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23 Mar 2009 : Column 50W—continued
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with local authorities on the incorporation of composting into their household waste management strategies; and if he will make a statement. [263907]
Jane Kennedy: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has not had any recent discussions with local authorities on the incorporation of composting into their household waste management strategies.
Composting is one approach for diverting biodegradable material from landfill and local authorities already consider this as part of their management of household waste. This contributes to the good progress being made towards the target set in England's Waste Strategy 2007 to recycle or compost 50 per cent. of household waste by 2020, with annual figures up to the first quarter of 2008-09 showing 35 per cent. of household waste being recycled or composted.
Departmental Manpower
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many members of staff in his Department (a) are employed to deal with matters relating to animal welfare and (b) deal with animal-related matters as part of their remit. [256589]
Jane Kennedy: The equivalent of approximately 97 members of staff are employed to deal with animal welfare, while a total of approximately 2,084 deal with a variety of animal related matters as part of their wider remit.
Floods
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects the Cabinet sub-committee on floods to meet. [256543]
Mr. Watson: I have been asked to reply.
The Government published a detailed response to Sir Michael Pitt’s recommendations in December, and on this point, said that the new Committee would hold its inaugural meeting in the new year. Good progress is
being made on the recommendations of the Pitt Review, and the Government will publish a progress update in the summer.
It is established practice that information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including exactly when they are to meet, is not disclosed.
Floods: Property Development
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what factors the Environment Agency takes into account in deciding whether to waive restrictions on building in flood risk areas; and if he will make a statement. [264361]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The Environment Agency has no powers to waive restrictions on buildings in flood risk areas. As a consultee, it provides advice on the flood risk implications of development proposals. The Environment Agency's advice is intended to ensure that new development will be safe from flooding, does not increase flood risk elsewhere and takes into account climate change. This is in line with Planning Policy Statement 25—Development and Flood Risk.
Food Supply
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what tonnage of food is stored in the UK. [263580]
Jane Kennedy: DEFRA does not hold information on the total food held in the country.
Food: Packaging
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) average cost per local authority and (b) total cost of disposing of supermarket food packaging was in each region in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [263904]
Jane Kennedy: Neither DEFRA nor the Waste Resources Action Programmes holds this information.
Incinerators: Hazardous Substances
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether incinerator operators are required to test incinerator bottom ash for H14 ecotoxicity; and if he will make a statement. [263742]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 18 March 2009]: Incinerator operators are required to test and assess their bottom ash for all hazards including H14.
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of each submission made to the public consultation undertaken by the Environment Agency on H14 ecotoxicity testing in October 2007. [263743]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 18 March 2009]: The responses to the Environment Agency's consultation on H14 ecotoxicity will be placed in the Library of the House once each consultation response has been checked for confidentiality.
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will take steps to ensure that the results of the ecotoxicity testing of incinerator bottom ash are included in the Environment Agency regional registers. [263744]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 18 March 2009]: Assessments for hazardous waste by waste producers are not submitted to the Environment Agency. There is no legislative requirement for producers to do this and hence no inclusion on registers.
Metals: Recycling
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he or a Minister from his Department will meet a delegation representing the British metals recycling industry to discuss the review of waste exemptions from environmental permitting. [264083]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 16 March 2009]: I have recently responded to a letter from the British Metals Recycling Association agreeing to meet them to discuss a range of issues affecting the metal recycling sector.
Patagial Tagging
Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects legislation amending the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 to allow the fitting of patagial tags by non-veterinarians to come into force. [262901]
Jane Kennedy: DEFRA is in the final stages of producing an exemption order under the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 to permit non-veterinarians to wing and web tag non-farmed birds for conservation and research purposes. We hope that the new legislation will be in force within the next couple of months.
Pigs
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the pig industry on Government assistance for that sector; and if he will make a statement. [263909]
Jane Kennedy: As Minister for Farming and the Environment I have met representatives of the pig industry and producers on a number of occasions to discuss what the Government can do to help the industry achieve profitability and long-term economic sustainability.
It is clear from my discussions that it is most important that all segments of the pig meat supply chain should come together in a spirit of co-operation to jointly address a number of issues that have a significant impact on the economic health of the pig industry.
These include public sector procurement policy; country of origin labelling and the burden of environmental regulations.
In response I have therefore set up the Pig Meat Supply Chain Task Force which brings together for the first time producers, processors, retailers, consumer groups and the Government. The first meeting of the task force took place on 18 March when a work programme of outcomes and targets will be agreed. The work will be remitted to —sub-groups of co-opted experts who will urgently take the work forward to completion by the end of the task force's planned lifetime.
Plastics: Recycling
Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to encourage the reprocessing of plastic waste in the UK. [261342]
Jane Kennedy: The DEFRA-funded Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) works to develop new markets for waste in the UK. WRAP has supported several companies, through a range of financial and technical assistance mechanisms, in developing new and existing plastic recycling businesses.
Since its creation, WRAP has provided over £3.1 million in capital grants to plastics recycling businesses. In the next five years, these will divert a total of over 270,000 tonnes of plastic waste from landfill.
Plastic bottle recycling has significantly expanded in recent years, with around 132,000 tonnes of plastic bottles collected and recycled from UK households in 2006. WRAP'S focus has therefore moved on to mixed plastics (plastic packaging other than plastic bottles).
WRAP has undertaken trials with a number of technologies, with the aim of understanding the best ways to handle mixed plastics from an environmental, economical and technological perspective. The programme has investigated three main areas: collection, reprocessing, and end markets. The trials showed clearly that it is economically viable to recycle the vast majority of the mixed plastics we currently send to landfill, and there are clear environmental gains in doing so. WRAP is now working with councils and industry partners to deliver mixed plastics reprocessing in the UK.
Recycling: North West
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much waste was recycled (a) in total and (b) on average per head of population by each local authority in the North West in each of the last five years. [264325]
Jane Kennedy: The following table shows the available local authority level data for household recycling tonnages and the amount of household waste recycled per person for each local authority in the North West of England for the last three financial years. The data for 2003-04 and 2004-05 are either incomplete or unreliable at local authority level.
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