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Exmoor National Park

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the budget for Exmoor National Park was in each year since 2000–01. [37249]

Jim Knight: The annual National Park Grant allocation for Exmoor National Park Authority since 2000–01 is as follows:

	£ million
2000–01	2.369
2001–02	2.583
2002–03	2.935
2003–04	3.519
2004–05	3.291
2005–06	3.616

 
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GM Crops

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact on organic food of the growing of GM crops. [37268]

Mr. Morley: We will issue a consultation paper next year setting out proposals for managing the co-existence of GM and non-GM production. This will also discuss whether special arrangements should apply in the case of co-existence between GM and organic crops.

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions her Department has had on the locations for growing GM maize in England. [37269]

Mr. Morley: The Department has not had any recent discussions on the locations for growing GM maize in England. No GM maize suitable for UK conditions is currently authorised for cultivation, and we do not anticipate that any GM maize will be grown in England for the next few years.

GM maize has been grown in England in the past for research purposes. The last trials were completed in 2002. The locations of the trial sites are available on the DEFRA website:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/gm/fse/location/index.htm

We expect to publish a consultation paper on proposals for co-existence in the cultivation of GM and non-GM crops next year.

Government Decontamination Service

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received on the establishment of the Government Decontamination Service; and if she will make a statement. [37154]

Mr. Morley: The project team responsible for setting up the Government Decontamination Service consulted widely and by several means to seek the views of its stakeholders. Representations were received from central Government, local authorities and emergency planners, emergency services' representatives, specialist suppliers who might provide the decontamination services required, and a range of public and private sector bodies responsible for assets or infrastructure of national importance.

The clearest messages from those representations were that the GDS should concentrate its resources on its core functions: the establishment of a contractual framework of specialist suppliers that could provide the decontamination services required, which has now been done, and the provision of advice and guidance on decontamination, which is a key ongoing function of the service.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff are employed in the Government Decontamination Service; and what the total annual salary costs of the service are. [37155]

Mr. Morley: The Government Decontamination Service (GDS) was set up as an executive agency of Defra on 1 October 2005. The service is currently
 
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recruiting staff to bring it up to complement. When fully staffed, the GDS will employ 26 people. The projected annual staff costs (including employers pension and national insurance contributions) is approximately £1.02 million.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action the Government are taking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. [36996]

Mr. Morley: The Government set out its policy on reducing emissions of the six greenhouse gases covered under the Kyoto protocol in its publication climate change: The UK programme" (CM 4913) in 2000. We have introduced a set of flexible measures covering a range of different sectors—including energy supply, transport, agriculture, business and households.

The Government are currently carrying out a review of the UK climate change programme which is looking at how existing policies are performing and the range of policies which might be put in place in the future to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Government are aiming to publish a revised UK climate change programme early next year.

Habitats Directive

Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance is being prepared for those organisations responsible for implementing in the UK the provisions of the habitats directive. [37571]

Jim Knight: Guidance on the application of the habitats directive for planning authorities was contained in DEFRA circular 01/2005 of 16 August 2005 biodiversity and geological conservation—statutory obligations and their impact within the planning system. The circular compliments the expression of national planning policy in the co-published planning policy statement 9, biodiversity and geological conservation (PPS9) and the accompanying good practice guide, which is currently under preparation.

DEFRA policy guidance on coastal squeeze implications for flood management—requirements of the European birds and habitats directives was published by my department on 21 September 2005 and there are also a set of habitats regulations guidance notes which have been published by English Nature.

The Department is currently involved in developing guidance on the implications of the habitats directive for developers undertaking offshore windfarm development and a protocol for maintenance dredging in European marine sites. The need for any further guidance is being kept under review.

Home Energy Efficiency

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding is made available by her Department to provide homes with central heating; and if she will make a statement. [37991]

 
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Mr. Morley: The Government's main tool for tackling fuel poverty in the private sector in England is the Warm Front Scheme. The Scheme provides a range of heating and insulation measures to householders in receipt of certain benefits.

In the pre-Budget report, it was announced that an additional £300 million would be made available to tackle fuel poverty across the UK. In England, this means that an additional £250 million will be made available both to boost the Warm Front Scheme and extend its ability to provide central heating, and to provide £300 towards the cost of a central heating system for all other pensioners. This means that total funding for the Scheme in the 2005–08 period will be over £800 million.

Pet Food

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent research she has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effect of feeding pets processed pet foods rather than natural foods. [36857]

Mr. Bradshaw: No research has been commissioned by DEFRA in this area.

Poultry

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how her Department plans to assess the percentage of poultry owners that fulfil the requirement to register their flocks under the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) Regulations 2005. [38015]

Mr. Bradshaw: This percentage will be estimated in two complementary ways: firstly by the usual activities of the enforcement authorities and secondly, by cross-validation of the entries in the GB poultry register against a consolidated dataset which has been created from ten existing partial data sets about poultry which Government holds.

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what basis a flock size of 50 birds was chosen as the level at which poultry owners must register their birds under the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) Regulations 2005; and whether there are plans to require owners of less than 50 birds to register birds. [38030]

Mr. Bradshaw: The decision to restrict the requirement to register to commercial flocks of 50 or more birds was based on advice from an expert group which considered that only flocks of this size would be likely to play a significant role in the spread of Avian Influenza. From a logistical point of view it was seen as a priority to focus on gathering information from these larger flocks. Once this has been achieved, it will be possible for owners of smaller flocks to register on a voluntary basis should they so wish. We could also revise the mandatory requirement to include smaller flocks at a later date, should experts and others consider that this would confer sufficient added benefits to justify the costs.
 
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Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether it is permissible for poultry dealers to buy in birds from various individuals and locations and subsequently hold a sale of those birds on one site. [34990]

Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 6 December 2005]: Sales by a single poultry dealer are not classed as a bird gathering and are not therefore covered by the precautionary measures introduced to reduce the risks of gatherings.

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