Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many beekeepers are registered on BeeBase.
Answered by George Eustice
There are currently 38,297 beekeepers registered on the National Bee Unit’s voluntary database BeeBase.
Defra continues to work closely with colleagues in the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland, (DAERA) on bee health. This includes previously exploring the option for Northern Ireland’s beekeepers to be able to register on BeeBase. As a devolved matter, the decision to join BeeBase is a matter for each devolved government to make.
Beekeepers in Northern Ireland can benefit from the wealth of information on the public pages of BeeBase which provide advice and guidance on identification of bee pests and diseases and good beekeeping practices to keep their hives healthy.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with the Agriculture Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive on enabling beekeepers in Northern Ireland to be registered on BeeBase.
Answered by George Eustice
There are currently 38,297 beekeepers registered on the National Bee Unit’s voluntary database BeeBase.
Defra continues to work closely with colleagues in the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland, (DAERA) on bee health. This includes previously exploring the option for Northern Ireland’s beekeepers to be able to register on BeeBase. As a devolved matter, the decision to join BeeBase is a matter for each devolved government to make.
Beekeepers in Northern Ireland can benefit from the wealth of information on the public pages of BeeBase which provide advice and guidance on identification of bee pests and diseases and good beekeeping practices to keep their hives healthy.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding her Department has allocated to the National Wildlife Crime Unit in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The information is in the table below:
Defra funding allocated to the National Wildlife Crime Unit | ||||
2011/2012 | 2012/2013 | 2013/2014 | 2014/2015 | 2015/2016 |
£144,000 | £136,000 | £136,000 | £136,000 | £136,000 |
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with her international counterparts on the dumping of plastics in oceans.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK, together with all other OSPAR Contracting Parties, recently agreed a Marine Litter Action Plan for the Northeast Atlantic that addresses litter from sources on land and sea. The UK is a party to the London Protocol, which would not permit ‘dumping’ of plastics in the ocean. My colleague, the Secretary of State for Transport, is responsible for shipping and the UK is party to the International Marine Organisation’s International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). Under this Convention the discharge of plastics from ships is prohibited.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the cost to the public purse has been of compensating farmers for TB in their herds in each of the last five years.
Answered by George Eustice
The table below shows the cost to the public purse for compensating farmers in England for TB in each of the last five years.
Year | Total TB Compensation costs | Haulage costs | Salvage receipts | Net cost of TB compensation |
2009 | £30.6m | £1.7m | -£3.4m | £28m |
2010 | £28.6m | £1.8m | -£4.6m | £25.8m |
2011 | £30.2m | £2.21m | -£8.9m | £23.5m |
2012 | £34.1m | £2.27m | -£10.2m | £26.1m |
2013 | £31.4m | £2.18m | -£8.8m | £24.8m |
Defra’s costs are offset by salvage receipts. Therefore, the real cost to Defra is what is paid out in compensation and haulage, less the receipts received back for salvage.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the cost of TB in cattle herds on the UK agri-food industry in each of the last five years.
Answered by George Eustice
We don’t hold information on the costs of TB to the agri-food industry. TB currently costs government around £100m per year. Additionally it is estimated to cost English livestock farmers tens of millions of pounds. The average cost to a farmer of each TB herd breakdown in the High Risk Area has been estimated at around £14,000. The average cost to a farmer of each routine TB test has been estimated at around £350.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Irish government to prevent the spread of the beehive beetle.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The outbreak of the small hive beetle has been discussed in European Union meetings by Member State officials including those representing the UK and Irish Governments.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to prevent the spread of the beehive beetle through produce imported from Italy.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Defra’s Pest Risk Analysis for the small hive beetle, including an assessment of its potential impact, has been published and can be found at www.nationalbeeunit.com/downloadDocument.cfm?id=945.
Exports of bees are banned from an area of 100 km around the outbreak and the Italian authorities are taking steps to eradicate the beetle.
As a precaution, in addition to inspecting recent exports of bees to England and Wales, Defra has alerted and provided advisory leaflets on the small hive beetle to the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate, the Horticulture Marketing Inspectorate, and trade associations representing importers of plant produce. We have asked them to remain vigilant and report any suspected findings to the National Bee Unit.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effect of the beehive beetle on the honey bee population in the UK.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Defra’s Pest Risk Analysis for the small hive beetle, including an assessment of its potential impact, has been published and can be found at www.nationalbeeunit.com/downloadDocument.cfm?id=945.
Exports of bees are banned from an area of 100 km around the outbreak and the Italian authorities are taking steps to eradicate the beetle.
As a precaution, in addition to inspecting recent exports of bees to England and Wales, Defra has alerted and provided advisory leaflets on the small hive beetle to the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate, the Horticulture Marketing Inspectorate, and trade associations representing importers of plant produce. We have asked them to remain vigilant and report any suspected findings to the National Bee Unit.