| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
7 Nov 2002 : Column 697W—continued
Abattoirs
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been spent by her Department on supporting small and medium sized abattoirs in (a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02 and (c) 2002–03 to date, broken down by category of support. [78403]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 31 October 2002]: Information relating specifically to small and medium sized abattoirs is not readily available without incurring
7 Nov 2002 : Column 698W
a disproportionate cost. However, actual spending and spending in the pipeline (2002–2003 to date) on the abattoir sector is as follows:
| 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 to date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rural Enterprise Scheme | — | — | 6 |
| Processing and Marketing Grant | — | 27 | 516 |
| Agricultural Development Scheme | 11 | — | — |
Radioactive Waste
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she received the latest annual report from the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee; what response she has made; and what plans she has to make changes to its membership. [80348]
Mr. Meacher: The Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee's 2002 annual report was supplied on 30 October 2002. No response has yet been made to it. The Managing Radioactive Waste Safely consultation paper considered possible changes in the Government's advisory machinery in the radioactive waste management area. Future membership needs of the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee have yet to be decided in light of the outcome of that review.
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish the list of prospective sites for the disposal of radioactive waste drawn up by NIREX. [80097]
Mr. Meacher: There is no current list of prospective sites for the disposal of radioactive waste drawn up by NIREX. Any such historical list does not have any bearing at all on current considerations of disposal policy.
Weeds Act
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the amount of ragwort growing in the UK; and if she will propose amendments to the Weeds Act 1959 to include commercial equine activities. [80333]
Alun Michael: Defra has provided funding totalling #420,000 to underpin the preparation of The New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora. This divides the country into ten by ten kilometre squares and charts the distribution of plants, including Ragwort across Britain and Ireland. The New Atlas, which was published in September, shows that the general distribution of Ragwort has not changed since the 1962 Atlas was prepared.
Under the Weeds Act 1959, primary responsibility for weed control rests with the occupier of the land on which the weeds are growing. Where there is a risk that one of the five injurious weeds to which the Act applies might spread, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs can serve a notice on the occupier of
7 Nov 2002 : Column 699W
the land requiring action to be taken to prevent its spread. Under section 1 of the Act the authority to serve a notice applies to any land.
Defra will consider all complaints about the spread of weeds but in determining what action to take, priority is given to those complaints where there is a threat to farmland or land that is being used for the keeping of horses as part of a diversified farm business.
Parliamentary Questions/Correspondence
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) parliamentary questions and (b) letters to her from hon. Members in the current session remain unanswered, broken down by those which are (i) one month old, (ii) two months old, (iii) three months old, (iv) four months old and (v) over six months old. [79938]
Alun Michael: My Department anticipates answering all parliamentary questions that have been tabled during this session by the rising of the House today.
The Cabinet Office publishes a report to Parliament on an annual basis, setting out the volume of Members' correspondence received by Departments. The Report for 2001 was published on Friday 24 May, Official Report, column 677W. Copies of previous reports are available in the Library of the House.
The table below shows the number of letters in my department which had not received an answer at 5 November.
| With a Received Date Between | Number |
|---|---|
| 1 & 2 months | 135 |
| 2 & 3 months | 138 |
| 3 & 4 months | 69 |
| 4 & 6 months | 64 |
| greater than 6 months | 119 |
Plant Health Directive
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on Directive 2002/36/EC (OJ L116, 3 May 2002) as it relates to measures in the United Kingdom; and in what circumstances, as per Recital 8, (a) applicant states and (b) OCTs are included as European states for political definitions. [77249]
Mr. Meacher: Directive 2002/36/EC amends the technical annexes to the Plant Health Directive (2000/29/EC) to provide better protection against the introduction into, and spread within, the EC of a number of serious pests and disease of plants. Three new pests are added to the list of those which are prohibited. The scope of the plant passport regime, which governs movements of plants within the Community, and the scope of import controls on plants from outside the EC, are extended to reflect more accurately the wide range of host plants attacked by some listed pests. The amendment also strengthens measures to ensure that plants are free from Bemisia tabaci before entering the area recognised as a Xprotected zone" for that pest (which includes the whole of the UK). Directive 2002/
7 Nov 2002 : Column 700W
36/EC will be implemented in the UK by amendments to the Plant Health (Great Britain) Order 1993 and the Plant Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1993.
Decisions on listing countries and regions in the Annexes of the Plant Health Directive are based on their plant health status. In the case of Malta and Cyprus the ranges of plant pests and diseases which occur in those countries are known to be similar to those of continental Europe. Conversely the EC Overseas Countries and Territories are treated separately from European territories, according to Article 1.1 of the Plant Health Directive, because of the different pest risks in those territories.
Agricultural Wages Board
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she plans to abolish the Agricultural Wages Board; and if she will make a statement. [79244]
ARBRE Energy
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is towards the recovery of grants paid to ARBRE Energy in respect of the Eggborough power station. [76844]
Margaret Beckett: Under the Energy Crops Scheme, grants to plant crops are payable to growers. In the case of crops to provide fuel for the ARBRE power station, the Department was asked by the growers to make the payments to ARBRE Energy. The scheme requires that crops are used to produce energy, and the Department would be required to consider recovering grant from growers where crops are used for other purposes. It is too early to consider this as discussions on the future of ARBRE are continuing. In addition, if it does become necessary, the Department will work closely with growers to access the alternative energy markets which are being developed.
British Cattle Movement Service
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what investigation she has made of delays in sending out claims forms by the British Cattle Movement Service; and if she will make a statement. [79280]
Alun Michael: The British Cattle Movement service does not send out any claim forms. Its work does not involve directly the processing or payment of subsidy claims. The orgnisation deals only with the registration and tracing of cattle and when a fully correct birth registration is received, I understand that the organisation issues cattle passports the next day.
Carbon Dioxide Emissions
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her most recent estimate is of annual emissions of carbon dioxide in the UK; and what the level was in 1997. [77461]
7 Nov 2002 : Column 701W
Mr. Meacher: The UK's carbon dioxide emissions in 2000, the last year for which confirmed data are available, were 152.1 million tonnes of carbon, compared to 152.5 million tonnes of carbon in 1997. A provisional estimate of carbon dioxide emissions for 2001, based on energy use, was published by the Department for Trade and Industry in March in its XEnergy Trends" publication. This estimated that carbon dioxide emissions were 154.4 million tonnes of carbon, approximately 6 per cent. below the UK's 1990 baseline emissions of 164.4 million tonnes of carbon.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what future reductions in CO2 emissions are expected by 2010 as a result of Government policy in (a) the domestic sector, (b) transport, (c) industrial sector, (d) the tertiary sector, (e) the public sector and (f) other changes. [77463]
Mr. Meacher: The Government have estimated that the additional policies and measures in the UK climate change programme, published in November 2000, could by 2010 reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the domestic sector by at least 7.8 million tonnes of carbon; in the transport sector by 5.7 million tonnes of carbon; in the business sector, which includes both the industry and commerce, by at least 4.5 million tonnes of carbon; and in the public sector by at least 0.5 million tonnes of carbon. Other policies, which includes afforestation and those policies that cut across sectors, could achieve further savings of 2.6 million tonnes of carbon.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will commission an independent analysis of the likelihood of current Government policies being able to deliver a 20 per cent. cut in CO2 by 2010; and if she will make a statement. [77467]
Mr. Meacher: It is estimated that the quantified policies and measures identified in the climate change programme could lead to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 19 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2010. Carbon savings, which have not been quantified, from additional policies in the programme, could help us achieve our domestic goal. There will be a formal review of the climate change programme in 2004, which will be an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of existing policies and, if necessary, to develop new ones.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what her assessment is of the change in carbon dioxide emissions that will result from households switching to digital television and the use of set-top boxes; [77475]
- (2) what progress has been made (a) on the Government sustainability index on climate change and (b) towards the Government's domestic target for a 20 per cent. reduction in CO2 emissions based on 1990 levels; and if she will make a statement. [77462]
Mr. Meacher: (a) The latest figures for the Headline Sustainable Development Indicator for Climate Change were published in a Defra Statistical Press Release on 28 March. Emissions of the 'basket' of six greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol, weighted by global warming potential, fell by 13.2 per cent. between the 1990 base year and 2000, the last year for which
7 Nov 2002 : Column 702W
confirmed data are available. There was no change between 1999 and 2000. The UK has a target under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2008–12. We remain on course to achieve this target.
(b) A provisional estimate of carbon dioxide emissions for 2001, based on energy use, was published by the Department for Trade and Industry in March in its Energy Trends publication. This estimated that carbon dioxide emissions were 154.4 million tonnes of carbon, approximately 6 per cent. below the UK's 1990 baseline emissions of 164.4 million tonnes of carbon.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |