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3 Dec 2007 : Column 740W—continued
Housing: Carbon Emissions
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government have taken to encourage the building and construction industry to build carbon zero housing. [168792]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 27 November 2007]: I have been asked to reply.
The Government have put in place a wide set of programmes to encourage the building and construction industry to build zero carbon housing.
My Department has commissioned English Partnerships to run the Carbon Challenge. The aim is to accelerate the house building industry’s response to climate change by creating a number of zero carbon communities and to equip the industry with the appropriate skills and technology. In the first phase of the Carbon Challenge around 1,000 zero carbon homes will be built all of which will be required to meet Level 6, which is the highest level, of the Code for Sustainable Homes.
Furthermore, the industry, together with local authorities and other stakeholders have been invited to come forward with proposals for eco-towns. Eco-towns will be entirely new settlements which are exemplar “green developments” of five to 20,000 homes and designed to meet the highest standards of sustainability. The development as a whole (including all homes) should reach zero carbon and should use the standards set out in the Code for Sustainable Homes as a guide.
The stamp duty relief for new zero carbon homes will also act as a financial incentive to the industry.
The building and construction industry are also represented on the 2016 task force which was established to look at the barriers to achieving zero carbon homes by 2016 and the measures needed to address them.
Inland Waterways: Finance
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what assessment he has made of the effect of reductions in the budget for the maintenance of inland waterways; [169108]
(2) what estimate he has made of the effect of reductions in the budget for inland waterways on the tourist industry. [169110]
Jonathan Shaw: DEFRA sponsors the three largest navigation authorities—British Waterways, the Environment Agency and the Broads Authority. DEFRA does not hold information on the funding and condition of waterways owned or managed by other navigation authorities.
The formal CSR settlement for 2008-09 to 2010-11 for Departments has been announced. This will now be followed by the Department's own financial allocation process during which the budgets for the Environment Agency, British Waterways and the Broads will be determined. The process is based on careful prioritisation across the Department and all its sponsored bodies. We are actively engaging delivery partners in this, but most final allocations, including those for the Environment Agency and British Waterways, will not be known until the new year after further discussions within DEFRA.
The contribution of the inland waterways to the tourist industry is acknowledged and navigation authorities will bear this in mind when determining their priorities.
We are working with British Waterways and the Environment Agency to develop long-term strategies
which will maximise public benefits whilst delivering an affordable sustainable network within the total funding available.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the letter of 1 October from the Minister for the Environment (reference: MC45270/TB), when he will respond to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 26 October 2007. [170090]
Mr. Woolas: I am sorry for the delay in responding. A reply will be sent to the hon. Member shortly.
Nitrate Sensitive Areas
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the nitrate levels were in each of the areas which his Department plans to designate as nitrate vulnerable zones (a) on the most recent date for which figures are available and (b) (i) five and (ii) 10 years prior to that date. [166780]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 29 November 2007]: We are currently consulting on this matter and no decisions have been taken.
There are approximately 7,000 surface water monitoring points in England and Wales used to assess whether waters should be designated as polluted waters in the recent review under the nitrates directive. The information requested would require extensive research to be undertaken and therefore it is not possible to provide it because of the disproportionate costs involved.
Nitrogen Oxides: Pollution Control
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Government are planning to seek a (a) temporary and (b) permanent derogation from mandatory air quality limits on Nox which will apply from 2010 under EU directive 1999/30/EC. [170671]
Jonathan Shaw: There is no provision for a derogation from mandatory air quality limit values for oxides of nitrogen or nitrogen dioxide under directive 1999/30/EC. That directive sets limit values for nitrogen dioxide to be met by 2010.
A new ambient air quality directive, currently under negotiation, is expected to permit member states to apply for an additional five years to meet the nitrogen dioxide limit values. Subject to adoption of the directive, UK Government decisions around the use of this flexibility will be subject to public consultation.
Radioactive Wastes: Waste Management
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which local authorities have expressed interest in having a depository for nuclear waste in their area; and if he will make a statement. [169218]
Mr. Woolas: The consultation on "Managing Radioactive Waste Safely: a Framework for Implementing Geological Disposal" closed on 2 November 2007. An invitation for communities to express an interest will be invited later, once responses to the consultation have been assessed.
Science Advisory Council: Biofuels
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Science Advisory Council supports the Government's targets on biofuels. [168718]
Mr. Woolas: The Science Advisory Council (SAC) has not been asked by the Government, nor as far as I am aware has it voluntarily commented on whether it supports the Government's targets on biofuels.
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations he has received from members of the Science Advisory Council on the environmental effects of the Government’s targets on biofuels; which members of the Council have made such representations; and if he will make a statement. [168719]
Mr. Woolas: Members of the Science Advisory Council (SAC), collectively or as individual members, have not made any representations to my Department on the environmental effects of the Government’s targets on biofuels.
Sewers
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what guidelines are issued by Ofwat on the design of foul sewerage systems in respect of the frequency of storm events; and if he will make a statement; [169990]
(2) what discussions he has had with Ofwat on the design of foul sewerage systems in respect of the frequency of storm events; and if he will make a statement. [169991]
Mr. Woolas: Ofwat does not issue guidelines on the design of foul sewerage systems. This is a matter for individual water and sewerage companies. Design standards for developers constructing new sewers are produced by the water and sewerage industry itself.
Foul sewerage systems do not carry storm water and are not therefore designed for frequency of storm events.
Ofwat and local authorities will be represented on a steering group which will be assisting the Government in looking at build standards for future sewerage provision. This forms part of DEFRA’s work on implementing the Government's decision to transfer private sewers and lateral drains draining to the public sewerage system into the ownership of the water and sewerage companies.
Summer Time: Carbon Emissions
Mr. Yeo:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the likely effect on UK carbon dioxide
emissions of maintaining British Summer time in winter and introducing double British Summer time in summer. [168763]
Mr. Woolas: The Building Research Establishment, as part of the 2006 review of the UK Climate Change programme, estimated that adopting British summer time (BST) all year round would lead to approximately a 1 per cent. increase in carbon dioxide emissions. Switching to continental time (BST in the winter and BST plus one hour in the summer) would increase these emissions by about 2 per cent. Continental time was found to generate savings from domestic lighting and cooling in non-domestic buildings, but these effects are likely to be offset by increases in non-domestic heating and lighting, and by a small increase in domestic heating.
Water: North East Region
Mr. Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will ensure that water customers in the North East region will not have to contribute to a national recovery of compensation costs which affect other regions and other water company areas under the Water Abstraction Charges Scheme. [169850]
Mr. Woolas: The Environment Agency is expected to take action against abstraction licences where the abstraction is adversely impacting on conservation sites, in particular those designated under European legislation. Where it needs to revoke or modify an abstraction licence, compensation is generally payable. The compensation payments form part of the cost of meeting its duty to manage water resources and will therefore be recovered via abstraction charges.
The Environment Agency is consulting on options to recover any compensation that may be payable. No decision on changes to abstraction charges will be taken until the consultation ends on 7 December and the Environment Agency has submitted its proposals to Ministers.
Whales
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of humpback whales living in the wild. [169542]
Jonathan Shaw: Commercial whaling seriously depleted all humpback stocks (a species listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red list of threatened species). None of the “great” whale species have recovered to pre-exploitation levels.
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) recognises that there is considerable scientific uncertainty over the numbers of whales of different species and in different geographical stocks. For this reason, the IWC have decided not to give whale population figures except for those species/stocks which have been assessed in some detail.
At present, the following table shows the best estimates (and associated confidence intervals) for humpback whales in certain areas.
Scotland
Departmental Food
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of (a) beef, (b) lamb, (c) pork and (d) dairy products used in his departmental headquarters were imported products in the most recent period for which figures are available. [166644]
David Cairns: None. The Scotland Office does not provide in-house canteen or other catering services.
Departmental Health Insurance
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many officials in his Department have private health insurance provided as part of their employment package. [167926]
Departmental ICT
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which manufacturers' software is used in his Department. [167222]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office has a variety of software, from different manufacturers, used within the Department. A typical PC will have a Microsoft Windows XP operating systems and software packages from at least 10 manufacturers. The software build has been developed to interact well and securely with all Government Departments and aid office productivity.
Departmental Manpower
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) EU foreign nationals and (b) non-EU foreign nationals are employed by his Department. [168100]
David Cairns:
All the staff in the Scotland Office are on secondment from other civil service departments, mainly the Ministry of Justice or the Scottish
Executive. It is the responsibility of those Departments to provide details of EU foreign nationals and non-EU foreign nationals employed.
Departmental Pay
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people in his Department and its predecessors were paid over £100,000 in each year since 1997. [167200]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999.
Details of how many people were paid more than £100,000 in each year since 1999 are contained in the Scotland Office Annual Reports. Copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Education Funding
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (1) what funding he has allocated in cash terms to (a) Higher Education Funding Council for England funding for teaching costs only, (b) fee grants, (c) fee loans, (d) maintenance loans, (e) maintenance grants and (f) access funds in each year from 2008-09 to 2010-11; [168983]
(2) what the resource cost is expected to be of (a) fee loans and (b) maintenance loans in each year from 2008-09 to 2010-11. [168985]
Bill Rammell: We are working through the detailed implications of the higher education settlement following the DIUS CSR07 announcement and will be in a position to provide more information early next year.
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