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2 Mar 2005 : Column 1152W—continued
Cattle Transportation
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what requirements exist in respect of the transportation of pregnant cattle; and if she will make a statement. [216343]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 1997 prohibits transport of an animal unless it is fit for the intended journey and suitable provision has been made for its care. An animal that is likely to give birth during transport is not fit for transport. There no requirements specific to the transport of pregnant cows.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what estimate she has made of the proportion of pregnant cattle transported which had calves that died before or at birth since 1997; [216344]
(2) what estimate she has made of the proportion of cattle transported which were pregnant in each year since 1997. [216345]
Mr. Bradshaw: Defra does not hold this information.
Contaminated Land
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how much financial assistance has been given to meet the capital costs of site investigation and clean up of contaminated land in each of the last three years (a) in total and (b) broken down by local authority; and if she will make a statement; [216795]
(2) how much has been given to local authorities through the Contaminated Land Supplementary Credit Approval programme in each of the last three years; which authorities have received funding through this programme; how local authorities' expenditure through the programme is monitored; and if she will make a statement; [216819]
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(3) what sites of contaminated land have been (a) investigated and (b) cleaned up under the auspices of (i) local authorities and (ii) the Environment Agency in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement. [216820]
Mr. Morley: Tables A-D will be made available in the Library of the House. Support to local authorities given under Defra's Contaminated Land capital projects programme is shown in Table A. The Environment Agency's Contaminated Land capital programme is shown at Table B, with an indication of the local authority area involved. Figures for 2004–05 are not yet available.
Under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, investigation is undertaken to decide whether or not land is contaminated land" as defined. Investigations also take place in other contexts and central records are not kept. Information about clean-up" is only available where Defra and Environment Agency funding programmes are involved and is shown in Tables C1–3 and D. This includes work in progress.
Under the Defra programme successful authorities are required to provide mid financial year progress reports. Final returns, certified by the authority's Chief Finance Officer, are provided at the end of the financial year showing actual expenditure incurred on each project. Full details of our monitoring requirements are set out in A Guide for English Local Authorities" which is made available to each authority.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what financial assistance she makes available to local authorities to compensate residents living on contaminated land where the owners of the land have gone into liquidation; and if she will make a statement; [216817]
(2) if she will make a statement on compensation from local authorities for residents living on contaminated land. [216818]
Mr. Morley: Under Part MA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 local authorities are under a statutory duty to inspect their areas to identify contaminated land as defined in the Act, and to secure its remediation in accordance with the detailed provisions of the regime. DETR Circular 02/2000 Contaminated Land" contains statutory guidance including detailed liability rules as to who is the appropriate person(s) to bear responsibility for remediation. In line with the polluter-pays principle, this is normally the person who caused or knowingly permitted the presence of the substances causing the problem. Where this person cannot be found, for example because the company no longer exits or has gone into liquidation, the landowner may be the appropriate person, subject to the Act and guidance.
The Act recognises that, particularly in the case of private individuals owning land, costs of remediation might cause hardship. Section 78P(2) of the Act requires local authorities to have regard to hardship and to statutory guidance when serving remediation notices, or recovering costs, and there is provision for remediation costs to be waived or reduced in certain circumstances. Charging notices may be used in certain cases to recover costs where local authorities carry out remediation on
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behalf of appropriate persons, which allows recovery to be deferred until land is sold. The regime does not provide compensation to any individuals, unless they are required to grant rights in order that remediation can be carried out.
Energy Conservation
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Government has spent on energy conservation in (a) York and (b) Yorkshire in each year since 1996–97. [217623]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 23 February 2005]: Defra currently provides grant funding for energy efficiency through four main routes. These organisations or programmes undertake work at a national or UK level. Previous to 2001 some of the activities undertaken by the Carbon Trust and Energy Saving Trust were carried out under the Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme which was also UK wide. The Trusts' programmes have no specific levels of funding attributed to particular regions and therefore no figures for these programmes are given as follows:
The Community Energy programme—capital and development funding to refurbish existing and install new community heating schemes.
The Carbon Trust—to support and promote energy efficiency and low carbon innovation for business and public sector.
The total annual estimated expenditure on energy efficiency measures under the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme in the City of York and North Yorkshire from June 1997 to May 2000 was:
| City of York | North Yorkshire | |
|---|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 177,000 | 1,180,000 |
| 1997–98 | 97,000 | 4,955,000 |
| 1998–99 | 202,000 | 5,332,000 |
| 1999–2000 | 82,000 | 6,234,000 |
From the launch of the new Home Energy Efficiency Scheme now known as Warm Front in June 2000 until the end of January 2005 the total approximate expenditure for these areas was:
| City of York | North Yorkshire | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 46,000 | 2,980,000 |
| 2001–02 | 176,000 | 18,500.000 |
| 2002–03 | 233,000 | 19,500,000 |
| 2003–04 | 112,000 | 15,890,000 |
| 2004–05 (Up to end of January 2005) | 81,000 | 17,000,000 |
Note:
The figures quoted for North Yorkshire include the following areas East Riding, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Kingston upon Hull.
There has been no programme spend in York, but the Yorkshire spend figures are as follows.
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| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1996–02 | (1)— |
| 2002–03 | No spend |
| 2003–04 | 53,000 |
| 2004–05 | (2)33,000 |
(1) Programme not up and running until 2002–03.
(2) To date.
EU Committees
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 Management Committee for fisheries products met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [214316]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Management Committee for fisheries products routinely meets in Brussels at one of the Commission's meeting facilities. The dates of the meetings during the Italian, Irish and Dutch presidencies of the EU are given as follows. Representatives from the UK Fisheries Departments were present at virtually all of these meetings. The exact nature and number of representatives depended on the subjects under discussion, with experts on marketing standards, support prices, producer organisations, tariff quotas and other relevant issues, being present as necessary.
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 Management Committee for the fisheries and aquaculture sector met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [215917]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The EU Committee for the fisheries and aquaculture sector routinely meets in Brussels at one of the Commission's meeting facilities. The dates of the meetings during the Italian, Irish and Dutch Presidencies of the EU are given as follows. Representatives from the UK Fisheries Departments were present at all of these meetings. The exact nature and number of representatives depended on the subjects
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under discussion, with experts on control and enforcement, fleet policy and statistics being present as necessary.
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 Advisory Committee on Community policy regarding forestry and forest-based industries met; when and there these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [215903]
Mr. Bradshaw: The EU Advisory Committee on Community Policy regarding forestry and forest-based industries did not meet during the Italian and Irish Presidencies; it met once during the Dutch Presidency and this meeting took place in Brussels on 16 November 2004. There was no UK Government expert present at the meeting, which was attended by individuals from the UK forest-based industries private sector.
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 and implementation of the directive on urban waste-water treatment met; when and where these meetings took place; which UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [217241]
Mr. Morley: The information is as follows:
Italian presidency—July to December 2003
Irish presidency—January to June 2004
The Committee met twice on 19 April, when one UK delegate attended, and 1–2 June when no UK delegate attended.
Dutch presidency—July to December 2004
The Committee met three times over 22–23 July when no UK delegate attended; 7–8 October when one UK delegate attended; 23 November 2004 when four delegates from the UK attended.
All the meetings were held in Brussels.
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A series of Command Papers on developments in the EU—Cm6174 laid in April 2004, Cm6310 laid in September 2004 and Cm6450 laid in February 2005, cover the periods of the above presidencies and are available on the FCO website at: www.fco.gov.uk/commandpapers.
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 Management Committee on application of the Directive on the standardisation and rationalisation of reports on the implementation of certain Directives relating to the environment met; when and where these meetings took place; which UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [217243]
Mr. Morley: During the Irish, Italian and Dutch Presidencies in 2003 and 2004 there were no Management Committee meetings on this issue. The Management Committee on the application of the Standardised Reporting" Directive (91/692/EEC) last met in 1997. In 2002 the Commission started work on a new framework for environmental reporting in response to the 6th Environment Action Programme. An Expert Group was set up to discuss Commission proposals for a Directive. This group last met in October 2002. There is as yet no formal proposal for a Directive, and no Management Committee has been convened. In the event of any meeting being scheduled, officials will, as a matter of course, liaise with their counterparts in the Scottish Executive and the other devolved Administrations.
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 Protection of Species of Wild Fauna and Flora by Regulating Trade met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [217818]
Mr. Morley: The EC CITES Committee on Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora met three times during the Italian presidency (1 July 2003, 19 September 2003 and 13 November 2003), twice during the Irish presidency (29 January 2004 and 20 April 2004) and twice during the Dutch presidency (2 July 2004 and 14 December 2004). All meetings took place in Brussels. UK representation normally comprises officials from my Department, supported where necessary by scientific advisers from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew or the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Business at these meetings concentrated mainly on issues relating to implementation of the European Wildlife Regulations and preparation for the 13th Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) held in Bangkok in October 2004.
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 on the Conservations, Characterisation, Collection and Utilisation of Genetic Resources in Agriculture met;
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when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [217875]
Mr. Morley: The Committee on the Conservations, Characterisation, Collection and Utilisation of Genetic Resources in Agriculture had no meetings during the Italian and Dutch Presidencies of the EU. The Committee met twice (26 April and 21 June 2004) during the Irish Presidency. On both occasions the United Kingdom was represented by Defra officials responsible for policy issues on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
Regulation 870/2004 is now in force and the Commission are preparing the Call for Proposals documentation which will be advertised in the Official Journal shortly.
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 (i) Scientific Review Group for the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade, (ii) Committee on the Community action programme in the field of civil protection and (iii) Committee on the control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances (Seveso II) met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government experts were present; and if she will make a statement. [218261]
Mr. Morley: The details relating to these Committees are as follows:
(i) The Scientific Review Group (SRG) met once during the Italian presidency (9 October 2003), twice under the Irish presidency (15 January and 19 April 2004) and twice under the Dutch presidency (1 July and 13 December 2004). All meetings were held in Brussels and were attended by Defra's scientific advisors from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC).
(ii) The Committee for the Action Programme and for the Mechanism in the field of Civil Protection met once during the Italian presidency (28 November 2003), twice during the Irish presidency (26–27 February and 3–4 June 2003) and once during the Dutch presidency (21–22 October 2004). All meetings took place in Brussels and were attended by officials from the Cabinet Office.
(iii) The Committee on the control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances (Seveso II) met once during each of the Italian, Irish and Dutch presidencies, in Cagliari, Sardinia (16 October 2003), Dublin (13 May 2004) and Amsterdam (7 October 2004) respectively. The UK representatives were from the Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency.
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