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3 Mar 2005 : Column 1291W—continued
FOI Requests
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on how many occasions when her officials have been processing requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 it has been necessary to extend the statutory 20 working day limit for response due to the need to assess whether the public interest in disclosing the information requested outweighed the public interest in witholding the information requested. [214644]
Alun Michael: It must be remembered that officials are dealing within an entirely new set of requirements and we expect these processes to be much easier to follow once they are bedded in. To date our central tracking system records that there have been a total of 14 requests for information where a reply has had to be extended past the statutory 20 working day limit due to the need to apply the Public Interest Test. Of these requests nine were under the Freedom of Information Act and five were under the new Environmental Information Regulations.
Foot and Mouth
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her contingency plans are for dealing with a future foot and mouth epidemic. [217535]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The measures that the Government would take in the event of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease are set out in the Defra FMD Contingency Plan, the latest version of which was laid before Parliament at the end of March 2004. These include the immediate imposition of movement controls on all susceptible livestock, strict bio-security requirements and enhanced options for controlling the disease. Vaccination would be considered from the outset of an outbreak in addition to the culling of all susceptible animals on infected premises and those that have been exposed to infection, as required by EU law.
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We are engaging with operational partners and with stakeholders to ensure they are aware of their responsibilities and the measures that would be taken in an outbreak. Plans are also in place in the event of an outbreak to enable a rapid increase in resources and for the implementation of contingency contracts, including that for emergency vaccination. We have revised the instructions for staff and are ensuring that they are trained and equipped to deal with an outbreak of disease. A revised version of the contingency plan, incorporating the lessons learned from the national foot and mouth disease exercise held last June, will be issued for public consultation shortly.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research she has evaluated on whether wild birds can spread the foot and mouth virus, with particular reference to geese. [218662]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department commissioned and published a risk assessment to consider the risks of importation of contaminated meat and meat products and the subsequent exposure of GB livestock. Several viral pathogens were included in this work, among them Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).
As part of this work the risk of transfer and spread of contaminated material, by scavengers (including wild birds), from an infected site to livestock holdings was considered.
Foot and mouth disease virus has been recovered from the plumage and feet of birds in contact with affected livestock, however, there is a lack of evidence that birds play a significant role in the spread of the disease. In those cases where wild geese were possibly implicated in 2001 UK outbreak of FMD, other more likely sources were usually found.
Greenhouse Gases
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the levels of greenhouse gases emitted by the UK were in each of the last 10 years; and what levels were emitted during that period by other EU countries. [218290]
Mr. Morley: The following table contains the most recent greenhouse gas emissions estimates, in million tonnes of carbon equivalent per year, for each of the EU-15 countries and for the ED-15 collectively from the European Environment Agency.
The data, expressed as million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent per year, are published in the Annual European Community greenhouse gas inventory 1990–2002 and inventory report 2004", which is available from the European Environment Agency (http://www.eea.eu.int/main html).
The estimates differ a little from those published in the Consultation Paper for the Review of the Climate Change Programme because the latter contain estimates for emissions due from land use change, which are not included in the comparative data from the European Environment Agency, and because of revisions to the emission factors for coal used in power stations and for natural gas, as described in the Consultation Paper.
Marine Protection
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action her Department is taking to protect coral reefs and sea-mounts in UK territorial waters. [208419]
Mr. Bradshaw: Reefs are included in annex I of the EC Habitats Directive and the UK has designated 33 Natura sites in territorial waters under article 4 of the directive which have reefs listed as a feature of interest. These are biogenic and rocky reefs rather than coral reefs given available data on the nature and distribution of reefs in UK territorial waters. However, the UK's statutory nature advisers will be investigating whether there are further occurrences of marine habitats listed in annex I that meet the criteria in annex III of the directive as part of a wider exercise in which EC member states are working with the European Commission to extend the Habitats Directive into the marine environment.
In 1999 a habitat action plan for Lophelia pertusa reefs was published as part of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UKBAP). The objectives of the action plan are to protect the distribution and status of the Lophelia pertusa reefs to enhance their density and community richness.
The UK is also working through OSPAR's Biodiversity Committee to identify species (and habitats) in need of protection. Lophelia pertusa reefs have been classified as a priority habitat, OSPAR is currently investigating possible management measures.
There are no known occurrences of seamounts in UK territorial waters.
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Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will answer the question from the hon. Member for Portsmouth South, ref 200297. [216500]
Alun Michael: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 10 February 2005, Official Report, column 1660W.
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the projects being undertaken by her Department in respect of which information cannot be given in answer to parliamentary questions as a result of commercial confidentiality. [216634]
Alun Michael: Requests for information on projects currently being undertaken by the Department would be considered on their merits in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act governing disclosure or exemption(s) from disclosure.
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