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12 Dec 2002 : Column 441W—continued

Floods

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many

12 Dec 2002 : Column 442W

organisations coordinate control of particular areas of high risk from flooding in conjunction with non-governmental organisations; and if she will make a statement. [86220]

Mr. Morley: Defra has policy responsibility for flood and coastal defence in England. Operational responsibility for flooding from main rivers and the sea rests with the Environment Agency. The Agency is also responsible for flood warning arrangements and exercises a general supervision over all matters relating to flood defence. Operational responsibility for flooding from ordinary watercourses rests with the relevant local authority or, in areas where they exist, the relevant internal drainage board. Emergency planning arrangements are the responsibility of the local authority.

The responsibilities for flood and coastal defence are currently being reviewed along with the funding arrangements. I expect to make an announcement in the new year.

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what alternative plans there are to the sluice for Bridgwater and the Parrett for the protection of Bridgwater and the surrounding area from flooding. [86226]

Mr. Morley: Defra provides grant to local operating authorities for flood defence capital works that meet certain criteria. However responsibility for deciding which projects to promote and their timing rests with the operating authorities, in this case the Environment Agency.

I understand that the Agency is undertaking studies into viable options for flood management measures for Bridgwater but as yet they have not submitted any proposals to Defra for grant aid.

Illegal Imports

Andrew George : To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she is taking to inform (a) residents and (b) visitors to the UK of the rule change on 1 January regarding the personal import allowances for animal products from their countries. [86577]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 11 December 2002]: We will provide information on the new rules for personal imports as part of our ongoing campaign to highlight to travellers the risks posed by illegal imports. This campaign has already used a variety of methods, including posters, leaflets, information videos, and interviews. Future publicity highlights include having a Defra presence at XDestinations 2003" and XThe Holiday Show 2003". Our publicity campaign remains under constant review.

Specifically to highlight the new rules, the poster detailing the personal allowances for personal imports of plant and animal products is being updated. It will be displayed at ports of entry into the UK and aimed at travellers arriving from outside the EU.

We are continuing to work with our posts and embassies abroad to raise awareness of our import rules at points of departure.

12 Dec 2002 : Column 443W

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many seizures of illegal imports there were, broken down by (a) weight and (b) region in each of the last five years. [86578]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 11 December 2002]: A central database of illegal animal product seizures notified to DEFRA was set up in April 2001.

From 31 March 2001 to 30 March 2002

Region	Number of seizures	Weight (kg)
England	2,040	113,082
Wales	2	13
Scotland	10	50
Northern Ireland	14	28
Total	2,066	113,173

From 31 March 2002 to 6 December 2002

Region	Number of seizures	Weight (kg)
England	2,042	29,707
Wales	4	23
Scotland	155	595
Northern Ireland	168	1,386
Total	2,369	31,711

Andrew George : To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 26 November 2002, Official Report, column 230W, which regions have been targeted for additional checks on passenger baggage and freight for illegal imports. [86613]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 11 December 2002]: Additional checks are being carried out by teams at three major seaports and two airports. One of these teams will also operate at other airports around the country.

Specific details of staff and ports of operation could benefit potential smugglers, so we cannot make public this information.

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 26 November 2002, Official Report, column 237W, how many seizures of illegal imports of animal products in commercial consignments and personal baggage have been carried out under Regulation 8 of the Products of Animal Origin (Third Country Imports) (England) Regulations 2002 since 22 May 2002 . [86614]

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Mr. Morley [holding answer 11 December 2002]: There have been 2,087 seizures of products of animal origin reported to us by the enforcement agencies since 22 May 2002.

Of these, 1,903 were in personal baggage, with a total weight of 16,598 kg, and 184 were in commercial consignments, with a total weight of 12,533 kg.

Landfill

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of costs incurred by the Environment Agency in respect of landfill inspections were covered by charges levied, in the most recent year for which figures are available. [85844]

Mr. Meacher: 100 per cent. of landfill inspection costs are covered through charges.

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) number and (b) total size was of landfill sites in the United Kingdom broken down by region, in each year since 1995. [85891]

Mr. Meacher [holding answer 11 December 2002]: The number of landfill sites in England and Wales is provided in the table. Data on the numbers of sites before 2000 are not readily available because the Environment Agency used to collect information on the number of licences rather than number of sites (a site could have several licences). Data are not available for Scotland or Northern Ireland.

	2002–03	2001–02	2000–01
Anglian	151	171	224
Midlands	166	201	294
North East	186	216	255
North West	114	126	153
South West	100	113	132
Southern	78	101	123
Thames	98	110	111
Wales	68	81	91
Grand total	961	1,119	1,383

The following tables provide a breakdown, by Government Office region, of landfill capacity in 1998–99. Landfill capacity covers two types—open gate (open to anyone) and restricted access (usually in-house landfills for the private use of a single company). Similar figures for 2000–01 will be available shortly on the Agency's website once data have been quality assured. These data are based on surveys carried out every two years. The first survey was not commissioned until 1998.

Region	Inert/C&D	Biodegradable	Co-disposal	Total
East of England	9,412	26,527	65,391	101,330
East Midlands	14,167	15,810	41,802	71,779
London	3,949	15,303	358	19,610
North East	200	15,958	23,015	39,173
North West	12,712	6,255	57,860	76,827
South East	18,706	63,539	33,184	115,429
South West Wales(12)	8,221	19,839	21,319	49,379
West Midlands	8,178	13,805	55,754	77,737
Yorkshire and the Humber	8,473	32,384	43,431	84,288
National total	84,018	209,420	342,114	635,552

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Region	Degradable	Cap&Cover	Inputs	Life expectancy
East of England	91,918	36,767.2	9509	4.8
East Midlands	57,612	23,044.8	3,678	7.8
London	15,661	6,264.4	1,234	6.3
North East	38,973	15,589.2	2,206	8.8
North West	64,115	25,646.0	6,437	5.0
South East	96,723	38,689.2	7,306	6.6
South West	41,158	16,463.2	3,669	5.6
Wales(12)	35,926	14,370.4	2,643	6.8
West Midlands	69,559	27,823.6	4,026	8.6
Yorkshire & the Number	75,815	30,326.0	5,439	7.0
National total	587,460	234,984	46,147	6.4

⁽¹²⁾ Information split not available—total Wales landfill capacity 52,619,000 cubic metres

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) complaints, (b) court actions and (c) fines against landfill sites for problems related to (i) odours, (ii) water pollutions, (iii) air pollution and (iv) human health impact there were in each year since 1995, broken down by region. [85894]

Mr. Meacher [holding answer 11 December 2002]: The data are not available in the form requested. Environment Agency reports have been collated centrally since April 2001 and so annual data are not available before this date. The following tables show the number of incidents broken down into impacts on water, land and air, and by region for the period April 2001 to March 2002. No specific record of impact on health is kept. It should be noted that each incident can be recorded as having an impact on more than one media. Therefore, adding records for impacts on single media will involve some double counting.

Region	Cat1 (major)	Cat2 (significant)	Cat3 (minor)	Cat4 (no impact)
Water impact
Anglian	0	0	9	142
Wales	0	0	15	239
Midlands	0	2	8	119
North East	0	2	9	169
North West	0	0	19	1,105
South West	0	0	8	77
Southern	0	1	15	188
Thames	0	1	7	73
Total	0	6	90	2,112
Land impact
Anglian	0	9	51	91
Wales	0	3	15	236
Midlands	0	1	26	102
North East	0	13	50	117
North West	0	2	36	1,086
South West	0	1	24	60
Southern	0	3	22	179
Thames	0	3	23	55
Total	0	35	247	1,926
Air impact
Anglian	0	8	86	57
Wales	0	7	209	38
Midlands	0	2	91	36
North East	0	15	89	76
North West	0	196	868	60
South West	0	2	54	29
Southern	0	11	159	34
Thames	0	3	51	27
Total	0	244	1,607	357

In relation to court action and fines, data are available from 1999 from the National Enforcement Database.

12 Dec 2002 : Column 446W

Region	Year	Number of court actions	Number of fines	Total fines (#)
Midlands	1999	5	12	16,250
	2000	2	8	88,500
North East	2000	3	4	16,750
North West	2000	1	3	35,000
	2001	1	1	3,000
	2002	1	3	17,000
EA Wales	2000	2	3	23,000
	2001	3	4	14,500
Anglian	2002	1	4	60,000
South West	2002	1	2	2,500

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