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Flood Prevention

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will publish the national assessment of flood risk. [89634]

Margaret Beckett: This Department, as an aid for planning by all flood and coastal operating authorities, commissioned research to produce a national appraisal of the assets at risk from flooding and coastal erosion in 1999. The results were published in July 2000 and an update version was published in September 2001. Further research on large scale risk assessment has since been carried out under the joint Environment Agency/Defra research programme in flood management and results of the first phase of this work have been applied to the latest information collated for input to the national flood and coastal defence database. The results of this research application which take account of updated estimates of property flood damage from other research are currently being compiled and reviewed. They will be made available once the necessary quality checks have been completed. It should be stressed that the new research methodology is at the leading edge of developments in risk analysis at this scale so the results will have to be interpreted with some caution.

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the most recent meeting was between Ministers in her Department and the Association of British Insurers to discuss flood prevention; and if she will make a statement. [89633]

Margaret Beckett: The most recent meeting was on 17 September 2002 following which the ABI issued their Statement of Principles to apply from 1 January 2003. There are also regular discussions between my officials and the ABI.

Flooding

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions there have been within the last six months between the Environment Agency and the insurance industry on the relationship between flood defence provision and the continuation of insurance cover for property owners against the risk of flooding. [89628]

Margaret Beckett: There has been regular discussion between the Environment Agency and the insurance industry on this subject during the last six months, which contributed to the announcement in September 2002 by the Association of British Insurers of their Statement of Principle, and there has subsequently been a continuing dialogue between the ABI and the EA on the information to be provided.

Foot and Mouth

Sir Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will instruct her Department to make payments on account to Mr. Houldey of Granthouse, Berwickshire, a sub-contractor of Peter Boddy Ltd. [88502]

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Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether animal grazing will be permitted in 2003 on sites used for mass burning of carcasses during the foot and mouth epidemic. [89807]

Mr. Morley: Each site used for mass burial will be reviewed. As a general rule, where the ash has been removed or buried in accordance with Defra and Environment Agency/SEPA guidelines, and where the sites have been fully reinstated, there are no overriding reasons why grazing should not be permitted this year.

[holding answer 7 January 2003]: The Department has no contractual relationship with Mr. Houldey of Granthouse, Berwickshire. No entitlement to payments on account arises. Financial matters pertaining to the commercial relationship between Peter Boddy Ltd. and their sub-contractor, Mr. Houldey, are entirely their responsibility, as is normal in any contractual relationship of this kind.

Fraud

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her estimate is of the cost of theft and fraud to (a) her Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in 2002. [89864]

Alun Michael: The Department's annual return of actual and suspected fraud and corruption submitted to HMT for the year 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002 showed the following:

	Total cost (£)
Core-DEFRA	99,744
Agencies	226,11
Non-departmental public bodies	N/A

Illegal Meat Imports

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many seizures of illegally imported meat were made at (a) Stranraer and (b) Cairnryan in each year since 1999. [90406]

Mr. Morley: No seizures of illegally imported meat made at Stranraer or Cairnryan have been reported to DEFRA, HM Customs or the Scottish Executive. These ports handle internal United Kingdom traffic from Northern Ireland, and vessels do not use them as their first point of call in the European Union.

Lake Pollution

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of lakes in the UK are designated as polluted. [91122]

Mr. Morley: The Environment Agency does not monitor all lakes in England on a routine basis but takes action where there is evidence of a water quality problem.

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A study commissioned by English Nature in the 1990s showed that 46 per cent. of lakes designated as sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) showed nutrient enrichment. This can affect water quality in some circumstances.

English Nature are carrying out condition reassessments on these SSSIs. Results will be available later this year.

Since this is a devolved matter, this reply relates to England only.

Meat Hygiene

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the costs to British abattoirs of complying with (a) the official feed and food control regulations and (b) the arrangements for blood storage and disposal included in the Animal By-Products Regulations. [89616]

Margaret Beckett: The Commission has not yet made proposals on charges to abattoirs for health inspections but we have made plain our preference for the existing structure and levels of meat hygiene charges. With respect to disposal of blood, officials are working with industry representatives to achieve satisfactory outcomes both in terms of regulatory requirements and the ability of industry to change existing practices at minimum cost and disruption.

Mineral Water

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her latest estimate is of the number of litres of bottled mineral water consumed in the UK, in the last period for which figures are available. [91002]

Mr. Morley: It is estimated that 741 million litres of mineral water were consumed in the UK in the 12-month period starting in April 2001. This estimate is based upon records of consumer purchases from the Expenditure and Food Survey.

Postcodes

Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what use her Department and its agencies make of postcode areas for (a) the collection and publication of data, (b) devising formulae for the distribution of grants and awards and (c) the delivery of services; and when such usages were last reviewed. [87738]

Alun Michael: Postcoded data are used extensively by Defra and the Countryside Agency in the collection and publication of data on rural services. Postcoded data are not used for categories (b) and (c).

Research Contract

Mr. Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the organisations who (a) were invited to tender and (b) tendered unsuccessfully for the research contract which was awarded to MCM Research Ltd. [91306]

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Alun Michael: Five organisations in total were invited to tender. These were the University of Birmingham, University of the West of England, Ken Dibble Acoustics, Symonds Group and MCM Research Ltd. All the organisations except the University of Birmingham submitted tenders and all but MCM Research Ltd. were unsuccessful.

RIMNET3

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what research has been conducted by or for her Department on the effectiveness of RIMNET3; [90229]

(2) what role her Department has in the maintenance and running of RIMNET3; and what changes have taken place and are planned to this system. [90228]

Mr. Meacher: DEFRA is the lead Government Department with responsibility for the co-ordination of the UK response to overseas nuclear accidents. RIMNET3 will replace the existing RIMNET (Radioactive Incident Monitoring Network) system which was developed and put in place in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. DEFRA is responsible for ensuring the operation and maintenance of the RIMNET system but all Government Departments and Agencies with responsibilities to respond to an overseas nuclear accident have access to the system and each is individually responsible for negotiating support and maintenance contracts with the prime support contractor (Siemens).

The RIMNET3 supply, support and maintenance contract was let to Logica plc in 1992 following an international competitive tender exercise. As RIMNET3 is not yet operational, the support and maintenance provisions have not yet been implemented and no research has been undertaken on its effectiveness in use. However, the RIMNET Co-ordinating Committee brings together representatives from the appropriate Government Departments and Agencies and all their requirements have been reflected in the design and development process. RIMNET3 will deliver all the functionality of the existing RIMNET system on more up-to-date technology and using commercially available software. There is a planned "technology refresh" during the 10-year life of RIMNET3 and any required improvements identified through regular testing of the system and through the extensive programme of domestic and international emergency exercises, will be implemented as appropriate.

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