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Fly Ash
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what procedures are in place to ensure regulation of the disposal of fly ash from UK incinerators; and what the disposal routes for fly ash are from each operating municipal waste incinerator in the United Kingdom. [36393]
Mr. Meacher: Fly ash is incorporated into air pollution control residues which are special waste and subject to the Duty of Care and the Special Wastes Regulations. Currently, all fly ash from municipal solid waste incinerators is sent to sites licensed for special waste.
The Environment Agency is carrying out a thorough investigation into the solid residues from all MWIs. I will ensure that the hon. Gentleman receives a copy of their report when it is published, and that a copy is placed in the Library of the House.
CO2 Emissions
Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the change has been in CO2 emissions in the UK in the past three years; and what estimates she has made of change in the next three years. [37384]
Mr. Meacher: UK CO2 emissions expressed in million tonnes of Carbon (MtC) for the years 1997–2000 were 152.5, 153.2, 150.8 and 152.1 MtC respectively. The 2000 figure is provisional. Projections are made on a five year basis and the projected figure for CO2 emissions in 2005 is 149.1 MtC.
Warm Front Grants
Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what data she has collated on the number of householders in privately rented accommodation who have been unable to obtain warm front grants because they have not been able to obtain the landlord's permission for works to be carried
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out; and in how many of these cases refusal to grant permission has resulted from an unwillingness on the part of the landlord to participate in a leasing agreement related to the installation of a central heating system.[37739]
Mr. Meacher: Work in private sector landlords' properties is only undertaken once a no rent rise agreement is in place. This requirement was introduced following consultation on the proposed scheme in 1999. Many groups representing tenants and older people expressed concern that some private sector landlords would use the grant-funded improvements to justify an increase in rent. Agreements are time-limited to either one year for insulation measures only or two years where heating measures are installed.
In the period June 2000 to January 2002 some 32,400 private sector landlords agreed to the no rent rise agreement. This represents about 5 per cent. of all applications accepted under the scheme.
In the same period, 8,400 tenants had their applications turned down by the landlord. The precise reasons in each case are not known, but we are now investigating these. While there has been very little concern expressed on this issue, we do continue to keep it under review.
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average amount of a Warm Front plus grant has been. [37641]
Mr. Meacher: The Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (HEES) in England is now marketed as the Warm Front Team. The scheme was launched on 1 June 2000 and provides two levels of financial assistance for the installation of insulation and heating measures dependent upon the needs of the householder and the property type:
HEES—ÿ1,500 for low income households with children under 16, disabled persons or suffering long-term sickness on a qualifying benefit; and
HEES Plus—ÿ2,500 for over-60s on an income-related benefit.
Between June 2000 and January 2002 the average HEES Plus grant was ÿ664.
Waste Disposal
Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people were convicted of fly tipping in 2001; and what sentences were imposed. [37722]
Mr. Meacher: Both local authorities and the Environment Agency may prosecute for fly tipping offences. The Environment Agency keeps records of breaches to section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Until December 2001, this did not single out fly tipping offences from other instances of illegally depositing controlled waste on land. This situation changed in December 2001 and records now show whether an incident involves fly tipping. Between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2001 the total number
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of Environment Agency prosecutions under section 33 of the 1990 Act were 234. Further information is as follows:
Custodial Terms: four, ranging from one to six months
Conditional Discharges: 25, ranging from one to two years
Community Service: six, ranging from 80 to 220 hours
Requirement to pay compensation: four instances, with amounts ranging from ÿ237 to ÿ750
No central register is kept of local authorities' prosecutions.
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what costs were incurred in setting up the Department's CHP Club; and what its operational costs were in the financial year 2000–01. [37709]
Mr. Meacher: The CHP Club provides a one-stop shop for independent information and guidance for potential and new users on the design, implementation, and operation of CHP schemes. Responsibility for the management of the Government's Energy Efficiency Best Practice programme including the CHP Club will soon be passed to The Carbon Trust. The total cost of setting up and operating the CHP Club in 2000–02 was around ÿ200,000.
Rights of Way Orders
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she intends to consult on proposed rules for inquiries and hearings into rights of way orders coming to her for confirmation. [40646]
Mr. Michael: We are today publishing our proposals for procedure rules for rights of way inquiries and hearings, on which we are inviting views by 31 May 2002. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
Parish Councils
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what appeal mechanism exists to change the categorisation of parish councils listed as barely active by the Countryside Agency. [39553]
Mr. Michael: The work being undertaken by the Countryside Agency towards a national indicator of community vibrancy is not a categorisation of parish councils or their effectiveness. The components of the
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indicator are proxy measures of the opportunities for members of a community to contribute to community activities collected as part of the Agency's Rural Services Survey. An appeals mechanism is therefore not appropriate.
For further details on the community vibrancy indicator and its components, I refer to the hon. Member to my answers to my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) on 24 January 2002, Official Report, column 1033W and to the hon. Member for North Wiltshire (Mr. Gray) on 14 February 2002, Official Report, column 652W.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) visits, (b) telephone calls and (c) items of correspondence her officials or officials from the Countryside Agency have sent to (i) Ellesmere rural, (ii) Grinshill, (iii) Hodnet, (iv) Hordley, (v) Petton and (vi) Whitchurch urban parish councils before categorising them as barely active. [39557]
Mr. Michael: The Countryside Agency used information for its community vibrancy indicator which was gathered as part of its Rural Services Survey. As part of the survey each rural parish was sent a questionnaire form and instructions on how to complete it and the telephone number of the Xhelpline" for assistance in filling in the questionnaire. If no response was received by early December 2000, two reminders were sent (one in mid December 2000 and one in mid January 2001).
The information was gathered as the first stage of work in progress towards the development of a national indicator. I am now aware of any other contact that either the Department or the Countryside Agency has had with the listed parishes.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Legal Aid
Mr. Drew: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will publish the lists of the payment of legal aid to (a) solicitors, (b) barristers and (c) legal practices on an annual basis. [39436]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I have been asked to reply.
We have no plans to publish such a list. Records of legal aid payments are not held in a suitable format which would facilitate the production of a list of practitioners' earnings.
Prosecutions
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Solicitor-General in how many cases referred to the DPP in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years a decision was made not to prosecute; and in how many cases he contacted the (a) victims and (b) relatives of the victim. [38400]
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The Solicitor-General: Information held by the Department of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland indicates that directions for no prosecution issued as follows:
| Year | Persons reported for consideration of prosecution | Persons in respect of whom no prosecution was directed |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 10,676 | 3,225 (30 per cent.) |
| 2000 | 10,504 | 3,166 (30 per cent.) |
| 2001 | 10,315 | 3,110 (30 per cent.) |
The Department does not hold information in regard to contact with victims on their relatives in individual cases. The policy of the Department is that it will consider the proper interests of victims and witnesses at every stage of the criminal process.
Job No: 713438 Folios: 2037
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