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18 Jun 2003 : Column 283W—continued
World Summit on Sustainable Development
Mr. Horam: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department which United Kingdom commitments arising from the World Summit on Sustainable Development (a) have been incorporated into the Department's existing delivery plan for Service Delivery Agreements and (b) will be incorporated in its delivery plan for Service Delivery Agreements in advance of the 2004 Spending Review. [113883]
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Mr. Leslie: The current delivery plans for my Department do not incorporate specific commitments from the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). The Department is not one of the Government Departments identified as having direct responsibility for delivery of the commitments as set out in the interdepartmentally-agreed Annex to the Memorandum submitted to the Environmental Audit Committee in response to their enquiry on WSSD follow-up.
Nevertheless, my Department will work to support Government policy on sustainability wherever the opportunity arises.
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ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Animal By-products
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) when her Department plans to start its proposed subscription scheme to deal with carcases that can no longer be buried on farm land as a result of the implementation of the EU Animal By-products Regulation; [118915]
- (2) what plans her Department has for the disposal of fallen stock in the time between the ban on burial of carcases on farms and the beginning of the subscription scheme; [118916]
(3) what the cost will be to the average farmer in (a) England and (b) each region of the new arrangements for the disposal of carcases following the implementation of the EU Animal By-products Regulation; and whether the Government will be making financial assistance available; [118917]
(4) what alternatives to the subscription scheme her Department is offering to farmers to help them dispose of animal carcases following the introduction of the EU Animal By-products Regulation. [118919]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 17 June 2003]: There was a low response rate of 30 per cent. from livestock farmers to the letter inviting interest in a national scheme. In the light of this disappointing response, the Government are now considering whether the scheme should go ahead, and if so, in what form.
A national scheme was proposed in order to reduce the cost of collecting and disposal of fallen stock and to encourage compliance with the Regulation. However, an infrastructure of knackers' yards and renderers is already in place, and we would expect farmers to have been complying with the new rules from 1 May 2003. There is a help line in place for farmers to use if they do not know what disposal services exist in their area. The help line number is: 0845 8507070.
In the absence of a scheme, costs to the farmer of disposal of fallen stock would depend on the type and number of animals on the farm and its location. Under the proposed scheme, small farms would pay £50, medium farms £100 and large farms £200 in the first year. Additional costs of the scheme would be subsidised by Government on a digressive basis over three years.
Additional information on the disposal of animal carcases is available on the Defra website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/by-prods/default.htm and from local Defra Animal Health Offices.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures her Department is putting in place to ensure that under the subscription scheme to collect carcases from farms (a) carcass collection will take place promptly to avoid vermin infestation and the smell of rotting carcasses and (b) vehicles coming on to farmland to pick up carcasses do not spread disease from different areas. [118918]
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Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 17 June 2003]: No decision has yet been made on whether to proceed with the proposed subscription scheme.
Although no specific time has been specified, we would envisage that fallen stock will, once an approved collector has been notified, normally be collected within 24 hours and not more than 48 hours.
This would be consistent with existing contractual arrangements where collectors are expected to carry out the collection of fallen bovines and ovines within 24 hours for TSE testing purposes.
The Animal By-Products Regulation requires animal by-products to be consigned or disposed of "without undue delay", which in essence means as soon as is reasonably practicable, taking into account the circumstances of the case.
Any person in possession of animal by-products, such as fallen stock, who do not comply with the Regulation may face prosecution. Prosecutions may result in a fine of up to £5,000 and six months' imprisonment for cases heard in a magistrates court or an unlimited fine and up to two years imprisonment for cases heard in the Crown Court.
Asbestos
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the actions her Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are taking to comply with the requirements of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002; whether she has made an estimate of the cost of compliance; and if she will make a statement. [117699]
Alun Michael: Defra already has asbestos registers for each of its buildings, including those of its executive agencies. To comply with the new regulations Defra and its agencies have commissioned additional surveys of these properties. Specialist consultants are currently surveying buildings to try to identify any hidden asbestos. They will then prepare plans advising whether we should remove it or manage it. The programme of surveys and production of management plans will be completed by March 2004.
The estimated cost of surveying properties and preparing management plans is £250,000. It is too early to produce an estimate for any removal or retention as we currently await the completion of our survey programme.
Defra's non-departmental public bodies manage their own estates of buildings and land, and will therefore be responsible for complying with the new regulations.
Batteries
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) car batteries and (b) alkaline batteries were (i) purchased and used, (ii) disposed of by (A) landfill, (B) incineration and (C) other means, (iii) recycled and (iv) reused in the last year for which figures are available. [119073]
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Mr. Morley: These figures are not collected centrally. However, part of a Government study (2000) carried out an assessment to forecast the consumption of batteries within the UK. For 2002, it was estimated that 12,986 tonnes of alkaline batteries and 111,016 tonnes of car batteries would be sold. The current recycling rate is estimated to be less than 2 per cent. for the alkaline batteries and 90 to 95 per cent. for car batteries in the UK.
A proposal for a new EC Batteries Directive is expected this year, which will set targets for the collection and recycling of all types of batteries. It is likely to require member states to set up systems to monitor the quantities of all batteries recycled.
Bovine Tuberculosis
Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cases of bovine TB there have been in Cumbria in each of the last five years. [116174]
Mr. Morley: Pursuant to my answer of 4 June 2003, Official Report, column 406W, the table shows the number of new bovine TB herd incidents and confirmed new bovine TB incidents in Cumbria 1998–2002. A TB incident is confirmed if typical lesions are found at post mortem, or if Mycobacterium bovis (the causative organism for bovine tuberculosis) is isolated from tissue samples in laboratory examination.
| New herd incidents | New confirmed herd incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 8 | 0 |
| 1999 | 9 | 1 |
| 2000 | 4 | 1 |
| 2001 | 2 | 0 |
| 2002 | 33 | 6 |
Note:
In 2001, the TB testing and control programme was largely suspended due to the foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak. Since testing resumed in 2002, resources have been concentrated on herds with overdue TB tests which would have had a longer period in which to contract the disease. Also, the proportion of high-risk herds being tested post-FMD is greater than that prior to the outbreak. This includes herds restocked post-FMD where additional testing is being carried out to manage the increased risk posed by the movement of infected cattle into re-formed herds. As a result, the number of new herd incidents in 2002 is not comparable to that of previous years.
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Cement Kilns
Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many tonnes of waste were used in cement kilns in the years 1998 to 2002; and if she will make a statement. [115771]
Mr. Morley: The amount in tonnes of waste burnt in cement kilns in England and Wales is contained in the following table as reported to the Environment Agency for the years 1998 to 2002.
| Operator (Works) | Fuel(10) | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lafarge (Hope) | Tyres | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,880 |
| Lafarge (Cauldon) | Tyres | 17,382 | 13,695 | 23,859 | 27,869 | 23,751 |
| Lafarge (Westbury) | Tyres | 0 | 3,635 | 0 | 1,333 | 8,545 |
| Castle (Ketton) | SLF | 26,645 | 34,038 | 30,782 | 26,476 | 31,834 |
| Tyres | 372 | 1,932 | 2,838 | 1,472 | 2,305 | |
| Solid Waste | 0 | 329 | 551 | 0 | 7,890 | |
| Castle (Ribblesdale) | SLF | 41,812 | 40,113 | 15,829 | 34,189 | 47,184 |
| Rugby (Barrington) | SLF | 19,932 | 24,647 | 21,531 | 22,837 | 19,327 |
| Rugby (Southam) | SLF | 10,792 | 9,148 | 1,554 | Closed | Closed |
| Blue Circle (Blakenham) | SLF | 2,721 | 216 | Closed | Closed | Closed |
(10) SLF ('Substitute Liquid Fuel') includes both Cemfuel(r) and Dycal(r). Solid Waste is exclusively Profuel(r) manufactured from paper, cardboard and packaging type wastes.
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