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Illegal Fly-tipping

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action the Government recommend against those guilty of illegal fly-tipping; and what discussions she has had with the Environment Agency on policy implementation. [188406]

Mr. Morley: The illegal disposal of waste, or fly-tipping, is a serious criminal offence. The current penalties for those found guilty of this offence is a maximum fine of up to £20,000 and two years imprisonment for incidents involving non-hazardous waste and unlimited fines and five years imprisonment for incidents involving hazardous waste. The Government is currently consulting on proposals as part of the Clean Neighbourhoods consultation to increase these penalties.

The Government would like to see the Environment Agency and local authorities take more effective action to prevent and detect fly-tipping and to prosecute those responsible. We are developing, in close consultation with the Agency and local authorities, a whole range of measures to support this strategy and to aid the Agency and local authorities in implanting our policy.

My officials frequently discuss the implementation of Government policy with Environment Agency officials, and Ministers also discuss issues at regular bi-lateral meetings.

Landfill

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many waste landfill sites have applied for a hazardous waste site permit. [183404]

Margaret Beckett: 30 sites have applied for a hazardous waste landfill site PPC permit. This number comprises 18 merchant sites (which would receive hazardous waste on a commercial basis) and 12 in-house sites (which are used to dispose of waste from their own operations such as factory process waste), and includes those sites for which a permit has been refused.
 
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In addition, there are 44 sites that have applied for a PPC permit to build a cell that can accept stabilised non-reactive hazardous waste in a non-hazardous landfill site.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much methane gas per year is produced by landfill sites in England; how much is put to use; and what plans she has to increase this latter figure. [187548]

Mr. Morley: In a report commissioned by Defra it is estimated that in 2000, approximately 660,000 tonnes of methane was emitted from UK landfills, accounting for 27 per cent. of the total methane released from the UK.

The amount of methane that is used has significantly increased over the last five years and information held by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) indicates that there is currently 612,674 KW installed capacity at a total of 269 UK landfill gas power stations. This is out of a potential capacity that could be readily exploited for utilisation of approximately 800,000 KW.

The proportion of methane in landfill gas that is used has increased in response to two main drivers and is expected to continue to increase. These drivers are:

(i) The Landfill Regulations (England and Wales) 2002

These regulations require landfill operators to collect, treat and use landfill gas (e.g. electricity generation) to the extent possible. The requirements for improved landfill gas management form an important part of new landfill permits being permitted by the Environment Agency in accordance with the Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) regulatory regime.

(ii) The Renewables Obligation

As part of its revised policy for renewable energy in the UK, the Government introduced the Renewables Obligation for England and Wales. This Obligation requires power suppliers to derive a specified proportion of the electricity they supply to their customers from renewable resources and includes strong financial incentives for suppliers. Landfill gas currently provides approximately one-quarter of the UK's installed generating capacity for renewable power.

Light Pollution

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many complaints concerning light pollution were received by each local authority in England in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement. [187574]

Alun Michael: Data on complaints about light pollution are not collected by central Government.

The Government are consulting through the Clean Neighbourhoods consultation on proposals to broaden the scope of the statutory nuisance regime in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to include artificial light. To be a statutory nuisance, it would have to be emitted from premises and be prejudicial to health or a nuisance. The closing date for responses to the consultation is 24 September 2004.
 
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Lions

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether her Department will oppose the proposed ban on the international trade of lion trophies and skins; and if she will make a statement. [188060]

Mr. Morley: The UK, in common with the other EU member states, is currently maintaining an open position on this matter and would like to explore the scope for an agreed solution with the range states before coming to a final decision.

Ministerial Air Travel

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list for each year since 1997 the number of miles flown by each Minister in her Department on official departmental business. [181873]

Margaret Beckett: The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The Government have also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. These report information reaching back to 1995–96. Information for 2003–04 is currently being assembled and will be published shortly. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

Planning Policy Statement 22

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether Planning Policy Statement 22 was subject to rural proofing by her Department. [188461]

Alun Michael: The question appears to be based on a misapprehension about rural proofing. It is the responsibility of each Government department to rural proof its policies, and this principle is included in current guidance on regulatory impact assessment. Defra officials are able to provide rural evidence and guidance in support of this while I meet Ministers regularly to help the process along.

Defra officials made a substantial contribution to the consultation on Planning Policy Statement 22: Renewable Energy and its accompanying Good Practice Guide. By working closely with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, we have ensured that PPS22 gives appropriate guidance on considerations of landscape and biodiversity alongside strong support for the development of renewable energy resources.

PR Costs

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the salary costs to the Department were for employees working in public relations and publicity in each year since 1997. [183853]

 
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Alun Michael: Defra was formed in June 2001. Figures on expenditure on public relations and publicity by all sections of Defra are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However the salary costs for staff employed on the full range of communications activities by the Communications Directorate of the Department since its formation in June 2001 were:

	Months	£ million
2001–02	10	2.5
2002–03	12	4.1
2003–04	12	3.5

Private Sewers

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the adoption of private sewers following her consultation on the recommendations contained in the W. S. Atkins Report. [188085]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 13 September 2004]: The Department plans to publish a response to the consultation in the early autumn. This will summarise responses, give the Government's views and set out the issues that need to be addressed before a final decision can be made. A decision paper should be published early next year.

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