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Sheep/Lamb Producers (Returns)
Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will calculate the average annual return for individual sheep and lamb producers in the UK in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [18205]
Mr. Morley: Estimates of the average annual return are given in the table. They are calculated as the total annual value of production of sheep and sheepmeat (including subsidies), divided by the number of farms with sheep and lambs at the June agricultural census.
| Value of production of which: subsidies | Number of farms with sheep and lambs at June | Average annual return per producer | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | (£ million) | (£ million) | (Thousand(28)) | (£(29)) |
| 1991 | 1,138 | 598 | 96.1 | 11,800 |
| 1992 | 1,159 | 522 | 96.2 | 12,000 |
| 1993 | 1,245 | 498 | 95.6 | 13,000 |
| 1994 | 1,235 | 448 | 94.4 | 13,100 |
| 1995 | 1,334 | 536 | 89.9 | 14,800 |
| 1996 | 1,295 | 384 | 88.2 | 14,700 |
| 1997 | 1,194 | 354 | 87.1 | 13,700 |
| 1998 | 1,130 | 479 | 86.8 | 13,000 |
| 1999 | 1,001 | 408 | 86.3 | 11,600 |
| 2000(30) | 982 | 349 | 82.2 | 11,900 |
(28) Main holdings only
(29) Rounded to nearest hundred
(30) Provisional
Note:
Prepared by: Statistics (Commodities and Food) Division, Economics and Statistics Directorate, DEFRA
National Parks Task Force
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs who the members of the task force on national parks are; on what occasions Ministers have met the task force; and how many times the task force has met. [18044]
Alun Michael: There is no task force on national parks of which I am aware. A review of National Park Authorities in England is currently being undertaken by Richard Pullen, an official in DEFRA's Countryside
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Division. Following a three month public consultation period, which closed on 2 November, DEFRA officials are now visiting each English national park to discuss issues with National Park Authority members and stakeholders. This will lead to further discussion with Ministers about the findings of the review in the new year.
Waste
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the comparative position of the United Kingdom in relation to each other EU country regarding progress towards meeting the requirements of the Landfill Directive. [17634]
Margaret Beckett [holding answer 23 November 2001]: The Landfill Directive was due to be transposed into domestic law by 16 July 2001. Consultation on a set of draft Regulations to implement the technical and regulatory requirements of the Landfill Directive in England and Wales closed on 26 October 2001. The Government will be laying regulations before Parliament shortly. In advance of the regulations coming into effect the Environment Agency is using its existing powers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Pollution and Prevention and Control Regulations 2000 to apply the Directive's requirements to any permits issued in the interim.
We have also consulted on a tradeable landfill permit scheme to implement the targets in Article 5 of the Directive for the diversion of biodegradable municipal waste from landfill and will bring forward primary legislation to introduce such a scheme as soon as parliamentary time permits.
Enforcement of Directives is a matter for the European Commission and any infraction proceedings for not implementing the Directive fully or on time would be between the member state concerned and the Commission.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to develop central monitoring of the amount of waste collected for recycling which ends up in landfill sites. [17636]
Margaret Beckett [holding answer 23 November 2001]: In theory all material collected for recycling should be recycled, but inevitably there will be losses. Some mixed material may be lost in the sorting process (for example at Material Reclamation Facilities). Material may also be rejected due to contamination, or sent for disposal due to the lack of a suitable market for the recycled material.
There are no current plans to centrally monitor the amount of waste collected for recycling which ends up in landfill. However, in the case of local authorities, we are looking at the way we measure household recycling rates in the Municipal Waste Management Survey to try to ensure that the rates reflect material that was both collected for recycling and actually sent for recycling. In the current 2000–01 survey we are asking for the percentage of materials collected for recycling and composting which were rejected at Material Reclamation Facilities. To ensure that such losses are minimised it is important to support markets for recycled materials
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through initiatives such as WRAP. It should also be noted that the best value statutory standards for household recycling rates are on the basis of material sent for recycling, not that which is collected.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she is taking to enable each local authority to provide doorstep collection of recyclable waste. [17639]
Margaret Beckett [holding answer 23 November 2001]: It is a matter for local authorities to decide how best to meet their Statutory Performance Targets on recycling. To enable them to meet the challenging Statutory Performance Standards for recycling, we are however, providing major extra funding. By 2003–04 revenue support in the relevant Standard Spending Assessment area will have risen £1.1 billion over 2000–01 provision. Spending Review 2000 also provides £220 million for PFI waste schemes over the spending review period and a £140 million ring-fenced fund for waste and recycling. £50 million of New Opportunities Fund moneys will also be available over the next two years to support community sector work on recycling work in the UK.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to encourage a reduction in non-domestic waste. [17637]
Margaret Beckett [holding answer 23 November 2001]: Our record on managing industrial and commercial waste is already better than on domestic waste. Nevertheless in order to encourage businesses further to reduce waste and to put to better use any waste that is produced the Government in Waste Strategy 2000 have set the target to reduce by 2005 the amount of industrial and commercial waste sent to landfill to 85 per cent. of that landfilled in 1998.
There are initiatives already in place to help industry. The Envirowise Programme aims to demonstrate the benefits of managing resource use and reducing the environmental impact to companies across the whole of the UK.
The programme encourages the establishment of waste minimisation clubs. The clubs offer a means by which businesses can make environmental improvements.
The Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control regime will also have a role to play. Those regulated under the regime will be required to abide by the general principle that waste production should be avoided and that where waste is produced it should be recovered unless technically and economically impossible.
Departmental Strikes
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many working days have been lost through strikes by departmental staff since 1 June; and if she will make a statement. [17635]
Margaret Beckett [holding answer 23 November 2001]: Between 1 June and 21 November a total of 14,230 working days was lost due to strike action by
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departmental staff who are members of the Public and Commercial Services Union. Our aim is to resolve the dispute as quickly as possible.
Home Energy Efficiency Scheme
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures are being taken to ensure that (a) Eaga Partnership Ltd. and (b) Eastern HEES Ltd. monitor the independent installers employed in relation to the home energy efficiency scheme. [16122]
Mr. Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to monitor the performance of the contractors and management of the Government's energy efficiency scheme. [18385]
Mr. Meacher [holding answer 19 November 2001]: The Home Energy Efficiency Scheme managers are responsible for appointing and managing contractors to carry out the installation of heating and insulation measures in homes. This includes checking that installers are able to meet the technical and quality requirements of the scheme, as well as the price tendered. Once appointed, both scheme managers continue to check the quality of work through physical inspections of all central heating, and a proportion of insulation installations.
The results of this monitoring are provided to my Department within the regular reports produced by the scheme managers. In addition an independent quality assurance contractor is employed by my Department to inspect and advise on the systems used by the scheme managers, including those relating to contractor management.
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