§ Lord Williams of Elvel asked Her Majesty's Government:
§ Whether the funding from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee to the British Trust for Ornithology is to be reduced and, if so, why.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (The Earl of Arran)My Lords, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee's contract with the British Trust for Ornithology for bird monitoring data has been increased by almost £21,000 since last year. The contract will be worth £414,000 to the BTO this year. Changes to the contract, which were agreed with BTO, reflect changing priorities.
§ Lord Williams of ElvelMy Lords, I am grateful to the noble Earl for that response. Is he aware that the contract runs from 1990 to 1998 and covers vital services in ornithological monitoring and research advice and requires proper funding from the Government? Is he further aware that in the view of the trust the JNCC has reduced its funding for the agreed programme by something like 10 per cent? Do the Government take the contract seriously and, if so, will they make sure that the contract is properly honoured?
§ The Earl of ArranMy Lords, of course we take the contract between the JNCC and BTO very seriously indeed. I can assure the noble Lord that good quality information will continue to be collected on population, movement and trends of birds. The British Trust for Ornithology is now 60 years old and is the leader in bird monitoring. We greatly value its scientific work and the enormous effort put in by the thousands of volunteers who work for it. The noble Lord will in any case understand that in any contract emphasis is always shifting to reflect changing priorities. It is a process which goes on in all budgets.
§ Baroness NicolMy Lords, I welcome the noble Earl's assurance that the work is considered valuable by the Government. Is he aware that in a recent discussion on a proposed amendment to the wild birds directive, one of the difficulties highlighted by the committee considering it was the lack of scientific data available to support any discussions? Can we be assured that the Government will continue to put value on a service which, after all, underpins the commitment to biodiversity which they made at Rio?
§ The Earl of ArranMy Lords, with regard to biodiversity and the publication of our action plan in January this year, there are several commitments which 1134 we regard as particularly important at this moment and which have to take their place in respect of changing priorities.
§ Lord Williams of ElvelMy Lords, will the noble Earl explain the words "contracts are constantly shifting"? Was that the expression used? To me a contract is a contract. The contract we are discussing requires the trust to undertake certain work. Under the contract the funding is provided by the JNCC. In that case, why is the requirement of the JNCC for the work of the trust being maintained and the funding not maintained?
§ The Earl of ArranMy Lords, perhaps I may add that the funding represents 5 per cent. more than last year. The noble Lord will appreciate that in any contract, however contractual the terms, certain priorities can be renegotiated at any time during that contract.
§ Baroness NicolMy Lords, perhaps the House will allow me to come back on this matter. Will the Minister accept that the work being done depends on the annual collection of data? Does he agree that any interruption is destructive of many years of work? Is it not desperately important that the work continues at an even level? Are not the suggested fluctuations therefore unacceptable?
§ The Earl of ArranMy Lords, I assure the noble Baroness that long-term monitoring programmes, for example, the wetlands bird survey and the breeding bird programme, will not be affected. There will be smaller contributions to woodland birds and habitat research and a one-year delay on integrating the results of some monetary schemes.