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26 Jun 2008 : Column 432W—continued
Transport: Exhaust Emissions
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2008, Official Report, column 38W, on transport exhaust emissions, what mechanism is in place to achieve the European Commission’s 16 per cent. greenhouse gas reduction target over 2005 levels for the UK’s non-traded sector, with specific reference to the reduction to be made in the road transport sector. [211573]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 16 June 2008]: The EU’s proposed 16 per cent. burden-sharing target for the UK’s non-traded sector is still subject to negotiation and applies to the entire non-traded sector. As such it will not be broken down into specific sectoral shares, for example between the transport and domestic heating sectors. The Government’s framework for managing carbon budgets, including road transport emissions, will be established under the Climate Change Bill currently before Parliament.
Further details are available from the Bill website:
In summary this framework will involve a requirement to meet emissions reduction targets in 2020 and 2050, and to set legally binding five-year carbon budgets starting from 2008. It will also involve annual progress reporting to Parliament and advice to Government and scrutiny from the independent Committee on Climate Change. In setting these budgets the Government will take account of their international and domestic obligations such as the EU’s Climate and Energy package (including the 16 per cent. burden sharing target) and the Kyoto target.
Waterloo Station
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when she expects the former Eurostar platforms at Waterloo to reopen for use for domestic rail services. [213002]
Mr. Tom Harris: The Department is working closely with Network Rail and Stagecoach South Western Trains (SSWT) to finalise the design and costs of the partial conversion of Waterloo International to accommodate some domestic services. Therefore some services, most likely on the routes to Windsor and Reading, could use platform 20 of Waterloo International from the timetable change date in December 2008.
It is primarily the railway infrastructure outside Waterloo that limits the number of trains that can use the station rather than the number of platforms. Therefore the need is to run longer trains rather than more trains. So we are planning to make all the platforms at Waterloo long enough to accommodate 10 car trains and to modify the junction layouts on the approaches to the station so that, ultimately, all the platforms at Waterloo, including those once used by Eurostar, can be used by 10-car domestic services. Such a scheme would allow the use of longer trains than currently use the short platforms and would result in a large increase in capacity on the South Western network.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Domestic Wastes: Waste Disposal
Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which London boroughs use wheelie bins as the main form of household waste collection. [210346]
Joan Ruddock: DEFRA does not keep records on the types of waste collection system operated by local authorities. Decisions on local waste collection and recycling services are rightly for individual local authorities to make in close consultation with their residents. The Government strongly encourage local authorities to use good practice and to consider the overall carbon impact of their collection services. The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) provides local authorities with advice on this.
Fisheries
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which species fished by UK vessels have fallen below sustainable fishing levels; and in which year fish stocks were first threatened in each case. [212806]
Jonathan Shaw: Since 1998, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has applied precautionary reference points as the basis for its advice, identifying which harvesting rates meet precautionary criteria. These criteria aim to ensure sustainability by keeping spawning stock biomass (SSB, the weight of mature fish) above a minimum precautionary level, Bpa (set high enough to allow a margin of error sufficient to keep SSB above a lower limit level, Blim), and keeping the fishing rate (F) below a maximum precautionary level, Fpa (set low enough to allow a margin of error sufficient to keep F below an upper limit level, Flim).
Based on advice from ICES in 2007, which evaluated stock assessments using fisheries data for years up to and including 2006, and survey data up to and including 2007, the following stocks fished by the UK have experienced unsustainable fishing levels when compared to the maximum precautionary level:
Herring since 2006
Haddock since 2006
Cod since the introduction of precautionary reference points in 1998, sole since 2006
Both plaice and sole since the introduction of precautionary reference points in 1998
North-east Atlantic mackerel since 2001, blue whiting since 1999
For a number of stocks it has not been possible to make a quantitative comparison because the level of F was uncertain in 2007. This includes some stocks which have shown a long-term decline, such as cod in the west of Scotland.
Fisheries: Quotas
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much UK fishing quota was not used in 2007; what estimate he has made of the amount of quota allocated for 2008 which will not be used; what steps he plans to take in respect of unused quota; and if he will (a) buy back and (b) allocate to the under 10 metre fleet any unused quota. [213257]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer given 23 June 2008]: In total, 87 per cent. of all UK quota was fished in 2007. No estimate has been made of the amount of quota that will not be used in 2008 as many factors affect uptake, making it very difficult to make a meaningful estimate.
I am working closely with the industry to ensure that potentially unused quota is made available to the under 10 metre fleet. I have no plans to buy back quota and allocate this to the under 10 metre fleet. However, I am planning to publish next month a consultation document on measures to assist the under 10 metre fleet.
Litter: North-East
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many fixed penalty notices have been issued for litter-dropping in (a) Wirral West constituency and (b) Merseyside in the last 18 months; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the issue of fixed penalty notices on littering in urban areas. [212980]
Jonathan Shaw: DEFRA collects data on the number of fixed penalty notices issued for litter-dropping by each local authority in England. The table contains statistics on the number of fixed penalty notices issued and reported by each local authority in Merseyside.
| Local authority | April 2005 to March 2006 | April 2006 to March 2007 |
| (1 )No data. | ||
A full breakdown of the available data can be found on the DEFRA website.
DEFRA has not carried out a direct assessment of the impact of fixed penalty notices on instances of littering.
Local authorities in England have the power to issue fixed penalty notices for littering offences, or can choose to take a prosecution. English local authorities issued 43,624 fixed penalty notices for littering offences in 2006-07 compared to 33,033 in 2005-06, the payment rate was 77.1 per cent. in 2006-07 compared to 54 per cent. in 2005-06, and 233 local authorities made use of the powers to issue fixed penalty notices in 2006-07 compared to 197 in 2005-06. Local authorities have a variety of tools available to them to make local assessments as part of their cleansing and enforcement strategies, including data sources such as the national indicator on
cleanliness, the Local Environmental Quality Survey of England and the extended Local Environmental Quality Survey of England.
Maps: EC Law
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he plans to consult on legislative and other means of implementing the INSPIRE Directive. [211259]
Jonathan Shaw: DEFRA has been working with stakeholders across central, devolved and local government, as well as the wider geographic information community, in considering how to implement the INSPIRE Directive. We will, in due course, be consulting further on how we propose to transpose the directive into UK legislation, and on its subsequent implementation.
Marine Management Organisation
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what budget has been allocated to the Marine Management Organisation implementation team within the Marine Fisheries Agency; and what the grade of the Director of the team is. [211559]
Jonathan Shaw: I am keen to achieve a smooth transition from the Marine and Fisheries Agency to the Marine Management Organisation, and to start work towards the new organisation in good time. A budget of £1 million has been allocated to support the continued development of the Marine and Fisheries Agency in 2008-09, mindful of its probable transition to the MMO. This work is not dependent on the parliamentary process.
The post of director of the MMO implementation team is at grade 6.
Sewers: Urban Areas
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations he has received on the (a) responsibility for, (b) ownership of and (c) maintenance of urban drainage systems; and if he will make a statement. [212958]
Mr. Woolas: DEFRA recently consulted on options for the allocation of responsibility for the ownership and long-term maintenance of sustainable drainage systems, as part of the consultation on “Improving Surface Water Drainage”. This consultation was launched alongside the Government's Water Strategy, “Future Water”, and closed on 30 April 2008. We will publish a summary of the responses in late July, followed by a Government response to the consultation and proposed course of action later in the year.
Solvents: Waste Disposal
Mr. Denis Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what advice he has issued to local authorities in relation to the disposal of waste paints and solvents from domestic properties. [211948]
Joan Ruddock: I approved the recently published National Household Hazardous Waste Forum’s “Haz Guide”, which provides advice on the disposal of waste paints and solvents.
This can be found on the internet on the National Household Hazardous Waste Forum’s website at
Work and Pensions
Ageing
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will publish the results of projects on which his Department has jointly worked with France and Germany at EU level on managing ageing populations and tackling the causes of poverty. [211212]
Mr. Timms: My Department collaborated in a seminar on active ageing held by France in November 2007, which brought together UK, French and German policy experts on extending working lives. On June 23 Germany hosted a follow-on event mainly involving employers and other stakeholders from the three countries. This work is part of the continuous process of Governments across the European Union learning from each other and sharing good practice. There was no published report.
My Department exchanges good practice on welfare reform with all EU member states. This aims, for example, to increase participation in employment under the Lisbon Jobs and Growth Strategy and contribute to the eradication of poverty under the EU Social Protection and Social Inclusion process. The Lisbon Strategy includes a target for an EU employment level by 2010 of 50 per cent. of older people of working age. The spring European Council in March noted that an employment rate of 43.5 per cent. had been achieved by the end of 2006, 6.5 percentage points from the target.
Asbestos: Farms
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations the Health and Safety Executive has received from the farming industry on the proportionality of regulations concerning the disposal of white asbestos. [211255]
Mrs. McGuire: The Health and Safety Executive has received no recent representations from farming industry representatives on the proportionality of the regulations concerning the disposal of white asbestos, but an official has recently met members of the National Farmers Union at their request to discuss the international classification of white asbestos.
Carer’s Allowance
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the earnings threshold is for those claiming carer's allowance; and if he will consider raising the threshold. [213015]
Mrs. McGuire: The Carer's Allowance earnings limit was increased to £95 a week in October 2007 as a special measure to improve support for carers. The Government's 10 year strategy for carers published on 10 June 2008 “Carers at the heart of 21st century families and communities” committed to looking at the current structure of benefits for carers, and stated
“Within the context of wider welfare reform and the fundamental review of the care and support system, we must create a system of carers' benefits that is able to provide support where it is most needed and that can adapt to the wide range of needs that carers have.”
Carer’s Allowance: Hemsworth
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people receive carer's allowance in (a) the Hemsworth constituency and (b) Wakefield district. [213016]
Mrs. McGuire: The available information is in the following table.
| Carer's Allowance cases in payment: November 2007 | |
| Number | |
| Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended. 3. This information is published at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/tabtool.asp Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. | |
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