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12 Mar 2003 : Column 260W—continued

Terrorism

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department is taking to put in place measures to counter the risk from terrorist attack to transport infrastructure other than airports. [102192]

Mr. Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 24 February 2003, given to the hon. Member for the Vale of York (Miss McIntosh), Official Report, columns 284–85W.

Trust Ports

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 5 March 2003, ref: 100703, why there was no reference included in the notes to the Accounts. [102090]

Mr. Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 5 March 2002, Official Report, columns 1035–36W.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Abandoned Vehicles

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many abandoned cars each local authority in England and Wales stated they had removed in their submissions to the most recent municipal waste survey. [99225]

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Alun Michael: The latest information on numbers of abandoned vehicles removed and destroyed is listed on 27 November 2002, Official Report, column 271W. Results from the 2001–02 survey are not yet available.

Animal Welfare

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list animal species protected by domestic legislation which her Department plans to lift; and for what reasons such legislation is being reviewed. [101259]

Mr. Morley: All wild birds, certain animals and certain plants are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Schedules 5 & 8 (list of protected animals and plants respectively) are statutorily reviewed every five years. My Department has received the views of the JNCC and has consulted internally on their advice. A full public consultation will take place this year. JNCC have not recommended the removal of any species.

I announced on 3 March that the Government have concluded that the protection afforded by domestic legislation to the ruddy duck should be removed. This is in line with our Rural White Paper commitment to review the provisions of Part 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, with a view to rationalising the identification and protection of rare and endangered species.

Birds

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to (a) encourage a reversal in the decline of the number of wet birds, (b) ensure refuges for wintering birds, (c) safeguard resting places for migrating birds travelling north and south and (d) reverse the decline in rare water plants; and if she will make a statement. [101874]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 10 March 2003]: The information is as follows:

(a) Analysis of Wetland Bird Survey count data for 32 wetland bird species by the British Trust for Ornithology shows that for all 32 species, population trends had either increased or stabilised for the five winters to 1999–2000. Therefore, in the non-breeding season at least, these birds are not suffering decline in Great Britain. This is evidence of the effectiveness of the UK network of 243 Special Protection Areas (SPA) classified under the EC Wild Birds Directive; the UK series of 144 Ramsar sites; and the many Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) notified under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, for their wetland bird interests.

(b) and (c) A high proportion, in some cases all, of the national and international populations of wintering and migrating wetland birds utilise the protected sites of the UK SPA network. In winter it holds an average of over 2,186,000 non-breeding waterbirds. The habitat protection provided for these birds is a major contribution to their international conservation. Many of the same sites are additionally designated as Ramsar sites and all (on land in England and the great majority elsewhere) are notified as SSSIs.

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(d) The principal form of protection for rare plants is through the designation of their habitat—either as Special Areas of Conservation under the Habitats Directive, as Ramsar sites, or as SSSI. The Government Biodiversity Action Plan has identified a number of water plants for priority action. A programme of active management for these species and those listed in the 1992 Directive is being funded, mainly through English Nature's Species Recovery Programmes. Results for some species, such as floating water plantain, are very encouraging.

Cleeve Farm

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which farm premises sent carcases for disposal to Cleeve Farm, Westbury on Severn, Gloucestershire in the last five years. [96230]

Mr. Morley: Cleeve Farm, Westbury-on-Severn, was used as a pyre site to dispose of stock slaughtered at Cleeve Farm itself and also carcases from eight other holdings in the locality. These surrounding farm premises cannot be named for reasons of confidentiality.

Cetaceans

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has made to the European Union on the Wildlife and Habitats Directive in relation to cetacean bycatch; and if she will make a statement. [101285]

Mr. Morley: The UK has lost no opportunity in drawing to the Commission's attention our wish to see EU action on cetacean bycatch. I have raised this repeatedly with Commissioner Fischler, stressing in particular the need for a cetacean bycatch observer programme. Article 12(4) of the Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC) requires member states to monitor the incidental capture of certain species, including cetaceans.

We raised the matter again, in the Council of Ministers in January, and direct with Franz Fischler in February, pressing for urgent action to widen coverage off the South West coast where a number of other member states' vessels fish. I was pleased that the Commission included a commitment to take action in this area in papers produced as part of the recent reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. I am looking for positive action on this in response to our recent approaches.

Compulsory Purchase

Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many properties have been compulsorily purchased by (a) the Environment Agency, (b) the Countryside Agency, (c) English Nature and (d) the Broads Authority in each year since 1999. [101829]

Alun Michael: The Environment Agency compulsorily purchased 10 properties in 1999 and six properties in 2000. No properties were compulsorily purchased in 2001, 2002 and 2003 to date.

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There have been no compulsory purchases by the Countryside Agency, English Nature or the Broads Authority since 1999.

Conservation Group

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which members of her Department participate in the Inter-Departmental Consultative Group on Conservation; and when they last attended a meeting of this group. [101355]

Mr. Morley: There is no formally constituted group with this title but officials of all the relevant Government Departments are in very regular contact on a wide range of conservation issues.

Disability Discrimination Act (Village Halls)

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the implications of the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 on village halls with specific reference to the legal requirement placed by the Act upon trustees, cases in which halls may have to close because of non-compliance with the Act, what funding available to meet the requirements of the Act; and the mechanism for access to funds to help meet the Act's requirements. [102436]

Alun Michael: I have been engaging in discussion with representatives of the Village Halls Association, other stakeholders, and national and local funding bodies, about a range of issues concerning the financing of village halls and other rural community meeting- places, including the implications of the Disability Discrimination Act and of the Licensing Bill currently before Parliament.

Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, those service providers who provide services to the public have since 1999 been required to make reasonable adjustments to allow disabled people to access their services. From 1 October 2004 they will also be required to make reasonable adjustments to the physical features of their premises that would otherwise make access impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled customers.

Those managing village halls or running activities there are subject to the Act in the same way as other service providers; but the test of reasonableness takes account of the provider's financial resources, and there should be no question of village halls being forced to close. However, it is very much in the public interest that activities taking place in village halls should be accessible to disabled people living in rural communities.

Lead responsibility for funding renovation of village halls lies with the local community, with help from local authorities, national funding agencies, and charitable sources. No earmarked funds are available to help meet any costs resulting from the Disability Discrimination Act. However, very substantial public funds are available to help village halls: around £17 million last year from the Community Fund, and a similar amount in total from other sources.

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A draft Government position paper on the funding and regulation of village halls was produced by my Department for a meeting last week of the stakeholder group I mentioned above: once this has been revised I will place a copy in the Library.

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