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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, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (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.
| Municipal waste | |||||
| Thousand tonnes | |||||
| Arisings | Tonnes per head( 1) | Landfill | Incinerated | Other | |
| 2002-03 Commercial waste | |||||
| Thousand tonnes | |||||
| Arisings | Tonnes per head(1) | Landfill | Incinerated | Other | |
| 2002-03 Industrial waste | |||||
| Thousand tonnes | |||||
| Arisings | Tonnes per head( 1) | Landfill | Incinerated | Other | |
| (1
)Calculated using mid-year population estimates from the Office of
National
Statistics. | |||||
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has for a variable charge for household waste; and what recent discussions he has had with the Local Government Association on this issue. [85096]
Mr. Bradshaw: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 3 July 2006, Official Report, column 749W.
The Secretary of State invited the Local Government Association (LGA) and local authorities to share their views on household waste charging when he addressed the LGA conference earlier this month. Neither I nor the Secretary of State have had further discussions on the issue with the LGA.
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