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Household Waste (Chelmsford)

Mr Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her estimate is of the proportion of household waste that was recycled in the Chelmsford local authority area in (a) the last year for which figures are available, (b) 1998 and (c) 1995. [77153]

Mr. Meacher: Figures derived from the Defra annual Municipal Waste Management Survey show a household recycling rate for Chelmsford borough council, of 7 per cent in 2000–01 and 3 per cent in 1998–99. Data is not available for 1995. Copies of the results from the municipal waste management survey 2000–01 and earlier years, are available in the House of Commons Library and from the DEFRA website: httD.V/www.defra.aov.uk/environment/wastats/mwbOOOI/index.htm

LEADER+ Programme

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been (a) applied for and (b) spent through the LEADER+ Programme by area in (a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02 and (c) 2002–03 to date. [78401]

Alun Michael: LEADER+ is an EU programme which is part funded by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund. Funding is allocated by calendar year. English LEADER+ local action groups have been allocated the following funding for their development plans, grouped by region:

Region	2002		2003
	EU (#)	DEFRA (#)	EU (#)	DEFRA (#)
North West	596,479	258,579	1,007,033	480,777
North East	273,912	78,579	551,815	126,802
Yorkshire and the Humber	304,481	142,820	648,359	316,965
West Midlands	129,311	66,004	191,694	91,059
East Midlands	214,948	102,975	623,928	272,488
East	306,181	58,612	450,071	89,838
South West	618,097	305,384	1,139,343	568,422
South East	499,020	125,345	1,396,003	427,227
Total	2,942	1,138,298	6,008,346	2,373,578

We do not yet have any figures on expenditure by local action groups as they are currently putting together their first grant claims. These will cover the period 7 January 2002 (when the successful local action groups were announced) to 31 September 2002.

Management and Best Practice Toolkit

Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications were made and how much was spent through the internet-linked management and best practice toolkit in (a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02 and (c) 2002–03 to date; broken down by project. [78394]

Alun Michael: Following a commitment in the Rural White Paper the web based best practice toolkit for parishes was launched in September 2002. It was developed by the Countryside Agency working with the

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Local Government Association (LGA), the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) and the improvement and Development Agency (IDeA). The 'Knowledge' website is a free web resource. The address is www.idea-knowledge.gov.uk and is currently used by over 15,000 registered users.

The editorial management is jointly owned by the IDeA, LGA, NALC and the Countryside Agency. The Countryside Agency chairs and services the editorial management meetings. The toolkit focuses particularly on partnership working between parish and town councils and principal local authorities.

The toolkit is a resource not a mechanism for application for grants. Therefore figures cannot be provided in the format requested.

Market Town Regeneration

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been (a) applied for and (b) spent on market town regeneration by her Department in (i) 2000–01, (ii) 2001–02 and (iii) 2002–03 to date. [78400]

Alun Michael: The Market Town Initiative is being taken forward on Defra's behalf by the regional development agencies, working with the Countryside Agency and local partners, and using the #37 million of Government funding announced in the rural White Paper in November 2000 plus such match funding as can be secured from other public and private sources.

Expenditure on the Initiative in 2001–02 is estimated at some #2.9m by the regional development agencies and some #2.5m by the countryside agency. Information for the current financial year is not yet available but as most towns have now completed their action plans this should result in a substantial increase in project expenditure by RDAs and other partners.

Mr. and Mrs. Rogers

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will ensure that her officials avoid causing the bankruptcy of Mr. L. A. and Mrs. S. M. Rogers of South Milton, Kingsbridge by continuing to demand a penalty for their failure to despatch the appropriate forms to the British Cattle Movement Service in Cumbria in 2001. [77530]

Alun Michael: I can assure the hon. Member that following a thorough review of the case his constituents will receive their 2001 Beef Special Premium Scheme payment shortly.

National Parks

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was spent on national park grants in (a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02 and (c) 2002–03 to date. [78390]

Alun Michael: In 2000–01 and 2001–02 the English National Park Authorities and the Broads Authority received #26,166,650 and #27,920,833 respectively.

In 2002–03 the National Parks and Broads Authority will receive #31,493,854 ¹ . Of this, #25,345,978 has been spent to date.

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¹ This includes funding to aid recovery from Foot and Mouth and for implementation of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act. Core funding for 2002–03 is #29,618,853.

Pigswill

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what representations she has received, and what studies have been conducted, into the environmental impact of pigswill being disposed of to landfill; and what assessment her Department has made of the risk of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease or swine fever as a result; [76303]

(2) how many representations she has received concerning pig farmers affected by the ban on the use of pigswill. [76311]

Mr. Morley: In March 2001 during the foot and mouth outbreak, the proposal to ban swill feeding was the subject of a full public consultation and Regulatory Impact Assessment. We received over 350 responses to the consultation letter. Subsequently, Minister's have received 51 letters and 33 questions from MPs with regards to the ban on swill feeding. On 20 November 2001 I met with representatives of the Associated Swill Users.

Before the ban on swill-feeding, only a small proportion of catering waste from restaurants and other catering establishments was fed to pigs as swill. The vast majority was already disposed of to landfill or incineration. As the additional waste was going to landfill under the same conditions as before, no specific assessment was made as to the environmental and animal health impacts from the use of landfill to dispose of material that would otherwise have been fed to pigs.

Poultry Cages

Mr. Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether it is the Government's policy to take decisions concerning the future of enriched cages at EU level. [77360]

Mr. Morley: Council Directive 99/74/EC laying down minimum standards for the welfare of laying hens has been implemented through the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2000, as amended, which came into force on 25 June. Consistent with the Government's Strategy for Agriculture, the directive has been implemented without adding to it in any way.

However, we have carried out a three-month public consultation on the future of enriched cages. Responses to this consultation will form part of our consideration on whether Xenriched" cages should continue to be permitted. That consideration will be guided by the available scientific evidence and the need to provide egg producers with the certainty they need to enable them to make long-term investment decisions.

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the potential change in employment in England as a result of a ban on the enriched laying cage. [77361]

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Mr. Morley: A partial regulatory impact assessment was included in the public consultation and will be considered again and revisited in the light of responses received.

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) if she will publish the results of her Department's detailed assessment of the competition implications of the proposed ban on enriched laying cages; [77362]

(2) when she intends to make a decision on the future of enriched laying cages. [77363]

Mr. Morley: A partial regulatory impact assessment was included in the public consultation about a possible ban on enriched cages. The impact assessment will be looked at again in light of the responses received. A full regulatory impact assessment will be made available along with the results of the consultation.

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