will be trained, and 20 per cent. (20 km(2)) of the other five areas. The project will be fully rolled out, in all the areas, by the third year (i.e. all areas will have been vaccinated by 2012). Once this initial phase has been completed vaccination across 100 per cent. of the areas will continue each year and each area will be vaccinated for at least five years.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what mechanisms will be used to assess the effectiveness of the Badger Vaccine Deployment Programme; [287215]
(2) what estimate has been made of the proportion of farmers and landowners needed to participate in the Badger Vaccine Deployment Programme for the results of the programme to be scientifically meaningful. [287220]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Badger Vaccine Deployment Project aims to increase farmer confidence in TB vaccines and develop practical know-how for vaccinating badgers, including how best to deploy vaccines in an area and developing an understanding of training needs and costs. To this end, we will be monitoring levels of take up among farmers and contractors, and training will be assessed and monitored throughout the project. We will also build up an understanding of the costs of injectable badger vaccination. This information will inform plans for future use of both injectable and oral badger vaccines for bovine TB. Possible further measures of success are currently being considered.
The Badger Vaccine Deployment Project is not a scientific trial, but a practical project to develop know how for vaccinating badgers. The project will target cattle farming areas of up to 100km(2) (25,000 acres) in each of the six high incidence TB areas for five years vaccination. While the project will be unable to demonstrate a treatment effect of the vaccine in cattle herds, an
exploratory analysis of routinely collected cattle disease data will be carried out at the end of the project and independent expert statistical advice has been taken to ensure the project design gives a good chance of detecting any changes in cattle TB trends that may be associated with vaccination. We expect landowner participation in the project to be at least 70 per cent. within the 300km(2) catchment areas, which will enable us to reach our 100km(2) target in each area. Social science research looking at changes in farmers' attitudes to vaccination and factors that influence farmer behaviour can provide meaningful results on a smaller scale. The project design has also been discussed and agreed with the TB Science Advisory Body, along with two of its subgroups dealing specifically with TB vaccines and economics and social science, key farming and veterinary stakeholders and the TB Eradication Group for England.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what steps will be taken to prevent unvaccinated badgers entering Badger Vaccine Deployment Programme areas; [287216]
(2) whether all badgers will be treated as part of the Badger Vaccine Deployment Programme. [287217]
Jim Fitzpatrick: All trapped badgers will be vaccinated. It is not necessary to trap and vaccinate every individual in a population or to prevent the entry of unvaccinated ones to control a disease. This is because as the proportion of immunised individuals increases, the risk to all individuals, whether vaccinated or not, decreases. The stable social structure of undisturbed badger populations, where there is little mixing of individuals between social groups, lends itself to the generation of this 'herd immunity' through vaccination.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the estimated cost is of the Badger Vaccine Deployment Programme. [287218]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The final business case for the badger vaccine deployment project is still being developed, and cost estimates will be subject to change to reflect, for example, the costs of contractors bidding for the work and the final costs for purchasing the vaccine. We do not propose to release cost estimates until these are more certain.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people will be employed on the Badger Vaccine Deployment Programme. [287219]
Jim Fitzpatrick: We do not know at this stage exactly how many people will be employed on the Badger Vaccine Deployment Project. However, we do know that it takes 10 people (five teams of two) to vaccinate a 100 km(2) area in one trapping season. The Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera), which already has a number of trained staff, will vaccinate badgers in the training area and will train contractors who will work in the remaining five areas.
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