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23 May 2006 : Column 1694W—continued
Hunting with Dogs
Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many responses were received to the Government’s consultation on hunting with dogs. [71836]
Barry Gardiner: The Government received over 14,000 responses to its consultation on the issue of hunting with dogs in 2002, and has received at least 14,000 further representations from members of the public on this issue since then.
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Regime
Mr. Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what assessment his Department has made of the capability of individual local authorities adequately to implement and enforce the integrated pollution prevention and control regime; [64152]
(2) what assessment his Department has made of standards of compliance with integrated pollution prevention and control SG2 for new glass-making facilities. [64155]
Mr. Bradshaw: The local authority industrial pollution regimes are regularly reviewed, including local authority performance reviews. Such a review, involving just over 100 local authorities was undertaken in 2004 and a follow-up review has just been completed and the report will be published shortly.
The Department has for the past year been working with local authority stakeholders to improve the training and competence framework for local authority personnel undertaking this work. Local authorities have regularly been made aware of the options of out-sourcing, joint working, or obtaining expert advice when carrying out these functions. I am told that Chester city council have employed consultants to assist them in determining this latest application from Quinn Glass.
The Department encourages local authorities to share expertise and experience in regulating different sectors by establishing ‘link’ groups. There is such a link group for the glass manufacturing sector, the co-ordinator of which works for Barnsley metropolitan borough council. Officials in the Department keep in periodic touch with her and with the trade association, British Glass. Chester city council are a member of the group.
The local authority unit of the Environment Agency, which advises the Department on technical issues relating to the local authority industrial pollution regimes, has met the link group and also visited glass manufacturing installations. The unit has reported back to the Department following these activities.
I cannot comment on the recent High Court judgment because I understand that it is subject to an appeal.
Pest Control
Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what provision of pest control services his Department requires of local authorities. [71619]
Mr. Bradshaw: It is for local authorities to decide on the most appropriate pest control programme in their own area, while having regard to their duties under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949.
Radiative Forcing
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportionate contribution to the overall UK-attributable radiative forcing total is accounted for by (a) residential properties, (b) business premises, (c) industrial processes, (d) power generation, (e) cars, (f) buses and (g) aviation; what the radiative forcing multiplier is for each category; and what the range of uncertainty is in estimates of the multiplier for each category. [71434]
Ian Pearson: Table 1 gives the contribution of each sector listed to total UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2004. The first column of numbers gives percentage contributions with emissions from power generation shown separately. The second column of numbers shows percentage contributions with emission from power generation reallocated to the sectors which use the power generated.
The data are consistent with the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory published in 2006, which contains data to 2004, the most recent year for which data are available for all gases by sector. The aviation estimate covers domestic flights only because international aviation is not included in the UK emissions total, in accordance with international guidelines.
The estimates include emissions from carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, the hydrofluorocarbons, the perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride. Radiative forcing is accounted for by using Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) as weighting factors in adding together emissions estimates of the different gases.
The GWPs are listed in table 2 and apply by gas and not by sector. The effect of emissions from aviation at altitude may be significantly greater than at ground level. This would increase the radiative forcing effect from aviation but there is no agreed value to account for this and it remains a matter of scientific investigation. The IPCC Third Assessment Report estimates uncertainty in the GWPs relative to carbon dioxide as +/-35 per cent.
| Table 1: 2004 emissions of greenhouse gases included in the Kyoto protocol, by sector | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Sector | Proportion of total UK greenhouse gases emissions by source | Proportion of total UK greenhouse gases emissions by end user |
| Table 2: The global warming potential of greenhouse gases included in the Kyoto protocol basket | |
| Gas | Global warming potential (100 year time horizon) |
Tallow
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs why his Department banned the use of tallow as a fuel; whether a similar ban is being introduced in all countries of the EU; what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the cost of this measure to (a) the rendering industry and (b) the farming industry in removing fallen stock. [71878]
Ian Pearson: My Department has not banned the use of tallow as fuel, so no assessments of this kind have been made.
The effect of the EU Animal By-Products Regulation (ABPR) is to require a range of animal by-products, and substances derived from them (e.g. tallow), to be disposed of as waste. Where the method of disposal is incineration or co-incineration (i.e. use as a fuel), the ABPR requires it to be carried out in compliance with the Waste Incineration. Directive (WID). Installations may burn tallow provided they comply with these requirements. The ABPR is directly applicable in all EU member states.
In response to representations by the UK Government, the European Commission has set up a study to help establish whether such controls are proportionate and necessary to the protection of the environment. The study is expected to report by the autumn, and the Government are pressing the Commission for the study to be completed as soon as possible.
Cabinet Office
Diversity Training
Mr. Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the contribution of diversity training across Government to the efficient development of Government policy; and if she will make a statement. [70118]
Mr. McFadden: Diversity training plays a key role in raising awareness of diversity and equality issues among staff. It is the responsibility of individual Departments to decide on their approach to diversity training and, as with all training, evaluate its effectiveness and impact on organisational performance. There is no centrally collated information on this.
Russell Commission
Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which company was used to recruit the chairman of the Russell Commission. [71593]
Hilary Armstrong: Following a competitive tender exercise under Office of Government Commerce (OGC) best practice guidance, Veredus was selected to recruit the chairman, chief executive and board members for v.
Home Department
Anti-Semitism
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-Semitic incidents were reported in each police force area in England in each of the last 10 years. [73207]
Mr. McNulty: The police treat anti-Semitic incidents as racist incidents. Their definition when recording such incidents is:
“any incident which is regarded as racist by the victim or any other person.”
This is the definition recommended by the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. The statistics available centrally do not distinguish between religiously and racially aggravated crime, or, more specifically, anti-semitic incidents.
Departmental Staff
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) EU foreign nationals and (b) non-EU foreign nationals have been employed in his Department in each of the last five years; what vetting procedures are in place for each category of staff; and whether these include liaison with foreign law enforcement agencies. [68016]
Mr. Byrne: The Department only collects data on non-EU nationals. In the past five financial years we have employed two non-EU nationals; one in 2003-04 and one in 2004-05. All candidates are subject to the same pre-appointment checks regardless of nationality. Our pre-appointment checks ensure that we only select those that pass eligibility in accordance with the Cabinet Office nationality requirements—www.civilservice.gov.uk\nationality. The need for an individual to undergo national security vetting, and the level of vetting that is appropriate, will depend on the particular post they are going to fill. Where necessary, this will include a check of time spent overseas.
Domestic Violence
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) males and (b) females have reported a physical assault by a (i) current and (ii) former partner in the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [65183]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The British Crime Survey (BCS) routinely provides information on the number of incidents of domestic violence against men and women
(but not on the actual number of victims), but this is not broken down by whether the perpetrator is a current or former partner.
The British Crime Survey (BCS) also collects information on whether victims report crimes to the police, but this is not broken down by victim’s sex or by whether it was a domestic violence incident or not. Reporting rates for 2004-05 are available from the latest annual crime statistics publication.
The 2004-05 British Crime Survey estimated that there were, in total 308,000 incidents of domestic violence against women in England and Wales, and 92,000 against men. The number of incidents of domestic violence as measured by the BCS has decreased by 48 per cent. from 1999 to 2004-05 BCS interviews.
The BCS figures are estimates only. As they are derived from a sample they are subject to sampling error, also the context of the face-to-face BCS interview means the estimates are certain to be underestimates of the true extent due to the fact that some respondents may be unwilling to reveal experience of domestic violence to interviewers. To address this, self-completion components for those aged 16-59 on domestic violence have been included in the 1996, 2001, 2004-05, and 2005-06 BCS. Results from the 2001 BCS self-completion module on domestic violence were published in Home Office Research Study No. 276. According to this more confidential approach to measurement prevalence (per cent. of population victim at least once) rates for last year domestic assault were approximately five times higher than in the main face-to-face BCS. Also according to this report, 80 per cent. of the domestic violence incidents suffered by women in the 12 months prior to interview were from current spouses or partners, and 20 per cent. from ex-spouses/partners. The respective figures for men were 86 and 14 per cent. It also showed that the police came to know about the (worst) incident of domestic violence suffered in the 12 months prior to interview in 23 per cent. of cases suffered by women, and 8 per cent. of cases suffered by men. Overall, in 72 per cent. of the cases that the police came to know about, the victim reported it (rather than someone else such as family member or friend, or police came to know about in another way).
| Number of BCS incidents of domestic violence, 1999 to 2004-05 | ||
| Thousand | ||
| England and Wales | Women | Men |
| Sources: 2000, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05 British Crime Surveys |
Electronic Monitoring
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been subject to electronic monitoring in each year since 1999; and if he will make a statement. [58241]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Figures are available for the financial year 1998-99 onwards and are presented in the following table:
| Number monitored | |
| Notes: 1. Figures for 1998-99 are from 28 January 1999. 2. Figures for 2005-06 are until 28 February 2006. 3. The number monitored is the number of new starts on electronic monitoring, rather than the caseload at any one time. |
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