To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate his Department has made of the number of distributors of electronic equipment who are not in a distributor take-back scheme or offering a take-back yourself service; and if he will make a statement. (149076)

All retailers of electrical and electronic equipment are obligated to offer in store take-back unless they are members of the distributor takeback scheme. Over 2,500 retailers have joined the scheme—accounting for more than 75 per cent. of EEE retailing by sales.

The Department will be working with the enforcement agency to ensure that distributors are meeting this obligation. Free-riding will not be tolerated, and a robust process will be in place to serve notice and ultimately prosecute distributors who are unwilling to become compliant.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many council recycling centres (a) have and (b) do not have a partnership with a manufacturer's scheme for waste electrical and electronic equipment; and what estimate has been made of the cost to councils of the facilities to collect and recycle and the running of civic amenity sites necessary for the implementation of the waste electrical and electronic equipment directive. (151736)

Around 75 per cent. of local authorities have or are finalising agreements for clearance of their sites by producer compliance schemes. We expect all local authorities to have reached agreements with schemes in the next couple of months. Where agreements are not yet in place, local authorities can arrange for any waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) they separately collect to be treated by approved authorised treatment facilities, and then recover their costs via the settlement centre.

Local authorities are receiving between £6,000 to £9,000 per civic amenity site to finance any additional site improvements needed to accommodate separate WEEE collection areas. This is in addition to monies already provided to make site changes in advance of the introduction of the Hazardous Waste Regulations in July 2005. The costs of running civic amenity sites are covered by the local government settlement and no specific allocation has been made for WEEE collection as part of the settlement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much has been spent by his Department on (a) advertising and promotional activities relating to and (b) the implementation of the waste electrical and electronic equipment directive. (151934)

The Department has spent around a quarter of a million pounds on communications and awareness raising activities since the final consultation on the draft WEEE regulations began in July 2006.

The estimated costs of implementing the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) directive are set out in the final regulatory impact assessment which was published when the WEEE Regulations were laid on 12 December 2006.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether the Government has set aside contingency funds for any fines likely to result from failure to meet the deadlines of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive. (153749)

The UK Government make every effort to avoid incurring any fines in respect of the late transposition of European Commission directives. The waste electrical and electronic equipment directive has now been implemented in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is considered very unlikely that the UK will be subject to any fines.