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7 Dec 2009 : Column 5W—continued
Payments for the 2009 SPS scheme year only began on 1 December so we cannot provide equivalent figures at this stage.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the digitalised farm maps used by the Rural Payments Agency for the purpose of making payments under the Single Payment Scheme. [303628]
Jim Fitzpatrick: For Single Payment Scheme claims up to and including the 2009 scheme year, the Rural Payments Agency has been using existing Ordnance Survey base-data information on Rural Land Register (RLR) maps.
The mapping update currently in progress uses the most recent Ordnance Survey data available in conjunction with aerial photography to update the RLR maps. This includes improving the positional accuracy of our map data and reflecting any real world change recorded by Ordnance Survey.
Agriculture: Wales
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with (a) the Welsh Assembly Government and (b) the European Commission on the transitional arrangements for the agri-environment scheme in Glastir up to 2012; and what assessment he has made of that scheme's compliance with the rules stipulated by the Commission. [304141]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The transitional arrangements for agri-environment schemes prior to the introduction of Glastir will be funded under the Rural Development Plan (RDP) for Wales 2007-13. The RDP for Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG). Therefore, there has been no need to discuss these arrangements with either WAG or the European Commission, nor has it been necessary to make an assessment of the scheme's compliance with European Commission rules.
Animal Welfare
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many reports of abandoned animals his Department (a) has received in each of the last five years and (b) estimates it will receive in 2009. [304748]
Jim Fitzpatrick: None. DEFRA does not receive formal reports about the numbers of abandoned animals.
Animal Welfare: Circuses
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the merits of banning the use of wild animals in circuses; and if he will make a statement. [303056]
Jim Fitzpatrick: During the passage of the Animal Welfare Bill through Parliament a Circus Working Group was established consisting of representatives of welfare organisations and the circus industry, together with an academic panel from the scientific community. The group was charged with examining the issues relating to the transportation and housing needs of wild animals (i.e. animals not normally domesticated in the British Isles) used for performance in travelling circuses. The conclusions were that there was not enough evidence to show that the welfare of wild animals in circuses is any better or worse than those in other captive environments and that available scientific evidence was insufficient to justify regulations being introduced to ban wild animals being used in circus performance.
In the light of these conclusions we commenced a feasibility study on the possibility of introducing regulations. The first element, a report and recommendations from two zoo inspectors who have undertaken visits to both
travelling circuses and winter quarters, has now been completed. The findings of the first element have been discussed with representatives of welfare and industry organisations and we are aiming for completion by the end of the year.
Badgers
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on the relocation of badger setts resulting from the development of land for homes. [304538]
Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA is not responsible for the policy on determining licences for the purpose of development under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992; this falls to Natural England. However, DEFRA has an agreement with Natural England that it will consult DEFRA if a proposed licensed operation might pose a TB risk. Licences for development can only be issued for interference with badger setts; this is normally by closing down whole or part setts. The taking, and therefore translocation, of badgers, for the purpose of development is not allowed under the Act.
Bees: Imports
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many queen bees were imported in each of the last five years. [304738]
Dan Norris: Information on the number of queen bees imported into England from countries within and outside the European Community is available on the Food and Environment Research Agency's National Bee Unit's Beebase website.
The information requested is set out in the table:
| Number of queen bees imported | |
| (1) Imports from outside the European Community only. More reliable data on imports from within the European Community became available from 2006. | |
Biodiversity
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of species which became extinct in England in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [303290]
Jim Fitzpatrick: We have not made an annual assessment of the total number of species that have become extinct in England in each of the last 10 years. In the 2008 UK Biodiversity Action Plan reporting round, seven priority species were reported as having been lost from England in the last 10 years. Natural England is currently carrying out a systematic review of species extinctions in England, which is due to be published in March 2010.
Biofuels
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will estimate the carbon savings resulting from the growing of biofuels on land which had previously been (a) used to grow food crops and (b) set aside or unused; and if he will make a statement. [303289]
Mr. Khan: I have been asked to reply.
Currently, there is no agreed methodology for accurately accounting for the emissions from land currently used for food production, or set aside, if displaced by biofuel production. As such, the guidelines for reporting under the Renewable TransportFuels Obligation do not account for these emissions.
Under the recently adopted Renewable Energy Directive, the European Commission is required to review the impact of indirect land use change from biofuel production on green house gas emissions, and, if necessary, come forward with a methodology for addressing ways to minimise that impact by the end of 2010.
The Department for Transport has commissioned the development of an indirect land use change methodology through expert stakeholder input and will be making its findings available to the Commission in order to feed into the above-mentioned review.
Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farms in (a) West Derbyshire constituency and (b) the East Midlands were under bovine tuberculosis restrictions (i) in each of the last five years and (ii) on the latest date for which figures are available. [303191]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Bovine tuberculosis (TB) statistics are collated and reported in the animal health database down to county level. Therefore it is not possible to distinguish the number of herds under restriction in individual constituencies.
The following table shows the number of herds under bovine TB movement restrictions at the end of the last 5 years for the East Midlands (Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire), as well as individual figures for Derbyshire. Data for 2009 are to the end of August. The numbers include herds that were under restrictions for any reason related to bovine TB controls, including for instance a new TB breakdown or an overdue TB test.
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | August 2009 | |
| Note: Information is taken from DEFRA VetNet Animal Health Database. | |||||
Nick Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle have been slaughtered having tested positive for bovine TB in each of the last five years; how many of those slaughtered did not show signs of TB at post mortem in each year; and how many of those slaughtered had cultures taken at post mortem which subsequently did not confirm the presence of TB in each year. [303534]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The following table shows the number of cattle slaughtered under bovine tuberculosis (TB) control measures in Great Britain over the last five years, and the number of these animals with demonstrable post-mortem evidence of infection having tested positive for bovine TB in each of the last five years.
| Number of cattle slaughtered( 1) | Number of "confirmed" cases | Number of "unconfirmed" cases( 2) | |
| (1) Includes cattle slaughtered as skin and gamma-interferon test reactors, skin test inconclusive reactors and direct contacts. (2) Number of cattle slaughtered-number of confirmed cases (3) 2004-08 figures are provisional, subject to change as more data become available. Source: Data are sourced from DEFRA's VetNet Animal Health database, downloaded in December 2009. | |||
Following a TB breakdown we aim to carry out post-mortem inspections of all the slaughtered cattle and to take tissue samples from the reactor (or if several animals must be removed, from a representative subset of those), to attempt isolation and molecular typing of the causative organism in the laboratory. This is done to support epidemiological investigations and management of the incident, rather than to validate the ante-mortem test results.
Failure to detect lesions of TB by post-mortem examination, or to culture M. bovis in the laboratory, does not imply that a test reactor was not infected with bovine TB. Indeed, in the early stages of this disease it is not always possible to observe lesions during abattoir post-mortem examination and, due to the fastidious nature of this organism, it is very difficult to isolate it from tissue samples without visible lesions. Meaningful proportions that subsequently did not confirm disease at culture for TB test reactors cannot be provided, as substantial numbers of skin and gIFN positive animals are not subject to laboratory culture-e.g. once infection has already been identified in other cattle from the same herd.
Bovine Tuberculosis: Vaccination
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on research on a bovine tuberculosis vaccine in each of the last five years. [303622]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The following table provides a summary of TB vaccines research cost to the Department for each of the last five years.
| Expenditure on TB vaccines research between 2004-05 and 2008-09, GB | |||
| £000 | |||
| Cattle vaccine | Badger vaccine | Total | |
These figures do not include the costs of projects concerning the development of cattle and badger diagnostics which are relevant to the development of TB vaccines, therefore the total expenditure on TB vaccines research for each year represents a slight underestimate.
Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science: Shipping
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost to the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science was of operating the CEFAS vessel Endeavour in 2008-09; what estimate he has made of this cost in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11; how many days the vessel was at sea undertaking research in 2008-09; and what estimate has been made of the equivalent number of such days in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11. [302015]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The following table sets out details of the number of days at sea for the CEFAS Endeavour in support of CEFAS managed projects.
| Financial year | Days at sea |
| (1) Completed. (2) Committed. (3) Forecast. | |
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