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Home Composting

Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research she has commissioned on the impact on human health of home composting. [139457]

Mr. Morley: No research has been commissioned by the Department on the impact on human health of home composting. However, Defra is developing a new three-year waste research strategy, in direct response to the Strategy Unit Report 'Waste not, Want not', in which new initiatives examining environmental and health-related impacts of wastes will be considered in consultation with the Environment Agency.

Recent research on behalf of the Environment Agency has suggested that emissions from different forms of home composting systems are, as might be expected, low and difficult to monitor.

Waste (Definition)

Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the definition of waste, pursuant to recent judgments by the European Court of Justice. [139459]

Mr. Morley: The definition of waste in force in the United Kingdom is the definition in Article 1(a) of the Waste Framework Directive (as amended). It provides that waste means,

". . . any substance or object which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard."

Whether or not a substance is discarded as waste is a matter which must be determined on the facts of the case and the interpretation of the law is a matter for the Courts. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has issued several judgments on the interpretation of the definition of waste and the meaning of "discard". ECJ judgments are binding on member states and their "competent authorities".

The Government proposes, in consultation with the Environment Agency, to review in the light of the ECJ's judgments the guidance on the interpretation of the definition of waste originally provided in DOE Circular 11/94. But it is not feasible for any revised guidance which the Government issues to determine

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whether any particular substance is in any particular circumstances discarded as waste. It will be feasible only for any revised guidance to advise on the factors which the ECJ has determined should be taken into account in reaching a decision.

TREASURY

Wood Panel Industry

Gregory Barker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people he estimates are employed in the wood panel industry. [137095]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Colin Mowl to Gregory Barker dated 18 November 2003:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about people employed in the wood panel industry. I am replying in his absence. (137095)

According to the latest available figures from the Annual Business Inquiry, in December 2001 there were 6700 employees in industries whose primary economic activity is "The manufacture of veneer sheets; manufacture of plywood, laminboard, particle board, fibre board and other panels and boards".

Consumer Debt

Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the evidence produced by research he has commissioned on the impact of a rise in interest rates on consumer debt. [139428]

Ruth Kelly: HM Treasury published evidence on the link between interest rates and consumer behaviour in June 2003 as part of the EMU Five Tests Assessment, in the supporting studies on 'EMU and the Monetary Transmission Mechanism' and 'Housing, Consumption and EMU'.

Correspondence

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter of 1 August from the hon. Member for Aylesbury, on behalf of Mr. M.G. Moore of Great Missenden, about professional indemnity assurance for independent financial advisers. [139302]

Ruth Kelly: I have done so.

Deep Vein Thrombosis

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people died from deep vein thrombosis in the last 12 months; and in how many of these cases long haul air travel was found to be a contributory factor. [138980]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

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Letter from Len Cook to Mrs. Iris Robinson, dated 18 November 2003:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many people died from deep vein thrombosis in the last 12 months; and in how many of these cases long haul air travel was found to be a contributory factor.

Virtually all deaths from deep vein thrombosis occur as a result of a pulmonary embolism, and most pulmonary embolisms arise from deep vein thrombosis in the leg. However, the precise description of this sequence of events leading to death (as provided on the death certificate) affects whether the death is coded as pulmonary embolism or thrombosis. Therefore, a figure combining the two causes is presented in the table below to give a complete and consistent picture over time.

It is not possible to state if long haul air travel was a contributory factor in deaths from deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism as this information is not routinely entered on the death certificate. The latest available data are for the calendar year 2002. The total number of deaths certified as due to deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in England and Wales in 2002 are therefore given in the table. I am supplying data for the last five years for comparison purposes.

Number of deaths from pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis,⁽¹⁾persons, England and Wales, 1998–2002⁽²⁾

Calendar year	Number of deaths
1998	6,992
1999	6,877
2000	7,233
2001	7,207
2002	7,009

⁽¹⁾ The cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 415.1, 451.1, 451.2, 451.9 and 453.9 for the years 1997 to 2000, and, for the year 2001, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revisions (ICD-10) codes 126, 180.1, 180.2, 180.3, 180.9 and 182.9.

⁽²⁾ Figures are for deaths occurring in each calendar year.

Defence Dental Agency

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons the Defence Dental Agency's Account Direction for financial year 1997–98 was withdrawn. [139685]

Ruth Kelly: An accounts direction for the Defence Dental Agency (DDA) for 1997–98 was issued in March 1996 on the understanding that satisfactory accounting systems would be in place for that financial year. It was withdrawn in January 1999 when it became apparent that, because of difficulties with the stock recording systems on which DDA and a number of agencies within MOD relied, DDA would be unable to prepare accounts for 1997–98 which would have received an unqualified audit opinion from the Comptroller and Auditor General. At that time, the policy was not to issue accounts directions if there was a probability that the auditors would be unable to give an unqualified opinion—this policy is no longer applied.

Import Tariffs (Israel)

Richard Burden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list United Kingdom companies which have (a) made representations to and (b) signalled their intention to take action against the (i) British Government and (ii) European Union for imposing tariffs on goods entering the United Kingdom, marked as made in Israel, which originated in the Occupied Territories. [138937]

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John Healey: Two UK companies have requested a formal review under the Customs and Excise Appeals procedure of the duty demanded. The identity of the companies cannot be disclosed for reasons of commercial confidentiality: Exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information applies in this instance.

Customs and Excise are not aware of any UK companies making representations to the European Union.

Industrial and Provident Societies

Mr. Terry Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to bring about the level playing field in regulations affecting companies and industrial and provident societies, to which he referred in his letter of 31 July to the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill. [139392]

Ruth Kelly: As was stated in my letter of 31 July on this issue, the Government is keen to see, where appropriate, a level playing field between industrial and provident societies and companies and we are currently examining our options for taking forward this agenda.

Insurance Brokers

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures are in place to stop the practice of grossing up by insurance brokers in Northern Ireland; and what plans he has to change the appropriate legislation to protect consumers from the grossing up of insurance premium commissions. [138900]

Ruth Kelly: Grossing up is a serious abuse of the market. The Government is giving the Financial Services Authority (FSA) responsibility for regulating general insurance as from 14 January 2004. The FSA is currently consulting on its rules in CP187. The FSA considers there is more opportunity for such market abuse in the commercial rather than the retail market, and therefore does not propose to introduce commission disclosure for retail customers. But, for commercial customers, it will be requiring intermediaries to disclose commission earned by them and any affiliated intermediaries if requested to do so by a commercial customer.

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