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11 Jan 2005 : Column 464W—continued
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Communications Director
Norman Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the last date of employment of her Department's most recent
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Communications Director was; what steps she has taken to find a replacement; and when she expects a replacement to be in place. [206027]
Margaret Beckett: The Department's former Director of Communications left on 23 July 2004 to take up another appointment. Recruitment consultants were engaged to assist in the search and advertising process to identify a replacement, in line with the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Code. An advertisement was placed in the Sunday Times on 11 July and the Times on 15 July.
The selection panel was chaired by a Civil Service Commissioner, Maggie Semple. Other members were Defra's Permanent Secretary, Sir Brian Bender; the Permanent Secretary, Government Communications, Howell James; and the Chief Executive of the Countryside Agency, Richard Wakeford who is one of Defra's non-executive board members. A long- listing and short-listing process took place prior to the panel interviews. The decision not to make an appointment as a result of this competition has just been taken and all candidates have been notified. Further consideration is being given to the means of filling the vacancy.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs who is supervising the day-to-day running of her Department's Communications Unit; what that person's official job title is; and if she will make a statement. [206028]
Margaret Beckett: Ms Kelly Freeman is currently the acting Director of Communications for Defra.
Hazardous Waste Directive
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the impact of European Court of Justice case C-431/02, as detailed in OJ C300 volume 47 of 4 December, on UK implementation of Directive 91/689/EEC; what measures she will take to comply with the ruling; and what estimate she has made of the costs which will be incurred in so complying. [207169]
Mr. Morley: Compliance with the ruling on the implementation of Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste will largely be achieved in England through new hazardous waste regulations which are planned to come fully into force in July 2005. Defra completed a consultation on the new regime in October 2004. The consultation paper is available on the following website: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/wastereg-haz/index.htm.
The estimated costs of compliance are set out in the partial regulatory impact assessment which accompanied the consultation. Comprehensive guidance for businesses on the new regulations is proposed to be published three months before the new regime comes into force. Full compliance with the ruling will be complete once revised exemptions from waste management licensing requirements for establishments involved in the recovery and reuse of hazardous wastes are consulted on and implemented later in 2005.
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Landfill
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if it is Government policy to comply with the requirements of Article 5 of the Landfill Directive in 2010, 2013 and 2020. [206775]
Mr. Morley: Yes; Government policies such as the Landfill Tax, local authority statutory performance standards for recycling and composting and the Landfill Allowances Trading Scheme will help ensure that the targets set out in Article 5(2) of the Landfill Directive are met (taking into account the four year derogation available to member states that landfilled over 80 per cent. of its municipal waste in 1995).
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what total operational landfill capacity was closed in each year between 1999 and 2003. [206824]
Mr. Morley: The data are not available in the format requested. The Environment Agency does not hold data on 'closed operational capacity'. Landfills licensed under the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 do not 'close'. The operator can choose to stop operating and yet still have a waste management licence. He can choose to surrender his licence but not until he has satisfied the legislative requirements for surrender.
Pair Trawling
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action she plans to take concerning the pair trawling team that caused the deaths of dolphins whilst fishing for bass near Bigbury Bay, Devon, on 13 November; and if she will make a statement. [199824]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 29 November 2004]: According to scientists who carry out post mortem examinations on behalf of Defra on stranded cetaceans, the stranding of a live common dolphin in the Bigbury Bay area on 17 November was not caused by pair trawling or any other fishing activity in the area on 13 November. The cause of death may be due to old age or disease but will be known once the full post mortem has been conducted.
However, Defra-funded research has already demonstrated a bycatch problem associated with the pair trawl fishery for bass which is why I intend to introduce legislation to prohibit this fishery within 12 miles of the south west coast.
Seamounts
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action she has taken for the protection and management of Seamounts as referred to in her letter of 9 September to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, reference 20272/JF. [206898]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The UK is continuing to work through the EU and other international fora to improve the management and protection of the marine environment. The need for additional protection for seamounts will be an element in these considerations.
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Recently, all North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission contracting parties supported the Norwegian proposal to ban all fishing, apart from pelagic trawling in four seamounts (Hecate, Altair, Antialair, and Faraday seamounts, as well as a section of the Reykjanes Ridge). A fifth, for Hatton Bank, awaits further scientific advice.
Special Advisers
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) whether she has been informed of breaches of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers in her Department since its implementation; [201300]
(2) how many appeals were made by civil servants to the Civil Service Commissioners regarding special advisers in her Department between 31 March 2003 and 31 March 2004 and when each appeal was lodged. [201382]
Alun Michael: None. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the then the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office (Mrs Ruth Kelly), on 8 December 2004, Official Report, column 5781V.
Waste
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much liquid hazardous waste was deposited in (a) 1998, (b) 1999 and (c) 2000 in merchant landfill sites' proprietary landfills in the year before such landfilling was banned; and where and how such liquid hazardous waste is now being treated. [203662]
Mr. Morley: Data for liquid special waste deposited in landfills to the nearest tonne were recorded as follows for each of the years indicated:
| 2000 | 142,227 |
| 2001 | 139,362 |
| 2002 | (5507190017)63,850 |
(5507190017) Up until the ban of hazardous liquid disposal by landfill came into force in July 2002. Data for 1998 and 1999 are not immediately available
Since the ban on hazardous liquid disposal by landfill came into force typical treatments for hazardous liquid wastes will have included physico-chemical treatment and biological treatment processes.
These use techniques such as precipitation, coagulation and filtration with subsequent dewatering of sludges and disposal of treated non-hazardous liquids to sewer with appropriate discharge consents. Some high temperature incineration and or use as a fuel may also have been employed where the waste either was of a sufficiently high calorific value or could not otherwise be treated. No figures are currently available that indicate the amounts sent to each method. The total amount of hazardous liquid waste sent for treatment recorded for 2003 was 1,964,911 tonnes.
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Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many tonnes of waste were sent to sites registered as exempt with the Environment Agency in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002 and (e) 2003. [206777]
Mr. Morley: These data are not available in the format requested. Those who register exemptions with the Environment Agency are not required to submit reports to the agency on the quantities of waste they handle. While many of the exemptions prescribe quantity limits (weight/volume), registrants are also currently not required to keep records of the quantities of waste handled in undertaking the specified activities.
However, where waste is received at exempt sites, the provisions of the Duty of Care (DoC) apply in respect of the transfer of waste to the registrant. The DoC requires records of waste transfers to be kept by both parties so there is an audit trail for the waste, including the amount of waste transferred.
The Department is about to put forward amending regulations to six of the higher risk exemptions. These amendments will require those who register these exemptions to keep records of the amount of waste handled for two years. We are also considering how data provision could be improved in the future.
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many sites registered as exempt with the Environment Agency were visited by officers of the Environment Agency in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002 and (e) 2003. [206778]
Mr. Morley: The number of visits made to exempt sites between 1999–2000 and 2003–04 is given as follows. No information is held on the number of individual sites inspected.
| Visits | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | (5507190018)4,527 |
| 2000–01 | (5507190018)3,333 |
| 2001–02 | (5507190019)3,202 |
| 2002–03 | (5507190020)3,168 |
| 2003–04 | (5507190020)4,306 |
(5507190018) Only to scrap metal sites and those involving the final deposit of waste on land
(5507190019) Only to scrap metal sites, those involving the final deposit of waste on land and landspreading
(5507190020) All exemptions
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of the Environment Agency's total expenditure is spent tackling the illegal disposal of waste. [206784]
Mr. Morley: In 2003–04, the Environment Agency spent approximately 1 per cent. of its total budget in tackling the illegal disposal of waste.
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Environment Agency's budget was for regulation of waste management for (a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02, (c) 2002–03 and (d) 2003–04, and what percentage this was of the agency's total budget in each year. [206785]
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Mr. Morley: The Environment Agency's budget for the regulation of waste management and its percentage of the agency's total budget in each of the years from 2000–01 to 2003–04 was as follows:
| Waste management budget (£ million) | Total budget (£ million) | Waste management percentage of total budget | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 73 | 650 | 11 |
| 2001–02 | 74 | 715 | 10 |
| 2002–03 | 77 | 759 | 10 |
| 2003–04 | 82 | 806 | 10 |
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of prosecutions brought by the Environment Agency for alleged incidences of fly-tipping of waste did not result in a conviction. [206786]
Mr. Morley: Of 992 prosecutions for the illegal deposit of waste between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2003, only 69 cases (7 per cent.) resulted in the defendants being acquitted of one or more charges.
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many convictions were secured by the Environment Agency in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002 and (d) 2003 for incidences relating to fly-tipping of waste. [206787]
Mr. Morley: The number of charges for which a conviction was secured by the Environment Agency in offences relating to the illegal deposit of waste (section 33(1 )(A) of the Environment Protection Act) between 2000–03 was as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 317 |
| 2001 | 372 |
| 2002 | 414 |
| 2003 | 345 |
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total expenditure by the Environment Agency was in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002 and (d) 2003 resulting from (i) fly-tipping of waste and (ii) other illegal activity by non-regulated persons relating to waste. [206788]
Mr. Morley: The Environment Agency does not produce a detailed analysis of its expenditure that separately identifies the amount of annual expenditure resulting from fly-tipped waste. Nor does it produce such financial data on a calendar year basis.
However, based on a technical assessment of fiscal-year expenditure, figures are available to show how much the Agency has spent in tackling all illegal waste activity from 1999 to 2003.
These figures do not include any expenditure on enforcement action in relation to waste management licences or other site permits.
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| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 4.3 |
| 2000–01 | 3.5 |
| 2001–02 | 4.7 |
| 2002–03 | 5.5 |
| 2003–04 | 6.9 |
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of total expenditure on waste management services by local authorities was spent on tendering for waste management contracts in each year between 1999 and 2003. [206841]
Mr. Morley: The Department does not collect this information. Information relating to the costs incurred in tendering for waste management contracts will be held only by individual local authorities and may be commercially sensitive.
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total amount spent by local authorities on tendering for contracts (a) to collect and (b) to dispose of waste was in each year between 1999 and 2003. [206842]
Mr. Morley: The Department does not collect this information. Information relating to the costs incurred in tendering for waste management contracts will be held only by individual local authorities and may be commercially sensitive.
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what predictions she has made of the total cost to local authorities of managing the municipal waste stream in (a) 2010, (b) 2013 and (c) 2020. [206844]
Mr. Morley: Defra uses models to estimate total local authority expenditure on municipal waste management over a three-year time frame. The estimates generated are based on the best available assumptions at the time.
The models cannot be used to make firm predictions of spend over a longer time frame because of the increasing number of assumptions and uncertainties involved.
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