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World Trade Organisation

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the work done to date in the World Trade Organisation's committee on trade and the environment; and what matters are currently on the committee's agenda for forthcoming meetings. [40437]

Mr. Clappison: The World Trade Organisation's Committee on Trade and the Environment has carried out analytical work in accordance with the decision on trade and environment adopted by Ministers at Marrakesh on

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15 April 1994. It is currently preparing its report to Ministers at the conference to be held in Singapore on 9 to 13 December 1996.

Intergovernmental Conference

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what contribution his Department made to the United Kingdom submission on transparency to the intergovernmental conference in July; and if he will make a statement on the impact of the IGC discussions of transparency on his Department's policy. [40439]

Mr. Clappison: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 14 October 1996, column 827.

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Campaign for Water Justice

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what meetings he has held in 1996 with representatives of the Campaign for Water Justice. [40646]

Mr. Clappison: My right hon. Friend has held no meetings with representatives of the Campaign for Water Justice to date in 1996.

Promotional Expenditure

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much his Department has spent on (a) publicity, (b) promotions, and (c) hospitality in each of the last six years. [40624]

Sir Paul Beresford: The total figures for publicity, promotional expenditure and hospitality by my Department in each of the financial years requested are detailed.

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Expenditure on publicity and promotions£000's

	1990-91	1991-92	1992-93	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96
DOE (central)	7,500	2,700	14,697	12,108	8,878	7,383
Planning Inspectorate	n/a	0	0	0	0	0
Building research establishment	230	385	286	324	244	287
QEII conference centre(29)	113	146	238	209	167	130
PSA services	1,760	1,800	1,300	820	nil	130
Total	9,603	5,031	16,521	13,461	9,289	7,800

(29) Figures for publicity for the QEII Conference Centre for 1990-91 to 1993-94 include hospitality.

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Expenditure on hospitality£000s

	1990-91	1991-92	1992-93	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96
DOE(Central)	62	56	92	68	76	73
Planning Inspectorate	n/a	0	1	1	2	1
Building Research Establishment	8	17	26	12	10	11
QEII Conference Centre(30)					15	12
PSA Services	44	98	133	50	2	0
Total	114	171	252	131	105	97

(30) Figures for publicity for the QEII Conference Centre for 1990-91 to 1993-94 include hospitality.

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The figures for central publicity and promotional expenditure include value added tax, advertising agency fees where relevant and all other levies as paid.

Landfill Policy

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidance has been published by the Environment Agency on landfill restoration and post-closure site management. [40658]

Mr. Clappison: In August the Environment Agency issued, for public consultation, a draft waste management paper 26E "Landfill Restoration and Post-Closure Management". The deadline for comments on this consultation paper is 18 November. Following this consultation, the Environment Agency will proceed to

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publish waste management paper 26E, which will provide guidance on landfill restoration and post-closure site management.

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he has had recently with (a) his ministerial counterparts and (b) the European Commission concerning the United Kingdom landfill policy; and if he will make a statement. [40789]

Mr. Clappison: Recently, the United Kingdom's landfill policy has been discussed in the context of the European Commission's communication on the review of the Community strategy for waste management. The Commission's communication suggests that all waste going to landfill should be pre-treated. There is no sound

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scientific basis to this approach. Landfill when properly engineered and controlled is a viable waste management option for a range of wastes.

The United Kingdom favours the disposal of untreated biodegradable waste to landfill, and the use of the biochemical process engineering--bio-reactor--approach to manage landfill sites. This approach is designed to prevent pollution caused by the degradation process, and to provide conditions in the landfill in which stabilisation of the waste in situ is as rapid as possible. The approach is based on research into landfill practices that the Department of the Environment has sponsored for more than 20 years.

Basel Convention Amendment

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his policy on the 1995 amendment to the Basel convention; and if he will make a statement. [40787]

Mr. Clappison: The Government support the decision, taken at the third conference of the parties to the Basel convention in September 1995, to amend the convention.

European Parliament

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what arrangements he has made to monitor the committee meeting discussions and reports examined at the European Parliament's Committee on Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection. [40792]

Mr. Clappison: The Department studies the reports of the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection and receives the agendas for committee meetings on a regular basis. Officials from the Department, or the UK permanent representation in Brussels, generally attend these meetings when matters of relevance to the Department are discussed.

Carbon Dioxide Disposal

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has made an assessment of the Joule II project report No. CT92-0031 on the underground disposal of carbon dioxide. [40814]

Mr. Clappison: Officials in my Department have considered the Joule II report and have been in touch directly with the British Geological Survey which participated in the study. Our assessment is that underground disposal of CO2 from large sources such as power stations is technically feasible, but costly. The process would add an estimated 40 per cent. or more to the cost of electricity, mainly because of the additional capital expenditure needed at power stations, and the cost of the energy required to extract and dispose of the CO2.

Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the reasons for delay in the adoption and implementation of the convention on prior informed consent for hazardous chemical and pesticide trade. [40793]

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Mr. Clappison: The intergovernmental negotiating committee for a legally binding instrument on the prior informed consent procedure has held two meetings and at least two more are likely to be required to reach final agreement on the complicated issues involved. In the meantime, the present voluntary procedure will continue to be operated by the United Nations Environment Programme and Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Construction Products (Fire Testing)

Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on test procedures for the evaluation of the reaction to fire of construction products. [40748]

Mr. Clappison: The test procedures at present in British standards and which are used to determine the reaction to fire properties of construction products for regulatory purposes are likely to be replaced by a set of new harmonised European test methods as part of the process of enabling the single market in such products. Several dozen different test methods are in use throughout the EU and it is proposed that these should be replaced by five new procedures now under development under the auspices of the European Commission and in CEN, the European standards organisation. Fire experts from the UK are taking an active part in this process.

Consultants

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are his latest estimates of the expenditure on all external consultants, including management consultants, for each year since 1992, in 1996 prices, for his Department and its agencies; and what are the quantified annual cost savings which such expenditure has resulted in. [41179]

Sir Paul Beresford: Expenditure on external consultants since 1992, in 1996 prices, is as follows:

Year	Expenditure £
1992-93	11.4
1993-94	11.1
1994-95	11.8
1995-96	9.2

It is not feasible precisely to quantify savings achieved by consultants since their work is usually only one of several factors leading to total savings achieved by a particular project.

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