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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 3 March 2003
CABINET OFFICE
Central Office of Information
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will place in the Library a copy of the Service Delivery Agreement for the Central Office of Information; and if he will make a statement. [99391]
Mr. Alexander: A copy of the current Central Office of Information (COI) Service Delivery Agreement (SDA), which was published as part of the Spending Review 2000, is already available from the House Libraries and on-line at the COI's website:.http://www.coi.gov.uk/aboutus/sda.html
However, the COI is currently in the process of revising its Framework Document and preparing its Annual Business Plan for 2003–04. It is anticipated that the COI will announce and publish its revised Service Delivery Agreement (SDA) at the same time as announcing its annual performance targets to Parliament.
The current timetable for the COI to publish its annually agreed external performance targets, which will be done by means of a Written Ministerial Statement, is April 2003. Copies of these will then be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Official Vehicles
Pete Wishart: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) how many official vehicles have been at the disposal of (a) the Government, (b) the Official Opposition and (c) the Liberal Democrats in each year since 1995; and at what cost; [100130]
- (2) what the total cost has been for official vehicles for (a) the Prime Minister's Office, (b) the Official Opposition Leader's Office and (c) the Office of the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in each year since 1995. [100131]
Mr. Alexander: The responsibility for the provision of ministerial cars and drivers has been delegated under the terms of the Framework Document to the Government Car Despatch Agency. I have asked its Chief Executive Mr. Nick Matheson to write to the hon. Member. Copies of his letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Written Questions
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many named day written questions were tabled to the Office between 15 October 2002 and 24 February 2003; how many that received a holding answer were given a substantive answer (a) within three days, (b) within seven days, (c) within 14 days,
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(d) within 28 days and (e) over 28 days later; and what procedures are in place to monitor performance on answering (i) parliamentary questions and (ii) ministerial letters. [99458]
Mr. Alexander: Seventy five named day questions were tabled to the Cabinet Office between 15 October 2002 and 24 February 2003, of these nine had holding replies. All were answered within three parliamentary sitting days.
Cabinet Office parliamentary questions are recorded on a parliamentary database, and progress of all parliamentary questions are monitored closely.
As far as ministerial correspondence is concerned, the Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on performance of departments in replying to ministerial correspondence. The Report for 2001 was published on 24 May 2002, column 674W. The Report for 2002 will be published in due course.
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Inland Waterways
Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans there are to appoint an independent regulator to oversee the interests of inland waterway users. [100206]
Alun Michael: I am not convinced of the need for a regulator. British Waterways and other navigation authorities are already subject to the general law against anti-competitive practice. I know that the Inland Waterways Association has written to British Waterways suggesting that it would be preferable to set up a new appeal procedure to deal with waterway managers' decisions. I understand that British Waterways is willing to consider this suggestion and I think that it should be fully explored. It may be possible to extend any agreed arrangements to other navigation authorities.
Bovine Tuberculosis
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many confirmed incidents of bovine tuberculosis were identified in the parliamentary constituencies of (a) Montgomeryshire and (b) Brecon and Radnorshire, in each quarter in (i) 2000, (ii) 2001 and (iii) 2002; and if she will make a statement. [99308]
Mr. Morley: The number of confirmed incidents of bovine tuberculosis in (a) Montgomeryshire and (b) Brecon and Radnorshire, broken down as requested is shown in the table.
Care must be taken in making comparisons with previous years' figures. The disruption to the TB programme caused by FMD, and the rolling nature of the testing programme means that we are now effectively catching up on two years' testing. Clearance of overdue testing has been targeted on those herds at higher risk first, therefore it will not be possible to interpret the data properly until the testing backlog has been cleared.
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| Quarter | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (a) Number of confirmed incidents of TB in Brecon and Radnorshire | ||||
| Q1 | 8 | 8 | 15 | |
| Q2 | 4 | 1 | 13 | |
| Q3 | 4 | 0 | 13 | |
| Q4 | 4 | 4 | 26 | |
| Total | 20 | 13 | 67 | |
| (b) Number of confirmed incidents of TB in Montgomeryshire | ||||
| Q1 | 0 | 3 | 11 | |
| Q2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| Q3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Q4 | 1 | 11 | 5 | |
| Total | 2 | 16 | 21 | |
Diffuse Pollution
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many incidents of diffuse pollution have been recorded in each year since 1997; and how many resulted in (a) prosecutions and (b) fines. [99250]
Mr. Morley: In its records of pollution incidents, the Environment Agency has identified 4,779 incidents since 1999 where urban or rural land run-off was the likely cause and which have been attributed to diffuse sources.
However, by its very nature diffuse pollution often does not manifest itself as an identifiable incident. Much diffuse pollution occurs through repeated low level leaching of pollutants from land or run-off from surfaces that has a cumulative impact on water quality. So, records of pollution incidents only pick up a small part of the problem of diffuse pollution.
It has not proved possible to collate any information on prosecutions and fines in relation to diffuse pollution for this answer.
Most current legislation relating to water pollution is addressed at point sources, such as discharges of industrial effluent or specific pollution incidents, and was not designed to prevent or control more gradual diffuse pollution. This is why the Government have proposed the creation of a new statutory power to prevent and control diffuse pollution as part of action to transpose the provisions of the water framework directive into domestic legislation. This proposal was included in the "Second Consultation Paper on the Implementation of the EC Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC)", published in October 2002.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what changes have taken place or are planned related to tracing the sources of diffuse pollution. [99251]
Mr. Morley: In the past tracing sources of diffuse water pollution has been done as part of catchment campaigns by the Environment Agency to improve compliance with river quality objectives. Such campaigns have been run in various catchments across the country.
As part of action to implement the water framework directive, a more comprehensive approach will be required. The directive requires that reviews are undertaken of the impact of human activity on the
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status of surface waters and on groundwater, including the identification of significant diffuse source pollution. The Government have proposed that a specific duty should be placed on the Environment Agency to carry out such reviews. This proposal is set out in the "Second Consultation Paper on the Implementation of the EC Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC)", published in October 2002.
Drinking Water
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her estimate is of the number of households using water filter devices for providing drinking water in the UK in each year since 1992. [99231]
Mr Morley: The Department has no direct responsibility for domestic water filters and does not compile or keep records of numbers of users or of sales. Based on information that British water has provided, however, a best available estimated figure for annual sales of plumbed-in water filters is between 20,000–25,000 during the period 1991–2001.
We have no information on numbers of households using jug water filters.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the implications for the environment of adding fluoride to drinking water. [99203]
Mr. Morley: A review of the effect of fluoride on a range of aquatic life was carried out for the Environment Agency when deriving a non-statutory environmental quality standard (EQS) for fluoride in water, which was published in 2000. The review drew on research carried out by a range of recognised scientific laboratories and available data indicated that effects on aquatic life from fluoride occur at concentrations between 9.0—350mg/l. Where fluoridation schemes are in place, fluoride is added to maintain a concentration of 1.0 mg/l in drinking water which is well below these levels. Any discharges will be further diluted upon entry to the aquatic environment through the process of collection and treatment of waste water.
A copy of the review has been deposited in the Library of the House.
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