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Protected Geographical Indicators Scheme

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many products from the United Kingdom, broken down by region and nation, are being considered for registration under the Protected Geographical Indicators Scheme by the EU. [138214]

Mr. Bradshaw: There are two products, both Scottish, Arbroath Smokies and Scottish Farmed Salmon, which are currently being considered for registration as Protected Geographical Indications by the EU.

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many regional foods are registered in each EU state; and how many of these in each state have registered within the last 12 months. [138215]

Mr. Bradshaw: The numbers of regional foods registered as protected food names by all EU member states are set out in the following table.

Member stateProtected designations of origin (PDOs) and Protected geographical indications (PGIs)Traditional speciality guaranteed (TSGs)Total registered
Italy1321133
France132—132
Portugal85—85
Greece83—83
Spain71374
Germany64—64
United Kingdom33134
Austria12—12
Belgium459
Netherlands5—5
Luxembourg4—4
Ireland3—3
Denmark3—3
Sweden213
Finland123

The numbers of regional food products registered within the last 12 months are set out in the following table:

Member stateNumber registered
Italy10
Greece4
Portugal4
Spain3
United Kingdom2
France1
Finland1

Rats

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will estimate

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the rat population (a) in England and (b) broken down by local authority area (i) in each year since 1997 and (ii) in each year to 2006. [139180]

Mr. Bradshaw: The most recent estimate of the Norway rat population in England was a minimum of 5,240,000 individuals. This figure was established by a review that assessed the population and conservation status of all British mammals, published in 1995. The only recent objective national survey of rat presence is within the English House Condition Survey. The latest report available is for the 1996 survey which revealed that 0.23 per cent. of properties had rats indoors and 1.6 per cent. had rats present outside.

With regard to local authorities, section 2(2) of the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949 required every local authority to maintain records of activities undertaken to destroy rats and mice. However, this section was repealed in 1980 since when no information on rat presence within individual local authority areas has been collected by central Government.

Sewage

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what powers water companies have to divert sewage into rivers; and if she will make a statement. [139187]

Mr. Morley: Water companies have duties under section 94 of the Water Industry Act 1991 to provide and maintain sewers to ensure that they are effectively drained, and the sewer contents are effectively dealt with by treatment works or otherwise.

Consents to discharge sewage effluents, sometimes in emergencies, into controlled waters are subject to conditions and are issued by the Environment Agency under the Water Resources Act 1991 (WRA91).

In certain situations water companies may have to make discharges other than in accordance with a consent. In these circumstances, the WRA91 provides two distinct defences to offences of polluting controlled waters under section 85 of the WRA91.

Section 89(1) states that a person shall not be guilty of an offence of polluting controlled waters if the discharge is made in an emergency to avoid danger to life or health, if steps are taken to minimise the polluting effects of the discharge, and if details of the incident are provided to the Agency as soon as possible after it occurs.

Section 87(2) states that a sewerage undertaker shall not be guilty of an offence if the undertaker could not reasonably be expected to prevent the discharge into the sewer or works, if a discharge into the sewer is caused by another person and if the undertaker was not bound to receive it, or if it was, the conditions of the discharge were not observed.

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many recorded incidents there have been in each year since 1997 of water companies diverting sewage into rivers under section 89 of the Water Resources Act 1991; what the location was; and what the volume of sewage released was in each case; [139188]

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Mr. Morley: The information requested is not available centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Sugar Costs

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received from food manufacturers about the process of applying for reimbursment of sugar costs from the Rural Payments Agency. [139132]

Alun Michael: None. The Rural Payments Agency maintains on-going dialogue with industry representatives through its Industry Forum and Experts Group. There is also frequent contact with individual companies in connection with the payment of claims.The RPA tells me that it is not aware of any particular representations having been made by the sector in question.

Timber

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the local authorities which have not responded to the letter from the Environment Minister on timber procurement of 19 September 2002. [139176]

Mr. Morley: Written replies to the Environment Minister's letter dated 19 September 2002 about timber procurement, and the follow up letter dated 7 April 2003, have not been received from the following local authorities:


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Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list, based on responses to the Environment Minister's letter on timber procurement from 19 September 2002, the local authorities which have timber procurement policies in place. [139177]

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Mr. Morley: All the local authorities that responded to the Environment Minister's letters dated 19 September 2002 and 7 April 2003 described their various policies for purchasing timber. Some authorities were in the process of reviewing their policies and others reported plans to undertake reviews or were considering making such plans. The authorities that responded are listed as follows:


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