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Hunting with Dogs

Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the views of veterinary surgeons on hunting with hounds; and if she will make a statement. [8986]

Alun Michael: No recent assessment has been made of the attitude of veterinary surgeons to hunting with dogs.

Lamb and Sheep Meat (Scotland)

Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has made to the EU Veterinary Standing Committee with regard to the lifting of the export ban on lamb and sheep meat from Scotland. [8502]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 19 October 2001]: Ministers and officials from DEFRA and the Scottish Executive have had extensive discussions with Commissioner Byrne's officials on this issue. Regular reports have been made to the EU Standing Veterinary Committee on progress towards eradication of foot and mouth from Great Britain. The SVC has recently agreed that exports of pigmeat may resume from certain counties from 22 October onwards. The SVC is expected to re-examine the possibility of a resumption of sheep meat exports at its 2 October meeting.

Royal Prerogative

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many ministerial decisions were made where authority for the same derived from the royal prerogative for the most recent calendar month for which information is available. [9373]

Mr. Morley: Records are not kept of the individual occasions on which powers under the royal prerogative are exercised, nor could it be practicable to do so.

23 Oct 2001 : Column: 173W

Wildlife Protection

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the measures she is taking to ensure the protection of wildlife. [9017]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 19 October 2001]: The protection of wildlife is fundamental to the Department's work. In the recent public consultation on a draft aim and objectives for the new Department, the proposed first objective is:

"To protect and improve the environment and conserve and enhance biodiversity, and to integrate these with other policies across Government and internationally". The Department has targets to bring 95 per cent. of Sites of Special Scientific Interest into favourable condition by 2010 and to reverse the decline in farmland birds by 2020.

The conservation of wildlife is integral to the Department's policies across the range of its responsibilities, including the promotion of sustainable, modern and adaptable farming and the promotion of more sustainable management and use of natural resources such as energy, water, fisheries and forests. The Department is also active in a large range of specific policies and programmes to achieve its objectives including:

Support for and implementation of the relevant international conventions to which the UK is a signatory, in particular the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Bonn Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats and the Ramsar Convention on wetlands. Bilateral assistance such as the Darwin initiative grant scheme helps developing countries implement their obligations under the Conventions.

Grant in aid to English Nature, the Government's statutory nature conservation adviser, to finance major programmes on designated nature conservation sites, species protection and recovery, and improving the wider countryside and the marine environment for wildlife.

Implementation of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 which introduced improved means of protection from Sites of Special Scientific Interest and measures to combat wildlife crime.

Management and licensing the taking, capture, killing, keeping and trade of wildlife species, including through support for the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime and Liaison with the police and HM Customs and Excise. For example commercial trade in about 850 species is currently prohibited under CITES and trade in 30,000 other species is only permitted where we are satisfied that it will not be detrimental to wild populations.

Full implementation of the European Wild Birds and Habitats Directives through the designation and conservation of special sites (Natura 2000). Implementation is being extended to include the marine environment to the 200-mile limit of national sovereignty.

Co-ordinating the UK-wide partnership for implementation of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan including the preparation of over 400 individual Habitat and Species Action Plans and the development of a Biodiversity Strategy for England, as announced in the Rural White Paper.

Delivery of agri-environment schemes aimed at conserving and improving the landscape, wildlife and historic heritage of the countryside for which around £1 billion will be available over the seven years of the England Rural Development Programme.

Policy reviews assessing future requirements for marine nature conservation and the management and control of non-native invasive species.

Research to support and inform wildlife policies and programmes.

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Public Bodies

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action she plans to take to enforce the Cabinet Office Guidance on Codes of Practice for Board Members of Public Bodies. [9023]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 19 October 2001]: The latest edition of the Commissioner for Public Appointments Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies was published in July 2001 and immediately circulated to all teams sponsoring non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) in my Department. It is mandatory for Government Departments to abide by this Code when making public appointments. The Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) strictly monitors the observance of the Code.

Also in July 2001, the Cabinet Office issued a best practice guide for Departments, entitled "Making Public Appointments". This provides practical and helpful advice on the process of making public appointments. It supplements the OCPA Code and the Cabinet Office's own policy requirements, but does not create rules. It has been sent to all our NDPB sponsor teams.

Haskins Report

Mr. Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she next plans to meet the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss the Haskins report. [9626]

Alun Michael: I meet my right hon. Friend frequently. The Haskins report is one item among many that we discuss.

Mr. Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reason the Haskins report, dated 2 October, was not published until 18 October. [9628]

Alun Michael: The report was published on the earliest date that was possible both for Lord Haskins to launch it and for me to respond to it.

We were able to help readers by publishing on the same day the report of the Rural Task Force, which dealt with many connected issues.

Mr. Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement about the work of Lord Haskins in assessing and making recommendations about the impact of foot and mouth disease in Cumbria. [7522]

Alun Michael [holding answer 22 October 2001]: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Carlisle (Mr. Martlew) on 18 October 2001, Official Report, column 1301.

Pollution (Warehouse Fires)

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the damage to the environment through (a) airborne pollution and (b) pollution of water courses resulting from fires in warehouse, distribution and storage premises since 1990. [8227]

23 Oct 2001 : Column: 175W

Mr. Meacher [holding answer 22 October 2001]: The responsibility for estimating any impact from such events on the local air and water environment would be a matter for local authorities or the Environment Agency. Records of assessments are not held centrally.

Airports (Landing Charges)

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will list the (a) landing charges for airliners at the main United Kingdom and international airports and (b) changes in Heathrow landing charges since BAA's privatisation. [8467]

Mr. Jamieson: I have been asked to reply.

My Department does not collect information on airport charges. Comparative information on international airport landing charges is available at BAA's website www.baa.co.uk/pdf/regulation.pdf which shows such information as one of its issues briefs. This ranks airport charges in descending order, and relative to that at Tokyo, for 40 airports. The figures are based on TRL's Index of Charges and the following is a selection from BAA's table.

Comparison of international airport charges TRL index 2000

Airport	Rank	Index of airport charges
Tokyo	1	100
New York—JFK	3	68
Frankfurt	8	41
Paris—CDG	9	41
Amsterdam	11	40
London—Heathrow	21	31
Brussels	25	28
Washington	27	27
Hong Kong	28	27
London—Gatwick	31	23
Los Angeles	39	11

Note:

BAA's commentary states that "Heathrow's charges average a little over £5 per passenger, and those at Gatwick and Stansted average just over £4 per passenger".

There are several elements to airport charges at Heathrow, of which the landing charge is only one. However, dividing the total revenue from airport charges by the total number of passengers to give the average revenue per passenger from airport charges, shows that since privatisation this has risen from £3.64 per passenger (equivalent to £6.00 at current prices) in 1986–87 to £5.23 in 2000–01 at Heathrow. In monetary terms, the change represents an increase of 44 per cent. but, after adjusting for inflation, the average revenue per passenger has fallen by 13 per cent. in real terms over the period.

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