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26 Apr 2007 : Column 1231W—continued
Fly Tipping: Bournemouth
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many incidents of fly-tipping were reported in Bournemouth in each of the last four years. [132398]
Mr. Bradshaw: Flycapture, the national fly-tipping database was set up in 2004 by DEFRA, the Environment Agency and the Local Government Association, to record fly-tipping incidents dealt with by the Environment Agency and local authorities. Data are therefore only available from April 2004 onwards.
Numbers of incidents reported in Bournemouth, in years for which data are available, are shown in the following table:
| Bournemouth borough council | |
| Total number of incidents | |
Data for 2006-2007 are not yet available but will be published this summer.
Graffiti
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was spent on removing graffiti in each local authority area in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [134216]
Mr. Bradshaw: This information is not held by my Department. Local authorities (LAs) do not have a duty to clear graffiti and so do not receive funding for its clearance.
Under sections 48-52 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, LAs can issue a Defacement Removal Notice on the owners, occupiers and operators of land and buildings owned by a statutory undertaker or educational institution and which are accessible or visible to the public. These notices can also be served on objects in or on the public street such as cable boxes, telephone kiosks and bus stops. Once served, the company or statutory undertaker has 28 days to remove the defacement. If the defacement has not been removed after this time, the LA can remove it itself and recover the costs of doing so. LAs are required to make reasonable attempts to enter into partnership with the property owners before issuing any notices under sections 48-52.
Livestock: Disease Control
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much livestock was ordered to be slaughtered by his Department in each year since May 1997 (a) with and (b) without compensation. [133378]
Mr. Bradshaw: Information on the number of livestock slaughtered for disease control purposes, and the amount of compensation paid, is available in the Chief Veterinary Officer’s Reports. These are available in tables which have been placed in the Library.
Shellfish
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the effect on marine conservation of the banning of the landing of berried lobsters. [133770]
Mr. Bradshaw: Scientific studies suggest that a ban on the landing of berried lobsters and an increase in the Minimum Landing Size (MLS), if equally complied with, would provide similar conservation benefits. However, a ban on the taking of berried lobsters would be almost impossible to enforce, and we know it is likely to be widely ignored. Its potential contribution to lobster conservation may therefore not be realized.
As a MLS can be more effectively enforced and very difficult to ignore, I chose to investigate this option in the interests of getting effective conservation results. We have recently completed a consultation on proposals for increasing the MLS for lobsters and will announce the conclusions from it in the near future.
Waste Disposal: Lighting
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance has been issued to local authorities on disposal of long life bulbs; and whether these bulbs contain mercury. [132584]
Mr. Bradshaw: Energy efficient light bulbs contain a small amount of mercury (less than 5 milligrams per lamp) and are therefore classified as hazardous waste. They should be disposed of responsibly by local authorities (LAs) and in accordance with waste regulations.
From 1 July this year, long life bulbs, where collected with other waste electrical equipment, will need to be disposed of in accordance with the requirements of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations. LAs that register their civic amenity sites as designated collection facilities (DCFs) for WEEE will be entitled to free collection from those sites by producer compliance schemes. Once these bulbs are collected, producers will be responsible for their treatment and recycling. Guidance on the WEEE regulations, including on how LAs can register their sites as DCFs, is available from the Department for Trade and Industry. Guidance on the WEEE treatment requirements was issued by DEFRA in November 2006.
There is increasing evidence that the mercury in each energy efficient bulb is considerably outweighed by the mercury put into the atmosphere through the additional electricity generation required to operate a traditional bulb.
Senior Civil Servants
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the staff turnover rate for senior grade civil servants within the (a) Waste Strategy Division and (b) Waste Management Division was in the last (i) 12 months and (ii) five years. [132275]
Barry Gardiner: The staff turnover rate for senior civil servants within the stated Divisions are as follows:
| Waste Strategy Division | |
| Number | |
| Waste Management Division | |
| Number | |
Whales: Conservation
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he has taken to oppose the lifting of the moratorium on commercial whaling; and if he will write in opposition to lifting of the ban to his counterparts in (a) Denmark, (b) other member Governments of the European Union, (c) St. Lucia, (d) St. Vincent and The Grenadines, (e) Antigua and Barbuda, (f) Dominica, (g) Grenada, (h) St. Kitts and Nevis, (i) Solomon Islands, (j) Belize, (k) Toralu, (l) Kinibati, (m) The Gambia, (n) Cameroon and Nauru, (o) other Commonwealth members of the International Whaling Commission and (p) other members of the International Whaling Commission. [131144]
Mr. Bradshaw: The UK will continue to protest at the highest diplomatic level against the resumption of commercial whaling and we will continue our efforts, along with other countries, to urge those countries that support whaling to reconsider their position.
DEFRA officials ensure that Foreign and Commonwealth Office posts in the relevant capitals are briefed, and engage in discussion with their counterparts on whaling at every appropriate opportunity. This ensures that these countries are in no doubt of the importance that the UK attaches to whale conservation. UK embassies and Ministers across Government will continue to lobby on this issue in the run-up to the next annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Alaska in May.
Home Department
DNA Database
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam, of 16 October 2006, Official Report, columns 1042-44W, on the DNA database; if he will break down the information given by police force area. [130330]
John Reid: The information requested is shown in the following tables:
| Table 1: Breakdown of 124,347 CJ arrestee records on the national DNA database by ethnic appearance | ||||||
| 6+1 ethnic appearance rating | ||||||
| Force | White European | Dark European | Afro- Caribbean | Asian | Oriental | Arab |
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