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25 Mar 2009 : Column 375W—continued
Transport: Finance
Stephen Hammond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of the economic downturn on his Department’s
Comprehensive Spending Review target to double real terms spending on transport over the 20 years from 1997. [265945]
Mr. Hoon: Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 (Meeting the aspirations of the British people cm 7227) announced a 2.25 per cent. real growth in the Long-Term Funding Guideline to 2018-19, meaning that over the 20 years from 1997 UK spending on transport would have more than doubled in real terms.
Assessment of the future means of the Long-Term Funding Guideline will be made, as normal, in any future spending review.
Scotland
Departmental Public Consultations
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many public consultations his Department has conducted in the last 12 months; how long each consultation was open for; how many responses were received in each case; and what the cost of conducting each consultation was. [259697]
Ann McKechin: In the last 12 months, the Scotland Office has undertaken one public consultation, “Sorting the Ballot”. This public consultation began on 13 December 2007 and ended on 7 March 2008; an analysis of the 39 responses was published on 24 June 2008. The consultation paper was printed by the Stationery Office at a cost of £1,727 and vetted by the Plain English Campaign at a cost of £311, making a total of £2,038.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Biofuels
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Environment Agency plans to determine whether used cooking oil may be used as a fuel; and when he plans to determine his policy on this matter. [263592]
Jane Kennedy: The Government have made funding available to enable the Environment Agency to develop an end-of-waste protocol for waste cooking oils. Waste cooking oil which is treated to the standards set out in the protocol is accepted by the agency to have been fully recovered and to have ceased to be waste. The protocol applies to the production of biodiesel for use in automotive engines. The question of whether waste cooking oil has been fully recovered so that it ceases to be waste before it is used as fuel in other circumstances is one that must be determined on the facts of each case and taking into account relevant case law on the definition of waste.
Used cooked oil which has not been fully recovered may also be used as a fuel. However, the use of waste as a fuel is subject to the requirements of the waste framework directive and the waste incineration directive.
Bluetongue Disease: Vaccination
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the adequacy of supplies of bluetongue vaccine to respond effectively to an outbreak of the disease in 2009. [263884]
Jane Kennedy: DEFRA underwrote 28 million doses of BTV8 vaccine in 2008, enough for all susceptible animals in England. 12 million of these doses formed the supply at the start of 2009. This along with free market vaccine supplies from the three manufacturers authorised to market vaccine in the UK, Intervet, Merial and Fort Dodge should meet the demand for BTV8 vaccine in 2009.
DEFRA continues to closely monitor the situation in Europe, and engage with experts and manufacturers on the issue of vaccine development and authorisation for other serotypes of bluetongue.
However, currently BTV8 is the only vaccine that can legally be used in the UK, and farmers should not wait for BTV1 or bivalent vaccine to become available this year. We remain at risk from BTV8 and we are working with the industry-led JAB campaign to encourage farmers to vaccinate to protect themselves at the earliest convenient opportunity.
Bovine Tuberculosis
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which (a) counties and (b) parishes had been free of bovine tuberculosis in the four years prior to (i) 1997 and (ii) 2007. [263720]
Jane Kennedy: The information requested is provided in the tables.
| (a)(i) Table 1—Counties( 1) in England without a bovine TB incident (unconfirmed or confirmed) 1994-97 inclusive | |
| Animal health region | County with no bovine TB (unconfirmed or confirmed) |
| (a)(ii) Table 2—Counties( 1) in England without a bovine TB incident (unconfirmed or confirmed) 2004-07 inclusive | |
| Animal health region | County with no bovine TB (unconfirmed or confirmed) |
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