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19 Dec 2002 : Column 931W—continued
Waste Refrigerators
31. Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the ability of local authorities to deal with waste refrigerators. [86798]
Mr. Meacher: Special Grant Report No 109 was laid in Parliament on 14 November. The report, which was debated by the House on 16 December, details the proposed allocation to the relevant receiving authorities of the #40 million allocated this year to assist with the disposal of refrigerators. These allocations will be given to relevant local authorities shortly, and with this money, local authorities will be well equipped to deal with waste refrigerators.
Farmers (Entry-level Payments)
32. Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whom she has consulted about the proposed entry level scheme for payments to farmers; and how the scheme links with other agri-environmental schemes. [86799]
Mr. Meacher: In March this year my Department held an initial public consultation on agri-environment schemes in England, including the Policy Commission's recommendation for an entry level scheme. We received over 130 responses, and the analysis of the responses is available on the Defra website at: http://defraweb/erdp/schemes/landbased/review/consultnew.htm
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Since then we have worked closely with a wide range of stakeholder organisations on developing the pilot for the entry level scheme. These include:
- Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers, Association of National Park Authorities, Country Land and Business Association, Countryside Agency, Environment Agency, English Heritage, English Nature, Farmcare, Game Conservancy Trust, Hill Farms Initiative, Local Government Association, National Farmers Union, National Trust, Royal Society Protection of Birds, Tenant Farmers Association, The Wildlife Trusts/Link, and the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group.
Coastal Protection
34. Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at how many public inquiries on coastal protection proposals her Department has been represented in the last year for which information is available. [86801]
Mr. Morley: Defra officials held one local hearing in 2001–02 to consider views on unresolved objections to coast protection works proposed by local authorities.
Bovine TB
Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what evidence has been obtained to establish a link between badgers and bovine tuberculosis. [86800]
Mr. Morley: The Krebs Review of bovine TB in cattle found compelling evidence that badgers are a significant source of infection for cattle. However, the relative contribution that badgers and other wildlife make to the disease is unknown. The ongoing badger culling field trial was designed by the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB (ISG) to evaluate what role, if any, badgers play in the transmission of bovine TB to cattle, and whether badger culling is an effective or sustainable bovine TB control mechanism. It will provide epidemiological data on the occurrence and prevalence of TB in badgers, its relationship to population density and social group size and the spatial relationship between TB-infected badgers and TB breakdowns in cattle herds.
The ISG have advised that it is too early for a full analysis of results. It is a basic rule for scientific trials that results are not published prematurely. However, it has been possible to complete a preliminary analysis of the risk factors associated with cattle TB, and this is set out in the ISG's Third Report, available in the House Library.
CAP
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with her French and German counterparts regarding the mid-term review of the Common Agricultural Policy. [86773]
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Margaret Beckett: I have regularly spoken to my French and German counterparts about reform of the Common Agricultural Policy during recent meetings of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council. I also met my German opposite number on this subject on 24 October and plan to meet my French counterpart early in the new year.
Countryside Stewardship Scheme
Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total area of farm holdings is in England and Wales which are part of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme; and if she will make a statement. [87329]
Alun Michael: The Countryside Stewardship Scheme operates in England, whereas the equivalent scheme in Wales, Tir Gofal, is the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly. The total area of land under agreement in the Countryside Stewardship Scheme is approximately 338,000 hectares, not including the 2002 application round.
Farmers (Retirement)
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to introduce a means-tested retirement scheme for farmers. [86787]
Alun Michael: We have no plans to introduce an early retirement scheme for farmers. The Government agrees with the findings of the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food that a retirement incentive scheme would not offer value for money. However, as suggested by the Commission, Defra is developing a supporting pack of advice for farmers considering retirement, in consultation with stakeholders. The pack should be available by June 2003.
Fuel Poverty Advisory Group
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the report of the fuel poverty advisory group. [86784]
Alun Michael: My right hon. Friend, the Lord Whitty, has only recently received the Fuel Poverty Advisory Group's first annual report and will be making a full assessment of it in due course.
Recycling
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what (a) guidance and (b) advice is provided to Government Departments regarding the disposal of (i) printer cartridges and (ii) mobile phones; [85851]
- (2) what support her Department (a) provides and (b) plans to provide to (i) local authorities and (ii) charitable organisations regarding the recycling and reuse of (A) mobile phones and (B) printer cartridges; [85853]
(3) what the total (a) volume and (b) number of printer cartridges (i) purchased and (ii) disposed of in the UK was in each year since 1990. [85855]
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Mr. Meacher [holding answer 11 December 2002]: There are around 90 million mobile phones in use and being stored the UK, and around 15 million of these are replaced every year. The majority of these are set to be reused or recycled through schemes such as FoneBack to which the main mobile phone companies are members. A number of phones are also being refurbished and sold to eastern Europe, Asia and Africa where there is a strong second hand market. In addition to this, the recently finalized text of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive sets a 75 per cent. target for the recovery and 65 per cent. target for the recycling of separately collected mobile phones.
The average office printer uses around a dozen printer cartridges a year, while a home printer uses around five. There are currently a number of businesses and charities that will collect printer cartridges when they are disposed of and send them for re-manufacturing. The text of the WEEE Directive encourages the design of equipment for recycling in general, and prioritises the re-use, recycling and recovery of WEEE so as to reduce the disposal of waste. Under the Directive producers of electrical and electronic goods will be responsible for the recovery, treatment and environmentally sound disposal of their equipment.
The Directive does not cover consumables such as printer cartridges when they are discarded separately. Devices are sometimes inserted into such consumables to prevent their reuse. The Department is therefore looking at effective measures to reduce this.
Guidance and advice will be developed and provided to Government Departments, local authorities and charitable organisations on the disposal, recycling and reuse of mobile phones and printer cartridges as part of the implementation of the WEEE Directive.
Spending Review
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list for her Department (a) those Comprehensive Spending Review 1998 targets that were outstanding at the time of the statement on the Comprehensive Spending Review 2002, (b) progress on such targets since then and (c) the expected date when targets not yet achieved will be met. [87694]
Alun Michael: The Department published progress against all its outstanding PSA targets in its Departmental Report 2002 (Cm 5422) and Autumn Performance Report 2002 (Cm 5698).
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