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Livestock Movements

Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the implications of D notice restrictions for the movement of farm animals in Worcestershire; when she expects all such restrictions to be removed; and if she will make a statement. [2005]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 4 July 2001]: I replied to the hon. Member by letter on 13 August 2001, and placed a copy of my letter in the Library.

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Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to restrict the long-distance movement of farm animals. [5417]

Mr. Morley: Long-distance movement of farm animals in Great Britain has been restricted since the foot and mouth outbreak began in February.

From 17 September livestock have been able to move for commercial reasons as well as for welfare reasons, subject to appropriate disease control restrictions and strict biosecurity controls. Journeys are not subject to a distance limit, but the journey must take no longer than nine hours. Full details of the conditions to be applied are available on the DEFRA website www.defra.gov.uk.

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to review the livestock movement restrictions; what is the timetable of such a review; and if she will monitor the applicability of the full range of movement restrictions to the Isle of Wight. [6383]

Mr. Morley: The livestock movement restrictions arising from the foot and mouth disease outbreaks are kept under continuous review in the light of progress with eradicating the disease. Farm-to-farm movements are restarting in phases between 17 September and 1 October. We will then review the extent to which additional movements could be permitted over the winter and spring period.

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the differences between livestock movement restrictions in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. [6374]

Mr. Morley: Responsibility for animal health matters is devolved to the Administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but there is close co-operation between the Rural Affairs Departments across the UK.

As the foot and mouth disease situation various across the constituent parts of the UK, different measures are needed to control it in different areas, although a common autumn movement regime currently operates in England and Wales.

Contracts

David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many contractors have had their contracts terminated because of (a) incompetence, (b) financial irregularities and (c) disagreements with her Department's officials. [2765]

Mr. Morley: I replied to the right hon. Member by letter on 13 August 2001, and placed a copy of my letter in the Library.

Helicopters

David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what dates her Department hired or used helicopters in the last six months; and what the purpose was of each use. [2751]

Mr. Morley: I replied to the right hon. Member by letter on 3 September 2001, and placed a copy of my letter in the Library.

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Classical Swine Fever

David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what precautions the Government have taken to ensure that the United Kingdom is not subject to a further outbreak of classical swine fever. [2544]

Mr. Morley: I replied to the right hon. Member by letter on 6 August 2001, and placed a copy of my letter in the Library.

Imported Wheat

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what checks are made on the quality of imported wheat; and if she will make a statement. [2947]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 9 July 2001]: I replied to the hon. Member by letter on 6 August 2001, and placed a copy of my letter in the Library.

Moles

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what assessment her Department has made of the methods used by other EU countries to control moles; [3071]

(2) if her Department will assess the advantages of introducing a ban on the use of strychnine in agriculture to kill moles. [3070]

Mr. Morley: I replied to my hon. Friend by letter on 6 August 2001, and placed a copy of my letter in the Library.

Incineration

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will list the locations of incinerators in England and Wales (a) which are operational, (b) where permission has been given but they are not yet operational and (c) where a planning application has been submitted but has not yet been determined. [3142]

Mr. Meacher [holding answer 10 July 2001]: The Environment Agency reports that there are 11 municipal waste incinerators currently operational in England and Wales, marked in the table as "O". The table includes details of facilities which are under construction or approved but not yet constructed. Details of facilities where a planning application has been submitted but not yet determined are not held centrally. However, the table includes those planned sites that we are aware of.

There are many other incinerators, generally much smaller than municipal waste incinerators, for the incineration of sewage sludge, hazardous waste, clinical waste, production waste from factories etc. Generally, the larger plant are regulated by the Environment Agency and details of their locations are available on the Environment Agency's public register except where incinerators are part of another process regulated by the Agency, where they may not be shown separately on the register. Smaller

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non-hazardous incineration plant are regulated by local authorities; the Department holds general information but detailed information is held separately by each local authority on a public register.

Plant name	District	Status
Nottingham	Nottingham	O
Edmonton	London Borough of Enfield	O
SELCHP	London Borough of Lewisham	O
Belvedere	London Borough of Bexley	P
Edmonton B	London Borough of Enfield	P
Cleveland	Stockton on Tees	O
Bolton	Bolton	O
Chineham, North Baskingstoke	Baskingstoke and Deane	A
Allington	Maidstone	A
Capel, Surrey	Mole Valley	P
Guildford	Guildford	P
Colnbrook, Slough	Slough	A
Marchwood	New Forest	A
Redhill	Reigate and Banstead Borough Council	P
Ridham Dock	Swale District Council	P
South Portsmouth	Portsmouth	P
Coventry	Coventry	O
Dudley	Dudley	O
Stoke on Trent	Stoke on Trent	O
Tyseley	Birmingham	O
Wolverhampton	Wolverhampton	O
Worcester	Worcester District Council	P
Goole	East Riding of Yorkshire	P
Grimsby	North East Lincolnshire	P
Hull	City of Hull	P
Kirklees	Kirklees	U/C
Sheffield	Sheffield	O
Wrexham	Wrexham	P
Crymlyn Burrows	Neath Port Talbot	U/C

O Operational

U/C Under construction

A Approved but not yet constructed

P Planned

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans her Department has to (a) conduct and (b) commission research into the environmental and health impact of waste incineration; and if she will make a statement. [3899]

Mr. Meacher [holding answer 13 July 2001]: There is already a large body of research on incineration, but we are looking at what more needs to be done and the current Environmental Protection research programme contains a prospective project on possible "Health Effects of Incinerators".

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what level of dioxins is considered potentially lethal; what dioxins are produced in incineration of waste; and if she will make a statement on the methods of disposal of them. [4866]

Mr. Meacher [holding answer 18 July 2001]: There is no evidence on which to base a level at which dioxins are potentially lethal to humans. Studies on humans who have been exposed to high levels of dioxins as a result of accidents or occupational exposure have reported a range of effects such as chloracne, an increased risk of cancer, changes in biochemical parameters such as enzyme levels and increases in mortality from cardiovascular disease, although there remains uncertainty about the direct causal link with dioxins. It is not known exactly what level of dioxins the people in these studies were exposed to but body burdens were at least one order of magnitude higher than in the general population. The Committee on

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Toxicity (COT) is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of the toxicity of dioxins and will report their findings later this year.

A mixture of dioxins is produced in incineration of waste—they are formed on particles as the gases leaving the incinerator cool down. The gas treatment system reduces the particles and dioxins levels to the limits prescribed in the Waste Incineration Directive (total concentration of dioxins and furans 0.1ng toxic equivalents/m ³ averaged over 6–8 hours). Disposal of material contaminated with dioxins—such as fly ash—is normally to special landfill where they are contained, do not leach, and will pose no risk to health or the environment.

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her Department's policy is on large-scale waste incineration. [7886]

Mr. Meacher: Incineration of waste should only be considered where recycling is not feasible or is not the best practicable environmental option.

Our policy is that where waste incineration facilities are proposed, they should be small enough that they do not act as a disincentive to increases in recycling, and should include Combined Heat and Power—where heat is used to produce electricity and provide heating to homes or businesses—wherever possible.

Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to compensate those living in the vicinity of proposed municipal incinerators; and if she will make a statement. [7756]

Mr. Meacher: Municipal incinerator plants will only be built once the full planning process has been completed. The local planning authority is responsible for the determination of any relevant planning permission, including the imposition of any appropriate conditions. We have no plans to compensate residents living in the vicinity of proposed municipal incinerators.

The Environment Agency will regulate the environmental performance of such plants. Its permits contain legally binding conditions concerning operational requirements. The Environment Agency will regularly inspect the incinerators and require the reporting of emissions and performance.

Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what consideration she has given to a moratorium on new municipal incinerators; and if she will make a statement. [7755]

Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to introduce a moratorium on new municipal incinerators; and if she will make a statement. [6214]

Mr. Meacher: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Ashford (Mr. Green) on 2 July 2001, Official Report, column 47W.

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