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10 Dec 2007 : Column 29W—continued
Fisheries: Quotas
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive on the timing of its proposals on managing Scottish quota; and if he will make a statement. [172040]
Jonathan Shaw: I have yet to receive a formal proposal from the Scottish Executive regarding managing the UK quota in Scotland, and have had no recent discussions with my counterparts in the devolved administrations on the timing of such a proposal.
Fisheries: Regional Advisory Councils
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding he plans to give to (a) the North Sea Regional Advisory Council, (b) the North Western Waters Regional Advisory Council, (c) the Pelagic Regional Advisory Council and (d) the Long Distance Regional Advisory Council in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement. [170901]
Jonathan Shaw: On 11 July 2007, Council Regulation 2004/585 was introduced to simplify the funding arrangements for all regional advisory councils in order to provide them with sufficient and permanent funding to allow them to continue their advisory role within the Common Fisheries Policy. Under these new funding arrangements, the Commission's allocated grant "shall not exceed 90 per cent. of the operating budget" of each regional advisory council, on an annual basis.
In addition, the UK and other member states contribute an annual membership, which varies from year to year. For the financial year of 2007-08 the UK membership is:
(a) 2,450 Euros to the North Sea RAC;
(b) 3,700 Euros to the North-Western Waters RAC;
(c) 2,222 Euros to the Pelagic RAC.
The Long Distance RAC has been established recently and the UK membership contribution has yet to be agreed.
In 2008, the Commission intends to review the function of regional advisory councils and that may include funding provisions.
Fisheries: Regulation
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will commission research on attitudes to regulation and compliance in the English seafood industry. [172052]
Jonathan Shaw: The Government currently have no plans to commission research on attitudes to regulation and compliance in the English seafood industry.
Fisheries: Science
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much he intends to spend on (a) fisheries science and (b) the science fisheries partnership in the next comprehensive spending review period; and if he will make a statement. [173017]
Jonathan Shaw: No final decisions about the budget for the first of the comprehensive spending review years has been taken so we do not have the level of detail requested.
However in 2007-08 we are spending approximately £13.5 million on fisheries science. This includes £1 million on the Fisheries Science Partnership and £3 million on long-term research and development projects.
Fisheries: Subsidies
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress is being made on finalising the draft operational programme on the Fisheries Fund for submission to the European Commission; and when he expects it to be submitted. [172027]
Jonathan Shaw: I intend to submit the UK operational programme to the European Commission following a public consultation on the draft. This will be a 12-week consultation which I expect to commence early in 2008.
Agreement has now been reached between all UK Fisheries Ministers regarding the division of the UK European Fisheries Fund budget. DEFRA officials are working with their counterparts in the devolved administrations to complete the UK operational programme, in order to enable the consultation to take place.
Flood Control
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made on the Government's commitment in the Statement of Principles with Insurance Industries to (a) reduce the annual probability of flooding each year for a substantial number of properties in the UK, (b) maintain investment in flood management each year, (c) implement reforms to the land-use planning system to ensure that new developments do not lead to an increase in the national or local flood risk, (d) communicate flood risk effectively and (e) develop an integrated approach to urban drainage that alleviates the risks of sewer flooding and flash flooding. [171154]
Mr. Woolas: The Association of British Insurers' Statement of Principles sets out members' commitments on availability of flood insurance in association with Government commitments on effective management of flood risk.
(a) A full programme of Government-funded works across the country is currently forecast to considerably exceed the Spending Review target to improve protection from river flooding and coastal erosion for more than 100,000 households between 2005 and 2008. Our investment is making real improvements possible across the country but, regardless of future levels of funding, it would be unrealistic to expect the Government to address all flood and coastal erosion risk problems.
(b) Spending on flood and coastal erosion risk management across central and local government has increased from £307 million in 1996-97 to some £600 million this year and will increase further to a minimum of £650 million in 2008-09, £700 million in 2009-10, reaching £800 million in 2010-11. This represents a significant real terms increase.
(c) I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my colleague the Minister for Housing on 29 October 2007, Official Report, column 673W, as this is a matter for the Department for Communities and Local Government.
(d) Flood risk mapping is an important part of the Government's strategy on public awareness. DEFRA funds the Environment Agency to map flood risk as part of our strategy to ensure that the risk from flooding is better understood by all concerned. The Environment Agency continues to improve the flood mapping available to the public, local planning authorities, the emergency services and insurers.
(e) The Government's developing strategy to improve flood risk management, “Making space for water”, seeks to identify improvements in urban flood risk management where there is a complex interaction of drainage systems and a number of different organisations involved. As part of this, DEFRA is funding 15 pilots in different locations around the country to test new approaches to urban drainage management and clarify responsibilities. We are also developing proposals for how the current range of responsibilities for urban flood risk should be managed and the role of the Environment Agency in this.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made on the collation of groundwater flooding records, and monitoring and risk assessment, as referred to in Making Space for Water. [171156]
Mr. Woolas: Recommendations from the Making Space for Water project (MSfW) ‘Groundwater flooding records collation, monitoring and risk assessment’ are being considered at MSfW programme level, with other related work.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures have been introduced to encourage people to take up resilience measures in their homes. [171158]
Mr. Woolas: The Environment Agency publishes helpful information on its website on resilience and resistance measures.
In conjunction with the Association of British Insurers, we are working to develop ways in which the public can be encouraged to incorporate appropriate flood resilience
or resistance measures in their homes and businesses. We are also undertaking a £500,000 pilot scheme looking at the feasibility of providing financial assistance for people to install such measures. In May we published a technical report which described in broad terms the suitability and cost effectiveness of a variety of measures such as temporary flood gates, water resistant floors and wall coverings.
Flood Control: Video Games
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding his Department has provided for the development of Discovery Software’s Flood Ranger programme. [171625]
Mr. Woolas: No funding has been provided by my Department. The cost of developing this software, c£25,000, was met by the former Department for Trade and Industry through its Office of Science and Technology’s Foresight Programme.
Floods
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures the Department uses to assess the effectiveness of flood proofing measures used on (a) private homes and (b) business properties. [171729]
Mr. Woolas: The Environment Agency is the principal operating authority for flood risk management in England and supports the Kitemark scheme of certified flood products as they have been independently tested and proved fit for purpose. Details of the scheme and a list of certified products are available on its website. The Environment Agency does not endorse any individual product or manufacturer.
Floods: Infrastructure
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of critical infrastructure is situated in flood risk areas; and what proposals he has to ensure the future safety of this infrastructure. [170519]
Mr. Woolas: The Environment Agency has identified nearly 5,000 sites in areas in England and Wales assessed by the agency as having an annual probability of flooding of 1 in 75 or greater.
The 14 categories of assets include power stations, sewage and water treatment works and schools. On the data currently available, the Environment Agency identifies 12.2 per cent. of these as being situated within the extreme flood outline.
Fly-tipping: Greater London
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many incidents of fly tipping were recorded in each London borough in each year since 1998; and what the estimated cost was of dealing with these incidents in each borough in each year. [172493]
Joan Ruddock: I have arranged for a table to be placed in the Library of the House showing the number of fly-tipping incidents and prosecutions recorded in each local authority by local authorities on Flycapture for 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07. Data are only available from 2004 onwards.
Following the release of the 2006-07 Flycapture statistics on 9 October 2007, this information has been sent to all MPs and has been placed in the Printed Paper Office.
It is also available to download electronically on DEFRA’s Flycapture website at:
Food from Britain: Finance
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the budget allocated for Food for Britain has been in each year since its creation. [169935]
Jonathan Shaw: The following table shows the grants receivable by Food from Britain (FFB) from MAFF/DEFRA in each year since FFB was created in 1983. Information on FFB’s total income and expenditure in these years can be found in its annual report and accounts, copies of which have been laid before Parliament.
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