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AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Livestock Farmers
2. Mr. Steen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to assist small livestock farmers in the south -west who are in difficulties.
Mr. Gummer : All livestock farms, including those family farms, in the south-west to which my hon. Friend refers, benefit from a wide range of Government support measures which are forecast to cost some £815 million in 1990-91.
Set-aside Scheme
15. Mr. Cryer : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the amount of money spent in 1990 on the set-aside scheme.
Mr. Curry : Payments under the set-aside scheme are made one year in arrears. In the 1990-91 financial year £17.5 million has been allocated to cover payments to farmers who joined the scheme in 1988 and 1989.
Oil Prices
16. Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the effects in the British farming industry of the rise in oil prices, since August 1990.
Mr. Gummer : Information on the cost of farm inputs, including fuel and oils, is published in table 6.1 of "Agriculture in the United Kingdom : 1990", which is now available in the Vote Office.
Brogdale Horticultural Research Station
17. Mr. Moate : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about progress towards finalising the sale of the Brogdale horticultural research station and the future arrangement for the national fruit collections.
Mr. Curry : The Department is in negotiation on the terms of sale of the Brogdale site.
The Government will continue to fund the national fruit collection at Brogdale and it is intended that arrangements for its management will be secured by a contract between the Ministry, the Brogdale Horticultural Trust and Wye college.
Ramblers Association
18. Mr. Eadie : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last met the Ramblers Association to discuss the future of access in the countryside : and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : My noble Friend the Minister of State met officials of the Ramblers Association on 3 May last year when a number of matters of mutual interest were discussed.
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Common Agricultural Policy
19. Mr. Favell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proposals he has for the reform of the common agricultural policy.
Mr. Gummer : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Spelthorne (Mr. Wilshire).
Sheep Dip
20. Mr. McAvoy : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has made an estimate of the number of farmers using alternatives to organo-phosphorous sheep dips.
Mr. Maclean : One alternative to an organophosphorous sheep dip product is currently licensed under the Medicines Act. No estimate is available of how many farmers use it.
Food Safety
21. Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last met the Consumers Association to discuss food safety.
Mr. Maclean : Representatives of the Consumers Association were present on 31 October 1990 at the third periodic meeting between my right hon. Friend and the office holders of consumer organisations. The next meeting is planned for 20 February.
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the Food Advisory Committee last met to discuss food safety.
Mr. Maclean : At their meeting on 6 December 1990 the FAC continued its review of food labelling and considered also the safety of and need for two specific food additives.
Fishermen's Incomes
22. Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he will take to safeguard the future incomes of British fishermen.
Mr. Curry : At the Council of Fisheries Ministers in December we secured the best possible quota allowances for our fishermen for 1991 consistent with maintenance of the stocks. We are considering further technical measures to safeguard those stocks.
Fisheries Council
23. Mr. Harris : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the latest Fisheries Council.
Mr. Gummer : At the December Council of Fisheries Ministers, overall the United Kingdom secured a good package consistent with conservation of the stocks and which should benefit catchers, processors and consumers.
National Farmers Union
24. Mr. Tredinnick : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last met representatives of the National Farmers Union to discuss farming matters ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Gummer : I frequently meet representatives of the farming unions to discuss matters of interest to the industry.
Fishing Industry
25. Mr. Wallace : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he next intends to meet representatives of the fishing industry to discuss prospects for 1991.
Mr. Curry : I meet the industry frequently during the course of the year.
Environmentally Sensitive Areas
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make it his policy to increase the level of payments to farmers in the south downs under the environmentally sensitive area scheme ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : ESA payments were reviewed last month and I concluded that they were still broadly at the right levels. Farmers will, however, benefit from a single annual payment rather than in two instalments. I will be reviewing the whole scheme this year on the basis of an evaluation of its environmental and economic impact and this will determine the way forward.
Animal Exports
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the export of farm animals on the hoof through the proposed Euro tunnel to mainland Europe.
Mr. Maclean : This Department remains ready to provide advice and to consider the practicability of detailed proposals to transport farm livestock through the tunnel. Were such traffic to be contemplated there would, of course, need to be stringent safeguards to protect the welfare of the animals in relation, for example, to ventilation and temperature.
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the impact on the farming industry which would result from a ban on live exports.
Mr. Maclean : There is no point in carrying out such an assessment, as a ban on the export of animals would contravene the treaty of Rome and would not therefore be proposed or permitted.
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress he has made towards his goal of retaining the minimum values order in respect of exports of horses and ponies.
Mr. Maclean : There have been no negotiations on the proposed Community regulation on the protection of animals during transport since February 1990. When negotiations resume we will continue to press for the retention of measures to prevent the export of horses and ponies for slaughter.
Meat Production
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentages of (a) cattle, (b) sheep and (c) pigs are (i) exported live for slaughter,
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(ii) exported as carcases and (iii) consumed within the United Kingdom ; and if he will give the most recent figures available for each category.Column 316
Mr. Curry : The information is in the table.
The following table gives information both in tonnage and percentage terms for the first three quarters of 1990 (latest available).
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January to September 1990
Beef and Veal Mutton and Lamb Pork, Bacon and Ham
|Thousand |Percentage of |Thousand |Percentage of |Thousand |Percentage of
|tonnes |United |tonnes |United |tonnes |United
|(dressed |Kingdom(dressed
|carcase |home-fed |carcase |home-fed |carcase |home-fed
|weight) |production |weight) |production |weight) |production
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Live exports<1> |10.8 |1.5 |15.3 |5.5 |6.0 |0.9
2. Carcase exports |81.6 |11.5 |54.2 |19.4 |41.2 |5.9
3. Remaining amounts available for
consumption in the United Kingdom<2> |709.7 |87.0 |279.9 |75.1 |699.4 |93.2
<1> Total live exports (other than pure-bred). A split is not available between animals exported for immediate slaughter and animals exported for further fattening.
<2> Home-fed production minus exports. Includes quantities sold into intervention.
DEFENCE
United States Special Forces
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the United Kingdom location of the United States armed forces special forces operational base.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : RAF Woodbridge.
RAF Finningley
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement as to what role RAF Finningley will undertake if the Gulf dispute develops into armed conflict.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : RAF Finningley's role as a flying training station is unaffected by current operations in the Gulf.
Mustard Gas
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what studies have been undertaken to assess the lethal potency of mustard gas used in hot dry climates compared with cooler wetter climates.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Since the use of mustard gas in the first world war, many nations have conducted studies. Work was done in the second world war to assess the hazard presented by mustard in a variety of climatic conditions. The material has been continuously studied at the chemical defence establishment at Porton Down to ensure that the armed forces are provided with effective protective measures. The United Kingdom abandoned its chemical weapons capability in the late 1950s and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence has made it clear that we would take the gravest view of any Iraqi attack using chemical weapons.
Army Exercises
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the United Kingdom has ever given permission for non-United Kingdom nationals to participate in Army exercises or operations in Northern Ireland since 1979.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : All members of the regular Army, regardless of nationality, are liable to serve in
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Northern Ireland. Members of foreign armed forces serving in exchange posts do not serve in Northern Ireland, nor do foreign units take part in operations or training there.Air Defence Radar
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the contract for the data processing network for air defence radar contains penalty clauses.
Mr. Alan Clark : I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the contract for the integrated command and control system for the improved United Kingdom air defence ground environment.
In line with normal Ministry of Defence practice, this contract does not include penalty clauses, which are not enforceable in English law.
Energy Efficiency
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what specific measures his Department has taken to promote energy efficiency ; what further measures his Department intends to take to promote energy efficiency ; and by what amount and what percentage of its total energy bill his Department's energy bill has been reduced over the past year.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Ministry of Defence has set targets for the reduction in consumption of energy, with a system of energy managers and wardens to help achieve these. In addition, investment has been made in "spend to save" measures, on items such as automatic lighting controls. In the future MOD will continue to set standards and to invest in energy- efficient measures such as combined heat and power (CHP) schemes. Although in the last financial year MOD continued to make savings in energy consumption, price alterations led to an increase in expenditure of £14.7 million or 8.3 per cent.
Gulf Forces
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the contribution from each EEC country to the coalition forces in the Gulf to date (a) in manpower, (b) in aircraft, tanks and artillery and other equipment, (c) in financial support, (d) in spares and (e) others ; and what steps are being taken to increase the Community countries' support in line with that of the United Kingdom.
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Mr. Archie Hamilton : At the outbreak of hostilities on 16 January, the United Kingdom had some 35,000 service personnel in the Gulf. Of the other EC member states, France has committed naval, land and air forces ; Italy, naval and air forces ; Belgium, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands and Spain have sent naval vessels. In addition the United Kingdom has received assistance from a number of EC countries, including : NBC reconnaissance vehicles from Germany ; ammunition from the Netherlands and Germany, and transport from Germany, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. Belgium and Denmark have also offered medical support. We will be discussing with our allies ways in which they might help meet any future needs.Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether it is intended that all members of Her Majesty's armed forces based in the Gulf should have been inoculated against hepatitis A ; and how many have been.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Personnel are given immuno-globin where it is judged necessary.
Public Relations
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the terms of the contract for public relations given to Mr. Peter Gummer of Shandwick.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I have passed this question to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, who will reply shortly.
HMS Ark Royal
Mr. David Young : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what requests have been made to him by the United States Government for the transfer of HMS Ark Royal from NATO exercises to an active role in the Gulf ; and what was his response.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : We have regular discussions with our United States allies on our contribution to the coalition forces in the Gulf, but no decision has been taken to deploy a Royal Navy carrier group to the region.
Options for Change"
Mr. Patrick Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the changes to be made in the Army's logistic support under "Options for Change."
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Work is still continuing in a number of areas to determine the size and shape of the
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Army's logistic support under "Options for Change". However, as the first stage in this process, it has been decided to close the following establishments with effect from the dates shown in the table.
|Date
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Moenchengladbach
37 Rhine workshops |31 March 1992
Recklinghausen
Forward vehicle depot |30 September 1991
Krefeld
232 mobile civilian engineer
group |30 September 1991
Viersen
Ordnance services and
associated supply depot |31 March 1992
Willich
40 Army engineer support
group |31 March 1992
64 (RCZ) workshop |31 March 1992
Antwerp
Ordnance depot and other
units at Antwerp station |31 March 1992
These plans take full account of the need to maintain effective support for our operations in the Gulf. Consultations on the closures have taken place with the appropriate German and Belgium authorities and NATO has been informed.
Royal Navy (Women)
Mr. Grylls : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has plans to widen further the opportunities for the employment of women in the Royal Navy ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : We intend to widen the employment of women as aircrew to enable them to undertake aviation roles in the Royal Navy. Women will be employed initially as pilots, observers and aircrewmen in Sea King anti-submarine warfare and airborne early warning and Lynx anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare helicopters. Employment in the Sea Harriers and Commando helicopters will follow at a later stage. We intend to begin considering women for recruitment as aircrew immediately and also to seek volunteers from within the WRNS.
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