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20 Nov 2007 : Column 773W—continued
Seas and Oceans: EC Action
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: An Integrated Maritime Policy for the European Union, COM(2007) 575 final, when he expects the European Atlas of the Seas to be launched; and if he will make a statement. [163232]
Jonathan Shaw: The Maritime Policy envisages a European Atlas of the Seas as both a technical tool and a vehicle for publicising our important maritime heritage. We support these endeavours.
The associated Action Plan (SEC(2007)1278 provisional) envisages a first publication in 2009.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: An Integrated Maritime Policy for the European Union, COM(2007) 575 final. [163247]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.
The Government welcome the considerable efforts of the European Commission in producing this communication and its supporting documents. We shall consider the details carefully. It is important that all the member states work with the Commission on the details of the new integrated maritime policy to ensure that it really adds value to the present arrangements.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: An Integrated Maritime Policy for the European Union, COM(2007) 575 final, when he expects the European Union to adopt a directive on an Integrated Maritime Policy; and if he will make a statement. [163248]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.
The Commission Communication contains no specific proposal for a directive. The Government, together with other EU member states, would need to consider any such proposal in detail.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: An Integrated Maritime Policy for the European Union, COM(2007) 575 final, whether he supports the proposal for a European Strategy for Marine Research; and if he will make a statement. [163250]
Jonathan Shaw: There are major challenges facing the marine environment, its resources and its biodiversity. Without a sound information-base we cannot robustly face these challenges. We therefore welcome a research strategy which will strengthen the marine science-base overall. EU Framework research programmes have supported a considerable body of science across Europe and beyond, and this adds to the evidence emerging from national programmes. However, marine science has been somewhat of a neglected area and an increased focus on marine research may give it an enhanced priority.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the maritime research work his Department is conducting with other (a) EU member states and (b) non-EU countries. [163251]
Jonathan Shaw: Maritime research is intrinsically international in character. Much of the Department’s research activities are undertaken by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS).
Co-ordination of much applied marine resource, environment and ecosystem work is undertaken under the auspices of the inter-governmental International Council for Exploration of the Seas (ICES). The membership of ICES is of 20 countries around the North Atlantic, including several non-EU countries. International Working Groups meet on issues such as monitoring of fisheries, harmful algal blooms, marine contaminants and oceanography, as well as provide commissioned advice. In 2007, the UK and ICES jointly sponsored meetings on marine indicators and on changes in marine acidification. Working Groups also meet under the Oslo and Paris Commission (OSPAR).
The EU Framework programmes also enable a considerable body of collaborative work to be undertaken. Currently, CEFAS has 26 such projects, of which 12 are fisheries-related, seven concern marine environmental issues and seven relate to fish health and welfare. They involve all other member states except Luxembourg. The programmes also involve institutes from another 20 countries. Further countries are involved through other non-EU projects.
Sheep: Exports
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what movement restrictions were imposed upon Northern Irish lambs in relation to the summer 2007 foot and mouth outbreak. [163071]
Jonathan Shaw: There were no restrictions on the movements of lambs within Northern Ireland, or to the Republic of Ireland, as a result of the foot and mouth disease measures in GB.
Movements of lambs from Northern Ireland to GB were banned until 22 August, when imports of lambs from Northern Ireland for slaughter were allowed, provided that each consignment complied with the relevant import and movement restrictions in place.
Thames Water: Desalination
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much brine his Department estimates Thames Water’s proposed desalinisation plan will produce on average each year when it is operating to full capacity; and what plans there are for dealing with this brine. [164197]
Mr. Woolas: Thames Water’s proposed desalination plant is subject to Judicial Review. The Mayor of London submitted a legal challenge to the decision made jointly on 16 July 2007, by the Secretaries of State for Communities and Local Government, and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to grant planning permission to Thames Water. The case will be heard in the High Court.
Thames Water’s proposed desalination plant would involve the desalination of brackish estuary water. The maximum achievable output of treated water is expected to be 150 million litres per day.
All the liquid waste streams from the desalination plant would be collected in a wastewater buffer tank and pumped to the nearby Beckton Sewage Treatment Works effluent channel, where they would be mixed with the Sewage Treatment Works effluent and then discharged back to the Thames Tideway.
Thames Water considers that the flow rate of brine from the reverse osmosis process would be up to 28.6 million litres per day. The annual volume of brine produced would be a function of the volume of water produced.
The rationale behind the disposal route back to the Tideway is that the majority of the matter within the waste stream originated from the river.
The Environment Agency would use its regulatory powers to make sure that any discharges are of an adequate quality for the river.
Veterinary Services: Finance
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how much district veterinary managers have authorised each local authority to spend under the terms of the Animal Health and Welfare Framework Agreement in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement; [164336]
(2) how much his Department has contracted to pay to each local authority for animal health work under the terms of the Animal Health and Welfare Framework Agreement in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement. [164337]
Jonathan Shaw: DEFRA provides additional funding to local authorities to supplement the resources available to them under the Revenue Support Grant for work on animal health and welfare.
Local authorities submit bids annually to their local Divisional Veterinary Managers (DVMs), who are asked to certify that the proposed expenditure is eligible for funding. The bids are sent forward to a central point in DEFRA for authorisation.
This year, the total bids received, some of which arrived well into the new financial year, amounted to a total of £9.77 million. The funding available was £8.5
million. DEFRA has therefore issued allocations which fall short of the full amount requested. Authorities claiming up to £11,000 have been paid in full, while the remainder have been informed that their bids will be reduced by up to 12 per cent.
Water Supply: Licensing
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to exempt contractors from having to apply for an abstraction licence to pump water; and why he discontinued the earlier exemption for contractors from having to apply for such an abstraction licence. [163755]
Mr. Woolas: There are no plans to exempt contractors from having to apply for an abstraction licence where they are pumping more than 20 cubic metres per day. Abstractions of less than 20 cubic metres per day are exempt from abstraction licensing.
The exemption from abstraction control, stated in the Water Resources Act 1991, of a number of activities which may have environmental impacts, such as long-term dewatering for quarrying and lack of provision for temporary abstraction licences, were addressed in the provisions of the Water Act 2003. These provisions will be commenced in 2008.
Abstractions to deal with emergencies to protect life, or property or the environment, such as removal of flood water, will remain exempt from licence control.
The Water Act 2003 makes provision for temporary abstraction licences and a faster process for obtaining such licences from the Environment Agency. Temporary abstraction licences are applicable to projects where water needs to be pumped for less than 28 days but may have potential environmental impacts.
Water: Essex
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much fresh water was pumped out to sea by the drainage authorities in (a) Norfolk, (b) Suffolk and (c) Essex in the last 12 months. [163687]
Mr. Woolas: We no longer collect annual figures for water pumped by internal drainage boards and do not hold figures for other organisations but the following table shows water pumped by Environment Agency-controlled pumps in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.
| Pumping station site | Cubic meters | Area |
| Note: The above is an estimate of fluvial water pumped to sea. | ||
Wines: Intervention Stocks
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the latest estimate is of the amount of wine purchased by the EU by intervention in 2007. [164094]
Jonathan Shaw: The European Commission’s latest estimate of the volume of stored wine and grape must for 2007 is as follows:
| 2006-07 wine and must storage in hectolitres (h/l)—all member states | |
| Volume | |
As of September 2007, there were 2,240,850 h/l of wine alcohol in public intervention.
It is not possible to provide a meaningful figure of wine alcohol stocks for a comparable period, as these levels are subject to constant change. This is as a result of sales, the carry forward of unsold or uncollected stock and the addition of new stock.
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