§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales before making hill livestock compensatory allowance payments, what steps are taken by the Welsh Agriculture Department to ascertain whether overgrazing is causing adverse effects on the growth, quality or species composition of vegetation.
§ Mr. RedwoodBetween a quarter and one third of livestock subsidy claimants are visited each year by Welsh Office field staff who are trained to look out for evidence of overgrazing either from the sward or the general condition of the animals. Any complaints from individuals or bodies about possible overgrazing will be investigated by these field staff. The rules of the hill livestock compensatory allowance scheme contain stocking and financial limits per hectare which also militate against overgrazing.
§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress has been made in persuading the European Union to incorporate within the sheep annual premium scheme a requirement that payments should be withheld where overgrazing is causing adverse effects on the growth, quality or species composition of vegetation.
§ Mr. RedwoodThe Council of Ministers agreed in December a regulation which provides that member states may apply to the annual ewe premium environmental protection measures appropriate to their particular situation.
§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales on how many occasions since the introduction of a definition of overgrazing in the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations 1992, hill livestock compensatory allowances payments have been withheld because of adverse effects on the growth, quality or species composition of vegetation.
§ Mr. RedwoodClaimants for the hill livestock compensatory allowances are warned that if the land on
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Private pay beds in Welsh health authorities 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 Clwyd 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 1— East Dyfed 7 7 7 7 15 15 15 1— Gwent 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 23 Gwynedd 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 Mid Glamorgan 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 23 Pembrokeshire 3 3 3 3 3 3 1— 1— South Glamorgan 11+2Em3 11+2Em3 11+2Em3 11+2Em3 11+2Em3 11+2Em3 11+2Em3 11+2Em3 West Glamorgan 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 22 1Figure is not applicable as pay bed allocation is the responsibility of NHS Trusts. 2Figure does not include pay beds in NHS Trusts. 3To be used solely for emergency admissions and only when the basic number of beds is already occupied. which the stock is kept is found to be overgrazed the payment will be reduced. There have been no claims so far where this has been necessary. There are in the scheme regulations additional stocking rate safeguards which discourage overgrazing and these are applied quite frequently.