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8 Mar 2006 : Column 1496W—continued
Countryside Stewardship Scheme
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many miles of permissible bridleways exist under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme; how she expects this figure to alter by the end of the scheme; and if she will make a statement. [56514]
Jim Knight: Presently, there are just under 1,100 miles of permissive bridleways in existence under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS). The CSS closed to new applications in March 2004; therefore the number of bridleways under CSS should not increase in the future.
It is too early to obtain meaningful data on the uptake of bridleways under the new Environmental Stewardship scheme, as the first Higher Level Stewardship agreements have only recently started.
Fly-tipping
Mr. Stewart Jackson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many
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(a) incidents of fly-tipping were reported and (b) prosecutions were made following such incidents in (i) Cambridgeshire and (ii) Peterborough constituency in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [55589]
Mr. Bradshaw:
Defra has worked with the Environment Agency to establish a national database on fly-tipping (Flycapture) which has been operational since April 2004. No national data were previously available on illegal waste disposal or fly-tipping. Flycapture collects data at local authority level only.
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It is important to note that the data are probably an underestimate and will increase as authorities get better at collecting and reporting the data.
Peterborough city council reported 3,515 incidents of fly-tipping between April 2004 and March 2005 (average of 293 per month) and 5,828 between April 2005 and January 2006 (average 583 per month). During the same time periods all Cambridgeshire authorities reported 8,037 (average of 690 per month) and 9,883 (average of 988 per month) respectively.
No prosecutions have been reported to Flycapture.
GM Crops
Dr. Strang: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which institution carried out each piece of research commissioned by her Department into the effectiveness and reliability of varietal genetic use restriction technologies (V-GURTS); what the expected duration of the work was in each case; and if she will place a copy of the report of each project in the Library. [56443]
Mr. Morley: My Department has not commissioned research specifically on this issue. Reading university was however asked to undertake a desk study to review and assess effective current and practical, as well as timely and potentially viable, technologies aimed at reducing the dispersal of transgenes into the environment from GM and non-GM crops. The study was undertaken from June to November 2005 and aimed to review all aspects of technologies for biological containment of GM and non-GM crop plants, including evaluation of industrial research effort in this area. The report is currently being peer-reviewed and will be published on Defra's website. I shall place a copy in the Library when it is published.
Night Noise Levels
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action her Department is taking to reduce noise levels at night. [54786]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 extends the night noise provisions in the Noise Act 1996 to licensed premises. Local authorities will be able to fine those responsible for excess noise from licensed premises between 11 pm and 7 am. Those found responsible for exceeding the permitted level of noise will be liable to a fine of up to £5,000 upon summary conviction. A local authority will be able to offer the responsible person the option to discharge liability to conviction with the payment of a fixed penalty notice of £500 within 14 days. It is planned to bring these provisions into force in the autumn. They will complement the power to close licensed premises on noise grounds introduced by the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003.
The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 also gives local authorities new powers to designate alarm notification areas in which it will be a requirement for those with intruder alarms to register key-holder details with the local authority. Local authorities will be able to contact key-holders in the event that an alarm sounding for 20 minutes continuously or one hour intermittently causes annoyance to those in the vicinity. Local authorities will also be able to enter premises without force, where possible, to deactivate an alarm, and to obtain a warrant to force entry where this is not possible. Silencing misfiring intruder alarms as quickly as possible is particularly important at night. These new powers, which will be commenced in April, are additional to the existing statutory nuisance powers under Part III of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
The Government is also taking steps to reduce environmental noise at night. The Department for Transport has responsibility for controlling aircraft noise at night at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted Airports. Restrictions, comprising a movements limit and supplementary noise controls, are set on a seasonal basis for a 5–6 year period. The Department has recently consulted on a night restrictions regime to apply from October 2006 at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.
At regional airports noise restrictions are set by the Airport Operator, in accordance with any planning conditions which may apply.
Planning Guidance PG5/2 (04)
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations her Department has received from industry bodies on PG5/2(04) in the last three years; and if she will place copies in the Library. [56221]
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Mr. Bradshaw: The Department has been in regular dialogue with organisations representing the cremation sector throughout the last three years concerning regulation of air pollution from crematoria and PG5/2(04). This has included meetings, telephone discussions, and many exchanges of correspondence with representatives of the National Federation of Cremation Authorities, Institute of Cemetery and Cremation Management, National Association of Funeral Directors, and the Cremation Society. A particular focus of the dialogue has been action to reduce mercury emissions from crematoria. We issued two consultation papers on this subject which can be found at http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/crematoria-two/index.htm and http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/crematoria/index.htm
I am placing a copy of the representations received in response to the consultation undertaken by the Department as part of finalising statutory guidance note PG5/2(04). The responses to the two consultation papers can be found at the above-mentioned web addresses.
Rats
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 30 June 2005, Official Report, column 1644W, on rats, if she will place in the Library a copy of the relevant section of the English house condition survey. [55928]
Jim Knight: Copies of both the 1996 and 2001 English House Condition Surveys are already available on the ODPM website at: http://www.odpm.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1155278
Recycling
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the national targets are for recycling (a) household waste and (b) corporate waste over the next five years. [53844]
Mr. Bradshaw: In Waste Strategy 2000, published in May of that year, the Government set national targets to recycle or compost:
There are currently no national recycling targets for corporate waste. Waste Strategy 2000 was reviewed in 2005 and a report published on 14 February 2006. This report forms the basis of a public consultation document and following that consultation a revised strategy is due to be published late in 2006; this may include recycling targets for corporate waste.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to encourage recycling. [53845]
Mr. Bradshaw:
In addition to setting national targets to recycle household waste, all local authorities in England have been set statutory recycling targets Waste disposal authorities have also been set landfill diversion targets for biodegradable municipal waste which will drive them to maximise the recycling of this material.
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The Household Waste Recycling Act 2003 requires waste collection authorities to provide separate collection of at least two recyclates to all households receiving a general waste collection by 2010.
Funding for establishing recycling infrastructure has been provided, initially through the Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund (£294 million) and now the Waste Performance and Efficiency Grant (£260 million).
Having established markets for recycled materials the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) now has additional roles in encouraging recycling. Since 2002,1ocal authorities have been provided targeted support and advice and it has established the Recycling and Organics Technical Advisory Team to spread best practice on recyclate collection methodologies.
This is the third year of WRAP's £30 million three-year waste awareness raising programme; this included a national campaign and advertising local authority initiatives. Work continues on WRAP's £1.45 million research project with Tesco, Sainsbury and local authorities to pilot upgraded supermarket bring banks and undertake an evaluation of their impact on householder behaviour and recycling rates.
The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended) oblige businesses in the packaging chain to recycle a specified amount of packaging waste.
A voluntary agreement is being negotiated with the construction and demolition industries to raise their use of recycled materials and the amount of construction material they recycle. Voluntary agreements are in place with the Newspaper Publishers Association that will increase the recycled content of newsprint to 70 per cent. in 2006. The Government are negotiating a similar agreement with the Periodical Publishers Association to increase the recycling of magazines.
To help improve the economics of recycling as well as better reflect the true environmental impact of landfill, the Government have committed to an annual increase on landfill tax of at least £3/t until it reaches £35/t.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the proportion of landfill waste which was recyclable in each of the past five years. [53846]
Mr. Bradshaw: Below are estimates for the recyclable proportion of municipal waste sent to landfill in England in the past five years:
| Proportion of municipal waste landfilled that is recyclable | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 71 |
| 2001–02 | 71 |
| 2002–03 | 70 |
| 2003–04 | 69 |
| 2004–05 | (10)68 |
(10) Estimate based on household waste management figures.
These estimates assume that about 75 per cent. of all municipal waste could reasonably be recycled, with the best infrastructure and schemes in place, and total
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participation in those schemes. This figure of 75 per cent. is derived from compositional studies of our waste, and is supported by best practice in Europe. These figures cover municipal waste only, and work to assess the recyclable proportion of other waste streams is currently in progress through the Department's research programme.
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