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Environment Council

Mr. Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the outcome was of the Environment Council on 2 March; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if she will make a statement. [159173]

Mr. Morley: I attended the Environment Council on 2 March 2004, together with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The Council agreed by consensus a set of Conclusions as the contribution by Environment ministers to the Spring European Council. We were pleased with the priorities reflected in the Conclusions. They included rapid implementation of the Environmental Technologies Action Plan, a proposal that the Commission should report annually to Spring council on the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, and called on the Community and member states to consider mid and long-term emissions reduction strategies, including targets, in preparation for the 11th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change in November 2005. We called on the Commission, in preparing its review of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy by the end of 2004, to incorporate the external dimension of sustainable development so as to contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and other international commitments.

We held a short policy debate on the proposal for a Regulation on shipments of waste. Replying to a series of questions from the Irish Presidency to all the delegations, I indicated that any measures aimed to prevent 'eco-dumping' should work through establishing community-wide standards and preserve the internal market; that in handling mixed 'green waste', the UK would support a proportionate, risk-based approach, aligned to the OECD Decision on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Wastes Destined for Recovery Operations; and that the 'take-back'requirements of the Regulation should not be applied to 'green waste'.

The Commission gave a progress report on the proposal for a Regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). We were informed that further work is being done on assessing the impact of the proposals. There are to be policy debates in both the Competitiveness and Environment Councils, in May and June respectively. We were also updated on the progress of negotiations on the proposal for a Directive to amend the EU emissions trading scheme in respect of the Kyoto Protocol's project mechanisms. Although work remains to be done, the Presidency remained hopeful that an agreement could be reached which would also receive the early support of the European Parliament.

There was a brief report back from the 7th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity/1st Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, noting the good progress made there on protected areas and the conservation of high seas biodiversity, and also the very good EU co-ordination.
 
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Other items were considered under Any Other Business and included a statement by the French delegation on the need to continue to press forward on maritime safety issues; a statement by the Belgian delegation on the protection of the marine environment, and in particular the problems of species spreading through ballast water and of by-catches of small mammals; written briefing from the Commission concerning its action plan on establishing a Global Monitoring for Environment and Security system; briefing from the Presidency on its plans to progress the proposal for a Regulation extending the Financial Instrument for the Environment (LIFE); and briefing from the Commission on its action plan on environment and health.

Over lunch we discussed the preparations for the 8th special session of the Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum (UNEP) to be held in Jeju at the end of March, and the 12th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development to be held in New York in April.

Environmental Crime

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans the Government have to establish specialist environmental prosecutors to deal with environmental crime; and if she will make a statement. [154966]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 23 February 2004]: The Government have no plans to establish specialist environmental prosecutors to deal with environmental crime. Responsibility for prosecutions for environmental crime rests with the Crown Prosecution service, the courts, the police, local authorities, HM Customs and Excise and with agencies of Government including the Environment Agency, Countryside Agency and English Nature.

EU Producer Responsibility Legislation

Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the research which (a) has been and (b) will be undertaken to measure the effect of EU producer responsibility legislation on design of environmental targets in the UK. [157983]

Mr. Morley: Producer responsibility Directives include the Packaging, End of Life Vehicles (ELV), and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directives. The WEEE and ELV Directives contain provisions on product design that are expected to increase the recyclability of vehicles and electrical and electronic equipment when they are transposed later this year.

The Packaging Directive is implemented in England and Wales by (i) the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended) ("the packaging Regulations") and the parallel instruments in the devolved administrations; and (ii) the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2003. The Producer Responsibility Obligations provide incentives to minimise packaging as the amount of packaging waste producers have to recover and recycle is determined, in part, by the
 
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amount of packaging they handle. Therefore businesses can save money if they reduce the amount of packaging they handle.

The Government recently commissioned a study on the impact of the Essential Requirements Regulations, which can be viewed at: www.dti.gov.uk/sustainability/packagingfinalreport.pdf. The report highlights a number of instances where packaging has been minimised as a result of the Essential Requirements Regulations. For example one large retailer has reduced the weight of plastic packaging on a range of cosmetic products saving around 30 tonnes of plastic per year.

Farm Payments

Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the names and addresses of (a) individuals and (b) limited companies who receive more than £10,000 in direct payments under the Common Agricultural Policy; and if she will make a statement. [160169]

Alun Michael: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is bound by commercial confidentiality in its dealings with its customers, whether sole traders or farmers or corporations, breach of which by disclosing information relating to the affairs of individual traders or farmers or corporations would expose the RPA to the liability of legal proceedings in court.

In relation to individual farmers or traders, information which is of a personal nature, such as individual payments to such persons, is personal data which is protected from voluntary disclosure under the Data Protection Act 1998. While the RPA can release global figures relating to payments, which do not identify individual persons, including corporations, it is unable to release individual figures without incurring the liabilities under the two principles referred to.

Flood Defences

Mr. Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of flood defence barriers along the River Severn. [155088]

Mr. Morley: The Environment Agency's initial assessment is that the use of demountable and portable defences along the River Severn in early February was a success. The Agency estimates that around 200 properties were protected from serious flooding. A full assessment will be available in May.

Fuel Poverty

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress her Department has made pursuant to its fuel poverty strategy to secure an increase in the number of training places for (a) gas fitters and (b) installers of (i) central heating systems and (ii) energy efficiency measures. [157162]

Mr. Morley: Defra has worked together with the Department for Education and Skills, Transco and the  Gas and Water Industry National Training Organisation to fund training for 485 gas engineers to work on the Warm Front scheme.
 
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In October 2003 we announced an Energy Efficiency Installer Training Programme, in partnership with the heating industry, Energy Saving Trust, and the Learning and Skills Council. The programme aims to provide 70,000 engineers with the necessary skills to specify, install and maintain high-efficiency heating systems.

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