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11 Mar 2003 : Column 136W—continued
Biofuels
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what subsidies there are to encourage British farmers to produce crops capable of being transformed into biofuels. [100217]
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Mr. Meacher: Transport biofuels can be produced from crops such as oilseed rape, wheat, potatoes and sugar beet. The Government are promoting the production of these biofuels through the existing 20 pence/litre cut in duty for biodiesel compared to ultra-low sulphur diesel, and the intention announced in November's pre-budget report to reduce the duty for bioethanol by 20 pence/litre compared to ultra-low sulphur petrol.
This Department has allocated £29 million under the Energy Crops Scheme for establishment grants for short rotation coppice (SRC) and miscanthus, and for SRC growers to set up producer groups. The Woodland Grant Scheme and Farm Woodland Premium Scheme provide grants to create and manage woodland, which can help in the production of wood fuel. £66 million is available to develop markets for biomass in heat, combined heat and power and power generation. A further £3.5 million has been allocated to develop the supply chain required to harvest, store, process and supply biomass to energy end-users.
Non-food crops receive support under the European Union's Arable Area Payments Scheme and can be grown on set-aside land.
BSE
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much (a) her Department and (b) the European Union has spent on (i) rendering and (ii) incineration of BSE-suspected animal carcases in each year since the over 30 months scheme began. [101264]
Mr. Morley: All costs for incineration of BSE-suspected animals have been met by the Department.
(i) Rendering of BSE-suspected animals is not permitted.
(ii) Expenditure on incineration of BSE-suspected animal carcases in each year since the start of the over thirty months scheme has been as follows:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 2.1 |
| 1997–98 | 1.4 |
| 1998–99 | 1.5 |
| 1999–2000 | 1.3 |
| 2000–01 | 1.0 |
| 2001–02 | 1.3 |
These figures include expenditure on incineration of offspring cull animals and some other associated expenses.
Bushmeat
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether a disease risk analysis of the potential risk to public health posed by the illegal importation of bushmeat has been undertaken by the Food Standards Agency. [101352]
Ms Blears: I have been asked to reply.
11 Mar 2003 : Column 138W
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 6 March 2003, Official Report, column 1205W.
Regulatory Import Assessments
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many responses were received on the consultation document "Living Places—Powers, Rights, Responsibilities", broken down by (a) local authority, (b) business, (c) NGO, (d) individual and (e) other sources; and if she will place a list of respondees in the Library. [101673]
Mr. Meacher: We received 248 responses to our Living Places consultation.
- 105 from local authorities
19 from businesses
10 from NGOs
40 from individuals
74 from other sources
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the length of consultation provided on the consultation documents on partial regulatory impact assessments published on 17 February meets the requirements laid out in the Code of Practice on Written Consultation published by the Cabinet Office in November 2000; and if she will make a statement. [101674]
Mr. Meacher: No, the deadline we gave for comments on partial regulatory assessments was not in line with the criteria laid out in the Code of Practice on Written Consultation published by the Cabinet Office.
These partial regulatory impact assessments were produced following an analysis of early responses to the consultation document "Living Places—Powers, Rights, Responsibilities". This analysis indicated that the issues in question were of a high priority and respondents would welcome early legislation. We therefore felt it appropriate to conduct a short, targeted, consultation exercise, so that we could be ready to legislate should an appropriate legislative opportunity arise.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many responses have been received to the consultation documents on partial regulatory impact assessments published on 17 February on (a) fly tipping, (b) local environmental quality and (c) street furniture broken down by (i) local authority, (ii) business, (iii) NGO, (iv) individual and (v) other sources; and if she will place a list of respondees in the Library. [101675]
Mr. Meacher: We received 25 responses on fly tipping; 15 from local authorities, two from businesses, two from NGOs, 0 from individuals and six from other sources.
26 responses were received on local environmental quality; 16 from local authorities, three from businesses, 0 from both NGOs and individuals, and seven from other sources.
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And lastly, we received 24 responses on street furniture; 15 from local authorities, five from businesses, 0 from both NGOs and individuals, and four from other sources.
We will place a list of respondees in the Library.
Departmental File Stores
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people were employed in the departmental file stores in each year since 1997; how many have been transferred to the private sector; and if she will make a statement. [98858]
Alun Michael: Staffing levels of the Department's file stores have remained at a fairly consistent level from 1997 to 2003, employing between 15 to 17 full-time posts as the table indicates.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 17 |
| 1998 | 17 |
| 1999 | 17 |
| 2000 | 16 |
| 2001 | 16 |
| 2002 | 16 |
| 2003 | 15 |
No posts have been transferred, or are expected to transfer to the private sector.
At the end of March 2003, one of the Department's main file stores at Hayes will close. It employs seven staff. Three posts are being transferred to manage a new file store contract in Defra's main Headquarter's office, and the Department is actively seeking to re-deploy the four remaining posts on other administrative duties.
Departmental Telephone Directory
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the most recent internal telephone directory for the Department was published; how often it is updated; and if she will place a copy in the Library. [102032]
Alun Michael: Our internal on-line Corporate Directory was introduced as part of our greening initiative, and is updated by individual members of staff whenever their personal details change.
Although we no longer produce a paper telephone directory, details of our senior staff can be found in the following publications:
- Vacher's Parliamentary Companion;
Vacher Dod's Civil Service Companion;
PMS Parliamentary Companion; and
The Civil Service Year Book.
Drinking Water
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on the continuation of charging regimes for drinking water based on 1973 rateable values. [101693]
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Mr. Morley: It is open to water companies to set unmeasured charges on the basis of rateable values, or to propose another basis, subject to the approval of the Director General of Water Services. The Government remain ready to discuss any proposals with those interested in devising a practicable alternative to rateable value as the basis for unmeasured charging. Any such scheme would need to address how to deal with transitional effects and how to ensure an acceptable outcome for different groups of customers, particularly vulnerable consumers. Household customers have the statutory right to opt for a measured charge if they prefer.
Environmental Offences
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many offences related to environmental damage and disruption have been decriminalised since 1997. [99279]
Mr. Meacher: This Department does not hold information on such offences centrally. However, following inquiries by my officials, I am not aware of any such offences being decriminalised since 1997.
Environmental Protection
Mrs. Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to develop a methodology to assess in regulatory impact assessments of new environmental protection measures the economic benefits of high environmental standards in order to implement the new Cabinet Office guidance Better Policy Making: A Guide to Regulatory Impact; and what category of benefits his Department will include when developing such a methodology. [100605]
Mr. Morley: In the new Cabinet Office guidance Better Policy Making: A Guide to Regulatory Impact Assessment, consideration of the potential dynamic benefits of higher environmental standards is required when assessing the benefits of proposed policy. The importance of considering these potential benefits was raised by Defra during the consultation period. The new guidance also states that quantifying these benefits is difficult, given the high level of uncertainty surrounding them in the future. For this reason the Department's approach in implementing the Cabinet Office guidance will focus on promoting good practice in policy making, giving particular emphasis to the importance of undertaking early informal consultation with stakeholders. This is entirely consistent with the new Cabinet Office guidance which gives increased emphasis to stakeholder consultation and to integrating into the policy process those who have an informed understanding of the potential economic benefits of a particular policy.
The Integrated Policy Appraisal tool, a structured format for assessing the economic, social and environmental impacts of a proposed policy, is currently being piloted in Defra. Active consideration is being given to developing this to cover in more detail the economic benefits of high environmental standards. On the assessment of environmental benefits, Defra, and a number of other Government Departments, are at the forefront of work to develop and apply new methodologies. An up-to-date assessment of this work is provided in Annex 2 of the Treasury's new
11 Mar 2003 : Column 141W
Green Book on policy appraisal and evaluation at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media//78872/Green Book2 03.pdf
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