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Bovine Carcases (Disposal)

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what the average charge made for collection and disposal of adult bovine carcass by (a) knacker's yards, (b) hunt kennels, (c) maggot farms and (d) zoos and circuses was in the last year for which figures are available; [183066]

(2) what her latest estimate is of the average charge made for collection and disposal of (a) a lamb carcass, (b) a calf carcass, (c) a sheep carcass and (d) a horse carcass by (i) knacker's yards, (ii) hunt kennels, (iii) maggot farms and (iv) zoos and circuses. [183110]

Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is not available. The charge for collection and disposal is a matter for agreement between the farmer and the business concerned.

Combined Heat and Power

Mr. Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many tonnes of carbon dioxide were offset by the use of good quality combined heat and power in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002 and (d) 2003; [181955]

(2) what contribution she estimates the achievement of the Government's 10GWe combined heat and power target in 2010 will make, in millions of tonnes of carbon, to the UK's Climate Change programme. [181956]

Mr. Morley: Good Quality CHP produced estimated carbon savings of 4.48 MtC in 2000, 4.43 in 2001 and, using a range of savings from 2002 onwards, 3.3–4.6
 
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MtC in 2002. Figures for 2003 will be published in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) 2004, due for publication later this month.

Carbon savings from CHP installed to meet the CHP target depend upon the generating plant displaced. New CHP plant installed is expected in the short-term to replace a mix of fossil fuelled power generation saving around 0.7 MtC per 1GWe of newly installed Good Quality CHP per year. Towards 2010 and beyond, new CHP plant is more likely to replace more energy efficient new gas generating technologies contributing carbon savings estimated at around 0.1 MtC per 1GWe towards the Climate Change Programme.

Cross-compliance

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to respond to responses received on proposed measures for the implementation of cross-compliance in England. [182439]

Alun Michael: An announcement will be made on the issues addressed in this consultation later in the summer.

Dangerous Dogs Act

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many dogs have been registered under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement. [183005]

Mr. Bradshaw: The following table sets out the details of the number of dogs on the index of exempted dogs, as requested.

	New dogs notified	Dogs notified (total)	Certificates live dogs (total)
1995	0	8,573	4,252
1996	0	8,573	4,040
1997	9	8,582	3,819
1998	36	8,618	3,593
1999	26	8,644	3,284
2000	14	8,658	2,998
2001	5	8,663	2,813
2002	5	8,668	2,674
2003	0	8,668	2,531
2004	2	8,670	2,490

Drinking Water

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of the quality of drinking water in (a) Leyton and Wanstead constituency, (b) the London borough of Redbridge and (c) the London borough of Waltham Forest; what trends have been observed in (i) cleanliness and (ii) quality of the water; and if she will make a statement. [183134]

Mr. Morley: Thames Water and Essex and Suffolk Water carry out monitoring of the quality of the drinking water they supply in the London boroughs of Redbridge and Waltham Forest (including Leyton and Wanstead constituency).
 
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The Drinking Water Inspectorate has assessed both companies' results. For 2001, in the water supply areas that include these boroughs, 99.89 per cent. of a total of 17,951 tests met the standards of the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations. In 2003, drinking water standards were met in 99.91 per cent. of a total of 18,441 tests undertaken in the same water supply areas.

With regard to cleanliness, the national standard for iron is a useful measure of the general cleanliness of a water company's distribution system as it indicates the presence of rust deposits that are related to the age of the pipe network. In 2003, only two samples failed to comply with the national standard for iron within these water supply areas.

Fallen Livestock

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimates have been made as to the cost to the UK livestock farming industry of complying with regulations that prevent on-farm burial of fallen livestock. [183067]

Mr. Bradshaw: The Department has estimated that the cost of collection and disposal of all fallen stock in the UK is over £50 million per year. However, about £30 million of that cost is accounted for by arrangements for testing of cattle for BSE and the costs are borne by Government. The rest is borne by industry, although it should be recognised that many livestock producers were already disposing of their fallen stock by means other than burial before the regulations came into force so that the regulations did not impose an additional cost. The national fallen stock scheme due to start in the autumn will also benefit from £20 million of Government funding over three years to assist with the costs to the industry of complying with the regulations.

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her most recent estimate is of the proportion of lamb carcases that require disposal annually that are collected by (a) knacker's yards, (b) hunt kennels, (c) maggot farms and (d) zoos and circuses. [183109]

Mr. Bradshaw: This information is not available.

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 16 June 2004, Official Report, column 950W, on fallen stock, (1) what evidence her Department has received that calves are the most suitable livestock for feeding to hounds; [183121]

(2) what steps her Department has taken to estimate the number of (a) sheep, (b) calves, (c) cattle and (d) horses which are collected by hunt kennels; [183122]

(3) what steps her Department took when concluding that the majority of carcases collected by hunt kennels are calves. [183123]

Mr. Bradshaw: In discussions the Department has had with organisations representing hunt kennels, they have made it clear that calves are the preferred fallen livestock which are collected and disposed of by hunt kennels. However, we have no information on overall numbers collected of calves or other types of livestock.
 
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GM Crops

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects the consultants carrying out the farm-scale evaluations on genetically modified winter oil seed rape will complete their report and send it to the Royal Society for peer review; and when she expects the Royal Society will (a) complete the peer review process and (b) publish the results. [182250]

Mr. Morley: Members of the research consortium who carried out the farm-scale evaluations have completed the analysis of the results for winter oil seed rape. The scientific steering committee overseeing the evaluations has approved the drafts of scientific papers presenting the outcome. These papers have now been submitted for consideration for publication in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. The timing of the peer review process and the decision whether or not to publish the papers is at the discretion of the Royal Society. If the papers are accepted we do not expect them to be published this year.

Hazardous Waste

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact on journey times of hazardous waste of the new provision of the Hazardous Waste Directive taking effect. [183034]

Mr. Morley: The Government recognise that with the reduction in the number of landfill sites taking hazardous waste from 15 July 2004, hazardous waste could travel further in the short term. Nevertheless, it is recognised that even under the present system, significant amounts of special waste travel across the country. In 2002, 42 per cent. of hazardous waste crossed a regional boundary. Government have not commissioned any specific studies to evaluate the forthcoming changes on this specific issue. Clearly in the longer term, the implementation of the Landfill Directive requirements will see an increase in treatment costs, which in turn will provide a greater incentive for hazardous waste minimisation, the use of more sustainable treatment technologies, and an overall reduction in our reliance on landfill.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many landfill sites can dispose of hazardous wastes under the provisions of the Hazardous Waste Directive entering into force on 16 July. [183040]

Mr. Morley: I assume the hon. Lady is referring to the provisions of the 1999 Landfill Directive that come into force on 16 July 2004. As from that date, there is expected to be 20+ landfill sites able to accept hazardous waste of varying types. In addition, some 37 non-hazardous landfill sites are going through the process of setting up separate cells able to accept stable, non-reactive hazardous waste.

Further details on all these sites is available on the Environment Agency website (www.environment-agency.gov.uk).
 
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Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what types of hazardous liquid waste are accepted by non-merchant landfill site operators; how much of each type was accepted by operators in each of the last 12 months; and what legislative framework (a) governs and (b) will govern in the autumn acceptance of such waste. [183184]

Mr. Morley: Under the Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002, hazardous liquid waste has been banned from landfill since 16 July 2002.

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