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10 Oct 2005 : Column 148W—continued
Recycling
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding (a) councils in England, (b) Birmingham and (c) Solihull have received to support recycling in each year since 1997. [15192]
Mr. Bradshaw: The main source of funding for local authorities' waste management services is 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.
Funding is also being provided from a variety of other sources to help authorities improve recycling rates. The Waste Minimisation and Recycling (Challenge) Fund has made available funding totalling £275 million over the four years from 2002–03 to 2005–06 for specific projects to expand recycling operations.
Through the Private Finance Initiative (PFI), credits worth £355 million have been made available over the same period as an extra source of funding, with a further £535 million available in 2006–07 and 2007–08.
In January 2004 my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Climate Change and the Environment, Elliot Morley, announced that a further £20 million would be given to local authorities with responsibility for waste in England to reduce spending pressures in 2004–05.
In December 2004 the Government announced a targeted local authority Waste Performance and Efficiency Grant totalling £260 million over the three years between 2005–06 and 2007–08. A full list of allocations to each authority in England in 2005–06 is available on the DEFRA website. Authorities will receive further allocations in 2006–07 and 2007–08.
The amounts received by Birmingham city council and Solihull metropolitan borough council to support recycling are shown in the following table:
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) schools and (b) LEAs run recycling programmes for (i) cans, (ii) glass and (iii) paper. [16045]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is not held centrally.
Oceans
Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effects of increased acidity on ocean chemistry and biology. [15374]
Mr. Bradshaw: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 21 July 2005, Official Report, column 1964W.
Sewage
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action has been taken to stop untreated sewage overflowing into the Thames since August 2004. [15867]
10 Oct 2005 : Column 149W
Mr. Morley: Since August 2004 various actions have been put in hand, as follows, in relation to the sewage collection system and treatment works, to reduce the frequency or impact of the overflows that operate during some wet weather conditions, to prevent flooding and the overloading of sewage treatment plants:
by April 2005 most of the overflows from the Abbey Mills pumping station, the main source of untreated sewage, received screening prior to discharge;
since April 2005 Thames Water have been working up proposals for significant treatment and capacity improvements at Beckton, Crossness and Mogden sewage treatment works.
In addition, the Thames Tideway Strategic Study, which was set up to identify problems caused by intermittent storm sewage discharges and to propose potential solutions having regard to costs and benefits, has continued its work. Ministers and the Office of Water Services (Ofwat) await a report on further investigations by the study group concerning aspects of the long-term proposal for a 35km tunnel under the Thames, and potential smaller-scale measures that could deliver earlier improvements.
Ofwat are also expecting a report in early October from an additional study they commissioned into possible partial solutions.
These reports will be considered with a view to determining what further measures are appropriate to deal with overflows from the collecting system.
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the location of sewage overflow pipes that flow into the Thames. [15873]
Mr. Morley: The following list sets out the names of the 57 combined sewer overflows (from west to east) that discharge to the tidal Thames. These only discharge in storm conditions. I have arranged for a map to be deposited in the House Libraries that identifies their locations.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the volume of sewage discharges from each sewage treatment worksin north west London was in each of the last 10years. [16230]
Mr. Morley: There are no sewage treatment works in north west London.
The works that treat sewage from north west London are Mogden—in west London, and Beckton—in east London. However, they do not serve north west London exclusively, and it is not possible to provide a breakdown of the volume of their discharges which derive from north west London.
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