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CHP

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her
 
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Department will take to stimulate the market for micro-combined heat and power and domestic heat pumps as a result of the recent field trials. [195184]

Mr. Morley: In our Energy White Paper, we made a commitment to support field trials to evaluate the benefits of micro-CHP. The field trials are currently ongoing and are expected to produce meaningful results sometime in 2006. The results will help us determine the appropriateness of any further measures, if any, that might be necessary to support the development of micro-CHP.

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the results were of the field trials on micro-combined heat and power that her Department has been supporting. [195190]

Mr. Morley: In our Energy White Paper, we made a commitment to support field trials to evaluate the benefits of micro-CHP. The field trials are on-going and the earliest date we expect meaningful results to be available is sometime in 2006.

Community Councils (Wales)

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has held with community councils in Wales on the proposals to extend the scope of on-the-spot fines. [197751]

Alun Michael: The Prime Minister announced on the 28 October 2004, in his speech on antisocial behaviour, that the law would be changed as soon as possible to allow parish and town councils to levy fixed penalty notices for litter, graffiti or for noise nuisance. We hope to bring legislation forward at the earliest possible opportunity to enable parish and town councils to levy such penalties. It will be for the National Assembly for Wales to decide whether these powers will be made available to community councils in Wales and therefore any discussions should take place between them on this subject.

Compost

Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at what point in the processing cycle her Department ceases to define compost as waste. [197852]

Mr. Morley: The definition of waste in force in the United Kingdom is the definition in Article 1(a) of the Waste Framework Directive (as amended). Whether or not a substance is discarded as waste, and when waste ceases to be waste, are matters which must be determined on the facts of the case and the interpretation of the law is a matter for the Courts. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has issued several judgments on the definition of waste which are binding on member states and their "competent authorities".

The ECJ has ruled that

" . . . whether [a substance] is..waste..must be determined in the light of all the circumstances, regard being had to the aim of the Directive and the need to ensure that its effectiveness is not undermined."

In practice, this means that waste does not cease to be waste until it has been fully recovered within the meaning of the Directive and there is certainty of its use
 
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as a product without undergoing a further recovery operation. The Environment Agency considers that (a) source-segregated waste which, after composting, meets a recognised and suitable quality standard (e.g. BSI PAS 100) is likely to meet the first criterion; and (b) mixed waste which is composted is likely to remain waste until it is used in a further recovery operation (e.g. land treatment resulting in agricultural benefit or ecological improvement) subject to control by the Agency under a licence or registered licensing exemption.

Consultants/Advisers

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether her Department maintains a list of the number of (a) private sector consultants and (b) professional advisers employed by her Department (i) at present and (ii) in the past. [197187]

Alun Michael: The Department do not have a single list of consultants and professional advisers employed because such lists can be classed as discriminatory under the public procurement rules. The public procurement rules, as well as general treaty principles, lay down both the criteria which may be used to select suppliers and the evidence which may be required for this process.

As part of its preparations for and implementation of the Gershon value for money agenda in Defra, detailed analysis of expenditure on professional services providers is being undertaken currently and I will place a copy of the analysis in the House of Common Library in due course.

Cross-compliance Arrangements (Fields)

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what exemptions are being put in place to the new cross compliance arrangements for two-metre uncultivated field margins. [197907]

Alun Michael: Fields of two hectares and under will not need to have protective buffer zones around hedges and ditches as part of cross compliance measures. Hedges planted on or after 1 January 2005 will also be exempted from the requirement under cross compliance to have a buffer for the first five years of their existence.

Cuckmere Valley

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been spent to date by the Environment Agency on its plans to alter the nature of the Cuckmere Valley; what the budget for the preparatory stage of this project is; and if she will make a statement. [196834]

Mr. Morley: The Environment Agency confirms that the budget for specialist advice during the preparatory stage of this project is £284,000, of which approximately £200,000 has been spent to date. The Environment Agency also makes allowance for internal staff costs and has budgeted £84,000 for the completion of the preparatory work, £49,000 of which has been spent to date. This figure includes costs from previous years.
 
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The work to date has involved undertaking baseline ecological surveys, landscape archaeology studies, fluvial/coastal geomorphology modelling, prediction of habitat losses and gains and recreation surveys. Much work has been completed for the western side of the valley and work is now underway for the eastern side, concluding with a preferred option. The current assessment considers the impact of any proposal on the upper reaches of the tidal Cuckmere River and follows the Government's current economic, technical and environmental appraisal guidance. Costs for the implementation phase will be established once the option which provides the most appropriate long-term solution has been identified.

The natural processes within the valley are complex and need to be understood so that, when changes occur, the consequences are known and the most appropriate solution identified. Since 1998, extensive work has been undertaken with relevant local authorities, key stakeholder groups and the general public. This is due to report in the summer of 2005.

Existing flood defences are reaching the end of their life and are increasingly ineffective against sea level rise. The Environment Agency spends between £30,000 and £50,000 per annum maintaining the defences in this area and ensuring that the river can adequately discharge into the sea. This is spent on recycling material from the river (carried by longshore drift) back to the western beach, and in maintaining a small number of groynes and breastwork which aim to prevent total blockage of the river.

Dairy Farmers

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on her Department's support for dairy farmers. [196852]

Alun Michael: UK dairy farmers benefit from aid under the CAP worth around £2 billion for the EU. From this year, for the first time this includes direct payments to dairy farmers in addition to market support measures.

The Government are also taking action in line with its Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food to facilitate industry action to address the causes of low farmgate prices and to adapt to the new conditions created by the reformed CAP. For example,

My noble Friend, the Lord Whitty, has been chairing meetings of a Dairy Supply Chain Forum, which has been looking at collaborative solutions to improve supply chain efficiency, as well as other issues.

The Government have made a grant of nearly £0.5 million to the Food Chain Centre to examine how to improve dairy supply chain efficiency; and

we have supported the establishment of English Food and Farming Partnerships to encourage co-operation and collaboration across all agricultural sectors.

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