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Clinical Waste

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what studies her Department has carried out into the consequences of incorporating clinical waste into the normal household collection system; and if she will make a statement; [213987]

(2) whether it is her Department's policy to support the scrapping of separate collections by local councils for clinical waste; [213988]

(3) whether her Department has consulted with the Environment Agency on the scrapping of separate collections by local councils for clinical waste. [213989]

Mr. Morley: The Department has not carried out any studies into the consequences of incorporating clinical waste into the household waste collection system and has no plans to do so. Similarly, it has not consulted the Environment Agency about the ending of separate collections by local authorities for clinical waste.

Clinical waste should be collected separately from household waste because of the potential risks to public safety and the environment.

Cockling (Morecambe Bay)

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if the Minister for Nature Conservation and Fisheries will make an official visit to the Morecambe Bay Lifeboat to discuss cockling in Morecambe Bay. [215857]

Mr. Bradshaw: I have agreed to meet my hon. Friend, with the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Mr. Collins), to discuss Morecambe Bay issues.
 
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Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if the Minister for Nature Conservation and Fisheries will meet the hon. Members for Morecambe and Lunesdale and for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Mr. Collins) to discuss a fisheries licensing scheme for cockle-pickers in Morecambe Bay. [215859]

Mr. Bradshaw: I have agreed to meet the hon. Members. In the meantime I have written to the hon. Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale about the licensing issue and invited her to make any further suggestions she has regarding Morecambe Bay.

Combined Heat and Power

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time members of staff in her Department, excluding agencies and secondees, are working on issues relating to combined heat and power; and if she will estimate the average proportion of their time spent on these issues. [211752]

Mr. Morley: Two members of staff work full-time on CHP; another two spend at least 50 per cent. of their time on CHP; and a further two spend between 10–25 per cent. on CHP. Up to a dozen additional staff work on CHP from time to time. These figures exclude consultants with the necessary technical expertise who support Defra's CHP team by, among other activities, administering the CHPQA programme which provides the yardstick for measuring good quality CHP.

Common Agricultural Policy

Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the benefits to English farmers of the reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy made in 2003. [213129]

Alun Michael: We expect the reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy to deliver a number of benefits to English farmers. In particular, the decoupling of subsidy from production means that farmers will be free to farm for what the market wants, rather than what the subsidy regime dictates, helping them to become more market oriented and competitive. Initially, farm incomes in England are expected to increase very slightly, with restructuring of businesses and greater efficiency encouraged by decoupling likely to give rise to further improvements in the longer term, relative to what would have happened in the absence of reform.

In addition, the single payment scheme replaces a number of sectoral schemes so should reduce paperwork and bureaucracy. Initial studies indicate that time spent by farms on relevant form filling will be reduced by 60 per cent. by 2007, when considering the SPS and any additional forms related to entry level stewardship.

Community Plant Variety Office

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the activity of the Community Plant Variety Office in the UK in the last 12 months; and if she will list its publications and newsletters published over that period. [215232]

 
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Mr. Bradshaw: In 2004 the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) funded the conduct of technical tests in the UK on a range of plant species for which applications had been made to the CPVO for grants of Community Plant Breeders' Rights.

During this period the CPVO also granted financial support towards the maintenance of reference collections of ornamental plant species in the UK and commissioned activity on research projects for improving reference collections.

Publications from the Community Plant Variety Office, including its Official Gazette and Annual Reports, can be accessed on the CPVO website at www.cpvo.eu.int.

Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) when she will reply to the letter dated 24 November 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. G. Bibby; [215123]

(2) when she will reply to the letter dated 29 November from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. G. Bibby. [212288]

Alun Michael: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State responded on 7 February.

Egg Industry

Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to ensure the retention of a competitive UK egg industry after the next World Trade Organisation round. [213374]

Alun Michael: The Government believe that a strongly liberalising outcome to the current round of World Trade Organisation negotiations, the Doha Development Agenda, will benefit UK consumers and producers alike. In pursuing this objective it is mindful of the difficulties some sectors may face and is anxious to ensure that no sector is unfairly put at a competitive disadvantage. We believe there is clear consumer demand in the UK for products meeting high levels of quality, safety and animal welfare. Our Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food is designed to help UK producers to meet this demand. In a WTO context, we continue to press for the introduction of animal welfare provisions which will recognise the additional costs faced by those such as the UK egg industry in complying with high EU animal welfare standards.

Environmental Treaties

Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the US Administration about its policy on countries entering into international environmental agreements as a condition of bilateral trade agreements. [213227]

Mr. Morley: We are not aware of any such policy on the part of the US government and Defra Ministers have therefore not discussed the issue with the US authorities.
 
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EU Committees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch Presidency of the EU the Advisory Committee on waste management met; when and where these meetings took place; which UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement; [214794]

(2) how many times during the (a) Italian (b) Irish and (c) Dutch Presidency of the EU, the Advisory Committee on waste management met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [215407]

Mr. Morley: During the Italian Presidency, which took place between July to December 2003. the Waste Management Committee met in Brussels on the 4 November.

During the Italian Presidency, which took place between January to June 2004. there was a joint meeting of the Waste Management Committee and IPPC Experts on the 12 May which was held in Brussels.

During the Netherlands Presidency, which took place during the last six months of 2004, the Waste Management Committee met on the 1 September in Brussels. The UK is normally represented at these meetings by at least one Defra official.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Committee for the adaptation to technical and scientific progress of the Directive on methods of measurement and frequencies of sampling and analysis of surface water intended for the abstraction of drinking water in the member states met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [216259]

Mr. Morley: The Committee did not meet during these presidencies.

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