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Indigenous Food: Self-sufficiency
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the United Kingdom self-sufficiency figures in indigenous food for the years 1994 to 2004 inclusive. [HL1113]
Lord Whitty: The table below shows the level of United Kingdom self-sufficiency in indigenous food for 1994 to 2004.
| Year | Level |
| 1994 | 86.2 |
| 1995 | 86.8 |
| 1996 | 83.3 |
| 1997 | 81.7 |
| 1998 | 81.9 |
| 1999 | 81.6 |
| 2000 | 80.3 |
| 2001 | 75.3 |
| 2002 | 75.6 |
| 2003 | 76.9 |
| 2004 | 74.2 |
Self-sufficiency is calculated as the value of production of raw food divided by the value of raw food for human consumption.
West Coast Main Line
Lord Berkeley asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the total cost of services provided by Bechtel in connection with the West Coast Main Line route modernisation. [HL1068]
Lord Davies of Oldham: This is a matter of private contract between Network Rail and Bechtel.
Lord Inglewood asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the rail service available to passengers on the West Coast Main Line at weekends is satisfactory; and whether they consider the journey times to the railhead by bus from temporarily-closed stations to be acceptable. [HL1104]
Lord Davies of Oldham: Extensive work continues to be carried out on the West Coast Main Line as part of the route modernisation project. This requires parts of the line to be closed for periods and to be replaced temporarily by road transport. Every attempt is made by the train operators to avoid periods of peak demand and to minimise the inconvenience to passengers of replacement bus services but it is inevitable that journey times will be extended when these are in operation.
Stonehenge Improvement Scheme
Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the report of the public inquiry into the A303 Stonehenge improvement scheme was delivered by the inspector to the Secretary of State by the target date of September 2004; whether and
- when the report will be published; and when the Secretary of State will respond to the report and indicate future plans for the improvement scheme. [HL1105]
Lord Davies of Oldham: The inspector's report was received on 31 January 2005. There was no target set for receipt of the inspector's report following the close of an inquiry. Under a service level agreement, the Planning Inspectorate gives the inspector three working days for each sitting day of the inquiry to write his report, plus an additional 20 days for administration purposes. But it is accepted that this process can take longer on exceptional schemes, such as this, because of the complexity of the submissions and representations made to the inspector at the inquiry.
A decision will be announced by the First Secretary of State and the Secretary of State for Transport jointly as soon as possible after careful consideration of the inspector's report. The report will be published with their decision.
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