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14 July 2006 : Column 2186W—continued
Single Payments Scheme
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farmers are still to receive payment advice from the Rural Payments Agency. [83720]
Barry Gardiner: The Rural Payments Agency provides payment advice at the point it is ready to make payment to claimants. All claimants to the 2005 Single Payment Scheme (SPS) have received notification of their entitlement position. In the majority of cases these entitlement statements are supported by a fully validated claim. As of 4 July 2006, approximately 8,500 claimants to the 2005 SPS had yet to receive any payment or payment notification, over 8,000 of which are each due to receive less than €1,000.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farmers have not yet had single farm payment scheme application forms dispatched to them. [76179]
Mr. Bradshaw: Single Payment Scheme (SPS) application forms were dispatched to all known customers by 25 April 2006. A small number of new customers or existing customers requesting an additional copy of their form occurred after this date, all of which have been dispatched.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the error rate for single farm payment forms was for 2006; and if he will make a statement. [77815]
Barry Gardiner:
By 15 June, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) had received approximately 110,000 claim forms to the 2006 Single Payment Scheme. To assist customers and reduce processing time, RPA has been undertaking manual checks to ensure that claims contain sufficient information to process. Around 11 per cent. of the claims received did not contain the
requisite information, and the claimants have been contacted by RPA. With the exception of unsigned claims, which had to be returned to the customer, claimants were asked to provide the missing information to facilitate processing of their claim.
The remaining claims will be paid as soon as legally possible following the positive action set out in my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State’s oral statement on 22 June 2006, Official Report, column 1478.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the largest single farmer subsidy, including EU subsidy, paid in Yeovil constituency was in (a) 2004 and (b) 2005. [82183]
Barry Gardiner: The largest subsidy payment made in the Yeovil constituency for the periods is given in the table:
| £ | |
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of farmers are still to receive their single farm payments. [83718]
Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Member to the Secretary of State’s written statement on 5 July 2006, Official Report, column 43WS.
Sugar Beet
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to increase bioethanol production at sugar beet factories. [84124]
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the potential for developing sugar beet as a source of biomass and biofuels. [84307]
Ian Pearson: The Government support the use of bio-energy as part of the strategy for improving sustainability and reducing the impact of climate change. We recognise that the production of biofuels offers farmers an alternative market for sugar beet and are keen to develop this. British Sugar are building a biofuel processing plant in Norfolk that will use sugar beet as one of the feedstocks.
The Government are promoting the production of bioethanol through a 20 pence per litre duty rate cut. To further develop the supply of biofuels, a Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation will be introduced to require 5 per cent. of fuel sold in the UK to come from a renewable source by 2010. An enhanced capital allowance scheme is also being considered for the cleanest biofuels processing plants. This would allow the cost of capital assets to be written-off against taxable profits. Following the reform of the sugar regime, farmers can claim the EU’s €45 per hectare Energy Aid payment for sugar beet grown on non set-aside land.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the viability of sugar beet as a rotation crop. [84308]
Barry Gardiner: The implications for UK growers of the reform of the EU sugar regime were included in the final Regulatory Impact Assessment which my Department submitted to Parliament following formal adoption of the agreement earlier this year.
Sustainable Competition
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions his Department has had with the Department of Trade and Industry on the inclusion of the promotion of sustainable development within the remit of the Competition Commission; and if he will make a statement. [84638]
Ian Pearson: The Department has had no such discussions.
Tallow
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the categorisation of tallow as a waste product as defined by the Animal By-products regulations and the Waste Framework Directive. [83343]
Ian Pearson: Whether or not a substance is “waste” within the meaning of Article 1 (a) of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) (75/442/EEC as amended) is a matter that must be determined on the facts of the case and the interpretation of the law is a matter for the Courts. It is not a function of the Government to classify or declassify any particular substance as waste or non-waste.
The EU Animal By-Products Regulation lays down rules governing the use and disposal of tallow, as well as other processed animal by-products, and requires that where tallow is subject to incineration or co-incineration (for example, used as a fuel), it must be disposed of as waste in accordance with the Waste Incineration Directive.
On 21 December 2005, the European Commission published its Thematic Strategy on the prevention and recycling of waste together with a proposed revision of the WFD. The draft revised WFD contains a proposal which would enable the Commission to adopt environmental and quality criteria for specified waste streams. Where these criteria are met, the effect would be to deem that the recovery of the specified waste had been completed and that it had ceased to be waste. The Commission’s Thematic Strategy proposes that, subject to the outcome of an environmental study which the Commission is currently undertaking, the waste streams addressed by this system should include the use of tallow as a fuel.
Televisions
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the likely effect of predicted future sales of high end television sales, including plasma screens, on carbon dioxide emissions from their use comparative to existing television use. [84072]
Ian Pearson: The Government’s Market Transformation Programme (MTP) estimates that in 2005 the 63 million television sets in use in the UK consumed around 9.6 Terra Watt Hours (TWh) of electricity—equivalent to 1 million tonnes of carbon. By 2010, MTP estimates that the number of television sets will increase to around 67 million, consuming around 15.7 TWh of electricity—equivalent to 1.7 million tonnes of carbon.
MTP analysis indicates that, at present, new “traditional” cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions (larger than 24 inches) consume around 250 KWh per annum whereas “newer” flat screen plasma and LCD TVs (larger than 24 inches) consume an average of around 900 KWh per annum.
In 2005, MTP estimates that 56 million (88 per cent.) televisions were CRT sets and 6 million (10 per cent.) were plasma or LCD screens. In 2010, MTP expects that 51 per cent. of televisions will be CRT, 28 per cent. LCD, 10 per cent. plasma, and 11 per cent. other technologies.
Beyond 2010, newly emerging television technologies such as Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) screens, will offer potential energy savings in both manufacture and use, compared to existing LED technology. The MTP indicates that commercial OLED televisions will be available by 2010.
The issue of increasing emissions from new generation television sets and the potential impact of emerging technologies was assessed in a report published for Defra in June 2005, entitled “An Assessment of Emerging Innovative Energy Efficient Technologies as part of the Energy Efficiency Innovation Review”. This report is available on the MTP web site at: www.mtprog.com
Timber (Papua New Guinea)
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to tackle illegal logging in Papua New Guinea; and if he will make a statement. [78898]
Barry Gardiner: Trade in illegal timber is unacceptable.
As the world’s fourth biggest net wood product importer, the UK recognises that it can play an important role in influencing timber markets. The Government are committed to tackling illegal logging and its associated trade.
At the international level, the UK engages in a number of bilateral and multi-lateral fora. In particular we are working with other major G8 timber consuming countries
to follow up commitments made to tackle illegal logging at the G8 Environment and Development Ministerial in March 2005.
Trees
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of trees in each country (a) had full crowns, (b) had slight defoliation, (c) had moderate defoliation, (d) had severe defoliation and (e) were dead in the most recent survey of tree health in Europe under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution. [84061]
Barry Gardiner: Surveys on defoliation are undertaken by the International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests—a body operating under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution.
The most recent published results are those for the survey undertaken in 2004. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor as Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for South Dorset (Jim Knight), on 15 June 2005, Official Report, column 432W. The results of the survey undertaken in 2005 are not expected to be published until September 2006.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent steps (a) have been taken and (b) are planned to improve tree health. [84062]
Barry Gardiner: The need to maintain, and improve where necessary, the health and vitality of trees is integral to the Government’s approach to sustainable forest management. We have set this out in the UK Forestry Standard and its supporting literature, which contain many specific measures for protecting woodland and improving tree health. All woodland management by the Forestry Commission is consistent with this standard and we expect private woodland owners that receive grant aid from the Forestry Commission to also meet the standard. The Government have encouraged the development of the voluntary UK Woodland Assurance Standard that provides an independent verification of compliance with good practice and measures to ensure the continuing good health of woodland. We shall continue to ensure compliance with the UK Forest Standard in those woods managed by the Forestry Commission and encourage it in the private sector.
We will also continue to improve, through research, our knowledge of factors affecting tree health and we shall maintain a vigilant guard against the establishment of non-native pests and diseases.
The prospect of changing climate is a threat to the continuing good health of long-lived organisms like trees. We have a number of long-standing research programmes the results of which are being fed into adaptation policies for woodland. plans are well advanced for instituting more such research. Mindful of the changing potential risks from non-native pests, we have taken the steps necessary to make the UK a ‘protected zone’ within Europe for a number of pests
and diseases, most recently for a fungal blight of sweet chestnut. We are planning to implement measures, in accordance with an EU Commission decision which will apply throughout the community, against an insect pest of the same species, the oriental chestnut gall wasp.
In improving tree health, we are conscious that the use of chemicals against pests and noxious weeds may itself be a less than perfect solution. Therefore in 2004 we published guidance on reducing pesticide use in forestry and support moves to find other means of control. Examples are the recent deployment of a predatory beetle to control outbreaks of the great spruce bark beetle and continuing development of “integrated pest management” techniques against one of our most serious forest pests, the Hylobius weevil.
Warm Front
Roger Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will revise the Warm Front eligibility criteria to make low-income householders caring for a severely disabled adult eligible for assistance with heating and insulation improvements. [83896]
Ian Pearson: The Warm Front Scheme is designed to provide support to those households which are most at risk of fuel poverty. The eligibility criteria for the scheme are designed to identify those households through receipt of specified income or disability related benefits.
We regularly review the scope and delivery of the scheme and will consider this request as part of that process.
Waste
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many tonnes of (a) aluminium, (b) wood , (c) paper, (d) green waste, (e) glass, (f) steel and (g) textiles there were in the municipal waste stream in each year since 2004-05; and how much of each he estimates was (i) recycled, (ii) landfilled and (iii) sent to energy from waste facilities (A) in total and (B) broken down by local authority area. [84066]
Mr. Bradshaw: Information on tonnages of specific materials in the municipal waste stream is not available, other than when separately collected for recycling. However, composition analysis of household waste carried out for the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit report “Waste not, want not”, published in November 2002, provided proportions of individual materials in the waste stream. These proportions have been applied to the 2004-05 WasteDataFlow results to produce estimated totals for England which are shown as follows. A breakdown of results for each local authority is not available.
| 2004-05 | |
| Tonnes (thousand) | |
Data on the tonnages of different materials from household sources collected for recycling in England since 2003-04 are not available.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total volume of (a) domestic, (b) commercial and (c) other waste was in each region in each year since 2002-03; what this represents per head of population; and what proportion was (i) sent to landfill, (ii) incinerated and (iii) disposed of by other means in each case. [84248]
Mr. Bradshaw: The estimates (data) for municipal waste (of which approximately 90 per cent. is domestic waste) arisings and management shown in the following tables are taken from the annual DEFRA Municipal Waste Management Survey for 2002-03 and 2003-04. Provisional municipal waste estimates for 2004-05 are from WasteDataFlow.
The figures for both commercial waste and industrial waste are taken from the Environment Agency’s Commercial and Industrial Waste Survey and are available for 2002-03 only. Results for other types of waste are not available broken down at regional level. ‘Other’ includes waste recycled and/or composted. Totals may not add up due to rounding.
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