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4 Mar 2005 : Column 1423W—continued
Local Government Finance
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent progress has been made towards achieving the Public Service Agreement target to ensure that stable resources are available to local government. [219196]
Mr. Raynsford: The local government Public Service Agreement targets require the improved delivery and value for money of local services. A key part of this will be to ensure that authorities are able to plan their budgets effectively. The introduction of the three-year settlements for individual authorities from 2006–07 onwards, as announced in Spending Review 2004, will greatly assist this process. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently consulting on the implementation of three-year settlements and will announce the outcome later this summer.
It is also clear that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister should review some aspects of the grant distribution system before the 2006–07 settlement in order to ensure that the system continues to distribute grant in a fair way between authorities. We will be conducting this review in partnership with local government.
The existing spending plans for 2006–07 onwards provide continued investment in local government which reflect the work to identify pressures and enable local government to deliver high quality services with low council tax increases. It builds on the 33 per cent. real terms increase in Government grant which the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has been able to provide to councils since taking Office. We will continue to work closely with local government to ensure that levels of central grant are based on a realistic assessment of the service commitment pressures faced by councils.
PRIME MINISTER
Miscarriages of Justice
Mr. Chope: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 21 February 2005, Official Report, column 194W, on Miscarriages of Justice, if he will place a copy of the transcript in the Library. [220082]
The Prime Minister: Due to an administrative error, the date to which I referred should have been Wednesday 9 February. I have placed a copy of the press briefing in the Libraries of the House.
Official Visits
Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the towns and cities in the UK he visited in 2004 in an official capacity; and what the purpose of the visit was in each case. [220229]
The Prime Minister: In 2004, I undertook the following official visits within the UK:
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My visits covered a range of matters including health, education, criminal justice, the economy and meeting current and former members of the armed forces. I also travel regularly to my constituency.
I travel making the most efficient and cost-effective arrangements. My travel arrangements are in accordance with the arrangements for official travel set out in Chapter 7 of the Ministerial Code, and the accompanying guidance document, "Travel by Ministers".
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The Progressive Consensus
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the role of Government employees in the preparation of The Progressive Consensus; and if he will make a statement. [220232]
The Prime Minister: I have regular meetings and discussions with ministerial colleagues and others on a wide range of subjects. Information relating to internal meetings, discussion and advice is not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Atomic Waste
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much atomic waste was produced in the UK in each of the last five years; and how much atomic waste in total was disposed of in the UK in each year. [216938]
Mr. Morley: The 2001 UK Radioactive Waste Inventory, the latest in the series published, gives predictions of the annual volumes of waste produced in the period 2001 to 2005 (The actual figures for 2001 to 2004 will be published in the 2004 Inventory, due out in autumn 2005). The first table presents the production broken down into the three main levels of waste i.e. High, Intermediate and Low, which are abbreviated to HLW, ILW and LLW. Varying amounts of the predicted annual amounts of waste have now been conditioned; in order to aid comparison the numbers presented are for all the waste in its conditioned form, expressed in cubic metres.
The HLW and ILW produced will have been stored and most of the LLW will have been disposed of routinely. The predicted disposal volumes of LLW, expressed in cubic metres, are set out in the following table:
| Predicted disposal | Cubic metres |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 10,360 |
| 2002 | 10,834 |
| 2003 | 10,676 |
| 2004 | 11,759 |
| 2005 | 9,396 |
Bio-energy/Biofuels
David Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received from the biomass study
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group on (a) barriers to developing bio-energy and (b) how barriers to developing bio-energy might be overcome. [219515]
Mr. Morley: The Biomass Task Force issued its first progress commentary on 14 February. The commentary has been sent to stakeholders and can also be accessed on the Defra website.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on further fiscal measures to encourage the production of biofuels. [217530]
Mr. Morley: The Department is in regular contact with Treasury Ministers to discuss a whole range of matters related to energy and environmental policy. In addition, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, meets regularly with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a wide range of matters that affect the business of the Department.
Bovine TB
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her Department's policy is in respect of areas of grazing where it is too dangerous to graze cattle due to the high density of the badger population and the associated dangers of badger-to-cattle transmission of tuberculosis. [214164]
Mr. Bradshaw: Defra has published guidance advising farmers to minimise direct contact between cattle and badgers, and contact between cattle and places where badgers may have left saliva, urine or faeces.
The booklet "TB in Cattle—Reducing the Risk", includes the following guidance for farmers:
This advisory booklet has been available to farmers, free of charge, since 1999.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will undertake research to determine what measures would be needed to alter public perception of the culling of TB-infected badgers in order to facilitate a comprehensive culling programme of TB-infected badgers. [214708]
Mr. Bradshaw:
Defra wants to achieve a better understanding of the views of the wider public so these can be reflected in policy development. Public opinion around badger culling is one area of interest. Defra strives to ensure that its policies are based on the best available scientific evidence, and that they are cost effective and sustainable. Any future decision on badger culling will need to take account of the way the general public perceives badgers and acceptability of culling them to control TB in cattle.
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Defra-commissioned research at Reading University will give some assessment of societal values ascribed to changes in badger populations. We will consider the report of this work, expected shortly, and undertake further work on informing and assessing public opinion.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on progress on tests for a vaccine for bovine TB using the BCG vaccine; and whether she expects the vaccine to be applicable to badgers. [218767]
Mr. Bradshaw: The research programme for producing an effective vaccine remains broadly in line with the timetable outlined in the Krebs report (1997). This estimated:
Vaccination of cattle with BCG remains a problem because it affects skin test readings. Work is in progress on a differential diagnostic test. The sequencing of the Mycobacterium bovis genome in 2002 has led to the development of an experimental test to distinguish between vaccinated and unvaccinated cattle, but more work is required to validate the test under field conditions. Defra is funding research at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, in collaboration with New Zealand workers, to experimentally vaccinate cattle with BCG and to differentiate vaccinated animals from infected animals. The current project is due to end in 2005. New research proposals taking the work forward on new candidate vaccines and neonatal vaccination are currently being appraised by independent referees. Future plans to look at the performance of vaccine candidates under natural infection conditions are also being drawn up.
Collaborative research with the Republic of Ireland has shown that parenteral BCG vaccination provides a degree of protection against experimental challenge with M. bovis in badgers. Some work has already been done on requirements for a field trial. Further work is still required on vaccine delivery, immunological monitoring of effective immunisation of badgers and effect of exposure of non-target species. This work is addressed in the current research requirements for 2005.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will reconsider the decision to end the reactive element in the Bourne/Krebs bovine TB trials. [218768]
Mr. Bradshaw:
There is no evidence to suggest that the resumption of reactive culling would reduce the incidence of bovine TB in cattle. The ISO has continued to collect data from the reactive areas and recent analyses are consistent with results presented in late 2003, with the confidence limits providing no evidence for a beneficial effect of the reactive strategy over the time scale under study. Further detailed investigations based on the distribution of TB breakdowns in space and time are under way to investigate whether the observed increased incidence was linked to proximity to reactive culling. In addition, as further TB incidence data are obtained, the ISG will continue to analyse data from reactive areas. If the TB incidence rates in reactive
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and survey areas become more similar over time, this finding would indicate that the observed increase in TB breakdowns in reactive areas, compared with survey-only areas, was associated with reactive culling.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of whether pockets of M. bovis infection reported in wild deer in the Dulverton area of Exmoor are related locally to high levels of endemic infection in badgers; and whether isolates of M. bovis from both species share the same spoligotype. [214134]
Mr. Bradshaw: During the period 1972 to 1998, none of the badgers from the Dulverton area that were examined by MAFF/Defra were found to be positive for bovine tuberculosis. The release of information relating to the TB status of badger carcases since the start of the Randomised Badger Culling Trial is not being made publicly available on the advice of the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB.
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