Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 28 November 2006
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
British Produce
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) chicken, (b) eggs, (c) fish and (d) pork consumed in the United Kingdom which was produced by British farmers in each year between 2000 and 2005. [102484]
Barry Gardiner [holding answer 23 November 2006]: UK production of poultry meat, eggs and pork as a percentage of total new supply for use in the UK is shown in the following table. Equivalent figures for fish are not readily available.
| Table 1: UK Production as a percentage of total new supply for use in the UK | ||||||
| Units: percentage | ||||||
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
| Source: Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2005, Defra | ||||||
British Waterways
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations he has received from boating organisations on the proposed reduction in British Waterways’ grant. [105873]
Barry Gardiner: The Government have received representations from a wide range of hon. Members and key stakeholders, including boating organisations, since announcing the budget reductions for British Waterways for 2006-07. The representations have taken the form of meetings, correspondence and parliamentary questions.
Domestic Rubbish
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many fixed penalties were issued for (a) putting domestic rubbish in the wrong container, (b) leaving domestic rubbish out on the wrong day and (c) overfilling a wheelie bin with domestic rubbish in the last year for which figures are available. [104105]
Mr. Bradshaw:
Fixed penalty notices (FPN) for offences relating to waste receptacles under sections 46 and 47 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 were
introduced on the 6 April 2006, via the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act.
FPN statistics are collected and reported on an annual basis. Local authorities will have until the end of June 2007 to return statistics to DEFRA for FPNs issued between April 2006 and March 2007. The statistics will then be released once they have been collated.
Greyhound Racing
Mr. MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when his Department will implement regulations for greyhound racing. [104524]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Government have made a firm commitment to introduce regulations to protect the welfare of racing greyhounds in England by 2008, to come into force in 2009.
Landfill
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding the Government have provided to local authorities to compensate for higher rates of landfill tax and the landfill tax escalator under the New Burdens Principle. [103924]
Mr. Bradshaw: The landfill tax escalator is revenue neutral to local government as a whole, since the revenue is returned through central Government grant. During Spending Reviews, the Government makes an assessment of the cost to local government of delivering services and targets, including the tax burden, and allocates funding accordingly. Local government is therefore already funded to meet its landfill tax liabilities.
Mislabelling of Eggs
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when his Department first became aware of the alleged fraud on the mislabelling of eggs. [102599]
Barry Gardiner: I cannot comment on the specifics of on-going criminal investigations. Defra's recent press release was issued when information suggested to us that the level of possible illegal marketing of eggs was such that the public and others with an interest should be informed. We took that action to allow those concerned in the marketing of eggs to satisfy themselves that consumers were not being misled by the labelling on the product they were buying.
Organophosphates
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government's approach to organophosphates. [102603]
Mr. Bradshaw:
Organophosphates (OPs) are used in a variety of ways and provide a range of benefits. However, they are hazardous chemicals and the
Government use the latest scientific advice to provide information on how OP products can be used safely.
Government policy on OPs is developed and coordinated through the Official Group on Organophosphates (OGOP), which was set up in 1997 to provide a liaison forum for Government Departments and agencies. OGOP usually meets on an annual basis and is attended by officials from Defra, Ministry of Defence, Health and Safety Executive and Department of Health and is chaired by the Chief Veterinary Officer.
The terms of reference of OGOP are to:
monitor the processes by which information about OP products is shared between the Government Departments involved, with the aim of ensuring effective coordination; and advise whether any changes in procedure are needed;
draw together all scientific evidence from UK and international sources relevant to the policy issues to which OP products give rise;
advise whether there are any gaps in the current state of scientific knowledge which should be remedied, and if so to propose how the new work might be commissioned;
examine the procedures by which OP products are licensed for different purposes; identify any variations, and advise whether procedures should be changed;
take stock of other questions, cutting across departmental boundaries, as Ministers may refer to them from time to time; with the aim of ensuring that all issues relevant to policy are examined by the appropriate experts and the results or conclusions made available to all Departments concerned.
Recycling
Mr. Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures the Government have taken to encourage local authorities to recycle commercial waste; and if he will make a statement. [104090]
Mr. Bradshaw: Action to encourage recycling and reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill is driven by regional and local strategies and supported by nationally funded programmes.
Waste Strategy 2000 set a target to reduce the amount of commercial and industrial waste going to landfill to 85 per cent. of that landfilled in 1998, by 2005. On the basis of the latest figures, from 2002, we expect to have met this target.
Businesses already have a strong financial incentive to reuse or recycle their waste, and the continued increase in the rate of Landfill Tax (rising by 3 per tonne per year from 2005-06, until it reaches 35 per tonne in the medium to long term) is another
important instrument in reducing our reliance on landfill and moving to more sustainable waste management options.
Revenue from the landfill tax escalator is in turn being recycled to businesses through the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) Programme, which is returning £284 million to businesses over three years through resource efficiency and waste minimisation programmes, providing support and advice to businesses that wish to improve their resource efficiency.
In 2006-07, BREW has been funding a pilot project to create a BREW Centre for local authorities, based at Oxfordshire County Council, which provides information, guidance, advice and good practice examples on how local authorities can support local business on resource efficiency and waste management.
The Review of England’s Waste Strategy consultation document (published in February this year) asked for views on the proposed wider strategic role for local authorities on business waste and resources and on whether there should be new requirements for recycling of commercial waste on local authorities and/or business. In light of the consultation responses and progress of the BREW pilot mentioned, we are developing proposals on the role of local authorities in commercial waste. We are aiming to publish the revised Waste Strategy in the new year.
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will provide Shrewsbury borough council with funding to provide extra recycling facilities. [104299]
Mr. Bradshaw: Under the Waste Performance and Efficiency Grant (WPEG), Shrewsbury and Atcham borough council have been awarded £190,897.77 over the three year period from 2005 to 2008; £30,104.64 in 2005-06, £78,533.31 in 2006-07 and £82,259.82 in 2007-08. The WPEG is a targeted grant which aims to help increase recycling and the diversion of waste from landfill. The funding stream will ensure a joined-up approach to delivering additional funding from central government to local authorities for improved recycling and composting services. The WPEG is an un-ring fenced grant—how the funds are managed is the responsibility of each individual authority and no audit on use of the funds will take place.
A breakdown of funding awarded to the Council since 2002 to help improve recycling performance is shown in the following table:
| Fund | Award (£) | Scheme description | Start date | End date |
|
Shropshire Strategy Review/Increasing Commercial Waste Recycling | ||||
Decisions on the Grant allocations for 2008-09 and beyond will be considered in the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.
Research Studies
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research studies were commissioned by his Department in each of the last five years where a decision was taken not to publish the results of the research after it was completed. [103505]
Mr. Bradshaw: Out of a total of 2,272 research projects commissioned during the period 2002-06, 43 reports were withheld from publication. The breakdown of the number not published in each year against the reasons given for non publication are given in the following table.
| Number of reports not published by year and reason between 2002-06 | |||||
| Reason | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2005 |
Rural Payments Agency
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how much was spent (a) in total and (b) per head on staff training at the Rural Payments Agency in each year from 2001-02 to 2006-07, broken down by (i) permanent and (ii) agency staff; and what the projected figures are for 2007-08; [100741]
(2) how many hours of staff training were undertaken (a) in total and (b) per head by (i) permanent and (ii) agency staff at the Rural Payments Agency in each year from 2001-02 to 2006-07. [100742]
Barry Gardiner: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) allocates an equal proportion of training time to both permanent staff and agency workers to meet scheme operational requirements. Training is provided to equip staff with the skills required to perform their duties to meet the RPA's key business targets.
The following table sets out the average time spent on formal operational training time per head and in total for each financial year:
| Hours per head | Total staff trained | Total hours | |
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