HL Deb 02 February 2000 vol 609 cc40-1WA
Lord Astor of Hever

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the breakdown, both by nature of the disability and outcome of the case, of the 5,841 cases taken by the Employment Tribunal up to the end of October 1999 under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Part II (Employment Provisions). [HL722]

The Minister for Science, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)

Information is not recorded centrally on the nature of the disability in employment tribunal applications: 1,777 complaints under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 were disposed of by an employment tribunal before 31 October 1999. The following table shows the outcome of these complaints. A complaint may be made by an individual under more than one heading.

A copy of that letter has been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

As I made clear in that letter, the use by farmers of field areas from Ordnance Survey (OS) maps in their aid claims remains perfectly acceptable, provided the fields concerned are fully utilised for the purpose of the aid scheme under which the farmer's claim is being made. This has been the case since the start of the integrated administration and control system (IACS) in 1993 and there are no plans to change it.

The full OS area of a field may include parts which are taken up by features such as ponds or footpaths. These uncultivated areas are not eligible for aid and must be subtracted from the claim.

The Commission has proposed that, from 2003, EU member states must maintain their IACS databases in a spatial form with the use of a geographical information system (GIS). Although there are some aspects of the Commission proposal which the Government would like to see amended, they recognise that the use of a GIS offers real benefits to farmers and to administrators. These benefits were also recognised by the IACS and inspections working group set up as part of the Review of Regulatory Burdens. The group also supported the Ministry's plans to use OS digital mapping as the foundation of its IACS database. The ability of farmers to claim the full OS areas of their fields, where appropriate, would not be affected by the introduction of a GIS.