Dairy Farming
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment her Department has made of the financial viability of (a) intensive indoor dairy farms and (b) pasture-based dairy farming methods. [71911]
Mr Paice: No such assessment has been made. However we are currently considering how to best move forward research in the area of best practice for large scale dairying following a call for tenders in spring 2011 which resulted in none of the bids fully meeting the Department's thorough evidence requirements.
The Government believe that there is a place in UK agriculture for both sustainable intensification and more traditional production, so that the industry can meet varied consumer demands and be competitive on UK, EU and global markets.
We welcome innovative and entrepreneurial efforts by farmers to improve their global competitiveness, while protecting the environment and meeting animal welfare standards.
Dangerous Dogs
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to improve measures to tackle dangerous dogs. [72018]
Mr Paice: An announcement about the Government's approach to irresponsible dog ownership and dangerous dogs will be made shortly.
Dogs: Tagging
Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on dog breeders microchipping all their animals; and if she will make a statement. [70785]
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make it her policy that microchipping of domestic dogs and cats be made compulsory. [72019]
Mr Paice: The Government recommends all owners and breeders microchip their dogs. Microchipping is one of a number of options currently being considered by DEFRA in relation to improving animal welfare and helping to tackle irresponsible dog ownership.
Equine Animals
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make it her policy to ban the hot branding of equine animals. [72014]
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Mr Paice: Hot branding, like freeze branding, of horses is exempt under the Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) (England) Regulations 2007 from the general prohibition on mutilations under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
I understand that some people consider that hot branding should be prohibited. The reason for the exemption is that there are instances where ponies are left to remain in a semi-feral existence and do not react well to handling, such as on Dartmoor, in the New Forest and on Exmoor. In these circumstances it is better to be able to read the identification mark externally rather than to scan the animal which would involve handling it and causing distress. We realise that the pony would need to be handled when it is branded and at certain other occasions but these are kept to a minimum and when it is necessary.
Most horses are required to be microchipped for horse passport purposes and so there is less of a need to also hot brand them.
Farming
Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton of 23 May 2011, Official Report, column 371W, on farming, what steps she is taking to implement the recommendations of the Foresight Report in respect of ensuring more stable food prices. [71705]
Mr Paice: We are working to secure liberalisation of international trade which, as the Foresight project on the Future of Food and Farming states, will help dampen price volatility by allowing a production shock in one region to be more easily compensated for by output and trade adjustments in others.
As part of this work, in June 2011, the UK secured a number of significant results in the final text of the “Action Plan on food price volatility and agriculture”, which was agreed at the G20 Agriculture Ministers' meeting.
The plan represents the first steps towards a clear and positive response to the challenges highlighted in the Foresight report and, if implemented quickly, will go some way towards creating a more predictable world for food producers and consumers in both developed and developing countries.
The plan recognises that market fundamentals—supply and demand—are the key causes of price volatility in wheat, corn, maize and soya and that both increasing production sustainably and reducing shocks to supply such as those caused when policymakers respond to poor quality information, are the means to ensure a healthier relationship of supply to rising demand. During discussion of the plan, we emphasised the need to trade openly and remove distorting measures, and that export bans in particular should not impede calls for humanitarian aid.
We have established an Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) to improve market information and transparency in order to encourage major players on the agri-food markets to share data, enhance existing information systems, promote greater shared understanding of food price developments, and to further policy dialogue and cooperation. The G20 countries committed to disclose
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reliable, quality, accurate and timely data for this initiative. The first meeting of AMIS will take place in Rome on 15 and 16 September.
We also agreed to establish a senior officials' group to act as a "Rapid Response Forum", to share views and plans for immediate actions in order to prevent or mitigate world food price crises. Taken together with the improvement in market information which we anticipate that AMIS will bring, this improved coordination should reduce the extent to which G20 members are themselves the source of avoidable supply shocks in future, as happens for example when panic buying takes place or export restrictions are imposed.
The plan will now be submitted to the G20 summit in November 2011.
Food
Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the effect of financial speculation in commodity derivative markets on food security; and if she will make a statement. [72006]
Mr Paice: Following the 2007-08 Agricultural Price Spike, the then Government conducted a review to analyse potential causes of price spikes, including the role of financial speculation. This review of the various potential mechanisms, whereby speculation may distort markets, found no evidence of speculation having a significant role in increasing the volatility of food prices. With factors including export restrictions, stock levels, global energy prices and damaged harvests, being the immediate causes of price spikes. The review also identifies the potential benefits of speculation to agricultural markets. The Government agree with the findings of the review.
Forests: Water
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will discuss with her counterparts in (a) South Africa and (b) Colombia the effects on levels of forestation and water security of proposed developments. [68193]
Mr Paice: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Meriden (Mrs Spelman), will be discussing these issues inter alia with her international colleagues, including South Africa and Colombia, in the context of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) which will be held in Rio from 4 to 6 June 2012. Furthermore, Lord Henley took part in the ministerial roundtable on Forest and Landscape Restoration, in Bonn, on 2 September and I participated in the ‘Forests Indonesia’ conference on 27 September.
Land: Registration
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much revenue her Department expects to raise from the proposed introduction of charges for the registration of land as a town or village green in each of the next four financial years. [71912]
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Richard Benyon: None. In our "Consultation on the registration of new town or village greens", we propose that the fee imposed on an application to register a new green would be received by the local authority to which the application is made. The fee would typically represent only a small proportion of the costs of processing an application and our proposal includes an option to refund the fee to a successful applicant.
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information her Department holds on the number of applications made for the registration of land as a town or village green in each of the last four years by (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority area. [71913]
Richard Benyon: DEFRA does not hold data for 2010 and 2011, nor complete year data for 2009. DEFRA expects to conduct a survey of commons registration authorities later this year, and will publish the results on the Department's website.
The following figures are based on a 43% response to a survey of authorities undertaken in 2009 which was used to estimate activity for England as a whole.
|
|
Estimated number of applications |
| (1 )Until September. | |
The following figures are attributable to the authorities responding to the survey: no figures are held for authorities not identified in the following table and no conclusions can be drawn from their omission. DEFRA does not hold data by parliamentary constituency.
| Name of registration authority | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 (1) |
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| (1 )Until September. | |||
Materials
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 11 August 2011, Official Report, column 1173W, on materials, what timetable she has set for the development of the action plan on resource security. [71715]
Mr Paice: DEFRA's business plan commits to publishing the Action Plan on Resource Security by the end of February 2012.
National Planning Policy Framework
Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many officials in her Department worked on the draft of the national planning policy framework produced by the practitioners' advisory group. [71893]
Richard Benyon: I am not aware of any having done so.
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Ouse Washes
Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what assessment her Department has made of the other habitat creation projects in the fens in consideration of the need for the Ouse Washes habitat creation scheme; [71947]
(2) whether her Department sought legal advice prior to reaching the conclusion that wet grassland habitat creation was required at the Ouse Washes; and if she will place a copy of any such advice in the Library; [71948]
(3) what assessment her Department has made of the minimum size of development for the Ouse Washes habitat creation scheme to satisfy its obligations under the European Birds and Habitats Directive. [71949]
Richard Benyon: In the Project Appraisal Report for the Ouse Washes Habitat Creation project (OWHCP), it was recognised that the 1,008 hectare habitat requirement under the Birds and Habitats Directives would not necessarily be met by the OWHCP alone. It states that
‘there is the potential for the sites to be expanded at a later date by other organisations and not part of this project’
(PAR section 2.7.4). Thus there is a role for third party habitat creation sites within the Fens in addition to the minimum to be delivered under the OWHCP. However, those currently planned or under way are not necessarily in the most appropriate location, of sufficient extent or habitat type suitable for the target bird species that are associated with habitat loss since the 1970s.
The Secretary of State considered the legal implications of the Habitats Directive in consultation with other members of the Ouse Washes Steering Group. The document “Key principles of the EC Wild Birds and Habitats Directives as they relate to the Ouse Washes” was circulated to that group in the course of consultation. It sets out the conclusion that alternative habitat needed to be provided; a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
The Ouse Washes Steering Group assessed the amount of compensatory habitat required under the Birds and Habitats Directives as 1,008 hectares in the appraisal document “Assessment of Avian Functional Loss Attributed to Changing Flood Patterns on the Ouse Washes”; a copy has been placed in the Library of the House. The Project Appraisal Report for the Ouse Washes Habitat Creation project included three options to deliver this full habitat extent, together with a fourth option of delivering a smaller total of 500 hectares. The Project Appraisal Report concluded the project ‘minimum success criteria' should be 500 hectares of new habitat, which is the option now being delivered.
Slaughterhouses: CCTV
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will amend the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995 to make CCTV mandatory in all slaughterhouses; and if she will make a statement. [72061]
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Mr Paice [holding answer 15 September 2011]:We are looking into everything that we can do to clamp down on breaches of the law, including the possibility of making CCTV compulsory in slaughterhouses in future.
Sugar Beet
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make an assessment of the effects of ending EU production quotas in 2016 on (a) the price of sugar beet and (b) importation levels of sugar into the UK. [71513]
Mr Paice: The current EU beet production quota system is due to expire in 2015. We await formal publication in mid-October of European Commission proposals for reform of the CAP. We expect these proposals to cover sugar and to be accompanied by an impact assessment.
Wildlife: Circuses
Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she plans to take in response to the Resolution of the House of 23 June 2011 on wild animals in circuses. [70894]
Mr Paice: The Government have listened to the view of the House and are sympathetic to the motion for a ban. We will continue to look carefully at how this could be introduced, but there are unavoidable legal difficulties that cannot be ignored.
The Government have received legal advice that if the Government were to introduce a ban now, it could be challenged in both British and European courts. While we are working towards overcoming these legal obstacles, Ministers will proceed with a very tough licensing regime which will stop circuses from using these wild animals if they do not provide very high welfare standards.
As it would ultimately be taxpayers who would foot the bill for defending a legal challenge, the Government have to verify the legal status of any policy before going ahead as well as listening to the views expressed in the House of Commons debate. Accordingly, work is under way to resolve the legal uncertainties which currently make it difficult to impose a ban as expressed in the Commons resolution.
Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 20 July 2011, Official Report, column 1085W, on wildlife: circuses, what legal difficulties are present in relation to the implementation of a ban on the use of wild animals in circuses; and whether she plans to introduce a licensing scheme for the use of wild animals in circuses as an interim measure prior to implementing a ban. [71962]
Mr Paice: As I have previously said in the House, on the legal difficulties, we consider that a ban on the use of wild animals in circuses may well conflict with:
(i) article 16 of the European Services Directive 2006; and
(ii) article 1 protocol 1 of the European convention on human rights, which was given further effect by the Human Rights Act 1998 and sets out the conditions which must be met by a state which seeks to restrict or control the use a person may make of his own property.
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We are continuing to explore ways of overcoming such legal obstacles. However, given that a ban is not an immediate possibility, work is under way to develop a licensing regime that will stop circuses from using wild animals unless they provide appropriate welfare standards.
Health
Diabetes: Children
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of children aged under 16 who were diagnosed with (a) type one and (b) type two diabetes in the Bexley Primary Care Trust area in the most recent year for which figures are available. [71970]
Paul Burstow: Data from the National Diabetes Audit show that 89 children under the age of 16 were diagnosed with type one diabetes and fewer than five children under the age of 16 were diagnosed with type two diabetes in the Bexley Primary Care Trust area during 2009-10.
However, participation in the National Diabetes Audit is not mandatory and we understand that not every general practitioner practice in the Bexley Primary Care Trust area participated.
Mental Health Services
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment his Department has made of the (a) efficacy and (b) cost of mindfulness-based therapies in treating (a) attention deficit disorder, (b) hyperactivity and (c) other mental health conditions; [72130]
(2) what assessment his Department has made of the (a) efficacy and (b) cost of the use of (i) anti- depressant drugs and (ii) mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy and mindfulness-based cognitive behaviour therapy; [72131]
(3) how many NHS patients received (a) counselling therapy, (b) drug therapy and (c) mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy in (i) 1990, (ii) 2000 and (iii) 2010; [72132]
(4) how much the Government spent on research into (a) anti-depressant drug treatment and (b) mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy in the latest period for which figures are available; [72133]
(5) how much the NHS spent on (a) anti-depressant drugs and (b) mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy in each year for which data are available; [72134]
(6) how many NHS staff were qualified to treat patients with mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy in each of the last three years; [72135]
(7) what research there has been on the efficacy of mindfulness-based therapies in the treatment of (a) stress, (b) depression and (c) other mental health conditions in the last five years; and which organisation conducted each such research project. [72136]
Paul Burstow: Mindfulness cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is not available within all Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services. However, East Midlands Strategic Health Authority (SHA) has invested in training and supervision of CBT practitioners in Mindfulness and South West SHA are planning to begin training and supervision later this year.
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Information on numbers of patients who have received counselling therapy, drug therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy is not collected.
In 2010-11, the Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) spent £3.2 million on directly-funded research relating to anti-depressant drug therapy, and £0.5 million on directly-funded research relating to mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.
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Research projects and research training awards directly funded by the NIHR in the last five years relating to mindfulness-based therapies are listed in the following table:
Details of studies hosted by the NIHR Clinical Research Network, including some relating to mindfulness-based therapies can be found on the UK Clinical Research Network portfolio database at:
http://public.ukcrn.org.uk/search
Prior to the establishment of the NIHR in April 2006, the main part of the Department's total health research expenditure was devolved to and managed by national health service organisations. From April 2006 to March 2009, transitional research funding was allocated to these organisations at reducing levels. Records of individual NHS-supported research projects collected up to September 2007, including some relating to mindfulness-based therapies, are available on the archived national research register (NRR) at:
www.nihr.ac.uk/Pages/NRRArchiveSearch.aspx
Information on how numbers of NHS staff qualified to treat patients with mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy is not available.
Information on NHS expenditure on anti depressant drugs is shown in the following table:
| Estimated expenditure on anti-depressant drugs by the NHS in England, 2001-10 | |||
| £000 | |||
|
|
Community (1, 2, 3) | Hospital (4, 5) | Total (6) |
| (1) Data are available for the cost for prescriptions dispensed in the community in England from 1991 (and see note 4). (2 )Figures represent the number of anti depressant prescription items written in the UK and dispensed in the community in England. (3 )Prescription data classify anti-depressant medication under British National Formulary section 4.3. (4) Hospital data are available only from the NHS Information Centre from mid-2000. (5 )The hospital data are not a direct measure of cost and are likely to over-estimate the true cost. Hospital trusts may be able to access discounts not available in primary care and these discounts have not been included in the estimated figures. (6 )The medicine flupentixol is used for both depression and psychosis but is classified differently in prescription data and hospital data. Prescription data classify Fluanxol under depression and all other forms under anti-psychosis; hospital data classify all use under treatment of psychosis. In the table, any cases where the brand name Fluanxol appears are included but cases where only the chemical name has been used, and it is not possible to determine for which purpose the drug has been used, have been excluded. Sources: (1) Community—Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) system. (2) Hospital—Hospital Pharmacy Audit Index, national estimate from sample data. | |||
Mental Health: Children
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he holds on the incidence of (a) self- harming, (b) eating disorders and (c) mental illness among (i) boys and (ii) girls in each of the last five years. [72027]
Paul Burstow: The Department does not collect this information but a number of reports have been published by other organisations.
For example, the “Mental Health of Children and Adolescents in Great Britain, 2004” (Office of National Statistics) reported that 9.6% of children aged five to 16 years had a clinically recognisable mental disorder. Of these: 5.8% had a conduct disorder; 3.7% had emotional
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disorders (anxiety and depression), 1.5% had hyperkinetic (hyperactive) disorders and 0.3% had eating disorders The same survey showed that among children aged five to 10 years 10.2% of boys and 5.1% of girls had a clinically recognisable mental disorder. In the older age group, 11 to 16-year-olds, 12.6% of boys and 10.3% of girls had a clinically recognisable mental disorder.
Information on the number of children that self harm is difficult to collect as often they do not tell others or seek medical assistance. “Children and adolescents who try to harm, hurt or kill themselves” (ONS, 2001) reported that around 1.3% of five to 10-year-olds had ever tried to harm, hurt or kill themselves. Higher proportions were found among boys than girls (1.7% and 0.9%) and 8 to 10-year-olds had twice the rate of five to seven-year-olds (1.7% and 0.9%). The lowest rate, 0.4% was found among five to seven-year-old girls rising to the highest rate of 2.1% of eight to 10-year-old boys. Other reports, including “Truth Hurts—Report of the National Inquiry into Self-Harm among Young People” (The Camelot Foundation and Mental Health Foundation, 2006) which indicated a prevalence rate of between one in 12 (8.3%) and one in 15 (6.7%) across the United Kingdom for young people, aged 15 to 25, report higher prevalence rates.
Mental Health: Older People
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department provides to local authorities on steps to reduce isolation, loneliness and fear amongst people in later life. [71865]
Paul Burstow: The Department has not issued any specific guidance to local authorities in relation to reducing isolation, loneliness and fear among older people. However, the Department is seeking to collect data around social participation through the 2011-12 Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework indicator, which focuses on enhancing the quality of life for people with care and support needs including older people.
In addition, the Department's national evaluation of Partnerships for Older People Projects informed councils about the benefits that small services such as providing practical help and emotional support could positively affect the health and well-being of older people.
Pancreatic Cancer
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to improve survival rates amongst those suffering from pancreatic cancer. [71866]
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Paul Burstow: ‘Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer’, published on 12 January, sets out a range of measures to improve cancer survival rates in England. It shows how we intend to tackle preventable cancer incidence, improve the quality and efficiency of cancer services and deliver outcomes that are comparable with the best in Europe. The strategy sets out an ambition to save at least an additional 5,000 lives every year by 2014-15 through earlier diagnosis of cancer and improved access to screening and radiotherapy. To support earlier diagnosis of cancer the Government have committed over £450 million over the next four years.
‘Improving Outcomes in Upper Gastro-intestinal Cancers’, published in 2001, makes recommendations on the treatment, management and care of patients with upper gastro-intestinal cancers including pancreatic cancer. The Cancer Outcomes Strategy makes it clear that the improving outcomes in cancer guidance (IOG), published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, will continue to be a feature of all commissioned cancer services.
The strategy also sets out our commitment to work with a number of rarer cancer-focused charities to assess what more can be done to encourage appropriate referrals to secondary care for earlier diagnosis. Departmental officials have already met with a number of these charities, including a pancreatic cancer charity, with the aim of identifying some of the barriers to early diagnosis and to discuss potential solutions. This will inform our future work in this area.
Patient Choice Schemes
Neil Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Health to what extent GPs will be able to adopt and/or develop Choose and Book procedures following the implementation of the provisions of the Health and Social Care Bill. [72140]
Mr Simon Burns: General practitioners (GPs) can already fully adopt any and all Choose and Book procedures to support the way patient referrals are managed. All GPs in the national health service in England have free access to Choose and Book and around 30,000 referrals are processed through this system each day.
Choose and Book has the capability to support the provisions of the Health and Social Care Bill and practising GPs and consultants work within the Choose and Book Programme team to ensure Choose and Book supports clinicians' needs and addresses any issues they may have over the adoption or development of the system.