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Puppy Farms

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in the European Union on the import into the UK of puppies from puppy farms; [147455]

(2) what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in the Republic of Ireland concerning the importation of puppies from puppy farms in the Republic of Ireland; [147465]

(3) how many puppies have been imported into the United Kingdom from puppy farms in the Republic of Ireland in each of the last five years; [147466]

(4) what licensing arrangements are in place in respect of importers of puppies from puppy farms in (a) the Irish Republic and (b) elsewhere; [147467]

(5) what recent representations she has received regarding the importation of puppies from puppy farms in (a) the Republic of Ireland and (b) elsewhere. [147468]

Mr. Bradshaw: There are no centrally held statistics available for the number of dogs imported into the United Kingdom from the Republic of Ireland because there are no restrictions on trade of animals between the two countries. However, all movements of animals for commercial purposes within the EU must comply with the provisions of EU Directive 91/628/EEC on the protection of animals during transport, which in the UK is implemented by the Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 1997. There have been no discussions with my counterparts in the Republic of Ireland or the EU on the subject of importation of puppies from puppy farms into the UK.

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Sandhurst Explosion

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will hold a Public Inquiry into the explosion at Cleansing Services Group, Sandhurst, Gloucestershire, in October 2000; and if she will make a statement. [143925]

Mr Morley [holding answer 15 December 2003]: I have recently received a Final Report (prepared by the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive) into the incident at Cleansing Services Group, Sandhurst. When I have considered the implications of this report, I will make a statement.

Tees Estuary

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what analysis has been made of the risk of the introduction of species of wildlife or plants from the James River estuary to the Tees estuary as a result of the arrival in Hartlepool of the US ships intended for decommissioning; [142332]

(2) what measures were taken to reduce the risk to the Tees estuary from the importation of alien species in ballast water in the US ships intended for decommissioning by Able UK. [142333]

Mr. Morley: The Environment Agency considered the risk of transfer of species of wildlife or plants in ballast water and imposed a condition on the Able UK waste management licence. This requires that no removal or disposal of ballast water may take place from any of the US vessels, except in accordance with a detailed method statement submitted to and approved in writing by the Agency. These are more stringent conditions than apply to the many visiting ships to the UK.

US Warships (Disposal)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the status of the ghost ships in Hartlepool. [145249]

Mr. Morley: Four decommissioned US government-owned vessels are currently being stored by Able UK at Hartlepool. The vessels have been surveyed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to assess the integrity of the vessels' structures and safety systems following their passage across the Atlantic, and were confirmed to be in satisfactory condition. The US authorities accept that the four ships will have to return to the US, unless environmentally suitable and legally acceptable methods for their disposal have been identified. The immediate return of the vessels is not practicable. In the meantime the Environment Agency has modified the conditions of Abie's waste management licence so that no dismantling, cutting or breaking of the vessels is permitted, pending the best environmental option for dealing with them.

Waste Management

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many officials in the Department have responsibility for waste management. [142591]

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Mr. Morley: As at 15 December 2003, there are 95 officials employed by Defra with responsibility for waste management. In addition to this, there are four secondees who are on temporary placement.

Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the polluter pays principle applies to management of the municipal waste stream; and if she will make a statement. [146517]

Mr. Morley: The Waste Framework Directive (75/442/EEC as amended by 91/156/EEC) sets out a range of measures on the management of waste—including its collection and disposal. These measures include Article 8 which requires that "any holder of waste has it handled by a private or public waste collector; and Article 15 which provides that "In accordance with the 'polluter pays' principle, the cost of disposing of waste must be borne by.... the holder who has it handled by a waste collector."

The Government has put a range of measures in place under Part II of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Controlled Waste Regulations 1992 and the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 to comply with the Directive's requirements. These measures include the arrangements for the collection and disposal of household waste-by-waste collection and disposal authorities. The cost of collection and disposal under these arrangements is met through taxation and charges. Most commercial and industrial waste is collected and disposed of by the private sector under arrangements which comply with the Directive. The cost of collection and disposal under these arrangement is met through charges.

Municipal waste includes household waste and any other wastes collected by a waste collection authority or its agents under Part II of the 1990 Act (Waste Strategy 2000 page 198 (Cm 4693–2)).

Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she plans to extend the statutory duty on local authorities with regard to recycling and composting beyond 2005–06; and if she will make a statement. [146518]

Mr. Morley: The Government is committed to reviewing the national recycling targets this year, in light of the progress made by local authorities in meeting their 2003–04 Statutory Performance Standards for recycling and composting.

The review will include consideration of whether to set further statutory recycling targets for local authorities for the years beyond 2005–06, to succeed the current Statutory Performance Standards.

Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many tonnes of material have been recycled as a direct result of the Waste and Resources Action Programme's activity; what the average cost to public funds was per tonne of such recycled material; and if she will make a statement. [146540]

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Mr. Morley: WRAP'S market development programmes are delivering an extra 1,000,000 tonnes/year of additional recycling capacity in the UK, through projects that have been delivered or are close to completion.

It is estimated that all of the capital grant and R&D projects initiated by WRAP, once fully realised, will generate at least four million extra tonnes of recycling per year in the UK. If the reasonable assumption is made that this recycling will continue to be delivered for at least 10 years, the cost to the public purse is estimated to be approximately £1/tonne.

These estimates relate solely to WRAP'S R&D and capital interventions and not to WRAP'S advocacy and procurement work, which make essential contributions to the programme as a whole, but are not so easily related to tonnage figures.

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Water Supplies

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the water supply and urban and rural drainage bodies in England which are companies where a holding company or majority of shareholdings are not from the United Kingdom, stating in each case the country and name of the ultimate owner, together with date of acquisition. [145468]

Mr. Morley: The following table lists those water and sewerage and water undertakers that are owned by companies based outside the U.K., the country where the controlling company's head office is and the date of the acquisition. Information about the nationality of shareholders is not available.

Internal Drainage Boards in England have been established in areas of special drainage needs. They are public statutory bodies.

Water and sewerage undertakers	Ultimate holding company and where headquarters is based	Date of acquisition
Thames Water Utilities Ltd.	Thames Water Aqua Holdings GmbH (RWE AG) (Germany)	November 2000
Wessex Water Services Limited	YTL Power Berhad (Malaysia)	May 2002

Water only undertakers	Ultimate holding company and where headquarters is based	Date of acquisition
Cambridge Water plc.	Union Electricia Fenosa SA (Spain)	January 2004
Folkestone and Dover Water Services Ltd.	Veolia Environment (France)	February 2003
Tendring Hundred Water Services Ltd.	Veolia Environment(France)	Owned since before 1989
South East Water plc.	Macquarie Bank Ltd. (Australia)	October 2003
Three Valleys Water Services plc.	Veolia Environment (France)	Owned since before 1989

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