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2 Apr 2008 : Column 918W—continued

	Origin of waste (from site input returns)
Deposit region	South West	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland	Outside UK	Not codeable	Total	Percentage un-coded
North East	8,709	5,064	16,461	5,086	149,210	361,406	4,845,567	7
North West	—	25,432	14	29	—	3,458,760	9,508,675	36
Yorkshire and Humber	48	56	10	—	227	1,157,114	6,791,339	17
East Midlands	853	899	70	49	159	1,846,937	6,975,935	26
West Midlands	3,098	6,753	—	—	—	2,533,322	5,774,663	44
East of England	1,524	278	227	—	75	456,212	11,197,459	4
London	17	—	—	—	—	21,384	1,977,218	1
South East	363,141	—	—	—	—	1,944,754	11,979,108	16
South West	*5,447,675	109,469	—	—	—	123,987	5,886,990	2
Wales	5,826	*3,886,036	—	—	—	—	4,019,116	0
Total	5,830,892	4,033,986	16,781	5,164	149,671	11,903,876	68,956,070	17
Total exports	383,217	147,950	—	—	—	—	—	—
Percentage home deposits	93	96	—	—	—	—	—	—
Notes: Movements from one region to another can be read from the grid. Inputs to sites in North East from other regions are located along the top row, and exports from North East to other regions are shown in the left hand column. Waste that is produced and deposited in the same region (‘home deposits’) are indicated by ‘*’. Source: Environment Agency Operator Site Returns

Packaging

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the whole-life carbon footprint of (a) paper and (b) plastic bags. [194606]

Joan Ruddock: The Environment Agency is carrying out a study to consider the environmental impacts of a range of carrier bags (including disposable plastic carrier bags and bio-degradable alternatives) over their entire life cycle, from raw material extraction through to product manufacture, use and final disposal. The study is due to report later this year.

Recycling: Finance

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding was provided to local authorities to support recycling activities in each year since 1997. [197408]

Joan Ruddock [holding answer 31 March 2008]: The main sources of funding for local authorities’ waste management services are revenue support grant (RSG) and national non-domestic rates (NNDR), distributed by central Government, and council tax. It is for local authorities to decide what proportion of this funding to invest in waste management services, including recycling. Other funding made available to authorities in England for waste management since 1997 is shown in the following table.

Funding provided
£ million
Scheme	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund	50	90	90	45	—	—
Waste Performance and Efficiency Grant	—	—	—	40	105	110
Grant to Relieve Spending Pressures on Waste	—	—	20	—	—	—
Reward Only Incentive Pilots	—	—	—	5	—	—
Private Finance Initiative	70	100	125	130	255	280
Local Communications Fund (WRAP)	—	—	16.2	—	—	—
Behavioural Change Local Fund (WRAP)	—	—	—	—	13	—

Seals: Hunting

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the European Food Safety Authority's December 2007 report on the animal welfare aspects of seal hunting. [198668]

Jonathan Shaw: Seal management is a devolved matter. My Department has noted the findings and
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recommendations of the European Food Safety Authority's December 2007 report Animal Welfare Aspects of the killing and skinning of seals.

There is no commercial or recreational hunting of seals in England. Government policy is to permit only limited local management of seals where specific interactions between individual seals and particular fisheries or fish farms may result in serious damage to fisheries or property.

The Government fully implement the requirements of the EU Habitats Directive, including prohibiting the use of certain methods of killing seals. The limited seal management undertaken is broadly in line with the relevant general recommendations of the EFSA report.

Sugar: Subsidies

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he has accepted the application by British Sugar for restructuring aid to the sugar industry in respect of the proportion of aid to be distributed to the contractor industry. [197403]

Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 31 March 2008]: The application for restructuring aid submitted by British Sugar has been determined to be eligible and the European Commission informed. The proportion of the processor's aid to be reserved for beet growers and machinery contractors affected by the restructuring is set by the appropriate Council regulation at 10 per cent. How this part of the aid is allocated between the two groups is for individual member states to decide on the basis of objective criteria determined after consultation with the interested parties.

DEFRA is urgently taking this forward. Eligible beet growers will also share in an additional payment in respect of the tonnage of beet quota renounced.

Communities and Local Government

Aerials

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many
2 Apr 2008 : Column 920W
mobile phone companies share masts; what arrangements are in place to encourage mobile phone companies to share masts; and if she will make a statement. [195299]

Mr. Iain Wright: The five UK mobile network operators all participate in mast sharing arrangements with each other and with other companies such as Arqiva, which owns a number of sites.

Planning Policy Guidance Note 8: Telecommunications makes clear that applicants for new masts should provide evidence that they have explored the possibility of erecting antennas on an existing building, mast or other structure and that such evidence should accompany any prior approval or planning application made to the local planning authority. If the evidence regarding the consideration of sharing existing masts and sites is not considered satisfactory, the planning authority, or the Secretary of State on appeal, may be justified in refusing prior approval or planning permission for the development. Site sharing may not always be possible or the most appropriate environmental solution in every case. The ability to site share may be limited by a range of possible factors including the extent of the coverage required, topographical features and reception interference issues.

The mobile operators have established a computer program which monitors site-share usage and is used for making site-share requests between each other.

Arson

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many deliberate (a) property and (b) vehicle fires were attended by each fire and rescue service in each year since 1997. [198061]

Mr. Dhanda: Information on the number of deliberate property (i.e. dwellings and other buildings) and vehicle fires, in England, as attended by Fire and Rescue Services, from 1997 to 2006 (the latest calendar year for which information is available), is displayed in Table 1. Data for 2006 are provisional and subject to change.

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