| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
24 May 2007 : Column 1404W—continued
(b) Results orientated monitoring—the Commission has developed a results orientated monitoring (ROM) process. This system is based on regular onsite assessments by independent experts of ongoing projects and programmes. The projects/
programmes evaluated are assessed against criteria of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability.
(c) Annual report on the European Community's Development Policy and Implementation of External Assistance—this is published by the Commission in the summer of each year. It includes the results of the ROM process as well as detail on the breakdown of financial assistance by sector, region and type of aid (for example, project or budgetary support). It also provides information on commitment and disbursement levels. The annual report is presented to EU member states and the European Parliament for discussion and adoption.
(d) Annual auditing of EU Budget—The EU’s annual accounts and resource management are overseen by its external auditor, the European Court of Auditors. The Court of Auditors prepares an annual report for the Council and the European Parliament. The court’s main task is to conduct an external, independent audit of the European Communities’ annual accounts, including those of the development co-operation programme. Finally, the Court prepares ‘special reports’ which provide the findings of audits covering specific areas of EC work, such as that on the Environment in Development Co-operation in 2006.
World Bank
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if the UK Government will nominate a candidate for the World Bank Presidency; and if he will make a statement. [139040]
Hilary Benn: The Government will work with other member countries of the World Bank to identify and select the best candidate for the job.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Animals: Imports
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether ruminants arrived in Dover by ferry from Calais on 5 May 2007. [138303]
Mr. Bradshaw: Animal Health have found no record of ruminant animals being imported from Calais via Dover on 5 May 2007.
Cattle: Exports
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent meetings he has held with (a) animal welfare organisations and (b) the agricultural industry on the export of live young calves. [138782]
Mr. Bradshaw: So far this year, I have met representatives of both Compassion in World Farming and Kent Action Against Live Exports. My officials continue to communicate with welfare and industry bodies through meetings, correspondence and telephone calls on a regular basis.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the conditions experienced by live young calves which are exported; and if he will make a statement. [138785]
Mr. Bradshaw: The following table shows the research recently commissioned by DEFRA on the conditions experienced by live calves (and other animals) during transport.
DEFRA continually reviews and appraises its research programme. Evaluation takes place before, during and at the end of each research project. In addition, a review of research and development programmes is undertaken every five years with interested parties, including welfare groups, industry and consumer groups. A review of the Animal Welfare at Transport and Markets programme was held at the end of 2006. The output from this review will be made available on the DEFRA website soon. Our research findings help to provide a sound scientific basis on which to formulate our policy on the transport of live animals.
Climate Change: Electricity Generation
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what contribution United Kingdom officials or scientists made to the ad hoc working group on Mitigation potentials of policies, measures and technologies of the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change, held in Bonn on 15 to 18 May; and whether any specific electricity generation technology was promoted by the United Kingdom. [138434]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 21 May 2007]: UK officials played an active part in the European Union’s (EU) preparations for the Bonn United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Ad-hoc Working Group meeting. During the meeting, the EU presented information on the mitigation potential of the EU as a whole and not as individual member states. In the preparations, the UK did not promote any specific electricity generation technology. The EU’s submissions and presentations can be found on the UNFCCC website at:
Climate Change: International Cooperation
Anne Moffat:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress he
is making in involving (a) G8 countries, (b) EU countries and (c) other major developing countries in talks on tackling the effects of climate change. [137649]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 18 May 2007]: We are making progress, but there is still a long way to go. The spring European Council showed significant developments at the European level and real leadership by the EU. The EU committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2020 as part of an international agreement and agreed an independent commitment to cut emissions by at least 20 per cent.
In the G8, we are continuing to work with the German presidency to achieve our climate change objectives, which we began to set out at Gleneagles in 2005. We are aiming for the Heiligendamm summit in June to send a clear signal to the UN climate change conference in Bali in December on the need to launch negotiations on a global and comprehensive post-2012 agreement, to be completed by 2009.
In parallel, we are working, both bilaterally and through the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change (UNFCCC), to engage countries in order to raise the level of global ambition to respond to the threat of global warming, as set out in the recent findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on climate change. For example, we are working with South Africa to explore what a post-2012 agreement could look like.
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in what joint projects his Department is involved with its Chinese counterpart in the area of climate change mitigation and sustainable development. [138506]
Ian Pearson: A key international objective for the UK is to ensure that Chinese engagement helps enhance efforts towards making the transition to a sustainable low carbon economy globally as well as shaping an effective international regime to tackle climate change.
In order to do this we are engaged with China through a number of channels including:
(i) The sustainable development dialogue(SDD). Examples of joint working, include a workshop on sustainable consumption and production, establishment of a joint working group on sustainable forestry, discussions with the Chinese Ministry of Construction on sustainable urban development and a project at provincial level to share the UK’s experience on waste management and resource efficiency.
(ii) The UK-China working group on climate change. This is helping by feeding into discussions and activities under the Gleneagles Dialogue, the EU-China Partnership on climate change and the United Nations framework convention on climate change.
(iii) The near-zero emissions coal (nZEC) project which aims to demonstrate coal fired power generation with carbon dioxide capture and storage technology in China by 2020.
(iv) The UK is working with China on a bilateral project on climate change impacts. It has already gone some way towards revealing the effect of climate change on Chinese agriculture;
(v) The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), a multi-country initiative that covers China, India, the whole G7, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. REEEP delivers projects on the ground that demonstrate the potential for reform of energy policy and financing frameworks in a sustainable way.
Construction: Sustainable Development
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, (b) the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and (c) the Director of the Office of Government Commerce on sustainable procurement in the building construction sector. [136407]
Ian Pearson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and DEFRA Ministers have held discussions with many colleagues from other Departments, including DTI, CLG and OGC, on topics such as sustainable procurement in the building construction sector, as part of the wider discussions on combating climate change.
Desalination
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many water desalination plants are (a) in operation, (b) under construction and (c) planned in England; and what the (i) location and (ii) company involved is in each case. [137848]
Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 13 July 2006, Official Report, column 1959W. Thames Water’s appeal against refusal of planning permission for a proposed desalination plant in the Thames estuary was the subject of a public inquiry in 2006 and the decision on the appeal is currently before the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. After piloting a desalination plant, South East Water has decided not to pursue desalination yet as a solution for delivering extra water at peak times.
Drinking Water Inspectorate: Prosecutions
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many prosecutions brought by the Drinking Water Inspectorate resulted in (a) convictions and (b) custodial sentences in each year since 1995; [137874]
(2) how many (a) prosecutions, (b) cautions and (c) enforcement notices were brought by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (i) in total and (ii) in each region in each year since 1995. [137892]
Ian Pearson: Prosecutions are initiated against a company, not an individual. Convictions arise when a company is found guilty of the criminal offence of supplying water unfit for human consumption.
The following table shows the number of prosecutions and cautions of water companies brought by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) between 1995 and 2006. The sum total is 38 prosecutions and 23 cautions of companies supplying water in England and Wales.
| Prosecutions | Cautions | |
The legal enforcement process is initiated by the DWI with the issue of a “minded to enforce” notice to which the water company responds. The response often involves the provision of a legally binding undertaking to carry out work to remedy the matter, thereby staying the requirement for an enforcement order to be issued.
Since 1995, this process has been used on over 3,000 occasions. Details of the companies involved are provided in the Chief Inspector’s annual Drinking Water reports.
Drinking Water: Chemicals
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how much was spent on removing (a) pesticides and (b) nitrates from drinking water supplies in each of the last five years; [137862]
(2) what estimate he has made of the cost of removing (a) pesticides and (b) nitrates from drinking water supplies in each year since 2000. [137893]
Ian Pearson: Ofwat is the economic regulator of the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales. Companies report to Ofwat each year in their June return on their expenditure in various categories.
Over the five years to 2005-06, companies reported additional capital expenditure of £49 million on reducing pesticides levels and £75 million on reducing nitrate levels in the public water supply (in 2005-06 prices inflated using the retail price index). This is shown for each year since 2000 in the following table.
| £ million | ||
| Pesticides | Nitrates | |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |