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Red Squirrel

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to ensure that the red squirrel will be included in Annex IV of the EU Habitats Directive. [192518]

Mr. Bradshaw: Annex IV of the Habitats Directive lists the species for which member states must ensure a system of strict protection, including prohibiting taking, killing and trade in such species. This system of strict protection is applied in the UK by means of the Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc.) Regulations 1994. Although the red squirrel is not listed in Annex IV of the Directive, it is strictly protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. It is also a priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

The Department has recently begun reconsidering the scientific and technical information available on the conservation status of the red squirrel in other member states, and the best means of addressing the threats
 
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which it may face in the UK and elsewhere in the EU. As part of this process we shall explore the possibility of including red squirrels in Annex IV of the Habitats Directive.

Refrigerator Dumping

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of refrigerators that have been dumped in each of the last three years. [192677]

Mr. Morley: No data are currently available for these statistics. The Environment Agency does not collect data on the number of fridges that may have been dumped. Individual local authorities may collect some data, but these data are not currently collated on a national basis.

The Government have been working with the Environment Agency and the Local Government Association to develop the Flycapture database, which will allow better national data to be collected in future on levels of fly tipping. The database will record levels of white goods that have been dumped. Data should be available within the next few months.
 
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Registered Agricultural Buildings

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many registered agricultural buildings there were on 10 October (a) 2003 and (b) 2004. [192204]

Alun Michael: The Department does not hold data on the number of agricultural buildings on holdings.

Sea Fishing Boats

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many sea fishing boats were registered in England and Wales (a) in 1992 and (b) at the latest date for which figures are available. [192205]

Mr. Bradshaw: Based on the number of vessels administered by the Department, there were 7,912 UK registered fishing vessels administered in England and Wales as at 1 January 1992. The corresponding figure as at 1 January 2004 was 4,097 vessels.

Set-aside

Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what species are covered by the term herbaceous forage in defining categories for set-aside. [192225]

Alun Michael: The EU Regulations governing the CAP Single Payment Scheme refer to "other herbaceous forage" in the definition of "permanent pasture." We believe the intention behind these words was to clarify that those species which are commonly grazed alongside grasses should be regarded as permanent pasture. We do not believe that fodder crops such as maize are meant to be similarly regarded. However, we cannot be more definitive at this stage as the European Commission is considering the position with a view to inserting an amendment to the relevant EU Regulation which would provide a legal definition of "other herbaceous forage." We will provide additional advice to interested parties as soon as the outcome of those considerations is known.

Small Petrol Engine Emissions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the emissions of (a) carbon dioxide, (b) nitrogen oxide, (c) sulphur dioxide and (d) particulates produced by (i) lawnmowers, (ii) chainsaws, (iii) strimmers and (iv) other small petrol engines in each of the last five years. [192309]

Alun Michael: Defra compiles and publishes information on annual emissions to the atmosphere of carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ), nitrogen oxides (NOx) sulphur dioxide (SO ₂ ) and particulate matter (PM), in the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI). An aggregated version of the information shown in the following table is available at: http://www.naei.org.uk The table provides information broken down between various classes of small petrol engines, both 2 and 4 stroke engines, on the estimated emissions for each pollutant requested. Information is not available to allow trends in the emissions between 1997 and 2002 to be complied.
 
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Emissions of the requested pollutants from small petrol engines Tonne

	CO 2	NOx	SO 2	PM
Trimmers/edgers/bush cutters	772	0.44	0.020	0.324
Lawnmowers	38,146	53.34	0.987	24.946
Leaf blowers/vacuums	3,008	6.48	0.078	2.616
Ride on (domestic)	28,417	91.16	0.735	32.152
Chain saws <4 bhp	102	0.07	0.003	0.043
Shredders <5 bhp	67	0.05	0.002	0.028
Tillers <5 bhp	282	0.19	0.007	0.118
Lawn and garden tractors	144,354	193.89	3.734	93.298
Wood splitters	102	0.07	0.003	0.043
Snowblowers	170	0.10	0.004	0.071
Wood chippers/ tree stump grinders	1,413	0.99	0.037	0.593
Other lawn and garden equipment	34	0.02	0.001	0.014
All machinery	216,867	346.81	5.61	154.25

Somerset Farms

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her estimate is of the total (a) number of farms and (b) area of farmland in (i) Somerset, (ii) South Somerset and (iii) Yeovil constituency; and if she will make a statement. [192124]

Alun Michael: The figures below show total holdings and total farmed area at June 2003. Data for North and North East Somerset which were formerly part of Avon are also shown.

	Total registered holdings June 2003	Total farmed area (hectares) June 2003
(a) Somerset	8,212	269,827
(b) Bath and North East Somerset	812	23,366
(c) North Somerset	964	21,970
(d) South Somerset	2,463	77,555
(e) Yeovil constituency	1,038	31,087

Notes:
Total holdings includes those which were not active on the survey day.
Source:
June Agricultural Census 2003

Tenancy Reform

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the outcome of the proceedings from the Tenancy Reform Industry Group; and for what reasons the Code of Practice is to be voluntary. [191103]

Alun Michael: The Tenancy Reform Industry Group reported to Ministers with recommendations for tenancy reform in June 2003. The recommendations included proposals for amendments to agricultural tenancy legislation, and a voluntary code of practice to assist landlords and tenants to reach agreement on proposals for diversification and participation in agri-environment schemes.

The Government accepted all the group's recommendations for legislative change, and, accordingly, issued a consultation document on proposals for amendment of the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 and the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 in September this year.

The Tenancy Reform Industry Group considered whether statutory measures should be taken to enable tenants to diversify, but felt that there would be
 
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problems in implementing legislative change and had concern that there was a lack of clear evidence of the nature and extent of the problem. It preferred the non-legislative route of a code of practice to facilitate agreements between landlords and tenants on terms for diversification and agri-environment projects.

The "Code of Good Practice for Agri-environment Schemes and Diversification Projects within Agricultural Tenancies" was published by the Tenancy Reform Industry Group and Defra at the end of September this year. The code will be backed up by an adjudication scheme, funded by Government for its first four years, to consider disputes where landlords and tenants are unable to agree.

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