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30 Oct 2002 : Column 812W—continued

Correspondence

Mrs. Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she will reply to correspondence from the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton concerning Mrs. G. Gilbert, reference 163248. [70365]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 16 July 2002]: I regret that the Department has not been able to trace the hon. Member's correspondence.

Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to answer the letter of 5 August from Mr Malcolm Bull of Kingston Bungalows, Ringwood. [76740]

Mr. Morley: A response was sent on 24 October.

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Leominster, of 9 August, concerning R E Williams and Sons. [78439]

Mr. Morley: I regret that the Department has no record of receiving this correspondence.

Departmental Initiatives

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the schemes and initiatives sponsored by her Department and its agencies which are not the subject of national roll

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out, showing (a) the authorities or areas covered by the scheme and (b) the budget of the scheme in the last year for which information is available. [75670]

Alun Michael: Given the range of responsibilities covered by Defra, such information is not easy to provide in the form requested. The information is being

gathered and collated and I will write to the hon. Member as soon as this work has been completed.

Departmental Land (Throckmorton)

Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had and what expressions of interest she has received from parties relating to the purchase of land owned by her Department at Throckmorton; and if she will make a statement. [76262]

Mr. Morley: No discussions have taken place between potential purchasers and Ministers or DEFRA officials about the sale of land owned by the Department at Throckmorton and no formal offers to purchase all or part of the land have been received. However, agents acting for DEFRA have been approached by one party interested in acquiring a piece of the land. That party was advised that DEFRA is not able to consider disposals at this time but if and when the land was declared surplus to Government requirements, it would be sold for the best price achievable. Home Office officials have also indicated that there are matters they may wish to discuss with DEFRA officials.

EC Water Framework Directive

Mrs. Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what she is doing to ensure that river basin management plans under the EC Water Framework Directive will help to deliver the Government's commitments to sites of special scientific interest. [76385]

(2) what assessment she has made of whether sites of special scientific interests are covered by the provisions of the Water Framework Directive established for protected areas. [76386]

Mr. Morley: Sites of special scientific interest (SSSI) are covered by the provisions of the Water Framework Directive to the extent that they are also "protected areas" which have been designated as requiring special protection under specific Community legislation for the conservation of habitats and species directlydepending on water. These areas will include relevant Natura 2000 sites designated under the Birds and Habitats Directives. In addition, the improved management of the water environment to be delivered through the Water Framework Directive is expected to contribute to the water quality needs of SSSIs not designated under specific Community legislation. (76384)

River basin management plans will include maps which identify protected areas. Consideration is being given to include on such maps for information purposes all SSSI's, including SSSIs not designated under Community legislation. These maps would then provide a comprehensive summary of water quality related conservation objectives set at both Community and national level.

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The deadline for meeting the water quality objectives established by the Water Framework Directive is December 2015 at the latest. Since the Government has a target to bring 95 per cent. of SSSIs into favourable condition by 2010, implementation of the Directive will not have a direct bearing on elivering the Government's commitment on SSSIs by 2010. However, in the long term, through its emphasis on a holistic, river basin based approach to water management, using water quality criteria based on ecological parameters, implementation of the Directive will benefit SSSIs

Egg Packers

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representation she has received from egg packers and their trading associations regarding the impact the absence of contracts between egg packers and supermarkets is having on the security of the egg industry for themselves and the producers. [77775]

Mr. Morley: No representation has been received directly from egg packers or their trading associations. However, letters have been received from the British Egg Industry Council and the British Free Range Egg Producers Association which raise this issue. These have been forwarded to the Office of Fair Trading, which has responsibility for the administration of competition law.

Flood and Coastal Defence

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what rules govern flood defence committees in the UK. [76122]

Mr. Morley: Under section 105 of the Water Resources Act 1991 the Environment Agency has a general supervisory duty over all flood defence matters. Section 106 of that Act requires the Agency to carry out all of its flood defence functions (except certain financial functions) through Regional Flood Defence Committees.

The current provisions relating to flood defence committees are contained in

sections 14[en rule]19 of, and Schedules 4 and 5 to, the Environment Act 1995. These

provisions include the composition of committees, the creation of local flood

defence committees, boundary matters and proceedings and membership of

committees.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list areas periodically affected by flooding which are not covered by current flood relief schemes or by schemes scheduled for completion by 2006. [76464]

Mr. Morley: At present, there is no list detailing areas not protected by flood relief schemes. Indicative flood plain maps published by the Environment Agency show areas of known risk, including those where the risk is reduced by defences. However the Environment Agency with Defra support are working on a Flood and Coastal Defence Database for England and Wales and a risk assessment that is developing zoned maps of these floodplain areas that will show the residual levels of risk

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with the current flood defences. These maps should be available to the public next year. Defra and the agency are also discussing with the Association of British Insurers the provision of such information for planned defences.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many houses have been affected by flooding in England and Wales in the past five years. [76462]

Mr. Morley: Approximately 15,500 properties are thought to have been affected by flooding from watercourses and the sea in the last five years. This figure will include properties that have been affected on more than one occasion.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many houses the Environment Agency assesses are at risk of periodic flooding. [76463]

Mr. Morley: There are approximately 1.8 million domestic properties in the indicative flood plain and which must therefore be considered at risk from periodic flooding from watercourses and the sea. However the vast majority of these properties are protected by flood defences.

Figures on internal sewage flooding from Ofwat suggest that 4,076 properties have a 1 in 5 risk and 10,856 properties have a 1 in 10 risk of being flooded by sewage. There are currently no figures available for external sewage flooding which affects gardens, highways or public open spaces, or from other sources such as highway drains and groundwater etc.

Fluoride

Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what plans she has for the introduction of compulsory labelling of (a) food and (b) other products containing fluoride;[42974]

(2) for what reason labelling of products containing fluoride is not compulsory in the UK. [42976]

Mr. Morley: None. This is not a matter for this Department.

Foot and Mouth

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list instances where inoculation was authorised during the foot and mouth outbreak in lieu of culling. [77251]

Mr. Morley: There were no instances during the foot and mouth outbreak of 2001 where vaccination was authorised, although practical arrangements were made to implement a vaccination programme.

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