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UN Environment Programme

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the outcome of the visit of the Environment Minister to the United Nations Environment Programme session in Korea. [165263]

Mr. Morley: The Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GMEF) met in Jeju, Republic of Korea, to discuss the action needed to factor environmental considerations more fully into the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Commitments on water, sanitation and human settlements. I represented the UK. Together with Lesotho's Minister of Natural Resources, Mr.Monyane Moleleki, I co-chaired an interactive session on how integrated water resource management (IWRM) plans can make a key contribution to the sustainable provision of water and sanitation.

The output from this session and two following ones were summarised in the Jeju Initiative, adopted by the GMEF on 31 March. This sets out what contribution Governments and UNEP, with other multilateral institutions, can make in these areas. The Initiative will be reported to the Twelfth Meeting of the UN Commission for Sustainable Development.

While in Korea, I also took part in a meeting of Commonwealth Environment Ministers and had useful bilateral discussions, notably with the Environment Minister of Korea, Kyul-ho Kwak, and with UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer. I also met with a number of international NGOs.
 
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Village Halls (Stroud)

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list those village halls in the Stroud constituency that have applied for (a) her Department's and (b) Lottery grants for refurbishment purposes; and which have been successful. [164211]

Alun Michael: The information that would be needed to provide a comprehensive answer on successful applications is not held centrally, and information on unsuccessful applications is generally not collated on a geographical basis. Such information as we have is as follows:

Defra

Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund—in its first two years of operation (2002–04) there have been no successful applications for schemes in Stroud.

Rural Enterprise Scheme—no applications relating to village halls have been received from the Stroud constituency.

Countryside Agency Vital Villages programme, Community Services Grants—two village halls have applied for, and successfully obtained, a grant for projects: Woodchester Village Community Hall—£9,750—and Oakridge Village Hall Trust-£5,404.

Lottery

Community Fund and other Lottery distributors—the Department for Culture, Media and Sport do not collect information on either the number or value of applications for Lottery grants for village halls received by the Distributing Bodies. Information about unsuccessful applications is treated in confidence and is retained by the Distributing Bodies.

Stroud has received 265 Lottery awards in total since 1995 worth £10.8 million. Stroud may also have received Lottery funding from umbrella schemes.

£328,762 Lottery awards have been made to refurbishment projects to 28 village halls, parish and community centres in Stroud. This figure includes halls that have widened their use for other members of the community, e.g. scout halls and youth clubs. The information is as follows:
£

Recipient	Project title/description long	Award date	Award amount
Awards for all
St. Swithuns Scout Group, Leonard Stanley	Improvements to toilets and showers to improve usage and access by other groups such as the playgroup and over 50s exercise classes	20 May 2003	4,935
Nailsworth Youth Club	Disabled toilets and access will be installed at this community centre	18 March 2004	5,000
Whiteshill and Ruscombe Youth Club	Purchase of utensils and recreation equipment, heating system and decoration	11 June 1996	7,190
Community fund
1st Minchinhampton Scout Group	Essential repairs. HQ building also used by playgroup and other community groups	16 May 1997	2,300
1st Stonehouse Scout Group	Essential refurbishment work for scout group HQ building which is also used by a variety of community groups	16 May 1997	3,830
Chalford Village Hall	Refurbishment and furnishing of the group's premises	19 September 1997	3,634
Dursley Parish Centre Committee	Essential kitchen refurbishment in the parish centre	21 April 1998	4,945
Ashmead Village Hall	External renovation	22 June 1998	4,208
Amberley Parish Rooms and Playgroup Management Committee	Refurbish and upgrade a community room beneath Amberley Parish Church	30 October 1998	37,053
Woodchester Village Community Hall	Specialised cleaning equipment and a feasibility study to upgrade the building	5 November 1998	1,906
Chalford Village Hall	New kitchen equipment and improve storage space	4 March 1999	1,302
Harescombe Parish Hall	A new porch and replace two windows	4 March 1999	4,730
Uley Village Hall Management Committee	Extensive refurbishment including new drainage and building work	4 March 1999	4,935
Pitchcombe Village Hall Committee	Provision of a car park	27 April 1999	44,654
Miserden Village Hall	Carry out necessary repairs	17 June 1999	4,230
Horsley Village Hall	New furniture including a portable stage with disabled ramp	7 October 1999	5,000
Drusely and District Community Association	Central heating and double glazing installation	2 December 1999	22,725
Coaley Village Hall Management Committee	Replacement windows and doors	8 December 1999	5,000
Sheepscombe Village Hall	Fees for development plan for the hall to proceed to planning	3 February 2000	4,803
Elmore Village Hall Management Committee	Replacement windows in the hall with double glazed high security window units	3 February 2000	5,000
Box Village all Management Committee	New toilets with disabled access, a new kitchen and an enlarged community meeting room	5 May 2000	56,000
St. James Parish Centre Dursley	Centre is an ex-church school. Replacement of hall and kitchen floors and installation of fly screens	29 June 2000	4,908
Stone and District Village Hall	Replacement of the rear porch and tarmacking to rear of the car park	6 September 2000	2,411
Nailsworth Youth Club	Replacing of the roof and refurbishment of the kitchen	15 May 2001	2,500
Stone and District Village Hall	Installation of an induction loop facility	20 December 2001	1,360
Frith Youth Centre Bussage	Replacement flooring and fitting disabled toilets	31 January 2002	4,943
Frith Youth Centre Bussage	Replacement roof and other improvements to the games hut	25 November 2002	74,260
New opportunities fund
Woodchester Village Community Hall	Provision of an IT suite and learning resource centre	31 January 2002	5,000

 
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Warm Front Scheme

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what instructions her Department issued to Warm Front scheme managers on the publication on their websites of monthly statistical data relating to works carried out under the scheme; what assessment she has made of compliance with these instructions; and what action she proposes to take to ensure future compliance. [161638]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 29 March 2004]: As part of the continuous development of Warm Front, the optimum reporting mechanisms for publishing Warm Front data were discussed between the Department and the scheme managers. Following these discussions it was agreed that data would be published annually.

Following a recent review of the delivery of the scheme, the Department has asked the scheme managers to publish data on a quarterly basis.

Historic annual data are also available on the scheme managers' websites.

Waste

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what resources she has provided to the Environment Agency to (a) detect and (b) prosecute the illegal disposal of hazardous waste. [156429]

Mr. Morley: In 2003–04 Defra provided over £130 million grant-in-aid to the Environment Agency. Approximately £ 39 million of this will be used carrying out its waste duties which include the detecting and prosecuting of those responsible for the illegal disposal of hazardous waste. The agency agrees its priorities with the Department during the annual corporate planning process and allocates its funds accordingly.

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what consultations have been launched in the last five years into (a) the reuse and (b) disposal of waste plastics. [162297]

 
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Mr. Morley: There have been no consultations specifically on the reuse or disposal of waste plastic. However the following consultations, launched in the last five years, had implications for the reuse and disposal of waste plastic.

Consultation on changes to the Packaging Regulations, July 2003

Consultation on Packaging Regulations—Raising the targets in 2002–November 2001

Consultation Paper on Recovery and Recycling Targets for Packaging Waste in 2001, August 2000

UK Management Plan for Exports and Imports for Waste, June 2000

A Consultation Paper on changes to the percentage activity obligation and other matters, September 1999

Report of the Market Development Group, August 1999

A way with waste—a draft waste strategy for England and Wales, September 1999.

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