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27 Feb 2006 : Column 281W—continued
Refuse Collection/Street Cleaning
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether (a) refuse collection and (b) street cleaning are provided via (i) in-house services, (ii) a social enterprise company and (iii) a private contractor in each London borough. [50050]
Mr. Bradshaw: Defra does not keep this data. The following table uses data provided by the Greater London Authority.
Key:
IH = In-house
SE = Social Enterprise Company
PC = Private contractor
ND = No Data
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Sea Bass
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) observers and (b) observation methods are deployed on vessels trawling for bass in the western approaches during the bass season. [52619]
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Mr. Bradshaw: During the 2004–05 bass season three observers were deployed on vessels and 152 hauls observed. In the 2005–06 bass season to date there have been two observers deployed on vessels. Information on the number of hauls observed is not available because research is still in progress.
The Department is due to submit a report to the Commission by 1 June on the results of the monitoring of bycatch in UK fisheries, as a requirement of Council Regulation (EC) No 812/2004. This will include information on the current bass season.
Sewage Treatment
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many responses the Government received to the consultation document A Draft Code of Practice on Odour Nuisance from Sewage Treatment Works". [53174]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department received forty-eight responses to the Consultation on the draft Code of Practice and Local Authority Guide on Odour Nuisance from Sewage Treatment Works". The National Assembly for Wales conducted its own consultation exercise to which eight responses were received.
Social Scientific Researchers
Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many social scientific researchers she has in her Department; and what plans she has to increase this complement. [53799]
Mr. Bradshaw: At present there are five Government Social Researchers working in Defra. Future numbers of social researchers will be determined, alongside other types of analyst, within the context of Defra's Evidence and Innovation Strategy (E and IS). A full public consultation on the E and IS has just closed and the responses are now being analysed. The Government will respond with a revised high-level E and IS later this year.
Television Disposals
John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the average cost of disposal of a television set. [50580]
Mr. Bradshaw: There is no fixed cost for the disposal of a television set, which will subject to market variation.
Waste Management
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of waste in England was exported for disposal in each year between 1997 and 2005. [54324]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The UK Government has a long-standing policy of self-sufficiency in waste disposal as set out in the UK Management Plan for Exports and Imports of Waste (the Plan), which came into operation on 1 June 1996. In accordance with the Plan, no waste should have been exported from the UK for disposal overseas since this would be illegal.
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Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost has been of administering the Waste Management Licensing Regulations (WMX8a) in each year since it was introduced. [47969]
Mr. Bradshaw: Amendments to the Waste Management Licensing Regulations introduced charging for certain specified waste management exemptions in July 2005. The new charges were implemented by the Environment Agency, and WMX8a is the Agency's exemption registration form used for land reclamation and improvement (infill exemption registrations).
The Environment Agency does not yet have a complete annual set of validated national figures for this new charging scheme. Interim data shows that between introduction and 31 December 2005, the Agency registered a total of 1,582 exemptions for infill only, which the Agency has taken to mean those exemptions registered under paragraphs 9A and 19A of Schedule 3 to the Regulations. The Environment Agency estimates the cost of assessing and inspecting these activities, and therefore of administering the new scheme for that period, to be £863,772.
Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much revenue has been raised through the Waste Management Licensing Regulations (WMX8a) (a) in infill exemption registrations and (b) in annual licence renewals in each year since they were introduced. [47970]
Mr. Bradshaw: Amendments to the Waste Management Licensing Regulations introduced charging for certain specified waste management exemptions in July 2005. The new charges were implemented by the Environment Agency, and WMX8a is the agency's exemption registration form used for land reclamation and improvement (infill exemption registrations).
(a) The Environment Agency does not yet have a complete annual set of validated national figures for this new charging scheme. Interim data show that between introduction and 31 December 2005, the agency registered a total of 1,582 exemptions for infill only, which the agency has taken to mean those exemptions registered under paragraphs 9A and 19A of schedule 3 to the regulations. The new charging scheme for the Waste Management Licensing Regulations has been established to recover the Environment Agency's costs for assessing and inspecting the activities, and charges were set on the basis of estimated average costs per charge-payer. The agency estimates the revenue raised by infill exemption registrations under the new scheme for that period to be £863,772.
(b) The agency does not yet have revenue figures for annual registration renewals given that this charging scheme commenced in July 2005.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what help is available to local authorities to find alternatives to landfill; and if she will make a statement. [52233]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The Government have put in place a three-year targeted local authority Waste Performance and Efficiency Grant totalling 260m. The Waste
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Performance and Efficiency Grant supports new and more efficient ways to deliver waste reduction and increase recycling and diversion from landfill. Local authorities will receive £45 million in 2005–06, £105 million in 2006–07 and £110 million in 2007–08.
The Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund, also known as the Challenge Fund", is also a key source of funding. The Challenge Fund is designed to support local authority projects that push waste management practices up the waste hierarchy. These include projects designed to minimise the amount of household waste generated, and those that provide more extensive facilities for re-use and recycling and composting. £45 million was made available for this financial year.
Since March 2003, Defra's Local Authority Support Unit (LASU) has been on hand to bridge the gap between Central Government policy and the action required at local authority level to bring about the behavioural changes needed to meet the objectives of the Landfill Directive.
In June 2004, all local authorities were invited to apply to the LASU for advice provided by specialist waste consultants to help them deal with specific local barriers preventing them from improving their recycling performance and also to help some local authorities plan for the introduction of the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS).
The LASU has so far distributed over £3.5 million in grants and other support.
The LASU has also put together a toolkit for local authorities to give them advice on best practice in areas such as:
Defra's New Technologies Supporter programme provides free guidance, literature and training to local authorities and decision makers for the development of New Technologies for the diversion of Biodegradable Municipal Waste (BMW) from landfill. Alongside this the Waste Technology Data Centre gives the facts on how waste treatment technologies work, as well as how much they cost to build and maintain.
Defra also funds the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to provide an advisory service to local authorities on recycling and organics. This provides technical advice and training for local authorities looking to implement and improve collection systems for recyclable materials and organic wastes.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to combine waste collection and waste disposal authorities where those responsibilities are delivered by different local authorities. [52234]
Mr. Bradshaw:
My department has no plans to combine waste collection and disposal authorities where these functions are delivered by different local
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authorities. Currently my department are involved in a number of reviews which consider how we will deal with waste in the future. The review of the Waste Strategy 2000 was opened to consultation yesterday (14 February 2006), and there is a consultation in progress on the waste planning powers of the Greater London Authority which will close on 22 February.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of which local authorities are at risk of fines because of failure to meet the targets set by the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme. [52235]
Mr. Bradshaw: Due to the nature of a tradable allowances scheme, it is not possible to accurately assess whether any Waste Disposal Authority is likely to landfill biodegradable municipal waste in excess to that which it hold allowances for at the end of the scheme year. At the end of each scheme year on 31 March annually there will be a six-month reconciliation period. During this period Waste Disposal Authorities will have three months to submit their end of year data. During the following two months, the Monitoring Authority (the Environment Agency) will provide each authority with a draft reconciliation between the amount of biodegradable municipal waste the Waste Disposal Authority landfilled and the number of allowances it holds. Should any Waste Disposal Authority have landfilled more waste than it holds allowances for, it can then use the sixth month to trade or borrow allowances to balance the figures. Any Waste Disposal Authority which has landfilled biodegradable municipal waste in excess of the allowances it holds at the end of the reconciliation period will be liable to a financial penalty of £150 per tonne (Section 9(2) of the WET Act).
The Environment Agency is currently working with Waste Disposal Authorities to provide draft reconciliation's on Quarter land Quarter 2 data returns to help them understand the process and assess their recorded biodegradable municipal waste to landfill against their own local strategies.
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