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14 May 2009 : Column 898W—continued
Departmental Buildings
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on building maintenance in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [274558]
Huw Irranca-Davies: Expenditure incurred by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on building maintenance is as follows:
| £ | |
Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) assessment and (b) research has been undertaken by (i) his Department, (ii) its agencies and (iii) the Waste and Resources Action Programme on the accuracy of bin weighing technology in relation to the collection of household waste. [274081]
Jane Kennedy: No such assessment or research has been undertaken by DEFRA, its agencies, or the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) on the accuracy of bin weighing technology.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 27 March 2009, Official Report, column 789W, on domestic waste: waste disposal, whether the role of the Waste Improvement Network extends to providing information to local authorities outside the South East. [274707]
Jane Kennedy: The Waste Improvement Network (WIN) is targeted at local authorities throughout England and registered users are spread across all nine regions, including the South East. Anyone is welcome to register (including non-local authority users) and there are also a number of registered users from authorities outside England.
Flooding Lessons Learned Review
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations he has received on the resilience procedures recommended in the Pitt Report on flooding; and if he will make a statement. [274614]
Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA Ministers and officials maintain regular contact with Regional Resilience teams in the Government offices on a range of issues concerning the recommendations set out in the Pitt report, in particular to maintain a dialogue on progress against the action plan that the Government have set out. This includes regular contact with Local Resilience Forums concerning multi-agency flood planning and preparedness.
Inland Waterways: Olympic Games 2012
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the dredging of Prescott Lock is due to be completed. [275667]
Huw Irranca-Davies: Dredging a route for freight barges entering the Olympic Park via Prescott Channel off the tidal River Lea will be completed by 31 May 2009.
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the weight of site material for the construction of the Olympic stadium, associated buildings and infrastructure which has been delivered to the site via Prescott Lock. [275668]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The new lock on Prescott Channel does not formally open until 5 June 2009. Responsibility for traffic to and from the site lies with the Olympic Delivery Authority, which has a publicly stated aspiration of moving 50 per cent. of materials by weight by sustainable means (i.e. rail and river). An award of Freight Facility Grant made to British Waterways by the Department for Transport was based upon 1.01 million tonnes of materials being delivered to the site via Prescott Lock for a minimum period of three years beginning from 31 August 2008.(1)
(1) Figures supplied by British Waterways.
Litter
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) prosecutions have been made and (b) fixed penalty notices issued by each local authority in England for (i) dropping of litter and (ii) dog fouling in each of the last five years. [274580]
Huw Irranca-Davies: Tables showing the data (covering those periods in which latest statistics are available) for litter and dog fouling offences have been placed in the Library of the House.
Livestock: Disease Control
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the veterinary profession on cost sharing for the eradication of animal diseases. [275107]
Jane Kennedy: Departmental Ministers meet regularly with representatives of the veterinary profession to discuss a wide range of animal health and welfare issues, including responsibility and cost sharing for animal health.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he plans to reply to the letters of 9 February and 1 April 2009 from the hon. Member for Billericay on a constituent, Mr G Lane. [275439]
Huw Irranca-Davies: I replied to the letter of 9 February and follow up letter of 1 April from the hon. Member for Billericay on 5 May.
Milk: Imports
Albert Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many litres of liquid milk were imported into the UK from (a) Ireland, (b) EU member states and (c) other countries in the latest period for which figures are available. [274622]
Jane Kennedy: Liquid milk imports are shown in the following tables. Liquid milk is imported into the UK in two forms, as raw milk for processing by dairies in the UK, or as liquid drinking milk (e.g. pasteurised or UHT milk).
Imports of raw milk come from the Republic of Ireland for processing by dairies in Northern Ireland.
| Imports of raw milk for processing into the UK—2008 | |
| Million litres | |
| Source: DARDNI | |
Liquid drinking milk is imported mainly from the Republic of Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, France and Germany. There were no recorded imports of liquid milk from Non-EU countries during 2008.
| Imports of liquid drinking milk into the UK from the EU—2008 | |
| Million litres | |
| Source: HMRC | |
Pig Industry Task Force
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to announce the appointment of members of the Pig Industry Task Force; and what its objectives will be. [273769]
Jane Kennedy: Members of the Pig Meat Supply Chain Task Force were appointed prior to its first meeting on 18 March and announced in a DEFRA news release on 19 March. The membership is as follows:
Stewart Houston: NPA/BPEX
Barney Kay: NPA
Mick Sloyan: BPEX
Richard Lister: Industry
John Hughes: Tulip
Bill Thurston: Vion
Adrian Dowling: Bowes of Norfolk
Bernard Hoggarth: Cranswick
Simon Galkoff: Whitbreads
Nick Scrase: ASDA
Simon Twigger: Sainsburys
Colin Holmes: Tesco
Andrew Thornber: Morrisons
Jan Anderson: Yorkshire Forward
Tricia Henton: Environment Agency
Susan Knox: Consumer bodies
Ian Platt: Baxter Storey
The consumer and the supply chain will benefit from the work of the taskforce on issues such as clearer labelling, better pig herd health, greater public sector procurement of higher welfare products and environmental requirements. The principle aim is that the taskforce will significantly contribute to the long-term resilience and profitability of the supply chain.
Further information on the Pig Meat Supply Chain Task Force can be found on the DEFRA website.
Protection Against Cruel Tethering Act 1988
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government have (a) taken in the last 12 months and (b) plan to take in the next two years to protect (i) horses, (ii) ponies and (iii) donkeys from the effects of cruel tethering; who his Department consulted prior to seeking the repeal of the Protection Against Cruel Tethering Act 1988; and if he will make a statement. [273892]
Jane Kennedy: The Protection of Cruel Tethering Act 1988 was repealed under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 as part of the Government’s policy to consolidate and modernise a number of pieces of animal welfare legislation. My Department consulted all the main animal welfare and equine groups as part of the consultation we held on the Animal Welfare Bill in January 2002. An analysis of the replies to that consultation can be found on the DEFRA website.
At the end of last year, DEFRA completed a public consultation exercise on a code of practice for the welfare of equines. All the main equine animal welfare groups were consulted on the code. The draft code covers all domestic horses, ponies, donkeys, and hybrids (including mules), and includes specific guidance on tethering. Once we have considered the responses to the consultation, we will then ask Parliament to approve a revised code.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations he has received since 2006 on the repeal of the Protection Against Cruel Tethering Act 1988; and if he will make a statement. [273893]
Jane Kennedy: We have received no such representations.
Renewable Energy: Waste
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the provisions of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 Schedule 1, Part 2, Section 1.1 apply to products that have satisfied the end of waste criteria and are used to generate electricity; and if he will make a statement. [275100]
Jane Kennedy: The question of whether any particular waste has been fully recovered and has ceased to be waste must be determined on the facts of the case and taking into account relevant case law on the definition of waste. The Environment Agency is responsible for the implementation of waste management controls in England and Wales.
However, DEFRA has made funding available to enable the Environment Agency to develop end-of-waste protocols, which help determine the point at which certain waste streams have been fully recovered and have ceased to be waste. One such protocol has been developed for waste cooking oil, and its practical effect is that waste cooking oil treated to the standards set out in the protocol may be burned without being subject to waste management controls.
Rivers: Pollution
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many incidences of river pollution were reported in each of the last five years. [274936]
Huw Irranca-Davies:
Incidences of reported water pollution are detailed in the following table. The incident data held on the Environment Agency's National Incident Recording System do not specify whether the pollution
was to rivers or other watercourses. The following data are therefore for all pollution incidents which had an impact on water.
| Pollution incidents with an impact on water | |||||
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