| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
21 May 2009 : Column 1556W—continued
Olympic Games 2012: Essex
Mr. Amess: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what steps her Office (a) has taken and (b) plans to ensure that local authorities in Essex share in benefits arising from the 2012 Olympic Games; what discussions her Office has had with local authorities in Essex on the matter; and if she will make a statement. [275612]
Tessa Jowell: We are fully committed to ensuring that everyone in the UK can be part of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We aim to do this through cultural events across the country, more opportunities to take part in sport and to be physically active, and a range of volunteering, jobs and skills initiatives as well as business opportunities. The Legacy Action Plan which I published in June last year sets out more details on how we propose to deliver this vision.
I am also keen for regions to identify what is important to them. At a regional level this work is being taken forward by the Nations and Regions Group (NRG) who are working hard to optimise local benefits of the games. Additionally, the Local Government Association (which is represented on the group) is supporting local authorities across the UK in the lead up to the games.
Cllr Stephen Castle, who is the regional representative on NRG, chairs the Nations and Regions East (NRE) Board. This board has representation from each of the six county areas in the East of England and each county has a 2012 working group. In Essex a strategic board has been set up and is supported and led by Essex county council. The board is chaired by Gary Sullivan, also chair of the Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership. The board has the full involvement and representation from both Thurrock and Southend unitary authorities and provides relevant and appropriate activity to maximise the benefits from 2012.
In March 2009 I was delighted to award Essex county council a Beacon Award for its work on Olympic and Paralympic Legacy. This award recognised the council’s excellent efforts to use the opportunity of hosting the games to encourage local communities to be more active.
Furthermore, East of England will be experiencing first hand the excitement of the games as Hadleigh Farm in Essex will be hosting the mountain biking competition.
Olympic Games 2012: Northern Ireland
Dr. Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what her objectives are for the legacy for Northern Ireland from the London 2012 Olympic Games. [276118]
Tessa Jowell:
We are fully committed to ensuring that everyone in the UK can be part of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We aim to do this through cultural events across the country, more
opportunities to take part in sport and to be physically active, and a range of volunteering, jobs and skills initiatives as well as business opportunities. The Legacy Action Plan which I published in June last year sets out our objectives and more details on how we propose to deliver this vision.
I am also keen for devolved Administrations to identify what is important to them. At a local level this work is being taken forward by the Nations and Regions Group (NRG) who are working hard to optimise the benefits of the games. The Northern Ireland interim NRG member is Hazel Campbell, Director of Sport, Museums and Recreation Division. A Northern Ireland Strategy for the games has been prepared to maximise the benefits of 2012. This can be found on the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) website:
DCAL is the lead Department for 2012 with responsibility for co-ordinating and facilitating the Northern Ireland Strategy in partnership with key stakeholders across the seven themes of sport, culture, volunteering, education, skills and employment, business and tourism.
Progress on legacy in Northern Ireland is already being made. 26 Olympic and eight Paralympic facilities from Northern Ireland are included in the official London 2012 Pre-Games Training Camp Guide, including three in the Belfast South constituency itself: Olympia Leisure Centre, Queens University and the Mary Peters Track. Additionally, March 2009 saw the successful culmination of the Pied Piper project—the first in Northern Ireland to be awarded the prestigious Inspire Mark for cultural projects which align with the values and aims of London 2012.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Fruit and Vegetables
8. Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will take steps to encourage people to produce their own fruit and vegetables. [276582]
Jane Kennedy: DEFRA has provided £400,000 to support a campaign that promotes growing your own fruit and vegetables and eating seasonal produce. The campaign is being delivered by a coalition of businesses and civil organisations. The campaign website, Eat Seasonably, was launched on 29 March and features advice and events to help people grow their own food.
Food Labelling
9. Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the European Commission on country of origin food labelling. [276584]
10. Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent progress has been made in discussions with the European Commission on proposed new rules on the labelling of food with its country of origin. [276585]
Jane Kennedy: A proposed Regulation on general food and nutrition labelling is being negotiated in Brussels. This proposal includes provisions on country of origin labelling.
The Government are keen to see clearer origin labelling rules and will be pressing this point as negotiations progress.
Compulsory Set-aside
11. Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the likely effect of proposals for compulsory set-aside from September 2010 on existing environmental stewardship schemes for farmers. [276588]
Hilary Benn: The Government supported the abolition of set-aside in the CAP Health Check last year, but we wish to recapture the range of environmental benefits it provided. As part of our consultation on alternative approaches we published an impact assessment earlier this year, and the possible effect on existing Environmental Stewardship schemes is one of the factors we will consider in reaching a decision.
Bovine Tuberculosis
12. Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to deal with tuberculosis infection in cattle in East Sussex. [276589]
Jane Kennedy: DEFRA'S cattle testing and slaughter policy is the same in East Sussex as it is for the rest of England. It includes zero tolerance regime for overdue tests; pre-movement tests; the extended use of the gamma test; and encouraging good husbandry practice.
Waste
13. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on the use of waste as a source of energy; and if he will make a statement. [276590]
Jane Kennedy: Waste wood, waste food and the biomass element of un-recyclable waste represent large untapped sources of renewable energy. Ways to encourage the recovery of renewable heat and power from this waste have featured in recent discussions between Ministers and officials from DEFRA, DECC and BERR in relation to reform of the Renewable Obligation Order (2009), led by BERR, and are continuing in relation to development of Feed-in Tariff’s, a Renewable Heat Incentive and the Government’s forthcoming Renewable Energy Strategy, led by DECC.
Marine Management Organisation
14. Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made on the establishment of the Marine Management Organisation; and if he will make a statement. [276591]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The necessary preparatory work is in hand to allow the MMO to be established by the earliest possible date, subject to the successful passage of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill.
Rural Economy
15. Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the recession on the rural economy. [276592]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The Government recognise that the economic downturn is having impacts in both urban and rural areas. Regular reports, received from the Commission for Rural Communities and Regional Development Agencies, continue to suggest that the impacts on rural areas are very similar to those in urban areas and, when compared to urban areas, the emerging picture in rural England is of lower risk, higher resilience and higher recovery prospects.
Animal Health
16. Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent progress his Department has made in reducing risks to animal health. [276593]
Jane Kennedy: The health of animals is central to DEFRA’s work of protecting livestock and controlling and eradicating disease.
We encourage good biosecurity, through the ‘give disease the boot’ campaign and carry out risk based post import testing to help prevent disease spreading.
DEFRA’s animal health agency implements policies to prevent and manage outbreaks of serious animal diseases, thus supporting the farming industry, protecting the welfare of farmed animals and safeguarding public health from animal borne disease.
Agriculture: Subsidies
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what discussions he has had with the (a) Country Land and Business Association, (b) National Farmers Union and (c) others on the proposal to implement a de minimis size holding for eligibility for payment of the 2010 Single Farm Payment; [275799]
(2) what discussions his Department has had on its proposals for implementing the de minimis size of holding for the payment of the 2010 Single Farm Payment. [275800]
Jane Kennedy: Under the terms of the EU CAP Health Check agreement, member states must implement a minimum claim size for direct payments, including those under the Single Payment Scheme, from 2010. Possible options to meet this requirement in England were discussed both during and subsequent to the Health Check agreement with stakeholder groups. Membership of those groups included the National Farmers Union and Country Land and Business Association as well as other industry stakeholders such as the Tenant Farmers Association and environmental and consumer bodies. The options are now part of a consultation which was sent directly to over 100 organisations and is publicly available on the DEFRA website at:
This consultation runs until 22 July.
Agriculture: Waste Disposal
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the take-up of anaerobic digestion will count towards the UK’s recycling targets under the revised Waste Framework Directive. [275902]
Jane Kennedy: Article 11(3) of the revised Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) requires the European Commission to establish detailed rules on the application and calculation methods for verifying compliance with the directive’s targets. The Commission has not yet established these rules. However, the Commission confirmed in its December 2008 Green Paper on biowaste management that anaerobic digestion may be classified as recycling when digestate is used on land for the production of growing media. The UK’s response to the Green Paper asked the Commission to clarify whether all biowaste from households consigned to anaerobic digestion may be classified as recycling, where part of the output is biogas from which energy is recovered.
Anaerobic Digestion Task Group
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs who the members of the Anaerobic Digestion Task Group are; and which organisations are represented in the group. [275791]
Jane Kennedy: Members of the Anaerobic Digestion Trade Group are appointed on a personal basis. The full list of members is given as follows:
Steve Lee (Chair), Chief Executive Officer, Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM)
David Bellamy, Sustainability Manager, Food and Drink Federation (FDF)
Paul Bettison, Chair of Environment Board, Local Government Association (LGA)
Michael Chesshire, Technology Director, BiogenGreenfinch and Chair, Renewable Energy Association (REA) Biogas Group
Samantha Fuller, Waste to Energy Development Manager, Scottish and Southern Energy
Bob Gordon, Environment Policy Executive, British Retail Consortium (BRC)
Jim Haywood, Environment Director, Business in the Community (BITC)
Keith Riley, Managing Director-Technical Services Director, Veolia
David Sillett, Rural Development Manager, East of England Development Agency (EEDA)
Richard Swannell, Director of Retail and Organics Programmes, Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP)
Pamela Taylor, Chief Executive, Water UK
Jeremy Tomkinson, Chief Executive, National Non-Food Crops Centre (NNFCC)
John Varley, Estate Director, Clinton Devon Estates
Michael Warhurst, Senior Campaigner, Resources and Waste, Friends of the Earth (FoE)
Owen Yeatman, Managing Director, Biogas Nord UK Ltd.
Animal Products: Waste Disposal
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether tallow used in production of leather is classified by his Department as a waste product. [276378]
Jane Kennedy: The handling and use of animal by-products including tallow is governed by Regulation (EC) 1774/2002 commonly referred to as the EU Animal By-products Regulation. Article 6 of the regulation sets out the uses of low-risk (category 3) material derived from animals slaughtered for human consumption. Only tallow that falls into category 3 may be used in the production of leather.
DEFRA does not classify substances as waste. Whether or not a substance is classified as waste within the meaning of Article 1(1)(a) of the Waste Framework Directive (2006/12/EC) must be determined on the facts of each case and the competent authorities such as the Environment Agency are responsible for the implementation of the directive’s waste management controls.
Animal Welfare: Agriculture
Andrew Rosindell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many
prosecutions for offences relating to the welfare of farm animals have (a) been brought and (b) resulted in convictions in each of the last five years. [275945]
Jane Kennedy: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences under the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968, and relevant parts of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, in England and Wales, 2003 to 2007 can be viewed in the following table.
The Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968 was repealed by the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which came into force on 6 April 2007.
It is not possible to separately identify from the Animal Welfare Act 2006, farm and non-farm animals.
Centralised records are not kept of prosecutions made under secondary legislation such as the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |