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13 Jun 2007 : Column 1034W—continued
Domestic Wastes: Waste Management
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research has been (a) conducted and (b) commissioned by his Department or its agencies on the safety of alternate weekly household rubbish collections with regards to the health of refuse collection staff. [142261]
Mr. Bradshaw: DEFRA funded an independent research study, carried out by Enviros Consulting and Cranfield University, on this subject. This identified no evidence of adverse health impacts resulting from alternate weekly collection of household waste.
Fisheries
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he plans to make further quota swaps in 2007 to support the inshore under 10 metre fleet; and if he will make a statement. [142316]
Mr. Bradshaw:
Fisheries Administrations will continue to explore all means possible to enhance the 10 metre and under “pool” allocations for key stocks, including by domestic and international swaps and through quota donations under the economic link licence condition. I have recently introduced an additional measure for 2007 to permit licence holders
of 10 metre and under vessels to lease in-year quota from producer organisations. This is in recognition of the increased pressures faced by the inshore fleet and the need of some fishermen to access quota above the quantities they may fish each month from the 10 metre and under “pool” quota allocation.
Floods: Yorkshire and Humberside
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Environment Agency spent on flood defences in Yorkshire in each year since 1997. [141565]
Ian Pearson: The information is as follows.
| Environment Agency spending on flood defences in Yorkshire, 1997-2007 | ||||
| Capital | Revenue | Additional funding due to autumn 2000 flood event | Total (£) | |
| Source: Yorkshire Regional Flood Defence Committee Expenditure 1997-98 to 2006-07 | ||||
Foxes: Urban Areas
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of changes in the number of urban foxes over the last five years; and what assessment he has made of the causes of such changes. [142377]
Barry Gardiner: My Department does not routinely collate data on the levels of urban fox populations and holds no data on the levels of change over the last five years. There have been a number of fox population estimates, the most generally accepted being that produced by Harris et al. (1995), who estimated that in Britain there are 240,000 adult foxes at the start of the breeding season. Of these, 33,000 adult foxes live in urban areas.
GMOs: Crops
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in which GM test sites within the National Institute of Agricultural Botany’s Huntingdon road research grounds in Cambridge trials have been conducted since 1990, including National List Trials; which GM crop was tested in each case; what GM traits were in the crops; which company was granted the release consent; which areas of each plot were used; and what the six figure map reference was for each trial plot. [140878]
Ian Pearson: The information my Department has available on trials at the NIAB Cambridge site has been placed in the Library today.
Inland Waterways: UN Conventions
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made by the UK in ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Law of the non-navigational uses of international water courses; and if he will make a statement. [140847]
Hilary Benn: I have been asked to reply.
This matter was first raised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on 22 March 2007 in a letter sent to DEFRA, DFID and FCO. In response, we have met both with representatives from WWF and with officials from DEFRA and FCO to discuss the potential benefits and implications of UK accession.
The matter is not straightforward. We do not believe that any potential domestic benefits justify the resources that would be required, given that the UK has no issues with trans-boundary water management. However, we need to do more work to determine whether or not there is a development case for accession. We need to be clear on real benefits on the ground and ensure that this does not just place a further burden on governments in our partner countries. We will reach a view on this in the autumn and feed this into cross Whitehall consultations with DEFRA and FCO.
Ivory: Trade
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with his counterparts in Africa on the international trade in elephant ivory ahead of the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species; and if he will make a statement. [141580]
Barry Gardiner: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard) on 23 May 2007, Official Report, column 1308W.
Landfill: Methane
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his Department’s estimate is of the volume of emissions of methane from landfill sites in the UK in the last year for which figures are available. [142068]
Mr. Bradshaw: Methane emissions from biodegradable waste in landfill amounted to an estimated 928,000 tonnes in 2005, out of a UK total of 2.35 million tonnes.
Recycling: Standards
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) which local authorities exceeded their targets for household waste recycling in the last year for which figures are available; [141225]
(2) what the household recycling rates were for each local authority area in England in the last year for which figures are available. [141226]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is available from the DEFRA website at: www.defra.gov.uk/news/2006/061215a-table.pdf. I have also arranged for copies to be placed in the House Library.
Water: Infrastructure
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the extent of new water infrastructure required in England; and where such new infrastructure will be located. [141323]
Ian Pearson: Since 1 April 2007, all water companies have a statutory requirement to produce Water Resource Management Plans which look ahead 25 years and include projections of current and future demands for water. The next set of plans will show how water companies propose to meet demand for water, including the development of any new water supply resources that are needed beyond those identified in their voluntarily produced 2004 plans.
In their 2004 plans, which informed the 2005-10 review of prices, several water companies included schemes to build new reservoirs or expand existing ones. Details are provided in the following table.
| Company | Scheme | |
Several water companies also had plans for desalination plants in their 2004 plans. Thames Water proposes to build a major desalination plant in the Thames estuary. This is currently before ministers for decision following an appeal by the company against the refusal of planning permission.
House of Commons Commission
Lighting
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission whether the House will be taking part in Lights out London on 21 June; and if he will make a statement. [141321]
Nick Harvey: I understand that both Houses will be taking part in lights out London on 21 June. Officials are investigating what is possible given that people will still be using the buildings during the evening. The event will be publicised and Members and others reminded of the need to switch off lights and non-essential electrical appliances when they are not in use.
Members: Transport
Mr. Robathan: To ask the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many travel card reminder letters have been sent to hon. Members by the Department of Finance and Administration in the last 12 months. [141012]
Nick Harvey: Members are asked to complete, sign and return a pre-printed statement for each month that their travel card is used to purchase rail, air or other travel tickets, for use in connection with their parliamentary duties. A reminder is sent three weeks after the statement is first issued and a further reminder two weeks later.
Duchy of Lancaster
Departments: Opinion Leader Research
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the (a) value and (b) purpose was of each payment made by her Department to Opinion Leader Research since 1997. [141445]
Hilary Armstrong: It is not possible to readily identify from the Department's accounting system, the value and purpose of each payment, made to Opinion Leader Research since 1997, therefore, this information is only available at disproportionate cost.
National School of Government: Freedom of Information
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the National School of Government is deemed to be a public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. [141635]
Vera Baird: I have been asked to reply.
The National School of Government became a non-Ministerial Department on 1 January 2007 and as such is deemed to be a public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act.
Culture, Media and Sport
Arts: West Bromwich
Mr. Watson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with (a) Sandwell metropolitan borough council, (b) the Public Gallery Ltd., (c) the National Lottery, (d) the Arts Council England and (e) regional
development agency Advantage West Midlands on the Public Arts Centre in West Bromwich East constituency; and if she will make a statement. [140551]
Tessa Jowell: I have not had any discussions about the public with these organisations. I understand that building work on the project stopped in March 2006 when the Public Building Ltd. went into administration. Sandwell borough council, Arts Council England, Advantage West Midlands and Government office for the west midlands have been working together to secure a way forward. Building work has now re-started and is due to be complete before the end of this year, with a public opening in 2008.
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