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Warm Front Scheme

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many homes in Burnley have benefited from the Warm Front Scheme. [168304]

Mr. Morley: Between the launch of the scheme in June 2000 and the end of March 2004, approximately 3,500 households in Burnley received assistance from the scheme.

Waste Management

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the potential adverse (a) environmental and (b) health impacts of waste incineration are; and what measures the Government has introduced to deal with these impacts. [163609]

 
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Mr. Morley: An independent review of the environmental and health effects of all waste management options for municipal solid waste and similar wastes is currently being prepared. This review, which includes incineration, is in response to a recommendation in the Strategy Unit report "Waste not, Want not". It brings together for the first time, existing literature and evidence on the health and environmental effects of managing municipal solid waste. We aim to publish the report within the next month or so.

Emission standards, which seek to limit environmental and health impacts, apply to waste incinerators as they do to all energy from waste facilities, and are enforced by the Environment Agency. These are European wide discharge standards, which are equally applicable to old and new facilities. We are currently implementing the new Waste Incineration Directive (WID), which is an extremely tough directive that will further tighten the emissions standards in this country. The older generation of incinerators has now been replaced with newer, cleaner technology, and most municipal waste incinerators in this country already meet the new, tougher, standards.

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of a UK company's turnover on average accounts for the cost of managing waste for (a) chemical firms, (b) construction firms and (c) manufacturing firms employing more than 500 people. [165267]

Mr. Morley: We do not have this information in the format requested. Envirowise, which is a Government-funded programme offering waste minimisation advice to business, estimate that the average true cost of waste for businesses, as percentage of turnover, is 4.8 per cent. Only about one-tenth of this is the cost of disposing of that waste.

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what definition she has of hazardous waste; and what plans she has to amend this definition. [165268]

Mr. Morley: Hazardous waste is defined in the Hazardous Waste Directive as waste featuring on a list drawn up by the European Commission and which has one or more of the hazardous properties listed in Annex III to that Directive. Any other waste considered by a member state to display any of the properties listed in Annex III will also fall within this definition. The European Commission implemented a new list of hazardous waste in January 2002.

In England and Wales, hazardous waste is already defined in some legislation on the basis of the new European definition, for example, with respect to landfill. However, for the purposes of the Special Waste Regulations 1996, which control the tracking and movement of special waste, the definition of special (hazardous) waste is on the basis of a list of hazardous waste drawn up by the European Commission in 1994.
 
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The Government propose to replace the Special Waste Regulations with new Regulations for hazardous waste in England to come into force in 2005. These will revoke the existing definition of special waste and implement the new European definition.

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what date has been set for the publication of the Government's report on the environmental and health impacts of waste disposal. [167760]

Mr. Morley: We have received the final report from its authors as well as comments from the peer review panel at the Royal Society. We are aiming to publish the report shortly.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the consultation paper on waste management controls is expected to be introduced. [168083]

Mr. Morley: We propose to consult later in the spring on a draft of the Regulations necessary to repeal section 75(7)(c) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and to apply the Waste Framework Directive and the Landfill Directive to agricultural waste and to non-mineral mines and quarries waste. We also expect to consult shortly thereafter on draft regulations which will implement the current review of waste permitting. New Hazardous Waste Regulations will also be put out for consultation later this year.

Waste Research Strategy

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to conclude work on the waste research strategy. [165262]

Mr. Morley: The three-year waste research strategy is due to be completed in the summer and will be based on advice form the Waste Resources and Research Advisory Group and input from stakeholders.

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many companies have benefited from assistance through the Waste Implementation Programme. [165310]

Mr. Morley: Much of the direct funding and assistance available through the Waste Implementation Programme (WIP) is directed at local authorities to help with the challenges of long-term progress in sustainable waste management, sufficient to meet the Article 5 targets of the EU Landfill Directive. It has been estimated that the additional investment needed from local authorities to meet these targets could be as high as £600-£700 million per annum over the next 10 years. This would largely be spent through contracts with the private sector. Waste Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is a key part of this approach, and has been managed through WIP since 2003. Nine major waste PFI contracts have been let to private companies, and nine more local authorities have either had their proposals approved, or are in the process of applying for PFI credits.
 
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In addition, WIP is seeking to provide improved data and research to industry, and to encourage local authorities to work more effectively with waste companies. And a major programme of new technology pilots for more innovative waste management practices is being taken forward in partnership with industry and local authorities.

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the budget for research through the Waste Implementation Programme is in 2004–05. [165311]

Mr. Morley: In 2004–05, the Government have allocated £5 million to research into sustainable waste management through the Waste Implementation Programme. This is a priority area, which will contribute to the development of a sound evidence base for policy development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

Water Prices

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to publish the departmental guidelines on the five-year review of water prices. [159189]

Mr. Morley: The Secretary of State published her Principal Guidance to the Director General of Water Services on the 2004 Periodic Review on 11 March.

The Secretary of State's Final Guidance will be published in the autumn.

SCOTLAND

Advertising Campaigns

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland pursuant to his answer of 26 February 2004, Official Report, column 485W, on publicity campaigns, on what advertising campaigns the Scotland Office spent money in 2002–03. [164651]

Mrs. McGuire: During 2002–03 the Scotland Office incurred expenditure on advertising campaigns relating to the consultation on the size of the Scottish Parliament and expenditure by the Office of the Advocate-General on statutory public notices.

There was also expenditure by the Boundary Commission for Scotland on statutory notices relating to electoral boundaries.

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