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28 Jan 2008 : Column 78W—continued
Flood Controls
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action has been taken by (a) the Inland Drainage Board and (b) the Environment Agency to stop the backing up of (i) Saundby Beck, (ii) Wheatley Beck and (iii) Leverton Beck. [181994]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 25 January 2008]: The Environment Agency identified that the pointing flood doors on the outfall of the Saundby Beck into the River Trent were leaking. Subject to weather conditions, River Trent levels and heights of the tides, the Environment Agency will replace the gates by the end of March 2008. The Environment Agency will also install a penstock behind the gates that can be closed in the future, in the event that they either fail to operate or leak.
The Environment Agency has completed a detailed engineering inspection of the pointing flood doors on the outfall of the Wheatley Beck into the River Trent. The doors were found to be in a poorer condition than expected and of a non-standard design. The Environment Agency has replaced one of the doors with a fixed plate, to allow contractors to use it as a template. Subject to weather conditions, River Trent levels and heights of the tides, the Environment Agency will replace the gates before the end of March 2008.
Leverton Beck is outside the remit of the Environment Agency as it is not classified as main river.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidelines on managing flood risk his Department has issued to (a) local education authorities, (b) local authority social services departments, (c) the Highways Agency, ( d) Network Rail and (e) utilities companies. [182933]
Mr. Woolas:
DEFRA and the Environment Agency produce flood risk information and general advice through a range of media. Since the Civil Contingencies Act (CCA 2004) was introduced, my Department has contributed to a significant amount of national guidance prepared by the Cabinet Office on managing risks,
including flooding. This guidance is for the wider emergency planning community and is accessible on the UK resilience website and covers emergency planning, response and recovery aspects of flooding.
All local authorities and their respective departments, the Highways Agency, Network Rail and utility companies should be referring to this guidance when fulfilling their emergency planning duties and responsibilities under the CCA.
With regards to local education authorities, the Department for Children, Schools and Families has developed a series of web pages giving advice on how schools can cope with emergencies, one of which is on flooding.
Floods: Lancashire
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what recent discussions he has had with the Environment Agency on the flood defence grant in aid budget for the next three financial years for (a) Ribble Valley constituency and (b) the Lancashire county council area; and if he will make a statement; [182691]
(2) how much he has allocated to the Environment Agency via the flood defence grant in aid for the Lancashire area for each of the next three financial years for (a) capital and (b) revenue expenditure; and if he will make a statement. [182695]
Mr. Woolas: I have regular discussions with the Environment Agency on a range of issues including national funding levels. However decisions on individual regional funding allocations are a matter for the agency.
Flood and coastal erosion risk spending will rise from its current level of £600 million to £800 million in 2010-11. No final decisions have yet been made on how these record levels of investment will be allocated but a formal announcement will be made in due course.
Floods: Midlands
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what recent discussions he has had with the Environment Agency on the flood defence grant in aid budget for the next three financial years for the Midlands area; and if he will make a statement; [181519]
(2) how much he has allocated to the Environment Agency via the flood defence grant in aid for the Midlands area for each of the next three financial years, in (a) capital and (b) revenue; and if he will make a statement. [181520]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer given 24 January 2008]: I have regular discussions with the Environment Agency on a range of issues including national funding levels. However, decisions on individual regional funding allocations are a matter for the agency.
Flood and coastal erosion risk spending will rise from its current level of £600 million to £800 million in 2010-11. No final decisions have yet been made on how these record levels of investment will be allocated but a formal announcement will be made in due course.
Food: Glyphosate
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the maximum residue limit is for glyphosate in (a) soya meal, (b) whole soya beans, (c) tofu, (d) soya pieces and mince, (e) soya oil, (f) eggs, (g) poultry meat, (h) milk and dairy products, (i) beef and (j) pork; and if he will make a statement. [182122]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 25 January 2008]: European Community maximum residue levels (MRLs) are set on primary produce rather than processed products. There are therefore no EC MRLs for (a) soya meal, (c) tofu, (d) soya pieces and mince, (e) soya oil. The EC MRLs for the primary produce are:
| Mg/kg | |
| EC MRL | |
| (1) The limit of determination (LOD) is the lowest concentration of a pesticide residue that can be measured using routine analysis. | |
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what soya products have been tested for glyphosate residues by the Pesticides Residues Committee since 1996; what the country of origin of each product was; what the date of each test was; and what level of any glyphosate was found to be present in each case. [182120]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 25 January 2008]: In 1999 the predecessor to the Pesticide Residues Committee (PRC), the Working Party on Pesticide Residues (WPPR) analysed 43 samples of soya products for 13 pesticide residues including glyphosate at a reporting level of 0.1 mg/kg. The products included were soya milk, soya mince, and tofu. Glyphosate was not found at or above the reporting level in any of the samples.
In their quarter 2 report of 2006 published in December 2006 the Pesticide Residues Committee reported the results of their survey of 60 samples of soya milk. Glyphosate was sought but not found at or above the reporting level of 0.1 mg/kg in any of the samples.
In their quarter 4 report of 2006 published in June 2007 the PRC reported the results for their survey of 60 samples of soya pieces and tofu. Glyphosate was sought but not found at or above the reporting level of 0.1 mg/kg in 49 out of the 60 samples. It was found at levels ranging from 0.1 to 1.1 mg/kg in 11 samples as outlined in the following table.
The country of origin is taken from the food packaging. It may be the country where the soya was grown, or where the food was produced or where it was packed for sale.
Home Energy Efficiency Scheme
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) households and (b) rural households in England received Warm Front grants in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what the average value of a Warm Front grant to a rural household in England was in that period. [180759]
Mr. Woolas: A total of 277,194 households in England received Warm Front grants for the period 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2007.
Of these, 41,044 were classified as rural households under the criteria set out by the Office for National Statistics.
The average value of a grant to those rural households was £1,332.44.
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of funding raised by the Energy Efficiency Commitment is ring-fenced for hard to heat rural houses; and what arrangements for such houses were planned under the carbon emissions reduction target obligation. [181162]
Mr. Woolas:
It is open to energy suppliers, who are responsible for the costs of meeting their targets under the Energy Efficiency Commitment (EEC) and Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT), how they do so. Under CERT there will be an option for suppliers to
focus a proportion of their activity on those who may occupy hard to treat homes. Suppliers may promote solid wall insulation to those on low incomes in the private sector and ground source heat pumps to those on low incomes in the private sector who are off the gas grid. Accordingly, EEC/CERT does not ring-fence money in the manner suggested. However, the Government have sought to encourage energy suppliers to target their activity at hard to treat homes. Any activity promoted in this sector will result in greater carbon savings being attributed to a measure than would otherwise be the case.
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