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24 July 2007 : Column 943W—continued
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Carbon Emissions: Imports
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will commission research to quantify the amount of carbon dioxide emissions generated by imports to the UK of Chinese-manufactured goods. [150800]
Mr. Woolas: DEFRA’s evidence and innovation strategy considers some of the ‘embedded' environmental impacts of the international supply chains that feed UK consumption. Research projects relevant to embodied carbon emissions include:
Support for a British Standards Institute project to develop a publicly accessible specification for embedded greenhouse gas emissions of products and services.
The development of an embedded carbon emissions indicator to enable more accurate measurement of embedded carbon emissions in supply chains outside the UK. This is based on a multi-regional model that, in the first instance, divides the world into three regions (OECD-Europe, other OECD and non-OECD countries) enabling a more accurate estimation of carbon dioxide emissions embedded UK trade than previously possible. To date, UK emissions factors for this data have been used but do not give an accurate result, as the impacts can vary depending on the sources of energy used in the producing country. This model will enable a more accurate representation of the emission, albeit not specifically for Chinese energy sources.
Environment Protection: York City Council
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) purpose and (b) value was of each special grant awarded to City of York council for environmental purposes in each year since 2006. [151565]
Mr. Woolas: Details of grants awarded to City of York council for environmental purposes since 2006 are shown in the following table.
| Grant | Purpose of grant | Amount (£) | |
| (1) Joint project between North Yorkshire county council and City of York council. (2) Awarded to North Yorkshire county council. City of York council was one of the named constituent councils for this project. | |||
Exhaust Emissions: Delivery Services
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact of internet and catalogue shopping home deliveries on levels of carbon dioxide emissions in the last five years. [150070]
Mr. Woolas: No assessment has been made by my Department.
Fisheries: Migrant Workers
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the percentage of Cornish fishing crews which are migrant workers. [152029]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 23 July 2007]: My Department does not hold the information requested.
Flood Control
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will review the adequacy of the budgets for flood defences; and if he will make a statement. [151148]
Mr. Woolas:
1 refer the hon. Member to the statement given by the Secretary of State on 2 July 2007, Official Report, column 689, in which he stated the Government have always recognised the need to spend more on flood defence because of changes in climate. DEFRA and local authority spend on flood
and coastal erosion risk management has increased from £307 million in 1996-97 to £600 million this year and will increase further to £800 million in 2010-11.
Floods: Housing
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many homes have been (a) built, (b) built on flood plains, (c) built in areas of significant flood risk and (d) built against the advice of the Environment Agency due to flood risk in (i) each region and (ii) England in the last 10 years. [148954]
Mr. Iain Wright: I have been asked to reply.
With regards to the homes that have been (a) built and (b) built on flood plains information from the Communities and Local Government’s Land Use Change Statistics and Completions data show the total number of dwellings built and the estimated number built on floodplains. Between 1996 and 2005 (the most recent 10 years for which data are available) there were 1,441,200 dwellings completed, of which an estimated 133,600 were built on flood risk areas.
Data are not available on the number of homes built against Environment Agency advice.
I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) to the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) on 8 January 2007, Official Report, column 369W.
Floods: Warnings
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the take up is of the automatic flood warning system in (a) North Yorkshire, (b) South Yorkshire, (c) East Yorkshire and (d) England. [150822]
Mr. Woolas: The Environment Agency reported that the take up for Floodline Warnings Direct in these areas is as follows:
North Yorkshire (excluding the City of York): 3,516 properties which is 29 per cent. of those offered Floodline Warnings Direct.
South Yorkshire: 1,653 properties which is 39 per cent. of those offered Floodline Warnings Direct.
East Yorkshire: 2,694 properties which is 45 per cent. of those offered Floodline Warnings Direct.
England: 250,606 properties which is 30 per cent. of those offered Floodline Warnings Direct.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to review the flood warning system. [150823]
Mr. Woolas: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced a Lessons Learned exercise on the summer flooding on 12 July. Any lessons about the operation of the operation of the flood warning system will be picked up as part of that exercise.
Under the Government's making space for water strategy for flood and coastal erosion risk management,
the technical feasibility of extending warnings to include other types of flooding than from rivers or the sea is currently under study.
Fly Tipping: East of England
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 25 June 2007, Official Report, column 82W, on flytipping: East of England, how many incidents of flytipping were reported in each local authority in the UK in (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005-06; what the estimated cost was of dealing with incidents of flytipping; and how many (i) prosecutions and (ii) successful prosecutions there were for flytipping in each local authority in the UK in each year. [149878]
Jonathan Shaw: The Flycapture database, which was set up in 2004 by DEFRA, the Environment Agency and the Local Government Association, records the number of fly tipping incidents dealt with by the Environment Agency and local authorities and the enforcement action taken. The Environment Agency deals only with larger scale fly-tipping incidents.
As it is quite lengthy, I am arranging for a table showing the number of incidents and prosecutions recorded on Flycapture for 2004-05 and 2005-06 in England to be placed in the House Library.
Data for 2006-07 have not yet been finalised, but will be available in the summer.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Yorkshire and Humberside
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the change in greenhouse gas emissions has been in percentage terms in (a) Yorkshire and the Humber and (b) City of York since 2003. [151558]
Joan Ruddock: DEFRA does not hold greenhouse gas emissions data at the geographical level necessary to derive these reductions. Experimental local authority carbon dioxide emissions data are currently available for 2003 and 2004 only— however, due to changes in the underlying methodology, year-on-year comparisons using these data would be inappropriate.
I have placed experimental emissions estimates for 2003 and 2004 in the Library of the House.
Land Drainage
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Environment Agency spent on drainage on each local authority area in each of the last three years. [151455]
Mr. Woolas: The Environment Agency is responsible for managing flood risk from designated main rivers and the sea with local authorities (and, in low-lying areas, internal drainage boards) responsible for managing flood risk from other watercourses.
Local authorities, highway authorities and water and sewerage companies all have varying responsibilities for drainage of surface water.
I am unable to provide a breakdown of spend on flood risk management by local authority area without incurring disproportionate cost.
Land Use: Flood Control
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will take steps to give greater weight in the higher level scheme to land management measures that would reduce the risk to communities from flooding. [150760]
Mr. Woolas: There is funding available under the higher level scheme for the creation of wildlife habitats which may also have flood risk management benefits. My officials are currently reviewing the progress of environmental stewardship to see whether the scheme is on course to meet its environmental outcomes. In particular the review will consider how the scheme can mitigate the effects of climate change which may have a bearing on flood management issues.
Radioactive Materials: Storage
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency's choice of sites for storing nuclear waste. [150727]
Malcolm Wicks: I have been asked to reply.
Government considers that it is essential that radioactive waste is stored safely and securely at all times pending its disposal, in line with HSE requirements on Nuclear Site Licensees and the recommendations of the independent Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM).
In response to CoRWM’s 2006 recommendations, the NDA is reviewing the adequacy of waste storage arrangements across its sites, focusing on the service life of facilities required to accommodate waste until a disposal facility is available. In a separate study NDA's contractors have been looking at possible opportunities to optimise intermediate level waste storage. The preliminary view is that there may be opportunities to consolidate storage at some NDA sites using facilities that are already in site baseline plans, as well as opportunities for minimising waste generation. There are currently no plans for new stores located off NDA sites. The outcomes of these studies will inform the review of the NDA’s Strategy, which it expects to begin during 2008. The NDA’s Strategy will be the subject of public consultation and subject to approval by Government.
Rights of Way
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make it the policy of the Government to exclude built-up areas in towns and villages from the extinguishment provisions of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and exercise his powers to that effect under Section 54. [152315]
Jonathan Shaw:
Section 54 of the Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act does provide for “excepted rights of way” which are exempted from the extinguishment provisions of the Act and come into
force in 2026. The relevant sections in the Act require regulations to be implemented, and are yet to be implemented in Parliament. The Government will publish a consultation paper in due course to seek views on the scope of the provisions before any regulations are brought into force.
Rights of Way: Yorkshire and Humberside
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what parts of (a) York and (b) north Yorkshire have been opened to the public under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000; and if he will make a statement. [151517]
Jonathan Shaw: The former Countryside Agency mapped 748 hectares of open country and registered common land in the administrative area of York city council, equivalent to 2.7 per cent. of the administrative area.
The agency mapped a total of 178,990 hectares in north Yorkshire as open country and common land. That includes 95,060 hectares of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and 44,450 hectares of the North York Moors National Park.
Sewers: East Sussex
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many miles of sewers there are in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex; and what percentage are over 100 years old. [151405]
Mr. Woolas: DEFRA does not hold this information. Southern Water are responsible for the public sewers in Eastbourne and East Sussex and would hold any available information relating to the age and length of sewers in this area.
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