| Previous Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |
18 July 2008 : Column WA193
18 July 2008 : Column WA193
18 July 2008 : Column WA193
Friday 18 July 2008
Bovine Tuberculosis
Lord Taylor of Holbeach asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Statement by Lord Rooker on 7 July (Official Report, cols. 568—70), how the Independent Scientific Group calculated the cost of a prolonged badger cull over an area of 250 to 350 square kilometres; and what was the total at which it arrived. [HL4862]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): The Independent Scientific Group (ISG) derived costs for a culling programme carried over a 100km2 area for five years from a cost-benefit analysis study carried out by Defra in 2005, which is available on the Defra website. These are presented in the ISG final report as follows:
| Culling method | Annual cost of culling per km2 | Total culling cost (75km2) for five years* |
| * Assumes 75 per cent access to overall land area. | ||
Cost estimates for cage trapping, gassing and snaring are based on culling operations being undertaken by skilled and specialist field staff, as carried out in the RBCT. The cost estimate is based on farmers undertaking the culling operations themselves under licence. The ISG acknowledges that these costs are only estimates and do not take into account additional costs which would be associated with the implementation of a badger-culling control policy, such as the need for security and police involvement.
The report does not explicitly state the calculated costs for a prolonged badger cull over an area of 250km2 to 350km2, but based on the above estimates and, once again, assuming 75 per cent access to overall land area, a government-led cull using cage trapping over an area of 350km2 for five years would cost an estimated £4,987,500. The ISG’s final report is available on the Defra website.
Broadcasting: Digital Switchover
Lord Taylor of Holbeach asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Rooker on 2 June (WA 4), whether the Government market transformation are able to supply (a) the number of analogue radios currently in use; (b) the number of
18 July 2008 : Column WA194
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): Audio equipment, including analogue and digital radios, is not modelled separately by the Government’s market transformation programme (MTP), which is thus unable to provide numbers for radios in use in 2011.
Integrated digital television (IDTV) stock—of a range of viewing technologies from liquid crystal display (LCD) to organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and plasma—is projected to be around 34,500,000 in 2011. This is expected to represent 51 per cent of all TVs.
Plasma TV stock is projected to be around 7,250,000 in 2011 and is expected to represent 11 per cent of all TVs. It is projected that 85 per cent (around 6,200,000) of plasma TVs will have an integrated digital tuner.
Cluster Munitions
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will ensure that their cluster munitions, including those equipped with improved technology, are included in the terms of the Dublin Convention. [HL4877]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): All UK cluster-munitions, as defined by the adopted text of the Oslo convention, are subject to the terms of the convention as agreed in Dublin.
Energy: Nuclear Plants
Lord Dykes asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have assessed the role of new nuclear energy plants in reducing carbon emissions. [HL4621]
Lord Bach: Paragraphs 2.10 to 2.25 of the nuclear White Paper published in January 2008 set out the reasoning behind our conclusion that throughout their lifecycle the carbon emissions from nuclear power stations are low and that new nuclear power stations could therefore make a material contribution to tackling climate change, as part of a wider strategy to cut emissions.
The department also published a cost-benefit analysis for nuclear power alongside the energy White Paper in May 2007. This compared nuclear power with gas-fired generation and alternative low-carbon generation options. This analysis is available at: www.berr.gov.uk/files/file39525.pdf.
18 July 2008 : Column WA195
RAF: Transport Aircraft
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many transport aircraft used for troop movements are currently owned by, and in service with the Royal Air Force; and what are the make, year of manufacture and year of acquisition of each. [HL4685]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): The information requested is as follows:
| Aircraft | No. | Year of Manufacture | Year of Acquisition |
- 1. Four aircraft were initially acquired on lease in 2001. An agreement was signed in 2006 to purchase the leased aircraft; the purchase will be completed later this year.
18 July 2008 : Column WA196
- 2. TriStar and VC10 aircraft are also used by the RAF to provide a strategic air-refuelling (AR) capability; some airframes can be used in either the transport or the AR role.
Waste Management: Recycling
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
How much funding was awarded to the anti-waste organisation WRAP in each of the past five years.[HL4832]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): The following table provides details of funding awarded to the Government-funded Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) over the past five years.
| WRAP Funding from English Funding Bodies in each of past Five Years | ||||
| Financial Years | DTI | Defra | Environment Agency | Total |
| Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |