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12 Oct 2009 : Column 304W—continued
Stray Dogs
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what recent assessment he has made of the effect on animal welfare of the transfer of responsibility for stray dogs from local police forces to local authorities; and if he will make a statement; [290471]
(2) what recent assessment he has made of the effect on animal welfare of the transfer of responsibility for stray dogs from local police forces to local authorities; and if he will make a statement. [290470]
Jim Fitzpatrick: In April 2008 responsibility for dealing with stray dogs was removed from the police who had shared this role with local authorities. Sole responsibility now rests with local authorities, who already have arrangements in place to collect and house strays. An additional £4 million per year has been provided to local authorities to cover this additional responsibility.
No assessment has been made of the effects of this change in responsibility on animal welfare.
Trapping
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people have been prosecuted under section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in relation to the use of glue traps to date. [289938]
Jim Fitzpatrick: No records are held centrally on this.
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made on the effectiveness of glue traps in pest control of their use by non-professionals. [292095]
Jim Fitzpatrick: DEFRA has not made any recent assessment of the effectiveness of glue traps in pest control when used by non-professionals.
Waste Management: EU Law
Mr. Bailey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will defer making regulations to implement the review of waste
exemptions from environmental permitting until the EU Waste Framework Directive has been transposed into UK law. [291499]
Dan Norris: We will not defer making regulations to implement the review of waste exemptions from environmental permitting. We propose to lay regulations to come into force in April 2010 that will provide new and amended waste exemptions from the need for an environmental permit for a range of waste operations that pose a low environmental risk. Exemptions provide 'lighter touch' regulation and will encourage more businesses to take up waste recycling and recovery. At the same time, we will limit the extent of the exemptions for some higher risk waste operations that will in the future be subject to increased controls through an environmental permit.
There is no reason to delay the benefits and savings that will result from the regulations until the revised EU Waste Framework Directive is transposed. The revised Directive contains similar provisions to the existing Directive, and gives member states discretion to provide exemptions from permitting subject to certain conditions.
Waste Management: Nuisance
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will issue guidance to local authorities on the use of enforcement powers in relation to statutory nuisances caused by activities associated with waste management regulated by the Environment Agency. [290434]
Dan Norris: In April 2008, the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2007 came into force. The regulations replaced and brought together the previous waste management licensing and Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) systems under one environmental permitting regime.
A consequence of this regulatory change is that local authorities now require the consent of the Secretary of State before instituting proceedings for statutory nuisances such as odour, noise, smoke, dust, artificial light and accumulations from a waste operation (i.e. a site regulated by the Environment Agency under an environmental permit or requiring registration as an exempt waste operation). Prior to April 2008, the Secretary of State's consent was only required in respect of the PPC regime.
The changes to the statutory nuisance provisions were made to avoid an operator being subject to 'double jeopardy'; i.e. to ensure a local authority may not begin summary proceedings against an operator for nuisance, where proceedings can be brought by the Environment Agency under the Environmental Permitting Regulations. DEFRA officials are currently working with relevant stakeholders (i.e. the Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS) and the Environment Agency) on the provision of future supplementary guidance on the factors to be taken into consideration in dealing with applications for the Secretary of State's consent.
Waste: Exports
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many individuals have been (a) charged and (b) prosecuted for the illegal export of waste in each of the last five years; [289683]
(2) what the (a) number and (b) monetary value was of fines imposed for the illegal export of waste in each of the last five years. [289684]
Dan Norris: Since 2004, the Environment Agency has had 18 successful prosecutions for illegal waste shipments. Four of these have been individuals and 14 have been companies. One company has been prosecuted twice in the space of two years. One individual was given a conditional discharge, the rest have received fines totalling £224,650.
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which countries have been in receipt of illegally exported waste of each type from the UK in each year since 1997. [289685]
Dan Norris: The Environment Agency has collected data on illegally exported waste from England and Wales since 2002. The countries that have been in receipt of illegally exported waste are as follows:
| Waste type | Destination | |
| (1) Waste intercepted in Belgium; intended final destination unknown. | ||
Containers of waste exported to Brazil in 2009 are the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Environment Agency.
Water: Meters
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of homes with water meters installed in each water supply area. [289274]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The table shows the percentage and number of households with a meter for each water company.
| 2008-09 | ||
| Percentage of households metered | Total number of household properties metered | |
| Source: Ofwat | ||
Written Questions: Government Responses
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he plans to answer question 269529, on the inter-departmental committee on flooding, tabled on 2 April 2009. [292030]
Huw Irranca-Davies: Question 269529 was transferred to the Cabinet Office in April as it has responsibility for the inter-departmental committee on flooding.
Communities and Local Government
Arc Manche
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding and support (a) the Government Office for the South East, (b) the South East England Regional Assembly and (c) the South East England Development Agency has provided to the Arc Manche network. [290419]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The funding that the Department has provided to the Arc Manche network is as follows:
(a) The Government office for the south east through the Interreg IIIB programme contributed £1.1 million ERDF to Arc Manche via the EMDI (Espace Manche Development Initiative) project;
(b) The South East England regional assembly did not contribute to the project; and
(c) The South East England Development Agency is aware of the Arc Manche Network but does not provide specific funding or support to it.
Buildings: Energy
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has to provide guidance on the use of energy-efficient circulator pumps in (a) domestic and (b) commercial properties. [291786]
Mr. Ian Austin: The recent consultation proposing changes to Part L of the Building Regulations included proposed standards and guidance for circulation pumps in both domestic and non-domestic buildings. The consultation responses are presently being analysed and they will help to inform the final amendment which is planned to be brought into operation in 2010.
Community Infrastructure Levy
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress has been made on his Department's consideration of whether to restrict the scope of section 106 obligations after the Community Infrastructure Levy is introduced. [289708]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Government have set out proposals to reform the use of planning obligations in Chapter 5 of its consultation regarding the introduction of the Community Infrastructure Levy which was launched on 30 July 2009 and will conclude on 23 October 2009.
Construction: Inspections
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he plans to bring forward legislation for additional competent persons schemes in the current Session. [289552]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Building (Amendment No.2) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/2397), which were laid before Parliament on 8 September 2009, have authorised competent person schemes for the installation of a wholesome cold water supply and for the installation of a supply of non-wholesome water to a sanitary convenience fitted with a flushing device. These schemes were authorised to support the changes made to Part G of the Building Regulations (sanitation, hot water safety and water efficiency) by the Building and Approved Inspectors (Amendment) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/1219).
There are no plans to authorise further competent person schemes in the current Session.
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