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Timber

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Government procurement policy on timber includes timber used on and in the construction of Government building projects; and if she will make a statement. [111033]

Mr. Meacher: The Government procurement policy on timber applies to all wood and products made from wood used in performing Government contracts. That includes the wood used temporarily during construction works as well as wood fixed as part of a finished structure. The Office of Government Commerce reminded Government Departments of this policy in November 2002,and particular attention was drawn to construction projects as follows:

"Under the Achieving Excellence agenda, Departments are encouraged to improve the design quality, sustainability, health and safety and client management of their supply chains for their construction projects".


"Managers must, in addition, make themselves aware of the commitment made by the UK Government in July 2000 that all Departments and their agencies should actively seek to procure their timber and timber products from legal and sustainably managed sources".

Market Research

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what expenditure has been incurred by her (a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental bodies in 2002 on (i) opinion polling, (ii) focus groups and (iii) other forms of market research; and if she will list the surveys commissioned and the purpose of each. [106259]

Alun Michael: The expenditure on external market research which has been recorded centrally by Defra in 2002/03 was £354,000.

The list of the surveys is:

Corporate Identity research

Illegal Meat Imports

General Public tracking—omnibus

GM Crops desk research

GM Debate Foundation discussion workshops

GM debate—stimulus content creation

Defra Customer Vision

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Defra's sponsorship activities

The information not held centrally within Defra and for each agency and non-departmental body for which Defra is responsible could only be collated at a disproportionate cost.

Private Finance Initiative

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the expected saving to public funds from the private finance initiative schemes due to become operational in 2003. [105716]

Alun Michael: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Boateng) on 10 April 2003, Official Report, column 400W.

Common Agricultural Policy

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of CAP Pillar Two funding. [111273]

Mr. Morley: The effectiveness of CAP Pillar Two funding in England is being assessed in several ways. The Mid-term Evaluation of the England Rural Development Programme (ERDP) is currently in progress and aims to assess the implementation and impact of the Programme since its inception in 2000 to present. The evaluation will be completed in December 2003 and its findings will be reported to the European Commission. Similar evaluations are being produced on rural development programmes in other parts of the UK and in the other member states.

There are also a number of recently completed or on-going studies on individual ERDP schemes and other reviews that will touch on the effectiveness of the Programme as a whole. The studies on individual ERDP schemes include a major review of agri-environment schemes, a Hill Farming Allowance review and reviews of the Farm Woodland Premium and Woodland Grant Schemes. With regard to project based schemes, an economic evaluation of the Processing and Marketing Grant scheme is in progress and various aspects of the impact the Rural Enterprise Scheme are being examined.

Outside of these internal reviews and studies, Defra officials assess the effectiveness of CAP Pillar Two funding by analysing reports from other organisations and by using internal management information.

Regional Policy

Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress the Department has made towards the aim in the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice", of assessing the balance of staff between the centre and the regions in terms of effective policy design and implementation; and what examples there have been since the publication of the White Paper of the Department deciding between locating new streams of work (a) in and (b) outside London and the south-east. [108570]

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Alun Michael: Defra is making considerable progress towards the aims set out in the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice", and Ministers have repeatedly stressed the importance of regional delivery and regional partnerships. For example:

Defra Teams in Government Offices

The Department's predecessor, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF), planned to move around 90 staff into the Government Office network in April 2001. The demands of the foot and mouth outbreak delayed some of these moves, but since summer 2001, the Rural Director's team in each region has been fully integrated into the Government office. They also work closely with the Regional Development Agency, the Regional Assembly and a range of regional and local partners. A 'sounding board' for rural communities in each region is provided by The Regional Rural Affairs Forum, which has direct representation on the Rural Affairs Forum for England which I chair. The network of Regional Forums is encouragement of Ministers and senior officials. The formation of Defra in June 2001 also meant that the pre-existing environment teams in the Government Offices contribute to the delivery of Defra's environmental and sustainable development objectives.

Since then, the Department has provided an extra £2.3 million to administer its policies in 2003–04—an increase of one hird from 2002–03. This will enable the Government Offices to increase their involvement in the delivery of the Department's sustainable food and farming strategy and the rural agenda.

The Better Quality Service Review of the Defra Estate

We are undertaking a Better Quality Services Review of our estate, including its London headquarters operations, and the review's findings are expected to be made available shortly. One of the issues it has been considering is the extent to which staff should continue to be located in central London accommodation.

Lord Haskins Review

Lord Haskins has been asked to make recommendations on how the Government's rural policies can be delivered more effectively and efficiently. He will be considering the future role of regional and local bodies in the context of delivery.

Volatile Organic Compounds

Alan Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the pollutants regarded as volatile organic compounds; and if she will make a statement on the health risks associated with the pollutants regarded as volatile organic compounds. [111139]

Alun Michael: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) include a very wide range of individual substances, such as hydrocarbons (for example benzene and toluene), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), halocarbons and oxygenates. Hydrocarbon VOCs are usually grouped into methane and other non-methane VOCs. Non-methane VOCs are emitted to air as combustion products, as vapour arising from handling or use of petroleum distillates, solvents or chemicals, and from numerous other sources. The emissions of the 50 most significant non-methane VOCs in the UK (in terms of mass emissions), together with time trends and a

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spatially disaggregated map of all sources are published annually in the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory, available at www.naei.org.uk.

Some VOCs are harmful to human health, including benzene, PAHs and 1,3-butadiene. Benzene can cause leukaemia, if exposure is maintained over a long period of time. There are several hundred different forms of PAH, and sources can be both natural and man-made. Several of these PAHs can cause lung cancer. Sources of 1,3-butadiene include the manufacturing of synthetic rubbers, petrol driven vehicles and cigarette smoke. 1,3-butadiene exposure probably causes lymphomas or leukaemias. Other volatile organic compounds may, at high concentrations, affect the central nervous system (e.g. chloroform), cause liver damage (e.g. carbon tetrachloride) or show irritant effects (e.g. aldehydes). These effects will not necessarily be relevant at environmental levels of exposure.

VOCs also contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone that can impair lung function and cause irritation to the respiratory tract. Ozone has also been associated with increases in respiratory hospital admissions and deaths in those already ill with respiratory disease.

Total emissions of methane and non-methane VOCs have reduced significantly in England since the late 1980s, particularly those from traffic and industrial processes, and are expected to continue to do so. The UK met the requirements of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution's 1991 Geneva Protocol, which required a 30 per cent. reduction in VOC emissions by 1999 using 1988 as a basis. The EU National Emission Ceilings Directive has set a further target of a reduction to 1200kT VOC annual emissions by 2010. Latest projections suggest the UK will meet this target. The Air Quality Strategy includes objectives for ambient levels of benzene, PAHs and 1,3-butadiene to protect human health. Latest monitoring indicates that we have already met the Air Quality Strategy objectives for some of these pollutants at most sites in the UK and that levels are generally declining for all these pollutants.

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