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9 Oct 2008 : Column 730W—continued


In terms of total domestic uses, which will take into account imports and exports, the approximate proportions of the cereals crops used within the food and animal feed sector are given in the table. The remainder covers other uses such as seed.

Crop Food Feed

Wheat

42

51

Barley

35

63

Oats

59

38


A link to the publication "Agriculture in the United Kingdom" is provided which gives access to detailed information on production, supply and use.


9 Oct 2008 : Column 731W

Higher Civil Servants

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people his Department employs on an annual salary of over £100,000. [222321]

Hilary Benn: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs employs a total of 18 staff on an annual salary of over £100,000 out of a total of 2,900 staff in the Department.

Inland Waterways: Moorings

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many British Waterways licensed residential moorings there are in England; and where they are located. [222400]

Hilary Benn: British Waterways directly operates 41 residential mooring sites accommodating a total of 420 authorised residential moorings located on the following waterways in England:

 Number

Aire and Calder Navigation

6

Birmingham and Fazeley Canal

7

Birmingham Canal Navigations

87

Calder and Hebble Navigation

13

Coventry Canal

14

Fossdyke Navigation

20

Grand Union Canal Mainline

71

Grand Union, Leicester Line

5

Lee and Stort Navigation

13

Oxford Canal

56

Regents Canal and GU Paddington Arm

86

Sheffield and Tinsley Canal

5

Shropshire Union Canal

3

Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal

7

Worcester and Birmingham Canal

27

Total

420


British Waterways is unable to maintain data on the residential status of privately operated sites.

Joint Waste Authorities

Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will place in the Library a list of the organisations that responded to the consultation on Joint Waste Authorities' regulations and guidance. [222860]

Hilary Benn: The following is the list of respondents to the Consultation on draft regulations and draft guidance for proposals for establishing Joint Waste Authorities in England. A copy is being placed in the Library of the House.


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Litter: Fixed Penalties

Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many litter clearance notices were issued in the last year for which figures are available; [222857]

(2) what proportion of fines for littering were paid in the last year for which figures are available. [222858]

Hilary Benn: 119 litter clearing notices were issued by local authorities between April 2006 and March 2007 and in the reporting year ending March 2006, this is the first year that litter clearing notices were available to local authorities to use. Litter clearing notices were introduced by an amendment to the Environmental Protection Act 1990 by the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 and commenced on 6 April 2006.

In the reporting year ending March 2006, 54.5 per cent. of fixed penalty notices for littering were paid. In the year ending March 2007, 77 per cent. were paid.

Detailed statistics about fines for littering can be found on the DEFRA website.

Nature Conservation: Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) if his Department will offer conservation advice and support to the Government of Cambodia to reduce the number of primates in Cambodia on the ICUN red list of threatened species; [223923]

(2) if his Department will offer conservation advice and support to the Government of Vietnam to reduce the number of primates in Vietnam on the ICUN red list of threatened species; [223924]

(3) if his Department will offer conservation advice and support to the Government of Laos to reduce the number of primates in Laos on the ICUN red list of threatened species. [223925]

Hilary Benn: The UK has not been approached to offer advice or support to the three named countries but would consider any approach if one were received.
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In particular, DEFRA supports two funding mechanisms under which conservation projects in these countries would be eligible: the Darwin Initiative and the Flagship Species Fund. To date the Darwin Initiative has provided £65 million to over 464 projects around the world. This includes a project in Vietnam which has specifically provided funding for the conservation of the Hoang Lien Mountain Ecosystem, which included work on primate conservation. The Flagship Species Fund has also supported projects in Vietnam, to conserve the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey and the Cao Vit gibbon.

Peat

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the size of world peat reserves in (a) 1998 and (b) 2008. [222501]

Hilary Benn: We have not undertaken our own assessment of global peat reserves. However, there has been a recent assessment (2005-2007) undertaken by Wetlands International and the Global Environment Centre funded by the United Nations Environment Programme—Global Environment Facility.

This estimates that global peatlands cover four million square kilometres (approximately 3 per cent. of the world's land area) and is being lost at a rate of approximately 4,000 square kilometres per year. There is no comparable figure for 1998.

Pest Control: Railways

Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions his Department has had with Network Rail on the control of pests and noxious plants on Network Rail property. [223697]

Hilary Benn: DEFRA and Network Rail are members of the project board for research into potential agents for the natural control of Japanese knotweed, and both were represented at a meeting about a similar project for the control of Himalayan balsam. However, DEFRA has had no discussions with Network Rail specifically about controlling invasive non-native pests and plants or the five injurious weeds covered by the Weeds Act 1959 on its land.

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