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Litter

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what costings have been done to assess whether a similar campaign to the Keep Britain Tidy campaign would be (a) timely and (b) prudent. [86020]

Alun Michael: ENCAMS will play an important role in supporting the Government's agenda of improving the local environment and people's quality of life by running high-profile campaigns each year based around Local Environmental Quality and Litter issues.

Campaigns planned for 2003 include a focus on fly-tipping, car litter, fly-posting and youth litter and these initiatives are in effect a continuation of the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign year on year.

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I met the director of ENCAMS, Alan Woods (Environmental Campaigns which is the current name of the Tidy Britain Group) today to discuss the organisation's work which is focused on making a real difference at a local level, which is where we need to influence public attitudes and behaviour.

In parallel to the Government's policy to make a significant impact on the antisocial behaviour, litter, graffiti and noise which spoils the quality of lives in so many places, ENCAMS has developed tools which help their local authority partners to target real local problems. These include a set of posters to challenge people who allow their dogs to foul local parks. Evaluation has shown that a significant improvement has been achieved in areas where these have been used as part of a local campaign. We are encouraging ENCAMS to spread information about successful local campaigns so that lessons learned can help to improve the quality of life for people in other areas too. This fits with efforts by Ministers in DEFRA, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Home Office to give a high profile to tackling quality of life issues nationally while promoting action at the local level in conjunction with the Local Government Associate and other partners.

Joanne Whitaker, ENCAMS5 Director for the North West Region, would be more than happy to meet the hon.Member to talk about the future of local litter campaigns and programmes. More details of ENCAMS campaigns as well as promotional material can be obtained via their website: http://www.encams.org.

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received about the environmental impact of increased littering and tipping of household waste in (a) urban and (b) rural areas. [86023]

Alun Michael: The Department receives representations on litter and fly tipping from different sectors of society. During the period 1 January 2001 to 1 January 2002, we received 430 representations on litter. During the period January 2001 to the present, we received 180 representations on fly tipping. We do not differentiate between urban and rural representations in correspondence.

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Keep Britain Tidy campaign cost after 1972; and what assessments were made of its impact on reducing litter. [86019]

Alun Michael: Since 1972 the programmes and initiatives run as part of the Keep Britain Tidy campaign have cost #37,341,498.

There are regular reviews of the performance of all programmes and campaigns run by the Tidy Britain Group (TBG), now part of an umbrella organisation called Environmental Campaigns (ENCAMS). Under terms set out in the Grant Memorandum they submit a yearly Grant Review document, which examines in detail the effectiveness of every campaign and programme run over the previous year. Also a Financial Management and Policy Review of ENCAMS is carried out, usually at five year intervals, as part of the Government's requirement that all non-departmental

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public bodies and those like them should be subjected to regular and detailed scrutiny. The last review of ENCAMS took place in 2001.

Waste

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the maximum potential for anaerobic digestion systems to remove waste from the waste stream; and what assessment she has made of the environmental impact of such systems. [85838]

Mr. Meacher: When reviewing the waste strategy the Strategy Unit commissioned a study of new and emerging technologies, which includes anaerobic digestion. This contains details on the environmental impacts of the processes under study. Anaerobic digestion can potentially treat a wide range of biodegradable wastes. However in practical terms its application will depend on its cost and performance compared with the other available treatment options. The report is entitled XDelivering the Landfill Directive: The role of new and emerging technologies" and is available as an annexe to the full report XWaste not, Want not" on the Strategy Unit website: www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/innovation/index.htm .

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan (Drugs)

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment the Government have made of the effect of bombing in Afghanistan on the (a) production of and (b) trade in drugs. [84697]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The disruption of drug production and trafficking was not among the aims of the military campaign waged in Afghanistan. Any damage to the drugs trade as a result of bombing would be incidental to the principal aims of the campaign and would not be covered in any battle assessments. It is not possible to calculate from other sources the damage caused to the drugs trade in Afghanistan as a result of bombing.

Compulsory Purchase (Spain)

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government have made to the Government of Spain in relation to compulsory purchase of property belonging to British citizens in the regions of Valencia. [85173]

Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 3 December 2002]: No representations have been made to the Spanish central Government; however, our ambassador in Madrid brought these problems to the attention of the head of the Valencian regional government in a letter dated 22 October which refers to a number of individual cases. The ambassador has met and discussed the matter with British nationals, including at a public meeting. British nationals are being advised to engage the services of local lawyers, who are best placed to assist them.

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Entry Clearance Independent Monitor

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met the Independent Monitor. [86730]

Mr. Rammell : My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not met Mr. Rabinder Singh, in his official capacity of Independent Monitor for non-Appealable Entry Clearance Refusals. Mr. Singh has met my three predecessors as Ministers responsible for entry clearance matters; in October 2000 the then Minister for Europe, my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester East (Keith Vaz), in December 2001 the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Mr. Bradshaw) and in October 2002 with my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire (Mr. O'Brien).

EU Enlargement (Agricultural Production Quotas)

Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on the Danish Presidency's latest offer on agricultural production quotas to the candidate countries due to join the EU in 2004; and if he will make a statement. [86547]

Mr. MacShane: The Danish Presidency has proposed small quota increases for candidates on a number of agricultural commodities. The Government will consider these provided they are justified on the basis of historical data and objective methodology and fall within the agreed financial ceilings.

Gibraltar

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next intends to visit Gibraltar. [86728]

Mr. MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has no current plans to do so.

Pakistan (Minority Groups)

Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Government of Pakistan concerning the plight of minority groups, with specific reference to Christians in Pakistan; and if he will make a statement. [86582]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for South Derbyshire (Mr. Mark Todd) on 2 December 2002, Official Report, column 527W.

Public Appointments

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what public appointments he has made in November 2002. [86729]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: None.

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Visa Centres (Indian Sub-Continent)

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to open additional visa centres in the Indian sub-continent. [86726]

Mr. Rammell: We plan to open visa application offices in Jalandhar and Ahmedabad early in 2003. We also hope to open a number of similar offices across the country so that UK visa services are more accessible to our Indian customers. We do not currently have any plans to open similar offices in other South Asian countries.

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