Answers issued to Members on 22 June 2007
[R] signifies that the Member has declared an interest.[W] signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh. Contents Questions to the Minister for Social Justice and Public Service Delivery Questions to the Minister for Sustainability and Rural Development
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice and Public Service Delivery
Alun Ffred Jones (Arfon): What are the administrative costs of the Non Domestic rate relief scheme? (WAQ50084)
The Minister for Social Justice and Public Service Delivery (Andrew Davies): The administrative costs are minimal and not recorded separately as they are met from within local authorities’ existing running costs and staffing complements. The Small Business Rate Relief Scheme is easier to administer than the old Rural Rate Relief Scheme, so the administrative costs should be less.
Questions to the Minister for Sustainability and Rural Development
Mick Bates (Montgomeryshire): Would the Minister make a statement about the long-term split between recycling/composting and energy from waste? (WAQ50052)
The Minister for Sustainability and Rural Development (Jane Davidson): Energy from waste is essential to take non-recoverable residual waste and help meet EU targets for landfill diversion. The balance between recycling and composting including composting of food waste and energy from waste is significant in order to achieve the most sustainable waste management. Best practice in continental Europe suggests that over time we should be aiming to recycle or compost at least 70/75% of municipal waste and no more than 25/30% should go to EfW. There are countries which are currently achieving up to 80% recycling/composting.We also need to look at increasing recovery of industrial and commercial waste including excess packaging from the retail and food industries. These issues will be considered in our review of the Assembly Government’s Waste Strategy Wise About Waste.
Key stakeholders will be closely involved in this work and I anticipate we will have a first draft for consultation early next year.
Elin Jones (Ceredigion): Will the Minister detail the number of bovine TB pre-movement tests conducted each month since the scheme’s inception, and will she detail the number of reactors, and the number of confirmed reactors in post mortem tests? (WAQ50053)
Jane Davidson: The number of Pre-Movement tests carried out per month since the measure was introduced in Wales on 2 May 2006, are as follows:
Month |
Cattle Tested |
May 2006 |
6,768 |
Jun 2006 |
3,912 |
Jul 2006 |
4,623 |
Aug 2006 |
5,277 |
Sep 2006 |
10,111 |
Oct 2006 |
12,911 |
Nov 2006 |
6,565 |
Dec 2006 |
2,286 |
Jan 2007 |
5,737 |
Feb 2007 |
4,916 |
Mar 2007 |
9,797 |
Apr 2007 |
14,452 |
Reactors disclosed through Pre-Movement Testing and those subsequently confirmed at post mortem inspection during that period, are as follows:
|
Animals |
No of reactors |
113 |
Visible Lesions and/or Positive Culture |
54 |
Of which |
|
Visible Lesions and Culture Positive |
35 |
Visible Lesions and Culture Other |
15 |
No Visible Lesions and Culture Positive |
4 |
Notes:
Data sourced from Animal Health—all figures are provisional and may change over time.
Elin Jones (Ceredigion): For each year since 1999; will the Minister detail the number of herds tested annually for bovine TB, and will she detail the frequency of tests for other herds?. (WAQ50054)
Jane Davidson: This information is not readily available.
Elin Jones (Ceredigion): For each year since 1999; will the Minister detail the number of herds tested for bovine TB? (WAQ50055)
Elin Jones (Ceredigion): For each year since 1999; will the Minister detail the number of herds with reactors to bovine TB? (WAQ50056)
Jane Davidson: Details of the number of herd tests, total new herd incidents and confirmed new herd incidents in Wales for each year in the period 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2006 are provided in the table below.
Date |
Herd Tests (a) |
Total New Herd Incidents (b) |
Confirmed New Herd Incidents (c) |
|||
1999 |
5,223 |
282 |
127 |
|||
2000 |
5,433 |
264 |
151 |
|||
2001 |
2,079 |
207 |
132 |
|||
2002 |
8,480 |
618 |
348 |
|||
2003 |
7,422 |
625 |
327 |
|||
2004 |
8,359 |
656 |
324 |
|||
2005 |
8,639 |
734 |
395 |
|||
2006 |
10,615 |
756 |
411 |
Notes:
(a) Tests on whole herds that are currently unrestricted. Excludes short interval tests on herds currently under restriction and tests on individual animals.
(b) Previously unrestricted herds that had at least one animal identified as a reactor (or slaughtered as an inconclusive reactor).
(c) Herds that had a new incident that was subsequently confirmed by culture or by visible lesions at the post mortem.
The data used in the answer have been taken from the TB Statistics published on the Defra website (www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/stats/index.htm) and is provisional, subject to change as more data becomes available.
Elin Jones (Ceredigion): For each year since 1999; will the Minister detail the number of bovine TB reactors slaughtered? (WAQ50057)
Jane Davidson: Details of the number of animals slaughtered as reactors, inconclusive reactors and direct contacts under bovine TB control measures in Wales for each year since 1 January 1999 are provided in the following table:
Date |
Reactors |
Inconclusive Reactors |
Direct Contacts |
Total |
1999 |
920 |
41 |
398 |
1,359 |
2000 |
986 |
41 |
372 |
1,399 |
2001 |
1,578 |
66 |
430 |
2,074 |
2002 |
4,305 |
99 |
656 |
5,060 |
2003 |
4,809 |
137 |
788 |
5,734 |
2004 |
4,682 |
126 |
707 |
5,515 |
2005 |
5,520 |
138 |
1,119 |
6,777 |
2006 |
5,220 |
101 |
719 |
6,040 |
2007* |
2,360 |
36 |
157 |
2,553 |
*Up to April 2007
Notes:
The data used in the answer have been taken from the TB Statistics published on the Defra website (www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/stats/index.htm) and is provisional, subject to change as more data becomes available.
Includes all animals slaughtered for TB from restricted herds and new incidents.
Elin Jones (Ceredigion): For each year since 1999; will the Minister detail the number of bovine TB reactors slaughtered that tested positive to bovine TB in post mortem tests? (WAQ50058)
Jane Davidson: Details of the animals slaughtered under bovine TB control measures in Wales as confirmed reactors for each year in the period 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2006 are provided in the following table:
Date |
Confirmed Reactors |
1999 |
418 |
2000 |
461 |
2001 |
627 |
2002 |
1,302 |
2003 |
1,339 |
2004 |
1,224 |
2005 |
1,416 |
2006 |
1,407 |
Notes:
The data used in the answer have been taken from the TB Statistics published on the Defra website (www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/stats/index.htm) and is provisional, subject to change as more data becomes available.
Includes all animals slaughtered for TB from restricted herds and new incidents. Includes reactors, inconclusive reactors and direct contacts.
Slaughtered animals can be classified as 'confirmed’, 'not confirmed’ or 'not classified’. Animals from herds that have already had a confirmed reactor are not generally tested to confirm the presence of TB and so will be 'not classified’.
Confirmed reactors are animals that were subsequently confirmed by culture or by visible lesions at the post mortem.