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18 Jan 2005 : Column 851W—continued

Model Dog Control Offences

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her timetable is for consultation on model dog control offences; who will be consulted; and if she will make a statement. [208347]

 
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Alun Michael: We will consult all interested parties on the relevant regulations. The timing of the consultation will depend on the outcome of Parliament's consideration of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill and when that consideration is completed.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to provide guidance to local authorities about (a) the circumstances under which dog control orders should be used and (b) the provision of an appeals mechanism in respect of such orders. [208348]

Alun Michael: Detailed provisions on dog control orders made under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill will be set out in regulations, and we will also issue guidance to local authorities on the use of these orders.

There are no provisions in the Bill for appeal against a dog control order, as the intention of the Bill is to simplify procedures for introducing local measures on dogs, allowing controls on dogs to be decided at the local level in light of local circumstances. There will be a requirement for full local consultation before a dog control order is made, and general judicial remedies such as judicial review will continue to be available.

OP Pesticides

Mr. Tyler: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to update advice to (a) farmers, (b) market gardeners and (c) other users of organophosphate pesticides in the light of the findings of the Department of Health's advisory committee on carcinogenicity relating to links between prostate cancer and these substances. [208165]

Alun Michael: The Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP) has primary responsibility for providing advice to the Government on any new evidence which may affect the risk to those who use pesticides. At its meeting on 13 January the ACP considered the Report of the Department of Health's advisory Committee on Carcinogenicity relating to the link between prostate cancer and pesticides.

The ACP concurred with that committee's view that there is some limited evidence to suggest an association between farmers/farm workers, exposure to pesticides, and increased risk of prostate cancer, but noted that this limited evidence did not prove a causal link between pesticide use and cancer. The ACP also agreed with the conclusion that the potential association between herbicide use and cancer in farmers and farm workers should be kept under review. Organophosphate pesticides were not identified in the report.

In addition, the ACP is advising that a study be put in place to look at workers involved with pesticide manufacture.

I will carefully consider the advice given.

Mr. Tyler: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will publish the report of the review of the scientific literature on links between Parkinson's Disease and pesticide exposure (PS2601), funded by her Department. [208724]

 
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Alun Michael: The full report by the Medical Research Council Institute for Environment and Health: Pesticides and Parkinson's Disease—a critical review (PS2601) has been completed. In line with Defra procedure the report will be published through a peer reviewed journal. Publication is anticipated by the middle of this year. A summary report can be found in the 'Research' section of the Defra website. http://www.defra.gov.uk/science/proiect_data/DocumentLibrary/PS2601/PS2601_1948 FRP.doc

Ozone

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the levels of (a) urban, (b) rural and (c) total concentrations of low-level ozone were in each year since 1997. [208192]

Mr. Morley: The concentrations of ground-level ozone between 1997 and the end of 2004 are given in the following tables 1 to 4. Data are provided as both annual average of maximum daily eight hour means and as annual averages, for all UK non-roadside urban, all UK rural and all UK non-roadside monitoring sites operating in the year concerned. Changes in the number of sites in the network in different years may alter the comparability of years. Data from 2004 are provisional. The raw data from all the sites underlying these tables are published on the National Air Quality Information Archive website www.airquality.co.uk as it is collected.
Table 1: Annual mean and annual average of daily maximum eight hour mean ozone concentrations for all UK non-roadside urban sites operating in the year All UK urban (non-roadside) sites

	Annual mean (micrograms per metre cubed)			Arithmetic mean of daily maximum eight hour means (micrograms per metre cubed)
	Average	Minimum	Maximum	Average	Minimum	Maximum
1997	30.95	19	46	45	26	61
1998	34.90	20	53	49	32	64
1999	39.20	21	55	56	36	73
2000	37.14	21	54	53	34	68
2001	36.69	23	50	52	36	66
2002	38.21	23	58	54	35	71
2003	41.35	28	58	60	42	81
2004	40.92	24	57	57	38	71

Table 2: Annual mean and annual average of daily maximum eight hour mean ozone concentrations for all UK rural sites operating in the year All UK rural sites

	Annual mean (micrograms per metre cubed)			Arithmetic mean of daily maximum eight hour means (micrograms per metre cubed)
	Average	Minimum	Maximum	Average	Minimum	Maximum
1997	52.79	43	64	65	58	74
1998	56.00	42	71	69	60	79
1999	58.47	46	74	73	65	83
2000	53.79	43	66	68	59	77
2001	53.64	44	64	67	55	75
2002	53.94	42	69	68	54	78
2003	59.00	49	73	72	65	84
2004	56.89	45	77	71	52	85

 
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Table 3: Annual mean and annual average of daily maximum eight hour mean ozone concentrations for all UK non-roadside sites operating in the year All sites (total)

	Annual mean (micrograms per metre cubed)			Arithmetic mean of daily maximum eight hour means (micrograms per metre cubed)
	Average	Minimum	Maximum	Average	Minimum	Maximum
1997	36.72	19	64	49	17	74
1998	38.94	12	71	53	19	79
1999	42.75	13	74	59	22	83
2000	40.03	13	66	56	23	77
2001	39.49	14	64	54	23	75
2002	41.06	15	69	56	24	78
2003	44.68	16	73	62	26	84
2004	43.75	15	77	59	25	85

Table 4: Annual mean and annual average of daily maximum eight hour mean ozone concentrations for Lullington Heath a rural site Lullington Heath

	Annual mean (micrograms per metre cubed)	Arithmetic mean of daily max eight hour running means (micrograms per metre cubed)
1997	58	74
1998	58	73
1999	62	79
2000	58	72
2001	57	72
2002	55	70
2003	63	81
2004	61	77

Recycling

David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what targets for waste recycling she has set for (a) Cumbria county council, (b) Allerdale district, (c) Carlisle city council and (d) Eden district council. [209460]

Mr. Morley: In 2005–06, Cumbria county council has a Statutory Performance Standard requiring it to send for recycling or composting 21 per cent. of the total tonnage of household waste collected by its constituent waste collection authorities and at its civic amenity sites.

In the same year, Allerdale district council, Carlisle city council and Eden district council have Statutory Performance Standards which require them to send for recycling or composting 18, 30 and 24 per cent. respectively of household waste collected.

David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what financial assistance her Department is making available to (a) Cumbria County Council, (b) Allerdale District, (c) Carlisle City Council and (d) Eden District Council to assist with meeting recycling targets. [209461]

Mr. Morley: The main source of funding for the above councils is through the Environmental, Protective and Cultural Services (EPCS) block of annual Government grant. It is for the local authorities to decide what proportion of the block is invested in waste management services including recycling.
 
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In 2003–4 the Carlisle/Eden Partnership were awarded £1,155,035 from the National Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund. In the same year Allerdale Borough Council received £424,665. Allerdale Borough Council received a further £597,116 from the fund in 2004–5.

To relieve spending pressures in the waste area authorities received the following amounts in 2004–05:

	£
Cumbria County Council:	20,866
Allerdale Borough Council:	19,367
Carlisle City Council:	39,153
Eden District Council:	13,947

In 2004–05, Cumbria County Council received 143,361 in direct consultancy support through Defra's Waste Implementation Programme to undertake a county wide waste composition analysis. In the same year, Allerdale District Council received £18,275 to review their strategic planning for waste management, and Eden District Council received £12,800 for work looking at preventing commercial waste from entering its domestic waste stream.

The Government has also announced a three-year targeted local authority Waste Performance and Efficiency Grant totalling £260 million A full list of the allocation to each authority in England in 2005–06 has been published. As part of this allocation authorities will receive the following amounts:

	£
Cumbria County Council:	210,178.14
Allerdale Borough Council:	29,375.43
Carlisle City Council:	32,344.53
Eden District Council:	15,997.07

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