You are here: Parliament home page > Parliamentary business > Publications and Records > Hansard > Commons Debates > Commons Debates by date > Commons Debates - previous sessions > Bound Volume Hansard - Written Answers
Previous Section Index Home Page

24 Feb 2003 : Column 266W—continued

Producer Responsibility (Free Newspapers)

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to apply the producer responsibility principle to the publishers of free newspapers. [97098]

Mr. Meacher: Our producer responsibility agreement made in April 2000 with the Newspaper Publishers Association set targets for the recycled content of all UK newspapers. The first target for 2001 was exceeded and recycled paper now makes up 63.5 per cent. of our newspapers.

Radioactive Waste

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to reduce the radioactive source terms at Sellafield. [95264]

Mr. Meacher: At the request of Ministers, the Environment Agency has carried out a review of the radioactive discharges from the Sellafield site. The Agency published its proposed decision in August of last year. Among the key elements it proposed are reductions to eight out of 10 of the aerial and half of the liquid discharge limits for the Sellafield site.

My right hon. Friends, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Secretary of State for Health—the responsible Ministers under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993—are currently considering the Agency's proposed decision, and will come to their own decision later this year.

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information on the (a) conditioning and (b) chemical composition of radioactive waste included in the national radioactive waste inventory; and what plans she has to require more detailed information on the characteristics to be included. [95265]

Mr. Meacher: The 2001 UK Radioactive Waste Inventory, in reports DEFRA/RAS/02.005 to 010 (as listed), contains comprehensive information on the conditioning and chemical composition of radioactive waste. There are no plans to require more detailed information on these characteristics at present. Copies of these reports are being placed in the House Library.

Reports:


24 Feb 2003 : Column 267W

Recycling (Somerset)

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the level of recycling was in Somerset county council in 2002. [98310]

Mr. Meacher: Our current figures show that Somerset county council's recycling and composting rate was 16 per cent. in 2001–02, the latest year for which data are available.

Recycled Goods

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what incentives and preventative measures are planned to encourage (a) local councils and (b) other public bodies to use more recycled goods in their service provision. [87965]

Mr. Meacher: Within Government, the Sustainable Procurement Group has considered the scope to stimulate markets for recycled goods via public procurement and will make its recommendations to Ministers within the next few weeks. The Group has sought advice from the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) (which was set up to encourage market development for recycled goods) on increasing the uptake of recycled products across Government and we expect its recommendations to point the way to significant improvements in purchasing of recycled products throughout the public sector. The increasing statutory targets that currently exist for local authorities will also provide an incentive for them to ensure that there is a market for recycled goods in place.

More recently the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit report on Waste Strategy has recommended that the work that the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is undertaking with the Local Government Association and Improvement and Development Agency to promote the take-up of green procurement by local authorities be extended still further. It also suggested that formal mechanisms be put in place to roll out best practice tools developed by the Sustainable Procurement Group to local government. In Central Government it recommended targets for the use of recycled materials. Voluntary green targets were also recommended for local authorities to purchase more recycled goods, minimise waste volumes and to encourage them to recycle more of their waste. The Government aim to publish their response to that report in the spring.

24 Feb 2003 : Column 268W

Smokies

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what investigations have been undertaken by her Department into the production of "smokies" using imported contaminated carcases of goats and sheep; and what action the Government have taken to address this issue. [97126]

Ms Blears: I have been asked to reply.

The production of smokies, whether from imported or domestic carcases, is unlawful because it is a requirement under European Union law that sheep or goat carcases for human consumption be flayed immediately after slaughter.

The Food Standards Agency issued guidance on smokies to local enforcement authorities and to border inspection posts in May 2002; since when successful action has been taken on a number of occasions against both imported and domestically produced smokies.

The Government are also taking wider action to tackle illegal imports of meat. A recent progress update on this was given in the answer from my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr. Morley) on 27 January 2003, Official Report, column 558W.

Waste Management

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) grants and (b) borrowing permissions have been made available to local authorities, in each year from 1997 to date, to facilitate (i) waste minimisation, (ii) reuse of materials, (iii) recycling of materials and (iv) incineration of waste. [96476]

Mr. Meacher: The main source of revenue funding for local authority waste services is formula general grant, comprising the main Revenue Support Grant and National Non-Domestic Rates, provided by the Government under the annual Local Government Finance Settlement. This is distributed to local authorities through Formula Spending Shares. Waste services are covered by the Environmental, Protective and Cultural Services (EPCS) block of FSS which provides for a wide range of local authority services including libraries, local transport and flood defence, as well as waste. The element for waste services is not separately identified within the total, and spending decisions are for local authorities to make in the light of their own priorities and the wishes of their electorate. In total, the figures for the block are:

£ million
2000–018,175
2001–028,601
2002–038,961
2003–049,340
2004–059,583
2005–069,896

The figures for 2000–01 to 2003–04 are those provided in the Local Government Finance Settlement for the respective years. The figures for 2004–05 and 2005–06 are those set out in SR2002. They do not include resource equalisation which took place in 2003–04 and increases to EPCS FSS by £2.230 million in each of the three years to 2005–06.

Prior to 2000–01 resources were provided to local authorities for recycling under a Supplementary Credit Approval scheme. The figure for 1997–98 was £2.159 million.

Defra's Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund has provided £50 million in 2002–03 and £90 million in 2003–04 to encourage local authorities to expand recycling operations in their area. The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has also been allocated £40 million from 2000–01 to 2003–04 to work on overcoming market barriers to reuse and recycling of waste. An additional £15 million was made available to WRAP for 2002–04 from the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund to promote increased use of alternative materials as aggregates.

The Government have also provided Private Finance Initiative (PFI) credits for waste and recycling projects of £220 million in SR 2000 and £355 million in SR 2002. So far, PFI waste projects approved by Defra have typically been large integrated waste management schemes including a variety of waste treatment options.

As part of a Local Public Sector Agreements (LPSA) the Government offers, at the outset, a pump-priming grant, unsupported credit approvals and potential relaxations in statutory and administrative requirements. To date local authorities have been awarded approximately £5 million in pump priming grants, and £16 million in Unsupported Credit Approvals to facilitate the improvement of waste minimisation and recycling. Typically, financial support has been used to improve enforcement and publicity; to develop civic amenity sites; and to initiate or expand kerb-side collection schemes.

24 Feb 2003 : Column 269W

Next Section Index Home Page