§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people were employed in agriculture in the United Kingdom in(a) 1996, (b) 1997, (c) 1998, (d) 1999, (e) 2000, and (f) 2001; and what proportion were (a) full-time, (b) part-time and (c) seasonal. [16536]
§ Alun MichaelThe latest information available for the United Kingdom is from the June 2000 Agricultural Census. Results for 2001 will be available later this year. The labour questions were changed in 1998 in England and Wales to allow more detailed information on full/part time and paid/unpaid labour to be collected. The available information is shown in the table:
United Kingdom Thousand head 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Total workers 245.7 242.9 245.2 229.6 204.4 Salaried managers1 7.8 7.8 12.1 13.8 11.1 Full-time n/a n/a 9.9 10.9 9.3 Part-time n/a n/a 2.3 3.0 1.9 Regular workers 156.4 154.2 154.6 143.8 128.9 Full-time 101.8 100.1 100.5 94.1 83.8 Part-time 54.6 54.1 54.1 49.7 45.2 Casual/gang 81.5 80.9 78.4 72.0 64.4 1 From 1998 all farmers managing holdings for limited companies were asked to classify themselves as salaried managers. Notes:
1. In 1998 fundamental changes were introduced to the labour questions in England and Wales. It appears that this change may have led to the recording of additional labour not previously included in the census returns. The change in questions has also led to a redistribution of labour between the various categories, most notably for salaried managers. Caution is therefore advised when comparing the 1997 and 1998 results.
2. Figures exclude school children but include trainees employed under an official youth training scheme and paid at Agricultural Wages Board rates or above.
3. Includes minor holdings.
4. Totals may not agree with components due to rounding.
§ Paul FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the(a) subsidies paid to agriculture, (b) environmental costs of agriculture and (c) contribution of agriculture to GDP in each of the last five years; and what estimate she has made of the projected contribution of agriculture to GDP in each of the next five years expressed as a percentage of total GDP. [12292]
429W
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 2 November 2001]: Total public expenditure on agriculture in the financial year 2000–01 is estimated to have been £3,182 million1.
Estimates of the total value of the impact of agriculture on the environment are not currently produced by my Department.
Two recent academic studies have made estimates of the environmental costs of agriculture:
Pretty, J., Brett, C., Gee, D., Hine, R., Mason, C., Morison, J., Raven, H., Rayment, M. and van der Bijl, G. (2000), an assessment of the external costs of UK agriculture, "Agricultural Systems", forthcoming.Hartridge, O., Pearce, D., "Is UK Agriculture Sustainable? Environmentally Adjusted Economic Accounts for UK Agriculture". Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environmental: University College, London.Agriculture's share of national gross value added at basic prices (formerly GDP) in each of the last five years is given in the following table.
Percentage Agriculture's share of national gross value added 1996 1.5 1997 1.2 1998 1.0 1999 0.9 2000 0.8 Estimates of the projected contribution of agriculture to GDP in future years are not produced by my Department.
The decline since 1996 is partly due to the rise in sterling against the Euro (which has affected agriculture more than many other sectors) weak world commodity markets and the effects of BSE. However, it also reflects a long term downward trend which results from underlying trends in demand—because as standards of living rise, consumers spend a smaller share of their family budget on food—and also from underlying trends in technology—which mean that prices for agricultural commodities have tended to rise less quickly than general inflation. These trends can be expected to continue, to some degree, in the future.
1 Source:
Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2000 Table 9.1