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12 Dec 2005 : Column 1600W—continued
Media Relations
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much her Department spent on external media relations in each year since 2001. [29577]
Jim Knight: Since 2001 Defra's Communications Directorate has commissioned the following external media relations services:
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All agencies provided specialist skills and services notcurrently available within Defra's Communications Directorate.
Peninsular Power Ltd.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what indications have been given to Peninsular Power Ltd. on her Department's likely response to applications from that company for a relaxation of the catchment radius applicable to the proposed biomass energy generator at Winkleigh in Devon under the Energy Crops scheme. [33975]
Mr. Morley: No such applications have been received and no indications have been given as to the Department's likely response. The Department has a protocol for considering such applications. This requires the views of the statutory environmental agencies to be sought before a decision is made.
Pesticides Residues
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with other EU countries on setting a maximum residue level for pesticides. [35108]
Mr. Morley: Officials of the Pesticides Safety Directorate meet regularly with the European Commission and other member states in the EU Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health to set maximum residue levels for pesticides.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish the guidelines for statutory maximum residue levels for pesticides in relation to the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme. [35178]
Mr. Morley: Like food in the general supply chain, produce supplied as part of the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme must comply with the provisions of the Pesticides (Maximum Residue Levels in Crops, Food and Feeding Stuffs) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999 (as amended).
Poultry Carcase Disposal
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what criteria are used to determine the suitability of a potential landfill site for the disposal of poultry carcases; and if she will make a statement. [34305]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The sites are being assessed against the criteria set out in the landfill protocol, originally developed for the disposal of carcases during the 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak, and which is being updated as a generic protocol for the disposal of animal carcases from exotic animal disease outbreaks. Sites will be fully engineered landfills and be subject to a Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) permit and thus compliant with the strict requirements of The Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002 (as amended). A pre requisite for obtaining a PPC permit is compliance with the Environment Agency's policy for the protection of groundwater (PPG).
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The protocol requires the following:
A good and robust leachate management system at the site ensuring the control of leachate head and the efficient collection, treatment and disposal of very high organic loading leachate for the next 20 years.
The site monitoring plan demonstrate that there is adequate monitoring of groundwater, surface water and leachate and there are contingency plans in place, should the monitoring indicate a potential problem.
That the gas management infrastructure should be planned to collect gas from the whole of the site and to be installed as soon as possible after final levels have been achieved. Combustion of the collected gas is essential.
A bird deterrent and management plan and an odour and vermin control plan should be in place and its effectiveness reviewed and tailored as appropriate to account for the disposal of animal carcases.
In addition to these environmental and public health criteria, which are assessed by the Environment Agency, the site will also be assessed by the State Veterinary Service for any biosecurity risk and only sites that do not pose a risk of disease spread will be used.
Private Members' Bills
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 1 November 2005, Official Report, column 889W, on private Members' Bills, when the information ceased to be collected; and if she will make a statement. [32535]
Jim Knight: The information requested has never been collected.
Quarantine
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs why there were no birds in quarantine at Pegasus Birds between 9 March and 16 September 2005. [30859]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 22 November 2005]: It is purely a commercial matter for the importer how often the premises are used and it is common for quarantine premises to be empty for a significant part of the year.
The information previously available to us suggested that no consignments of birds had occupied the quarantine premises since March. It has now been established that a further set of records had been misfiled.
Though this does not materially alter the position as previously reported, we have now been informed that the quarantine premises in question accommodated a consignment of birds from 15 July to 18 August this year. The consignment is documented as comprising approximately 2,000 birds from Tanzania. There have been no reported cases of avian influenza in Tanzania.
The full written statement, issued on 1 December 2005, can be found at:
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the regulation of quarantine facilities; and if she will make a statement. [35353]
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Mr. Bradshaw: We are currently awaiting the outcome of an independent review of the avian quarantine system, which is expected to report in December, to see whether quarantine procedures need to be reviewed.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the timescale is for the review of quarantine arrangements. [35110]
Mr. Bradshaw: In keeping with Defra policy to publish scientific results and the evidence base behind our decision making, my Department will be making the results of the review public later this month.
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations the Government have received on proposals to license quarantine facilities; and if she will make a statement. [35220]
Mr. Bradshaw: We have received none. Commission Decision 2000/666 already requires quarantine facilities or centres to be approved by the competent authorities. In England approval is carried out by the state veterinary service (SVS).
Each approval lasts for one year and is only renewed after a satisfactory re-inspection. Approvals may be withdrawn at any time should the approval requirements of the Commission decision not be met.
Recycling
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of (a) paper-based waste and (b) potentially recyclable plastic waste was generated by (i) domestic households and (ii) commercial premises in each of the last five years. [34873]
Mr. Bradshaw: Figures are available for the estimated total amount of paper and plastic materials consumed within the UK and therefore likely to become waste. No reliable estimates are available on the relative amounts from household and commercial premises. Consumption is defined as UK production plus imports minus exports. The Confederation of Paper Industries estimate that the UK consumed between 12.4 and 12.9 million tonnes of paper and board in each of the last five years. The British Plastics Federation estimate that the total amount of plastics consumed within the UK in 2001 was 4.7 million tonnes and this is expected to steadily increase to 5.3 million tonnes in 2005. All plastics are potentially recyclable, but the extent to which this occurs will depend on economic and logistic factors.
A packaging study by Valpak, the UK's largest packaging compliance scheme, has estimated that around 75 per cent. of paper packaging waste arises in the commercial and industrial waste streams and 25 per cent. originates from domestic households. Likewise, 36 per cent. of plastic packaging waste arises in the commercial and industrial waste streams and 64 per cent. comes from households.
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