§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had with the Department for Education and Skills regarding(a) the provision of free school milk and (b) the extension of the provision of free school milk to all those aged 11 and under. [136034]
§ Mr. BradshawWe have not recently held any discussions with the Department for Education and Skills relating to school milk.
§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the farmgate prices for milk in the UK; and what the farmgate prices are for milk in other EU nations. [135775]
§ Mr. BradshawThe table gives the most recent data available from Eurostat on the average farmgate price of milk of 3.7 per cent. fat content in euros per 100 kg for the EU 15.
This data show the UK farmgate prices are consistently below the EU average. The reasons for this were examined by KPMG in their report on "Prices and 300W Profitability in the British Dairy Chain", which was commissioned by the Milk Development Council. The report concluded that the lower prices were the result of the structure of the UK dairy sector, the comparatively low value of the mix of dairy products in the UK and a low level of innovation. It also suggested a number of areas where the efficiency of the dairy supply chain could be improved.
Selling price of raw cows milk, 3.7 per cent. fat content: EU 15(euros per Kg) 1998 1999 2000 2001 20021 Belgium 27.47 26.33 27.44 29.93 26.37 Denmark 30.8 30.26 30.86 32.34 Germany 29.52 28.47 30 32.82 29.98 Greece 32.72 33.69 33.47 35.62 34.55 Spain 27.99 27.33 27.05 30.33 28.12 France 28.52 28.11 28.81 29.99 29.26 Ireland 27.92 26.66 27.2 28.56 Italy 34.84 34.23 Luxembourg 31.45 30.65 30.53 32.73 31.89 Netherlands 30.59 28.62 29.15 31.27 29.65 Austria 27.64 27.76 27.83 31.76 30.14 Portugal 28.39 28.49 28.97 32.17 34.36 Finland 32.05 32.15 32.72 33.97 34.36 Sweden 32.71 33.11 34.74 31.22 United Kingdom 26.76 26.13 26.09 25.57 1Eurostat data 2002 are not yet complete Source
Eurostat Cronos Database
§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of the UK milk quota was leased in each of the last 10 years. [135747]
§ Mr. BradshawThe table gives details of the amounts of quota leased in each of the last 10 years, both in terms of volume and as a percentage of total UK quota.
301W
Quota year Amount leased (million litres)
Percentage leased 1994–95 1,230 8.69 1995–96 1,327 9.37 1996–97 1,381 9.75 1997–98 1,490 10.53 1998–99 1,552 10.96 1999–2000 1,490 10.52 2000–01 1,445 10.20 2001–02 2,116 14.93 2002–03 2,039 14.39 2003–04 1194 1.37 1The figure for 2003–04 represents the current total as at 29 October. It is significantly lower than previous years, in part because the figure is not for a complete year, but also because of the effects of the Thomsen ECJ judgment (which has meant that non-producing quota holders will no longer be able to lease out their quota indefinitely). Quota holders who are no longer in active milk production will, by 31 March 2004, have to sell their milk quota, resume production, or otherwise have their quota confiscated.
§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what(a) amount and (b) proportion of the UK national milk quota was unused in each of the last 10 years. [135748]
§ Mr. BradshawThe table gives the total amounts of unused quota in the UK for the period 1993–94 to 2002–03. The entire national quota allocation (some 14.2 billion litres) was used in the years 1993–94 to 1999–2000 because the UK ended each of them slightly over the quota threshold.
Quota year Amount unused (million litres)
Percentage unused 1993–94 0 0.00 1994–95 0 0.00 1995–96 0 0.00 1996–97 0 0.00 1997–98 0 0.00 1998–99 0 0.00 1999–2000 0 0.00 2000–01 307.4 2.17 2001–02 81.9 0.58 2002–03 119.4 0.84
§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much of the UK milk quota has been held by the Government in the national reserve in each of the past five years. [135749]
§ Mr. BradshawThe table gives the total amount of quota in the national reserve for each quota year from 1998–99 to 2003–04. The national reserve quota is divided between two 'pots'—the confiscated reserve holding quota to which the right to restoration applies, and the remainder holding quota which is currently used in the Temporary Reallocation of Quota scheme (designed to help producers who exceed their quota due to herd movement restrictions). Where quota is confiscated, the quota holder from whom the quota is taken reserves the right to apply for the restoration of the confiscated quota within a certain period if production recommences on the holding. At present, the period in which quota can be restored is six years; however, this has been reduced to two years under the new EU Council Regulation which comes into force on 1 April 2004.
Quota year Confiscated reserve
(litres)
National reserve
(litres)
Total Total as percentage
of UK quota
1998–99 2,193,571 3,232,752 5,426,323 0.04 1999–2000 2,181,337 3,232,752 5,414,089 0.04 2000–01 2,180,719 4,608,324 6,789,043 0.05 2001–02 6,558,258 4,820,256 11,378,514 0.08 2002–03 10,511,463 7,255,287 17,766,750 0.13 2003–04 20,431,426 7,342,507 27,773,933 0.20
§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of state for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has for the future of the milk quota system; and if she will make a statement. [135776]
302W
§ Mr. BradshawWe have made it clear that we would like to see the milk quota system abolished. It is a bureaucratic constraint on production, it distorts the market, and it adds to the industry's costs. It was, therefore, disappointing that the Luxembourg agreement on CAP reform extended the quota system to 2014/15.
We carried out a consultation exercise on proposed amendments to our national Dairy Produce Quotas Regulations 2002 earlier this year. The proposals related to the possible introduction of two discretionary elements of the Council Regulation on milk quotas, breaking the link between quota and land and a 70 per cent. usage rule, and also some administrative changes. A summary of the responses we received is available on our website at www.defra.gov.uk/ corporate/consult/responses.htm. We intend to make an announcement shortly on how we will proceed.