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Groundwater Regulations
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what help and advice is available to sectors affected by the requirements of the Groundwater Regulations 1998. [73503]
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Mr. Meacher: Following publication of a groundwater protection code for sheep dipping last summer, the Department has prepared two further codes of advice. A groundwater protection code for those involved with petrol stations and underground storage tanks for hydrocarbons will be published shortly. In addition the
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Department will be consulting this summer on a code aimed at businesses which use solvents. These codes will provide a useful source of advice on all aspects relating to groundwater protection, including site design and development, operation and decommissioning.
Farms
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) mean and (b) median farm (i) incomes and (ii) sizes were in the last five years broken down by region. [71028]
Mr. Morley: Mean and median full-time farm incomes and sizes as recorded by the Farm Business Survey in England are given in the table. A regional breakdown is not available due to sample size limitations.
| Farm income (£ per farm) | Farm size (European size units) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | Median | Mean | Median | |
| 1996–97 | 29,830 | 18,430 | 75 | 49 |
| 1997–98 | 13,850 | 8,050 | 76 | 49 |
| 1998–99 | 10,360 | 5,460 | 77 | 53 |
| 1999–2000 | 7,980 | 5,930 | 78 | 51 |
| 2000–01 | 9,890 | 5,530 | 80 | 51 |
Note:
Accounting years ending on average in February.
Bovine TB
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many animals have been tested for bovine TB in 2002, broken down by month, in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Herefordshire and Worcestershire. [71021]
Mr. Morley: The total number of cattle tested for bovine TB by month in 2002, in the areas specified, is shown in the table.
| (a) England | (b) Wales | (c) Hereford and Worcester | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 217,232 | 49,342 | 18,535 |
| February | 317,197 | 70,750 | 27,493 |
| March | 327,290 | 67,644 | 19,613 |
| April | 414,503 | 81,636 | 30,459 |
| May | 209,926 | 52,869 | 14,676 |
| June | 125,319 | 31,386 | 10,012 |
| Total | 1,611,467 | 353,627 | 120,788 |
Source:
DEFRA Vetnet database system as at 16:30 22 June 2002. Figures subject to revision as more data become available.
Contaminated Land
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what financial support is being given to English local authorities to meet the capital costs of dealing with contaminated land. [73505]
Mr. Meacher: The Contaminated Land Supplementary Credit Approval (SCA) programme has provided support to English local authorities' capital works for 12 years. It assists local authorities to fulfil their responsibilities under the contaminated land regime which was introduced on 1 April 2000, under part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The regime makes local authorities
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responsible for identifying contaminated land as defined in the Act, and they may also be responsible for its remediation in their capacity as regulators or in carrying some responsibility for the land's condition. The SCA programme assists local authorities to meet these obligations.
I have agreed the programme for new projects to start this year. The Department has already written to the successful authorities notifying them of the allocations which have been made for these new projects, and in respect of continuing commitments for projects approved in previous years.
Some bids are still being discussed with the authorities concerned, and there may be further allocations in respect of these and any further bids received later this year.
The following table sets out the allocations which have been made so far this current financial year.
| Local authority | Number of sites | Allocation for each authority (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Barnsley MBC | 1 | 4,000 |
| Bexley LB | 1 | 50,000 |
| Bristol City | 2 | 216,000 |
| Calderdale MBC | 2 | 720,000 |
| Cherwell DC | 1 | 35,000 |
| Cheshire CC | 2 | 150,000 |
| Chorley BC | 1 | 13,500 |
| Darlington BC | 1 | 13,907 |
| Devon CC | 7 | 650,065 |
| Durham CC | 5 | 76,500 |
| Ellesmere Port and Neston BC | 1 | 30,500 |
| Gateshead MBC | 1 | 246,000 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham LB | 1 | 7,851 |
| Newcastle City | 3 | 779,935 |
| Newham LB | 1 | 30,219 |
| Northamptonshire CC | 7 | 344,983 |
| North Lincolnshire C | 1 | 830,000 |
| Oldham MBC | 1 | 9,496 |
| Plymouth City | 1 | 4,275 |
| Poole B | 2 | 60,000 |
| Portsmouth City | 1 | 19,500 |
| Rotherham MBC | 3 | 99,000 |
| Sandwell MBC | 2 | 7,722 |
| Solihull MBC | 1 | 193,000 |
| Southampton City | 2 | 4,200 |
| Stoke-on-Trent City | 1 | 12,000 |
| Thanet DC | 1 | 2,900 |
| Warrington BC | 1 | 126,015 |
| Warwickshire CC | 1 | 23,000 |
| West Sussex CC | 1 | 1,143,304 |
Sustainable Development
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Government will publish their Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. [73504]
Mr. Meacher: I am pleased to announce that, from today, the first three parts of the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate are publicly available on the Government's Sustainable Development website. Copies of the website on floppy disk have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Part A of the Framework sets out the overarching commitments to which all Departments have signed up, and outlines the means by which progress towards these targets will be monitored and reported. It also sets a new
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target for Environmental Management Systems to be rolled out across the Estate. Parts B and C contain specific targets and guidance in the areas of Travel and Water consumption.
It is planned that the remaining parts of the Framework—covering Waste, Energy, Procurement, Estates Management, Biodiversity, and Social Impacts—will be rolled out over the coming year.
The online publication of the Framework is designed to facilitate the provision of the most up-to-date guidance, and examples of best practice, in relation to targets to all those involved in management of the Government Estate.
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Government will publish its response to the Environmental Audit Committee's third report of Session 2001–02, "UK Preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development". [73506]
Margaret Beckett: I am pleased to announce that I have today, laid in the Libraries of both Houses, copies of the Government's response to the Environmental Audit Committee's third report of the 2001–2002 Session, "UK Preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development".
The Government's response sets our continued commitment to the achievement and promotion of sustainable development both internationally and at home. We have continued to play a significant role in preparations for the World summit on sustainable development taking place in Johannesburg between 26 August and 4 September 2002.
Sheep
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of (a) the number of sheep and (b) the proportion of the national flock which were born before the imposition of the ban on feeding animal protein to ruminants and are still alive. [65467]
Margaret Beckett [holding answer 1 July 2002]: Pursuant to the answer I gave to the hon. Member on 8 July 2002, Official Report, column 695W. My answer referred to an estimate that the number of sheep still alive
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which were born before 1 August 1996 is less than 500, representing approximately three per cent. of the UK national flock. This is incorrect. The number of sheep still alive which were born before 1 August 1996 is 500,000, representing approximately three per cent. of the national flock of around 17 million breeding sheep. The rest of the answer remains correct.
Foxhunting
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what volume of correspondence she has received on the consultation on the future of foxhunting; and how many of those were in favour of the continuation of the sport. [64130]
Alun Michael: Over 7,000 communications were received following my statement to the House on 21 March. The majority were pro-hunting and came in response to a pro-hunt campaign. These have to be balanced against a smaller number of anti-hunting representation received immediately prior to the statement. We have also received many contributions providing evidence and referring to practical experience from a variety of viewpoints.
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