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Dairy Industry

Mr. Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to ensure that the difference in systems being adopted for single farm payments in England, Scotland and Wales does not lead to excessive trading in milk quotas and a reduction in dairy output in England; and if she will make a statement. [174136]

Alun Michael: We are aware that some milk quota is moving out of England, since it will generate larger payments under the Single Payment Scheme in other regions of the UK but we are monitoring the situation. On the basis of current evidence, the scale of the movement does not seem to be great enough to justify any action.

Energy Efficiency

Mr. Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many homes in Bootle have benefited from the Warm Front and Home Energy Efficiency Schemes. [171484]

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 March 2004, approximately 4,700 households in Bootle received assistance from the Scheme.

Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many homes in West Lancashire have benefited from the Warm Front and Home Energy Efficiency Schemes. [171496]

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 March 2004, approximately 2,400 households in West Lancashire received assistance from the Scheme.

Farming

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for    Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) assessment and (b) economic analyses have been conducted of the economic impact on English farmers of differing farm payment schemes under common agricultural policy reform in England, Wales and Scotland; and if she will make a statement. [174080]

 
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Alun Michael: Defra will publish shortly an analysis of the economic impact on the English farming industry of the single farm payment and the way in which the scheme will be operated in England.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people were employed, in full time equivalents, in the United Kingdom farming industry in each of the last three years; and what contribution was made by the farming industry to the United Kingdom economy as a percentage of GDP in that period. [174192]

Alun Michael: The information requested is given in the table.

Calendar years	2001	2002	2003 1
Annual work unit (thousands)(2)	333	320	306
Agriculture's Gross Value Added       (GVA) as a percentage of national       GVA (current prices)	0.8	0.8	0.8

⁽¹⁾ Provisional.
⁽²⁾ An annual work unit represents the equivalent of an average full-time person engaged in agriculture. Includes farmers, partners, directors and hired workers.

Flood and Coastal Defences

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action she has taken as a result of the Foresight Programme on Flood and Coastal Defences. [167001]

Mr. Morley: The Foresight Programme on Flood and Coastal Defence was initiated by the Office of Science and Technology to provide a shared understanding of the challenges faced by a wide range of stakeholders and to assist in the development of a long-term policy response. Stakeholders have contributed to an action plan in response to the Foresight Report which seeks to build upon this shared understanding and provide a channel through which actions across and outside Government can be co-ordinated. I have agreed that the group of key stakeholders which I chair will meet in one year to monitor progress and consider the need for other actions.

In order for this action plan to be effective, it must be responsive to change in circumstances and will require regular review. The initial plan focuses on immediate actions, the findings of which will influence longer-term activities. A key mechanism for responding to the challenges within the report will be Defra's new strategy for flood and coastal erosion risk management, which is expected to be finalised early next year.

Landfill Sites

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what constitutes a moderate risk of release of leachate from a landfill site into a surrounding sea or land area. [171526]

Mr. Morley: The Landfill Directive requires that a landfill must be situated and designed so as to meet the necessary conditions for preventing pollution of the soil, groundwater or surface water and ensuring efficient collection of leachate as and when required. In addition, the Groundwater Directive requires Member States
 
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to prevent the introduction of certain substances and to limit the introduction of certain other substances into groundwater so as to avoid pollution.

The legislation in England that implements both these Directives is regulated by the Environment Agency and it is the Agency that would determine whether a likely release of leachate constituted an unacceptable risk, given the planned location of the landfill, using risk assessment techniques.

For closed landfills that are controlled by a waste management licence, a risk based approach is also adopted by the Environment Agency. Monitoring of leachate, ground and surface waters is required to provide, amongst other things, that leachate controls are preventing pollution of the environment and, where unacceptable risks are identified, the need for measures to prevent, reduce or remove potential leachate pollution are assessed.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what fines have been issued by courts following successful prosecutions for release of pollution from landfill sites in each of the last five years. [171533]

Mr. Morley: The Environment Agency has provided the following details of total levels of fines issued by the courts following successful prosecutions for release of pollution from landfill sites.

Data are available for the calendar years 2000–03 as these are the years for which complete data is present on the database. As the database is not specifically searchable for offences at landfill sites, these figures have been generated by selecting records where the word "landfill" appears in the address of the site of an event.

		£
2000	(3)—	183,000
2001	(3)—	91,500
2002	(3)—	127,750
2003	(3)—	51,000

⁽³⁾ Total fines for year

Packaging

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action she is taking to promote the minimising of packaging and the prevention of waste creation by (a) producers, (b) distributors and retailers and (c) consumers; and if she will make a statement. [174232]

Mr. Morley: There are currently two sets of Regulations that cover packaging in the UK, both of which encourage producers (including retailers) to minimise packaging. The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended) are intended to increase the recovery and recycling of packaging waste. The amount of packaging waste producers have to recover and recycle is determined, in part, by the amount of packaging they handle. Therefore, businesses can save money if they reduce the amount of packaging they handle. The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2003 place a number of requirements on all packaging placed on the market in the UK, including a requirement
 
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that   packaging should be manufactured so that the packaging volume and weight are limited to the minimum adequate amount to maintain the necessary level of safety, hygiene and acceptance for the packed product and for the consumer.

Both Regulations have actually led to decreases in packaging used around products. For example, less material is used now to make a plastic container than was used a few years ago. However, more still needs to be done to reduce the amount of packaging that is actually produced in the first place. I have asked the Advisory Committee on Packaging to work with industry to find solutions to this problem and to let me   have recommendations for ways of encouraging businesses to further reduce the amount of packaging they use.

Although legislation is a way of reducing packaging and increasing recycling, we would also encourage consumers to play a part. For example, if consumers made a point of choosing goods that are not heavily packaged, or bought 'loose' food rather than pre-packaged, or used their own shopping bags or boxes, manufacturers would be more inclined to reduce the quantity of packaging on their products.

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