§ Mr. WigginTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications for each category of farm payments, and of what value, were due to have been paid by 30 June but have not yet been paid; and if she will make a statement. [184939]
§ Alun MichaelThe only category of farm payments due to be paid by 30 June are those for the 2003 bovine schemes. The following table shows the number of applications, the number paid, the value paid, the number unpaid and the value unpaid for each category of farm payment. For completeness the same data is also shown for the other categories of 2003 farm based schemes at the regulatory closing date for payments.
management plans) and in 2001–02 exceptional funding was provided to the EA following the floods of autumn 2000 for repair works and feasibility and design costs for accelerated river defences.
Grant aid (including Supplementary Credit Approval for local authorities) was £90 million in 2001–02, £120 million in 2002–03 and £127 million in 2003–04. These figures include funding for projects to protect against coastal erosion but many of these also provide significant benefits in terms of reducing risk of flooding from the sea.
Further Government support was provided by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's local government funding system. This supported, among other things, levies paid by local authorities to the EA which funded the balance of the cost of EA improvement projects after Defra grant.
§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action her Department is taking to ensure that all timber purchased for flood defences comes from legal and sustainable sources. [184945]
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§ Mr. MorleyWhile Defra has overall policy responsibility for flood and coastal erosion risk in England, we do not build defences, nor do we have any power to direct the operating authorities' choice of materials for their projects. However, we have provided guidance to operating authorities since the mid-1990s.
In 1994, the Chief Engineer of the former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, a predecessor of this Department, wrote to maritime district councils to encourage them to consider the use of alternative materials and to procure timber from well-managed and sustainable sources.
In 2000, the then Environment Minister, Michael Meacher, announced that Government Departments and agencies, including the Environment Agency, must
UK fruit production and supply Quantity (Thousand tonnes) Value (£ million) 2001 2002 2003 2001 2002 2003 UK production 330 290 242 238 253 281 Imports 2,868 2,988 2,979 1,482 1,612 1,712 Exports1 73 69 78 41 47 48 Total supply2 3,125 3,209 3,143 1,679 1,818 1,945 Production as percentage of total supply 11 9 8 14 14 14 1Exports includes imported fruit subsequently re-exported. UK production plus imports less exports. customs and Excise overseas trade information does not distinguish exports of fruit produced in the UK from re-exports of imported fruit. Also food consumption survey data does not distinguish UK and imported produce. This makes it difficult to provide accurate information on consumption of UK produced fruit. Therefore information has been presented to show the proportion of the total supply of fruit in the UK that is represented by UK production.
The main fruits produced on a commercial scale in the UK include apples (where the production as a percentage of total supply was 21 per cent. by quantity in 2003), pears (20 per cent.), strawberries (53 per cent.) and raspberries (63 per cent.).
For other fruits, for example oranges, bananas, peaches, nectarines, grapes, and pineapples, the UK is virtually entirely dependent on imports.