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Organic Farming

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will increase support for farmers to grow an increased (a) range and (b) quantity of organic produce. [164225]

Mr. Bradshaw: Aid for organic farmers was extended in May last year with the introduction of ongoing payments under the Organic Farming Scheme. It is proposed to further develop aid through the organic strand of the Entry Level Agri-Environment Scheme which will shortly be submitted for approval by the European Commission and which is expected to be launched in 2005.

Over-thirty-month Scheme

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what response she has made to the recent Food Standards Agency proposal to end the Over-Thirty-Month Scheme. [164466]

Mr. Bradshaw: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, has welcomed the recommendation by the Food Standards Agency that the Over Thirty Month (OTM) rule could be replaced with a system of testing OTM animals for the food chain. UK Rural Affairs Ministers have decided that animals born before August 1996 should not be allowed back into the food chain because of difficulties associated with tracing and culling the cohorts of cases born before this date.

Peat

Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the (a) funding and (b) resources provided for the peat replacement section of her Department. [163893]

Mr. Bradshaw: Since April 2002 the Department has provided some £15.97 million, and over the next two years will make available a further £3.01 million to English Nature, to support the conservation of peat resources by bringing to an end commercial peat extraction which was threatening three important nature conservation sites in the north of England.

We have also provided funding to the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to enable them to carry out work to develop markets for composted materials, which can be used as alternative growing media. The total budget for WRAP's Kerbside Collection and Organics Market Development Programme is £14.9 million spread over the financial years 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06.

Staff resources involved in work on peat replacement issues represent a proportion of a single staff year, linked to broader biodiversity aims as set out in Working with the Grain of Nature—a Biodiversity Strategy for England. The team concerned will have some increase in administration resource in 2004–05 and we are considering how best to apply this.

Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the figures for progress on peat replacement for 2003 will be published. [164248]

 
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Mr. Bradshaw: The latest information on monitoring of peat and alternative products for growing media and soil improvers in the UK was published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in 2003. My Department now has responsibility for this issue. We are considering arrangements for a further monitoring exercise later this year with a view to publishing the data in 2005.

In the meantime we have commissioned ADAS to produce a report this summer which will provide details of the current use of peat and growing media alternatives in the commercial horticulture sector in England.

Prittle Brook Sewerage

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will investigate the operation of the Prittle Brook sewerage system; and if she will instruct Ofwat to bring forward its repair. [165381]

Mr. Morley: I understand that the current foul water sewerage system has on several occasions resulted in discharges to Prittle Brook. The situation has been further exacerbated by heavy rainfall and surface water infiltration.

We are aware that Anglian Water has increased its investment in the local network and initiated a number of operational changes and studies e.g. the installation of non-return valves and the removal of tree roots, damaging the sewers.

Each of the water and sewerage companies, including Anglian Water, will be submitting their business plans later this month setting out their investment proposals for the period 2005–10. These plans incorporate the repair and maintenance of sewers. In the light of these plans, the Director General of Water Services, the independent economic regulator, will make his draft determinations of price limits in August and his final determinations in December 2004.

Radioactive Waste

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to which Minister the Radioactive Waste Policy Group is responsible and reports. [165257]

Mr. Morley: The Radioactive Waste Policy Group (RWPG) is chaired and managed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It is made up of UK Government, devolved Administration and regulatory body representatives. Its terms of reference are:

"To review and make recommendations on issues which arise in   relation to UK radioactive waste management policy, radioactive discharges, and corresponding regulatory processes and arrangements".

The group meets several times a year and functions in the interim through correspondence.

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the members of the Radioactive Waste Policy Group. [165258]

 
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Mr. Morley: The Radioactive Waste Policy Group (RWPG) is made up of representatives from: the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra); the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI); Department of Health, (DH); Department for Transport (DfT); the Department for Education and Science (DfES); the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS); the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP); the Ministry of Defence (MOD); the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM); Treasury, the Cabinet Office; the Scottish Executive (SE); the National Assembly for Wales (NAW); the Department of the Environment Northern Ireland (DoENI); the Health and Safety Executive (HSE); the Environment Agency (EA); the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA); the Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS); and the Foods Standards Agency (FSA). Some of these representatives are full participating members. Others are corresponding members, not normally attending meetings but doing so on occasion in light of the agenda. The identities of organisational representatives change over time. I have arranged for the current list of full and corresponding RWPG members to be placed in the Library.

Rights of Way

Mr. Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what powers she has to implement policy arising from her Department's consultation on the use of mechanically powered vehicles on rights of way. [165153]

Alun Michael: The proposals in the consultation paper on better enforcement of existing legislation and the regulation of vehicles on rights of way could be implemented through departmental circulars and other guidance. Primary legislation would be needed to implement the proposals on how future and historic rights might be claimed and on statutory easements.

Rural Payments Agency

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for   Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the role of the Rural Payments Agency. [164598]

Alun Michael: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It is the accredited Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) paying agency responsible for CAP schemes in England and for certain schemes throughout the UK. In addition, it is the UK Funding Body, and as such is responsible for the   receipt and administration of moneys from the Guarantee Section of the European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) for funding the CAP schemes administered by all the UK Paying Agencies.

RPA is a major delivery arm of Defra and provides delivery experience and advice to policy divisions within Defra. It currently delivers over £2 billion of CAP payments to farmers and traders under existing
 
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schemes. On 1 April 2003, RPA assumed responsibility for the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) which is Defra's centre of expertise and service delivery on animal health and identification. RPA is responsible, through BCMS, for the Cattle Tracing System, including issuing of cattle passports and recording of cattle movements.

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