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19 May 2009 : Column 1281W—continued


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Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 12 March 2009, Official Report, column 679W, on domestic waste: waste disposal, if he will place in the Library a copy of the WR1204 research report on completion. [275776]

Jane Kennedy: A copy of the WR1204 research report will be placed in the Library once it is published later this year.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer of 11 March 2008, Official Report, column 222W, on domestic waste: waste disposal, whether any projects involved helping local authorities with introducing or operating alternate weekly collections. [275783]

Jane Kennedy: DEFRA provided funding directly to authorities, through the local authority support unit (LASU), to:

We did not fund any option specifically to deliver any particular collection approach. However, authorities may have explored the options mentioned as part of those available. All LASU case studies are available on the Waste Information Network website.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) of 24 November 2008, Official Report, column 841W, on domestic waste: waste disposal, whether (a) the Waste Improvement Network and (b) the Waste and Resources Action programme have made estimates of the average cost per household to local waste collection authorities of domestic waste collection with (i) a weekly and (ii) an alternate weekly frequency. [275856]

Jane Kennedy: Neither the Waste Improvement Network not the Waste and Resources Action programme (WRAP) have made any such estimates.


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Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) of 17 March 2009, Official Report, column 1007W, on domestic waste: waste disposal, which of the 10 councils awarded beacon status for best practice in waste collection have (a) weekly and (b) alternate weekly collections. [275858]

Jane Kennedy: Two of the bodies awarded beacon status for waste collection in 2007 are waste partnerships representing a total of 16 authorities. 14 of these have waste collection duties. Therefore, a total of 21 waste collection authorities received beacon status for waste collection. Of these, three now provide weekly collections and 18 provide alternate weekly collections.

Weekly collection

Alternate weekly collection

Environmental Permitting Regulations 2007

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he plans to bring forward proposals to amend the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2007 to take account of the ruling of the Court of Appeal in the case of OSS Group v. the Environment Agency; and if he will make a statement. [276324]

Jane Kennedy: DEFRA does not have any plans to amend the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 in the light of the ruling by the Court of Appeal.

Food Supply

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his most recent assessment is of progress in the delivery of the Government's commitment to the right to food as a fundamental human right. [275829]


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Jane Kennedy: We are currently assessing the UK's contributions to the realisation of a right to food and will shortly be submitting a report to the UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur. The UK Government remain committed to working with international partners to enhance global food security in line with our millennium development goals (MDG), including MDG 1 on hunger, and to the progressive realisation of a right for all to have economic and physical access to safe and nutritious food—a commitment which was recently reaffirmed by G8 Agriculture Ministers in Treviso on 18-20 April.

Geographical Information Systems

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2009, Official Report, columns 1281-2W, on geographical information systems, whether the cadastral parcels used in implementation of the INSPIRE Directive will include property data held by (a) the Land Registry, (b) Ordnance Survey and (c) the Valuation Office Agency. [275782]

Huw Irranca-Davies: Cadastral parcel datasets(1) held by or on behalf of public authorities will be in scope for implementation of the INSPIRE Directive. However, the implementing rules that will confirm the criteria to assess which datasets meet the definition of cadastral parcels will not be finalised before autumn 2009. Until the criteria have been agreed and assessed it is not possible to state explicitly whether datasets from specific organisations will be in scope.

Joint Waste Authorities: Finance

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much seed-corn funding has been allocated to the first group of joint waste authorities. [275770]

Jane Kennedy: No joint waste authorities have been established.

Rabies

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures are in place to prevent the importation of rabies into the UK. [275795]

Jane Kennedy: Rabies-susceptible mammals are subject one of three sets of controls in place to prevent the importation of rabies: the Pet Travel scheme, quarantine or rules known as the Balai Directive which deal with the trade movement of certain animals and animal products.

Pets entering the UK under the Pet Travel scheme must meet certain rules, including the need for a rabies vaccination and a blood test. They can only enter the UK on transport routes approved by the Animal Health Agency and all undergo a pre-entry identity and documentary check to ensure that they have met all of the rules of the scheme. If they meet these rules they do not need to enter quarantine on arrival.

Animals subject to UK quarantine laws, for example pets from countries for which the Pet Travel scheme
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does not apply or zoo animals, must be issued with a rabies import licence issued by the Animal Health Agency before they can enter the UK. On arrival in the UK, these animals are immediately transported by an approved carrier to quarantine premises where they undergo six months’ quarantine. These animals are under the control of authorised quarantines or travelling agents at all times and are subject to regular veterinary inspections.

Rabies-susceptible mammals entering the UK under the Balai Directive must meet very strict pre-entry requirements including stringent bio-security at the premises of origin. They will also require a pre-entry veterinary health inspection and be accompanied by a official veterinary export health certificate.

Recycling

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the relative costs of using (i) landfill, (ii) incineration and (iii) crushing for the purposes of reuse and reclamation in relation to (A) construction and (B) domestic waste; and if he will make a statement. [276516]

Jane Kennedy: DEFRA’s Waste and Resources Evidence programme has not commissioned any research into the areas mentioned.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding his Department has allocated to projects established to increase levels of (a) reuse and (b) source-separated recycling in the last five years; and whether the number of jobs involved was one of the criteria used in decisions to allocate funds to such projects. [276517]

Jane Kennedy: The Government believe that local authorities are best placed to make decisions for their own communities. How funding is allocated once projects are established is for the local authorities to decide and not within the remit of DEFRA.

Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what powers his Department plans to provide to local authorities under the provisions of the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008. [275760]

Jane Kennedy: DEFRA currently has no proposals to provide local authorities with additional powers under the provisions of the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions (RES) Act 2008.

Reservoirs: Ringmer

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the potential effects on the Site of Special Scientific Interest at Ringmer, East Sussex of a proposed reservoir on an adjacent site; and if he will make a statement. [276300]


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Huw Irranca-Davies: The proposed reservoir is subject to the due process of an environmental impact assessment which must consider in detail potential impacts on the site of special scientific interest (Plashett Park Wood). It is too early on in the process to conclude what the impact will be. Scoping of potential impacts has been undertaken along with a detailed baseline environmental survey. Statutory environmental bodies including Natural England are fully engaged in this process.

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with Natural England on the potential effects on the environment of a reservoir at Ringmer, East Sussex; and if he will make a statement. [276301]

Huw Irranca-Davies: Natural England has expressed concern at the potential for the reservoir to have adverse hydrological impacts on neighbouring site of special scientific interest (SSSI) woodland as well as impacts on the viability of the rare butterfly populations and bats which use the SSSI. Other protected species’ interests outside of the SSSI must also be considered (e.g. water voles in local watercourses). Natural England is working with South East Water through the statutory environment impact assessment process to ensure that these risks are properly understood.

Rights of Way: Coastal Areas

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what financial support his Department is providing to local authorities to increase (a) public access to coastal areas and (b) cleanliness and quality of beaches in 2009-10. [275812]

Huw Irranca-Davies: The coastal access provisions in the Marine and Coastal Access Bill will be implemented by Natural England (NE) who will enter into agreements with local access authorities in order that they undertake much of the detailed implementation work, where they are willing to do so. Such agreements will include provision for the relevant financial support to enable local access authorities to undertake this work. This cost accounts for part of the £50 million budget over 10 years that NE has provisionally estimated is required for the project. NE will fund the project from the core budget DEFRA provides it with.

Under section 89 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, local authorities have a duty to keep their relevant land, including beaches above the high water mark, clear of litter and refuse. The statutory Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse recommends those responsible for beaches regularly monitor them, and develop an appropriate cleansing regime. DEFRA does, however, provide grant funding support through EnCAMS (also known as Keep Britain Tidy) to run the national Quality Coast Award (QCA) and Blue Flag schemes designed to drive up the standards of beaches.

EnCAMS recently announced that a total of 71 Blue Flags and 113 QCAs have been awarded to beaches in recognition of their high quality environments and facilities.

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