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6 Jan 2004 : Column 273W—continued

Veterinary Surgeons

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) large animal and (b) small animal veterinary surgeons practise in the UK. [146094]

Mr. Bradshaw: There is no such thing as a large or small animal vet as all veterinary surgeons are qualified to deal with any type of animal. At the last count (March 2003) there were approximately 12,000 veterinary surgeons in full time practice in the UK.

In April 2003 The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), submitted evidence to the EFRA Select Committee inquiry into Vets and Veterinary

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services which showed that there are 2,375 main veterinary practices in the UK, of which 964 (41 per cent.) were farm practices.

In the 2002 Manpower survey of how veterinary time was devoted to different areas of practice, it was reported that vets in general practice devoted 80.1 per cent. of their time to small animals, 5 per cent. to horses, 6.7 per cent. to cattle, 1.3 per cent. to sheep, 0.3 to pigs and 0.1 to poultry.

Warm Front Programme

Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will extend the entitlement to central heating installation under the Warm Front scheme when a heating system still operates but is inadequate. [145683]

Mr. Morley: Following recent reviews of Warm Front and a stakeholder event held in November 2003, we are considering the options for the future format of the Scheme. This includes consideration of the rules surrounding boiler replacements.

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has made to the Treasury regarding the adequacy of funding proposals for the Warm Front programme. [145759]

Mr. Morley: Future funding of the Warm Front scheme will be considered in 2004 as part of the normal Government Spending Round process.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress she is making on improving the Warm Front scheme to combat fuel poverty. [145001]

Mr. Bradshaw: Following recent reviews of Warm Front and a stakeholder event held in November, we are now in the process of considering the options for the future format of Warm Front.

We expect to make decisions on the future form of the scheme during early 2004.

Waste and Resources Action Programme

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on ways in which the Waste and Resources Action Programme has contributed to the reduction of global warming. [143285]

Mr. Morley: The Waste and Resources Action Programme's aim is to promote sustainable waste management by working to create stable and efficient markets for recycled materials and products and removing the barriers to waste minimisation, re-use and recycling.

Attributing reductions in global warming (reductions in greenhouse gas emissions) to increases in recycling rate is an extremely complex area of research due to the number of variables to be taken into account. However, preliminary research undertaken by the Waste and Resources Action Programme indicates that using secondary materials (recycling) results in substantial energy savings when compared with production using primary materials. This initial assessment also suggests

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that if 30 per cent. of municipal solid waste is recycled in 2010 a reduction of approximately 10–15 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent gas could be achieved in the world.

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people are employed by the Waste and Resources Action Programme; and what additional recruitment is planned. [142592]

Mr. Morley: The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) currently employs 73 people, the majority of whom work on its core market development remit to promote sustainable waste management and to create stable and efficient markets for recycled materials and products.

In May 2003 WRAP'S remit was extended in England, as part of Government's response to the Strategy Unit report "Waste Not, Want Not", to include a household waste minimisation programme; an organics market development programme to provide material specific support and investment to the composting sector; the development of a kerbside recycling advisory service to local authorities and a targeted waste awareness programme combining national and local elements.

As a result of these new programmes, recruitment plans will take WRAP to a projected full-time equivalent headcount figure of up to 140 by mid 2004. The increase in staff resources is in proportion to the increase in Government funding allocated to WRAP.

Waste Management

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the 47th Report of the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Union, on European Union Waste Management Policy, and on its recommendations. [144576]

Mr. Morley: The Government are currently considering the report on European Union Waste Management Policy and will respond in due course.

Wessex Flood Defence Committee

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total budget for the Wessex Flood Defence Committee is for financial year 2003–04. [145763]

Mr. Morley: The Environment Agency is required to arrange for its flood defence functions, except for certain financial ones, to be carried out by Regional Flood Defence Committees (RFDCs). The RFDC may arrange for all or any of these functions to be carried out by Local Flood Defence Committees (LFDCs) under a scheme approved by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.

I understand from the agency that the total budget for the LFDCs overseen by the Wessex RFDC for the financial year 2003–04 is £27.2 million.

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Chairman of the Wessex Flood Defence Committee

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received in (a) pay and (b) reimbursement of expenses in 2003–04; and what overseas trips he undertook on official business in 2003–04. [145766]

Mr. Morley: The previous Chairman of the Wessex Regional Flood Defence Committee (RFDC) received the following amounts, from the beginning of the current financial year (1 April 2003) to the end of his term of appointment on 30 June 2003:


No overseas trips were undertaken on Environment Agency business.

The current Chairman of the Wessex RFDC has received the following amounts since his appointment began on 1 July 2003:


No overseas trips were undertaken on Environment Agency business.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Asylum Seekers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many asylum seekers aged under 18 are in the care of social services, broken down by local authority. [144974]

Margaret Hodge: Information is not collected centrally in relation to all types of asylum seekers aged under 18. However information is available in relation to unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC).

The information in respect of UASC is shown for 2002, the most recent year for which figures are available.

Unaccompanied asylum seeking children looked after at 31 March 2002 aged under 18 by local authority

Local authorityNumber
England2,200
Barking and Dagenham110
Barnet25
Barnsley0
Bath and North East Somerset
Bedfordshire
Bexley10
Birmingham 10
Blackburn and Darwen0
Blackpool0
Bolton0
Bournemouth0
Bracknell Forest
Bradford0
Brent60
Brighton and Hove
Bristol
Bromley5
Buckinghamshire
Bury
Calderdale0
Cambridgeshire10
Camden55
Cheshire0
City of London
Cornwall0
Coventry0
Croydon235
Cumbria0
Darlington0
Derby
Derbyshire
Devon0
Doncaster0
Dorset
Dudley
Durham0
Ealing10
East Riding of Yorkshire
East Sussex
Enfield25
Essex5
Gateshead0
Gloucestershire
Greenwich35
Hackney
Halton
Hammersmith and Fulham90
Hampshire
Haringey95
Harrow15
Hartlepool0
Havering10
Herefordshire0
Hertfordshire
Hillingdon155
Hounslow15
Isle of Wight
Isles of Scilly0
Islington80
Kensington and Chelsea75
Kent195
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Thames
Kirklees
Knowsley0
Lambeth120
Lancashire0
Leeds
Leicester
Leicestershire
Lewisham35
Lincolnshire
Liverpool
Luton10
Manchester5
Medway Towns0
Merton10
Middlesbrough0
Milton Keynes10
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newham50
Norfolk15
North East Lincs5
North Lincolnshire0
North Somerset0
North Tyneside
North Yorkshire
Northamptonshire 0
Northumberland0
Nottingham
Nottinghamshire
Oldham0
Oxfordshire25
Peterborough0
Plymouth0
Poole
Portsmouth
Reading
Redbridge30
Redcar and Cleveland0
Richmond upon Thames35
Rochdale0
Rotherham0
Rutland0
Salford0
Sandwell
Sefton
Sheffield5
Shropshire0
Slough10
Solihull
Somerset0
South Gloucestershire
South Tyneside0
Southampton
Southend0
Southwark50
St. Helens0
Staffordshire
Stockport
Stockton on Tees0
Stoke-on-Trent
Suffolk
Sunderland0
Surrey20
Sutton5
Swindon
Tameside0
Telford and Wrekin
Thurrock40
Torbay0
Tower Hamlets0
Trafford
Wakefield5
Walsall0
Waltham Forest40
Wandsworth10
Warrington
Warwickshire10
West Berkshire0
West Sussex125
Westminster55
Wigan0
Wiltshire
Windsor and Maidenhead0
Wirral0
Wokingham0
Wolverhampton0
Worcestershire0
York0

Notes:

1. All figures rounded to the nearest five

2. '—'Indicates number between one and five that has been suppressed for reasons of confidentiality

3. Table excludes any children looked after under a series of short term placements

Source:

CLA100 return


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6 Jan 2004 : Column 279W


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