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29 Mar 2004 : Column 1202W—continued

Fly-tipping

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Environment Agency spent in each year from 1999 to 2003 on staff costs to (a) detect and (b) prosecute fly-tippers. [156521]

Mr. Morley: Staff costs relating to fly-tipping are not readily available. The Environment Agency spends around £12 million a year on waste-related enforcement activity. The activity relates directly to prosecutions, cautions and elements of notices. This is around 3 per cent. of the Agency's regulatory budget.

Gamma Interferon Test

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total spending was on gamma interferon development and trials in each of the last five financial years. [158364]

Mr. Bradshaw: Expenditure on gamma-interferon associated research since 1999 is summarised as follows.

£000

	Expenditure
	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04
Expenditure on research projects on gamma-interferon	170	256	209	134	(20)145
Expenditure on other research projects contributing to development of gamma-interferon as a diagnostic test	664	1,522	1,451	2,506	(20)2,861

⁽²⁰⁾ Estimate.

In addition the gamma-interferon field pilot, which began in November 2002, is expected to cost £667,000 over two years.

Home Energy Efficiency Scheme

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many homes in Crosby have benefited from the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme. [160569]

Mr. Morley: The Home Energy Efficiency Scheme is now marketed as Warm Front. Between the launch of the scheme in June 2000 and the end of December 2003, approximately 1,800 households in Crosby received assistance from the Scheme.

Ivory

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she has raised the issue of regulation of the domestic ivory market with the Governments of (a) the People's Republic of China, (b) Japan, (c) Myanmar and (d) Vietnam. [156757]

Mr. Morley: I have discussed this in China and Japan. I am aware, of concerns about the regulation of domestic ivory markets in a number of Asian countries. At the last Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Santiago in November 2002, the Secretariat was directed to assess controls on the internal ivory trade in a number of countries, including China and Japan. Their initial findings will be considered at the CITES Standing Committee meeting later this month, including recommendations for early verification visits by the Secretariat to both China and Japan.

Large Combustion Plants Directive

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether in the event that the Government choose to implement the large combustion plants directive (LCPD) through a national plan approach her Department will seek amendments to the Integrated Pollution Preventative and Control (IPPC) Directive to allow emission limits to be met via the trading of S02, NOx and dust emission allowances in place of the IPPC's existing requirements to meet the LCPD's emission limit values. [162403]

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Mr. Morley [holding answer 23 March 2004]: The LCPD applies without prejudice to the IPPC Directive. That means that large combustion plants subject to the IPPC Directive will each have emission limit values (ELVs) set on the basis of the application of best available techniques (BAT) for dealing with pollution. Those ELVs may thus be tighter than those set in the LCPD but cannot be less stringent.

In its response ¹ to a June 2003 communication on IPPC from the European Commission, the Government urged a further amendment of the IPPC Directive, along the lines of that already advanced in the "Emissions Trading" Directive ² , to facilitate greater potential for emissions trading for other pollutants.

¹ Available at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/ppc/cipp.htm .

² Directive 2003/87/EC establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the community and amending Council Directive 96/6I/EC.

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the emission limit values under the large combustion plants directive apply to existing coal-fired power stations operating under a National Emission Reduction Plan. [162404]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 23 March 2004]: If the option chosen to implement the revised large combustion plants directive for combustion plants with a rated thermal input equal or greater than 50MW and licensed before 1 July 1987 ('existing' plants) is a National Emission Reduction Plan, these plants would not be subject to the emission limit values specified in the directive. However, the total emissions of all 'existing' plants in the UK would be limited to a pre-determined level (a 'bubble'). The size of the 'bubble' for each pollutant (sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and dust) would be calculated as the sum of the emissions when the emission limit values are applied to each existing plant, averaged over the 5-year period 1996 to 2000. This is explained in more detail in chapter three of the Department's Consultation Paper on the implementation of the revised large combustion plant directive published in June 2003.

Marine Conservation

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish a draft Marine Conservation Bill. [162218]

Mr. Morley: A number of reviews are currently examining whether new arrangements, including new legislation, are required to deliver the Government's vision of clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas. In particular, the Review of Marine Nature Conservation is looking at the adequacy of existing mechanisms for protecting the marine environment. The Government will take a decision on whether new legislation is needed once it has seen the recommendations from these reviews.

Parish/Town Councils

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list

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parish and town councils (a) which have been granted QUALITY Status, broken down by county area and (b) whose status is being assessed. [162828]

Alun Michael: I am very pleased at the extent of engagement of parish and town councils with achieving QUALITY status.

There are approximately 500 clerks currently registered with their County Training Partnership (CTP) to undertake the Certificate in Local Council Administration. Town and parish councils whose clerks are currently taking the qualification are likely to apply for Quality Status once the clerk has secured it, probably within the coming 12 months.

The information requested is as follows:

(a) The 40 parish and town councils that have been granted Quality Status are (by county area):

Name of council	County
Weston-super-Mare Town Council	Avon
Keynsham Town Council	Avon
Leighton Linslade Town Council	Bedfordshire
Buckingham Town Council	Buckinghamshire
Huntingdon Town Council	Cambridgeshire
Holywell-cum-Needingworth Parish Council	Cambridgeshire
Poynton Parish Council	Cheshire
Ivybridge Town Council	Devon
Cullompton Town Council	Devon
Stokenham Parish Council	Devon
Tavistock Town Council	Devon
Exmouth Town Council	Devon
Kingsbridge Town Council	Devon
St. Osyth Parish Council	Essex
Great Baddow Town Council	Essex
Witham Town Council	Essex
Loughton Town Council	Essex
Maldon Town Council	Essex
Wivenhoe Town Council	Essex
Headley Parish Council	Hampshire
Brading Town Council	Isle of Wight
Wootton Bridge Parish Council	Isle of Wight
Edenbridge Town Council	Kent
Asfordby Parish Council	Leicestershire and Rutland
Halewood Town Council	Merseyside
Carterton Town Council	Oxfordshire
Lawley and Overdale Parish Council	Shropshire
Oswestry Town Council	Shropshire
Selattyn and Gobowen Parish Council	Shropshire
Sudbury Town Council	Suffolk
Seaford Town Council	Sussex
Hurstpierpoint Sayers Common Parish Council	Sussex
Burgess Hill Town Council	Sussex
East Grinstead Town Council	Sussex
Cuckfield Parish Council	Sussex
Crowborough Town Council	Sussex
Whitnash Town Council	Warwickshire and West Midlands
Curdworth Parish Council	Warwickshire and West Midlands
Melksham Without Parish Council	Wiltshire
Calne Town Council	Wiltshire

(b) The parish and town councils whose status is currently being assessed are:

Name of council	County
Stoke Gifford Parish Council	Avon
Newbury Town Council	Berkshire
Sedgefield Town Council	Durham
Peterlee Town Council	Durham
Hamble-le-Rice Parish Council	Hampshire
Petersfield Town Council	Hampshire
Stone Parish Council	Kent
Braunstone Parish Council	Leicestershire and Rutland
Lancing Parish Council	Sussex

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