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6 May 2004 : Column 1660W—continued
Environmental Protection
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the contribution the Are you doing your bit campaign has made to the Government's efforts to achieve its target of a 20 per cent.reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2008 to 2012. [168807]
Mr. Morley: The Are you doing your bit campaign was a successful stage in the Government's effort to raise the general level of public awareness of environmental issues. Research in 1998 showed initial campaign activity had proved effective. Further research in 1999 showed that 9 out of 10 people recognised the campaign and 7 out of 10 understood that everyone should do their bit. A further 9 out of 10 people said they already carried out the simple actions promulgated by the campaign.
It did not, nor was it designed to, radically change behaviour or business practice across society and in any case it would not be possible to positively link the impact of any one information source with levels of carbon dioxide emissions for the UK as a whole.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much Government funding was available in each of the past three years to the (a) Energy Saving Trust and (b) Going for Green charity. [168811]
Mr. Morley: The information requested is in the tables.
(a) Energy Saving Trust funding made available by the department over the last three years is as follows.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 24.3 |
| 2002–03 | 23.4 |
| 2003–04 | 24.6 (Budget) |
Figures for 2002–03 and 2003–04 include funding for the Housing Energy Efficiency Best Practice programme.
(b) Government funding is provided to the environmental charity ENCAMS annually. The funding supports ENCAMS' work on a range of local environmental quality issues, including the Tidy Britain Group and Going for Green.
6 May 2004 : Column 1661W
Funding over the last three years is as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 3,762,000 |
| 2002–03 | (2)4,597,000 |
| 2003–04 | 3,574,000 |
(2) Defra allocated an additional £1 million to local authorities through ENCAMS for the Local Environmental Quality Pathfinder Programme that forged partnerships between local authorities and the local community. Some of the projects developed reduced fast food litter, railway land litter and schools litter.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the decision not to renew the Government's Are you doing your bit campaign; and what funding was provided for the www.doingyourbit.org.uk website, since the campaign began. [168812]
Mr. Morley: The Secretary of State will not be making a statement on the Are you doing your bit campaign.
Detailed consideration is being given to the options for future communications activity in this area. Thinking will be informed by the current sustainable development consultation, 'Taking it on', launched 21 April 2004.
The campaign website was funded from within the overall campaign budget. No specific records were kept for the website element of the campaign.
Farming
Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the farm income levels for farmers in Preston in the past five years. [169685]
Alun Michael: Due to the small number of farms in Preston, there is no robust data available on farm incomes for farmers in that area over the last five years. Net farm income for farms in the EU north region and for England over the last five years are show in the following table.
| EU north region | England | |
|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 8,272 | 10,359 |
| 1999–2000 | 8,659 | 7,981 |
| 2000–01 | 12,456 | 9,886 |
| 2001–02 | 16,457 | 13,558 |
| 2002–03 | 18,512 | 16,435 |
Source:
Farm Business Survey
Net farm income is the return to the principal farmer and spouse for their manual and managerial labour and to the tenant-type capital of the
Mr. Borrow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on farm income for farmers in South Ribble in the past five years. [171286]
6 May 2004 : Column 1662W
Alun Michael: Due to the small number of farms in South Ribble, there is no robust data available on farm incomes for farmers in that area. Net farm income for farms in the EU North Region and for England over the last five years are show in the following table.
| EU North Region | England | |
|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 8,272 | 10,359 |
| 1999–2000 | 8,659 | 7,981 |
| 2000–01 | 12,456 | 9,886 |
| 2001–02 | 16,457 | 13,558 |
| 2002–03 | 18,512 | 16,435 |
Source:
Farm Business Survey
Net farm income is the return to the principal farmer and spouse for their manual and managerial labour and to the tenant-type capital of the business
David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the average (a) severely disadvantaged area (SDA) and (b) non-SDA payment will be in Cumbria in each year from 2005 to 2013. [169096]
Alun Michael: No estimates are available for the allocation of historic subsides to Single Farm Payment regions at county level. So it is not possible to determine the historic element of the payment during the transition period.
Fertilisers
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 28 April 2004 reference 166842, what assessment she has made of the alternative fertilisers used in countries that have banned ammonium nitrate fertilisers. [170585]
Mr. Morley: The soil and climatic conditions in the countries that have banned ammonium nitrate (AN) fertilisers—China, Colombia, Algeria and the Philippines—are very different from those experienced in the UK. One of the principal alternative fertilisers used in these countries is urea. Urea-based fertilisers give rise to greater ammonia emissions than AN. A switch to urea could, therefore, put at risk the UK's ability to meet internationally-agreed ammonia reduction targets. Crops cannot use urea directly. It must first be converted to ammonium and to nitrate nitrogen in the soil before being taken up by plants. As a result, urea can, in cold conditions, be slower acting than AN. The loss of ammonia from urea can also reduce crop yields, thus adding to the cost of crop production. As mentioned in my previous answer, we have an ongoing dialogue with industry to compare how well other nitrogen fertilisers perform in our soil and climatic conditions and their potential environmental impacts.
Flooding
Norman Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her written statement of 20 April 2004, Official Report,
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columns 7–8WS, on flood defences, what options she is assessing for further reforms to improve accountability and effectiveness. [169850]
Mr. Morley: Implementation of the conclusions of the Flood and Coastal Defence Funding Review represents a significant reorganisation and streamlining of the service. Following the introduction of Flood Defence grant-in-aid to the Environment Agency on 1 April 2004, we are developing output and performance measures to monitor the efficiency and effectiveness of the Agency in reducing flood risk and to ensure optimal allocation of funding. In addition, the Agency are developing targets for reducing overheads associated with processing flood defence projects, which will be included in the Agency's Corporate Plan. We are also developing new procedures for monitoring the effectiveness of Internal Drainage Boards.
As announced in March 2003, we will be undertaking a formal review of the effectiveness of the funding review conclusions after three years effective operation. We intend to commence this review in 2007, at which time we will consider whether any further reforms to the service should be considered. We will keep stakeholders fully involved in this work.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to meet hon. Members representing areas where properties or agricultural land are or might become at risk from flooding from the sea or from tidal inland waterways to discuss the Government's policy on global warming. [169583]
Mr. Morley: The recently published Foresight Report on flood and coastal defence will provide guidance for policy development in relation to managing increasing flood risk in the longer term, including the impact of climate change. I held briefing for hon. Members on the 22 April for this purpose. I will also be meeting the All Party Parliamentary Flood Prevention Group on 26 May. The Foresight Report is on the agenda.
Since the 1980s the Department has provided guidance to operating authorities to make allowance for climate change in the planning and appraisal of new and replacement flood and coastal defence works. This guidance has been regularly reviewed in the light of the latest research findings and supplementary guidance was most recently issued in 2003. The aim is to take a suitably precautionary approach whilst not diverting funds unnecessarily from the solution of problems that affect people today. The approach and guidance will be further reviewed for the new Strategy for Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management which is expected to be completed by early next year.
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