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School Fruit Scheme

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will fund the provision of organic fruit to school children as part of the national school fruit scheme. [88255]

Mr. Meacher: The national school fruit scheme will entitle every child aged 4 to 6 to a free piece of fruit each school day from 2004. The scheme is currently being expanded to all eligible schools through large scale pilots on a region by region basis with funding of £42 million from the new opportunities fund.

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Since most organic fruit is currently imported, direct funding of the provision of organic fruit would result in increased imports at least in the short-term. However, we shall assist growers to respond to the consumer demand for organically produced fruit by means of a conversion aid which it is intended will start later this year.

Sheep (EU Regulations)

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received from the farming industry on the proposed EU Draft Regulations on the double-tagging of sheep; and if she will make a statement. [91418]

Mr. Morley: The main industry associations with an interest in these proposals have been consulted and we await their views. In addition, we have received a number of representations from individuals in the industry expressing concerns over the potential impact of the proposals on their businesses.

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what advice she has received on the animal welfare implications of the use of distance-readable tags proposed in the EU Draft Regulations on sheep tagging; and if she will make a statement. [91419]

Mr. Morley: The EU proposals do not provide for distance-readable tags but do require tags to be applied on a place easily visible at a distance. We shall be seeking views on the proposals from the Farm Animal Welfare Council, other animal welfare organisations and from Government veterinary officials.

Sheep Tagging

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on the European Commission's draft regulations for the tagging of sheep. [89614]

Margaret Beckett: The Government support the European Commission's objectives to improve sheep and goat identification and traceability in order to control the spread of animal diseases.

However, the Commission's proposals in their present form could cause practical problems for the UK sheep industry. The Government will be negotiating to try and ensure that that the eventual Regulations are both workable and enforceable, and that the timescales for implementation are realistic.

Sulphur Emissions

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures are in place to encourage power plants to reduce their SO2 emissions and to increase the use of flue gas desulphurisation systems. [90458]

Mr. Meacher [holding answer 13 January 2003]: Power plants are currently regulated under the Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) regime. IPC is established by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and regulates industrial pollution through a system of

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permits. Operators are required to demonstrate that they would be carrying out the Best Available Techniques not Entailing Excessive Cost (BATNEEC) for their activities before being issued an authorisation to operate. BATNEEC is applied to prevent, and where that is not practicable, to minimise releases of substances to air, water and land.

Authorisations set strict limits for sulphur dioxide emissions for the given power plant. In demonstrating the use of BATNEEC the operator would be required to consider techniques that would reduce emissions (including the application of flue gas desulphurisation). Each application is considered on a case by case basis, but all applicants must demonstrate BATNEEC.

IPC is being superseded by the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) regime, established by a Directive of the same name (EC/96/61). Existing power plants will be regulated by IPPC from 2006; new plants or those undergoing substantial change will be required to apply for an IPPC permit with immediate effect. Operators are required to demonstrate that they use the Best Available Techniques (BAT) for their activities prior to a permit being issued. Again, permits will include limits on sulphur dioxide emissions.

Sustainability

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to promote understanding that the actions of UK citizens have global consequences and to introduce the principles of sustainability into local communities. [90459]

Mr. Meacher: We are committed to raising awareness among UK citizens of the global consequences of their actions. For example, through our Environmental Action Fund we are assisting voluntary groups to run projects on education for sustainable development aimed at adults, schools and communities. DEFRA also directly supports a range of bodies that promote sustainable living, production and consumption. These include the Energy Saving Trust which works on energy efficiency, the Carbon Trust which supports technological innovation and encourages more efficient business working practices, and Environmental Campaigns (ENCAMS), an umbrella organisation which encompasses all the activities undertaken by the Tidy Britain Group and Going for Green. ENCAMS works with community groups, local authorities, businesses and other partners to promote sustainable development at the local level, with a particular focus on local environmental quality and anti-social behaviour.

Our communications directorate are currently developing a new communications strategy on sustainable development. They will be considering all aspects of communications, including the use of the internet, media relations and paid publicity. We intend to seek stakeholder's views on proposals later in the year.

Since 2000 the Local Government Act has placed a duty on local authorities to prepare community strategies for promoting the economic, social and environmental well being of their communities and contributing to sustainable development in the UK. The Government's

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statutory guidance on community strategies says that community strategies should articulate how global concerns can be addressed through local action.

Tallow

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish the notification and results of tenders to dispose of tallow produced under the over-thirty-months scheme. [90842]

Alun Michael: The tender exercise for the disposal of stored tallow from the over-thirty-months (slaughter) scheme is currently being considered by the Rural Payments Agency. Discussions with individual tenderers are taking place to determine likely quantities and availability and it is expected that decisions on successful bidders can be made shortly. Once determined, the results will be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Teleworking

Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the impact of teleworking on rural communities. [91540]

Alun Michael: Modern communications technology which enables people to work from home can bring economic benefits to rural communities, and especially to those remote rural communities which do not have good transport links to urban centres, which might otherwise be denied to them. Higher bandwidth internet links will help with this and the Government are committed to extending the availability of broadband to rural areas, through for example the work of the UK Broadband Task Force, so that more businesses will be able to reap the benefits.

Water Framework Directive

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the planned timetable is for implementing the Water Framework Directive in the United Kingdom. [88434]

Margaret Beckett: The Directive itself sets out the timetable for its implementation, which we are following. Among the key dates are: that it must be transposed into domestic legislation by 2003; that that the characteristics of water bodies must be analysed by 2004; that river basin management plans must be published by 2009; that programmes of measures must be made operational by 2012; and that key environmental objectives must be met by 2015.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Appointments

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to which bodies his Department makes appointments; how many members there are (a) in total and (b) in each body; and how many of those appointed are (i) businessmen, (ii) businessmen in SMEs and (iii) businessmen in micro-businesses. [87395]

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Jane Kennedy: I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office on 16 December 2002, Official Report, column 608W.

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