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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 15 May 2000
ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS
GM Crops
Mr. Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the published and pre-reviewed studies that the Government have assessed to date on the safety of GM crops. [117029]
Mr. Meacher: There are hundreds of published and peer-reviewed scientific papers and studies that inform the safety assessments of GM crops. It is not possible to list them all here but some examples considered recently by the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) are as follows. This body of knowledge on GM crops which is contained in the scientific literature is brought to bear on risk assessment not only through the individual experts on Government advisory committees, such as ACRE, but also via the Government's own scientists and Non-Governmental Organisations.
- Environmental Risks of Herbicide-Tolerant Oilseed Rape: A Review of the PGS Hybrid Oilseed Rape, DETR Research Report No. 15. March 1999.
- Birch, A.N.E., Geoghegan, I.E., Majerus, M.E.N., McNicol, J.W., Hackett, C.A., Gatehouse, A.M.R. and Gatehouse, J.A. (1999). Tri-trophic interactions involving pest aphids, predatory 2-spot ladybirds and transgenic potatoes expressing snowdrop lectin for aphid resistance. Molecular Breeding 5, 75-83.
- Huang, F., Buschman, L., Higgins, R.A. and W.H. McGaughey. (1999). Inheritance of Resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis Toxin (Dipel ES) in the European Corn Borer. Science 284 pp 965-967
- Losey, J.E., Raynor, L.S., and Carter, M.E. (1999). Transgenic Pollen Harms Monarch Larvae. Nature 399 pp 214 1
- Ho, M. W., Ryan, A., Cummins, J.,(1999). Cauliflower mosaic viral promoter--a recipe for disaster. Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease 11 (4)
- Note:
- 1 Discussed at ACRE meeting on 9 June 1999.
Mr. Meacher [holding answer 8 May 2000]: Information about the Farm Scale Evaluations of GM crops is widely available. I announced the programme on 17 March and wrote to the hon. Member and other MPs with constituencies in England, outlining the aims and nature of the research.
A full list of proposed site locations is available on my Department's website, along with more detailed information about the programme and GM crops in general. The Cabinet Office website also contains further information.
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My Department has organised a series of regional meetings, to which district and local councillors in areas where GM crop trials are proposed have been invited. There is also a DETR leaflet, "GM Crops--Take a Closer Look", which is on the website and available at public meetings.
The proposed trial of oil seed rape at St. Osyth (which is now not going ahead) was advertised locally by Aventis. Officials from my Department wrote to the local parish and district councillors to invite them to attend a public meeting in Ipswich on 13 April and I understand that several councillors were able to attend.
The proposed trial of GM maize at Wivenhoe has not been advertised locally, because the crop involved has a European Part C marketing consent which means that it can be grown in the UK without my Department being notified. However, the biotechnology industry has agreed that this crop should be grown in the Farm Scale Evaluations and have agreed to provide my Department with the grid references of the fields involved. Details are on the DETR website.
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received from Herefordshire about the siting of the GM trial sites in Kempley, Gloucestershire, and Preston Wynne, Herefordshire; and if he will make a statement. [122039]
Mr. Meacher: Following notification of the proposed Farm Scale Evaluation of oil seed rape at Kempley, Gloucestershire, my Department has received 18 letters from those objecting to, and seeking further information about, the Evaluations programme.
My Department was told about the GM maize at Preston Wynne on 26 April, at which time details were placed on the Department's website. To date, no letters have specifically referred to this field site.
Food Safety (Hospitals)
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions in each of the last five years, how many times the Health and Safety Executive has investigated hygiene and food safety standards in hospitals through (a) spot checks, (b) pre-arranged inspections and (c) legal action for the enforcement of standards. [120990]
Mr. Meacher: The Health and Safety Executive has not, in any of the last five years, investigated any hygiene and food safety standards in hospitals.
These matters are properly the responsibility of Environmental Health Officers employed by local authorities for the districts in which the premises are located.
Refrigerants
Mr. Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of converting air conditioning and refrigeration equipment from using HFC refrigerants to using (a) hydrocarbons and (b) ammonia. [120427]
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Mr. Meacher [holding answer 8 May 2000]: My Department's local property managers are asked to assess the practicality and cost-effectiveness of such measures in drawing up plans to reduce the environmental impact of our estate.
Estimating the costs of converting from HFC refrigerants, consistent with the draft UK programme on climate change, requires studies by appropriate specialists to determine on a case by case basis the practical and economic options. These studies address the size and costs of replacement plant and associated works as well as the cost of replacement refrigerants.
Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has for improving the management of programmes for disadvantaged neighbourhoods. [121453]
Ms Beverley Hughes: The Government's plans for the future management of regeneration programmes, targeted at deprived neighbourhoods, will take account of the recommendations in the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal (the framework document of which was published for consultation on 12 April) and the Urban and Rural White Papers (scheduled for publication later in the year). The National Strategy framework document proposes a significant number of recommendations for overcoming the problems of deprived areas, including ideas for improving the way regeneration, and other, programmes are managed and delivered centrally and regionally.
Bus Safety
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to make the installation on buses of safety equipment designed to alert drivers to faults in bus wheels mandatory. [121491]
Mr. Hill: Faults in wheels of commercial vehicles and buses are identified during normal maintenance checks depending on a particular operator's maintenance schedule. My Department's Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness, which is issued to all vehicle operators, emphasises the need for a daily "walk round" check by the driver. My Department is aware of several proprietary devices intended to give a visual indication of loosening of wheel retaining nuts, which could assist the driver in this check, but there are not any plans to introduce these as a mandatory requirement. Certain wheel faults such as cracks or excessive wear are only apparent on close inspection which is not normally expected to be within the competence of the driver.
Green Transport Plans
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the number and quality of green transport plans produced by private sector businesses. [121481]
Mr. Hill: A survey carried out in early 1998 showed that at least 200 organisations (excluding local authorities) were implementing plans. The provisional Local
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Transport Plans submitted in 1999 suggest that numbers have increased significantly in some areas since then. We intend to commission a full survey shortly.
Town Centres
Mr. Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent research he has undertaken on the impact of upward-only rent reviews on town centre property markets. [121483]
Ms Beverley Hughes: My hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning published a research report on 19 April about the impact of the property industry's Code of Practice on Commercial Property Leases. This considered, among other things, the extent of upward-only review clauses in the property market generally. The research did not look specifically at town centre property markets.
The study, by the University of Reading, found that upward-only rent review clauses still predominate in longer leases. We have asked the property market and professions to consider how the market could best promote alternatives to upward-only rent review clauses. We recognise that landlords may seek a higher initial rent to offset the greater risk of letting without such a clause. It will therefore be important for market promotion to draw the tenant's attention to the offsetting advantages of renting without an upward-only provision, as well as to any higher rent.
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