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3 Feb 2004 : Column 765W—continued
Countryside and Rights of Way Act
Andrew Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when a national grant scheme will be set up to assist local authorities with their new powers under Part 1 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000; and when the details of the scheme will be made available to local authorities. [151627]
Alun Michael: I am very keen to ensure that the new right of access is implemented as smoothly as possible on the ground and I met the Countryside Agency recently to consider its proposals for a National Grant Scheme to help local authorities, land managers and communities manage open access in their areas proactively. If this scheme is approved, the Agency will announce further details and guidance including the percentage grant-aid available and when it will accept applications.
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I hope to make a decision soon, but if we are able to help this will be a bonus for everyone. It is at least as important that local authorities start to gear up now for the introduction of the right of access under the Act, recognising the benefits and opportunities for them and those who live in their area.
Crematoria
Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will quantify the financial impact on crematoria of introducing gas cleaning systems to all crematoria; and whether the principle of polluter pays will be adhered to. [151304]
Alun Michael: In reply to the point on financial impact, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer of 17 November 2003, Official Report, column 623W, by the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Mr. Bradshaw).
In line with the Polluter Pays Principle there are no funding packages linked to the Local Authority Pollution Control regime.
Large Combustion Plant Directive
Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the implications for United Kingdom industry of the National Emissions Reduction Plan in relation to the Large Combustion Plant Directive. [150228]
Alun Michael: Defra commissioned analysis from independent consultants which examined the costs and benefits of the two implementation approaches. This analysis carried out prior to the 2003 consultation on the Directive, suggested that for the 2008–2024 period the national plan approach would cost UK industry as a whole around £650 million whereas the alternative approach—the emission limit values approach—would cost around £900 million.
We have received a range of comments on the analysis in the consultation, and are continuing to assess the potential economic impact on UK industry of the introduction of the Directive using both internal analyses and independent research. We are also in detailed dialogue with industry to help us to understand their views as expressed in response to consultation.
Farming Subsidies
Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the schemes under which payments are made to farmers in England; and what the total amounts paid under each scheme to (a) limited companies and (b) individuals were in the most recent year for which figures are available. [144458]
Alun Michael: Providing this information in the form requested has involved considerable work to interrogate the computer records in order to produce the required figures for England. In order to do so it has been
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necessary to include all businesses that do not incorporate the term "limited" in their title in the trading name under the heading "individuals".
The following figures represent payments made in the European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund Year 2003—16 October 2002 to 15 October 2003—and do not include Common Agricultural Policy market support schemes.
| Scheme | Limited companies value | Individualsvalue |
|---|---|---|
| Arable Area Payments | 186,582,223.13 | 682,615,833.19 |
| Arable Agrimonetary Aid | 105,596.05 | 69,870.01 |
| Beef Agrimonetary Aid | 29,533.43 | 473,716.88 |
| Beef National Envelope | 991,509.93 | 13,630,439.57 |
| Beef Special Premium | 7,348,365.73 | 109,024,177.25 |
| Extensification | 3,338,151.33 | 51,927,956.37 |
| Hill Farming Allowance | 947,164.39 | 38,212,678.88 |
| Milk | — | 263,043.48 |
| Sheep Annual Premium | 4,437,189.52 | 100,437,173.61 |
| Suckler Cow Premium | 5,236,163.74 | 71,972,974.84 |
| Sheep Agrimonetary Aid | 89.70 | 7,809.36 |
| Slaughter Premium | 5,375,867.10 | 61,472,846.45 |
| Rural Development Service Operated Schemes | ||
| Arable Stewardship | 4,047,399.33 | 1,313,793.43 |
| Countryside Access | 2,417,329.19 | 16,643,660.50 |
| Countryside Stewardship | — | 31,451,770.61 |
| Energy Crops | 75,096.40 | 66,693.60 |
| Environmentally Sensitive Areas | 4,430,669.21 | 57,170,574.76 |
| Farm Woodland Premium | 1,518,910.06 | 6,809,501.96 |
| Habitat | 223,389.40 | 1,622,720.89 |
| Moorland | — | 25,350.00 |
| Nitrate Sensitive Areas | 333,897.80 | 1,304,479.48 |
| Nitrate Vulnerable Zones | 55,680.09 | 396,565.20 |
| Organic Farming | 1,855,784.37 | 7,833,778.95 |
| Processing and Marketing Grant | 5,558,457.51 | 1,664,423.52 |
| Rural Enterprise | 3,285,539.56 | 14,709,634.85 |
| Vocational Training | 601,553.90 | 1,296,838.65 |
| Structural Funds | 13,474,107.46 | 8,505,521.90 |
| Total | 252,269,668.33 | 1,280,923,828.19 |
Information Technology
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the (a) number and (b) location of Information Technology staff in her Department employed directly or on contract at each location outside Guildford. [150614]
Alun Michael: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has made a strategic decision to outsource the majority of its IT service delivery and functions under the e-nabling Defra Programme.
The following table outlines the number of people involved in IT-related work based at each location, outside Guildford (based on our records as at December 2003):
(1) Some of these people are undertaking a very minimal amount of IT work.
(2) One of these posts is filled by a contractor.
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Water Pollution
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research has been conducted on measures to deal with diffuse water pollution; and when she expects to bring forward proposals for legislation. [150964]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 30 January 2004]: The Government have funded programmes of research on the sources, transport and control of diffuse water pollution from agriculture over the last decade. The programmes cover nitrate, phosphorous, sediment/soil erosion, pathogens and the potential implications of control measures for different pollutants. The total annual budget (in 2003–04) is £3 million. The results of this research are available on the Defra website (www.defra.gov.uk/science). The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has also published related work in its report "The impacts of agricultural environmental management: case studies from theory to practice", which is available on the SEPA website (www.sepa.org.uk/publications/index.htm).
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This year we intend to publish for consultation detailed proposals for new powers to prevent and control diffuse pollution in England, as part of the action to implement the Water Framework Directive referred to in the "Third Consultation Paper on the Implementation of the EC Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC)", published in August 2003. The extent to which such new powers might need to be used in the future will depend on how far diffuse pollution can be controlled through other potential policy instruments, including voluntary action and economic instruments.
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