To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what representations he has received on the closure of Ashford International Station on the weekend of the France v. England rugby match in Paris; and if he will make a statement. [26888]

My understanding is that the possible closure of Ashford over this weekend has yet to be confirmed, and that, currently, the station is scheduled to be open on Saturday 2 March, although possibly closed on the Friday and Sunday. These timings are provisional and therefore subject to change.Although occasional weekend closures are an inevitable consequence of the essential work for the channel tunnel rail link (CTLR) currently being undertaken at and around Ashford, the timing of this particular closure, if confirmed, is particularly unfortunate. I therefore propose to raise the matter with the company building the link, Union Railways.The CTLR project itself remains on time and on budget and when section 1 opens in 2003 the people of Kent will of course benefit from improved international rail services on a purpose-built high-speed line that will free up capacity on existing track.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps he is taking to simplify the process by which a wind turbine deployer may achieve planning consent in a commercially viable time-frame. [29284]

We already promote a positive approach to planning for all types of renewable energy projects. We have initiated the preparation of regional renewable energy assessments to encourage a more strategic approach to planning for renewable energy at regional and local levels, which will help to facilitate planning permission for individual proposals.Our Planning Green Paper published on 12 December 2001 includes proposals to deliver faster and more responsive planning decisions across the board. One element of this approach is to encourage developers to discuss proposals with local people and local planning authorities before applications for planning permission are submitted. I strongly commend this to those seeking permission for wind turbines and other renewable energy projects.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his estimate is of the (a) annual cost and (b) total value of the empty properties owned by (i) his Department, (ii) his agencies and (iii) other public bodies for which he has had responsibility in each of the last four years. [30072]

This information is available only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how the proposals in the Planning Green Paper will deliver sustainable development; and if he will make a statement. [29897]

The consultation document "Planning: delivering a fundamental change" states in paragraph 1.2

"we need good planning to deliver development that is sustainable and which creates better places in which people can live and work".

The Green Paper proposes to create a better, faster and fairer planning system with sustainability at its heart.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his estimate is of the average change in annual revenue available for financing investment in Birmingham's housing revenue account as a result `of the Government's rent restructuring proposals, based on (a) the continuation of the current subsidy system and (b) the abolition of the council tenant's tax. [30353]

Local authorities are responsible for setting their own rents and budgets—including the resources to be devoted to investment—based on local priorities and other factors. There is no council tenant's tax.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answers of 10 December 2001, Official Report, column 573W, on housing (Birmingham), what his definition of debt financing charges is. [30389]

The figures I provided in my previous answer related to the amount the Department made available to Birmingham in housing revenue account subsidy towards the administration costs of managing its debt finance. We do not have figures for the cost to Birmingham city council of servicing their housing attributable debt.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what information he has collated on housing management costs per dwelling for (a) all local authority housing, (b) all RSL housing, (c) all metropolitan authority housing, (d) Birmingham city council housing and (e) RSL housing in Birmingham. [30391]

On the basis of the definition used for the purposes of best value and Audit Commission Performance Indicators for 2000–01, the average annual management cost per dwelling for all local authorities in England was £654. The average for all metropolitan authority housing was £496 and the average for Birmingham city council housing was £634. The Housing Corporation produces figures for the RSL sector. The average annual management cost per dwelling for the largest 400 English RSLs in 2000–01 was £536. No figures are available for all RSL housing in Birmingham.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate he has made of the change in the annual cost to (a) Birmingham city council's non-HRA revenue budget and (b) the Exchequer of financing housing benefit for Birmingham tenants if transfer of the local authority housing stock to a registered social landlord goes ahead. [30350]

The estimated housing benefit cost over three years to be contributed from Birmingham city council's general fund is £17.14 million.The estimated Exchequer contribution to housing benefit cost for Birmingham tenants if transfer of the local authority housing stock to registered social landlord goes ahead is £63.63 million over 30 years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what information he has collated on the interest rates for loans taken out by registered social landlords in each of the last five years. [30352]

Information of this detail is held by the Housing Corporation only on a commercial in confidence basis.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the effect on the level of road accidents, broken down by type of (a) accident, (b) injury and (c) victim, of the operation of (i) mandatory and (ii) advisory 20 mph limits. [30326]

TRL research on urban speed management methods published in 1998 (TRL Report 363) found only an average 1 mph drop in speeds and no discernible accident reduction in accidents in 20 mph limits using only signs. Advisory speed limits are not normally approved in England and Wales. However, the more successful 20 mph zones that use self enforcing traffic calming features achieved average speed reductions of around 10 mph which produced a 70 per cent. reduction in child pedestrian accidents and a 48 per cent. reduction in child cyclist accidents.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what return (a) he has specified as a target for the Ordnance Survey Trading Fund over the period from 1999 to 2004 and (b) the Ordnance Survey Trading Fund has delivered in each accounting year from 1999 to date. [30298]

The Ordnance Survey Framework document states in a Treasury minute dated 29 March 1999, that the financial objective desirable of achievement by Ordnance Survey Trading Fund for the period 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2004 shall be to achieve a return averaged over the period as a whole of at least 9 per cent, in the form of a surplus on ordinary activities before interest expressed as a percentage of average capital employed.The return on capital employed for each of the years in question is as follows:

	1999–2000	2000–01
Profit (£ million)	12.5	127.3
Capital employed (£ million)	45.1	68.7
Return on capital employed (per cent.)	27.6	39.6
1 Includes an exceptional payment of £19.25 million received from the Automobile Association (AA)

Over the two years, 1999–2000 and 2000–01, the average return on capital employed was 33.5 per cent., including the exceptional item in 2000–01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the total external spend by his Department was on Private Finance Initiative consultants in each of the last four years; how many full-time equivalent consultants were employed over this period; how many billed consultancy days there were per year; what the implied average cost of each PFI consultant was; how many consultancy firms were used by his Department over this period; and if he will make a statement. [31041]

The specific information about the use of consultants to advise on PFI projects can be obtained only at disproportionate cost. I have placed in the Library a list of the consultancy firms employed by DTLR, its executive agencies and sponsored bodies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) what assessment he has made of the Housing Corporation's approved development programme for the number of affordable housing units in rural settlements; and if he will make a statement; [31160](2) pursuant to his answer of 10 January 2002,

The amount of new affordable housing built in recent years has declined because of reductions suffered by the Housing Corporation's capital programme in the mid-1990s, and a rapid increase in scheme costs.In the 2000 Spending Review we provided significant additional resources for housing: the Housing Corporation's approved development programme will almost double to over £1.2 billion by 2003–04; and we have doubled the Corporation's programme for affordable housing in small rural settlements (with less than 3,000 people) from 800 in 2000–01 to 1,600 homes a year by 2003–04, with 1,100 homes in 2001–02.As announced in the Rural White Paper, we expect 9,000 affordable homes to be delivered annually in rural districts by 2003–04 through Housing Corporation and local authority funding and by judicious use of planning powers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 10 January 2002, Official Report, column 975–76W, on affordable housing, if he will list the number of affordable housing units in rural settlements by region in each year since 1990. [31346]

I will write to the hon. Member with a regional breakdown for England of the number of affordable housing units in rural settlements (with a population of 3,000 or less) funded by the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme and through local authority social housing grant since 1991–92.Information for 1990–91 is not available, and information about the number of affordable housing units completed through the planning system without public subsidy is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many affordable housing units were provided by local authorities through local authority funding in rural settlements in each year since 1990. [31159]

I will send the hon. Member a table showing affordable housing units in rural settlements in England with a population of 3,000 or less funded by local authorities through local authority social housing grant since 1991–92.Information for 1990–91 is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he expects his proposed safety Bill to be presented to the House. [31235]

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 19 October 2001, Official Report, column 1364W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many (a) warning letters and (b) enforcement notices have been given by the Health and Safety Executive to (i) Railtrack and (ii) train operating companies for each year since 1995–96; and if he will provide details of each such letter or notice. [31234]

The information on the number of warning letters could be produced only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) if he will list the prosecutions of train operating companies by the Health and Safety Executive for failure to meet targets for reducing the incidents of signals passed at danger in each year since 1995–96; [31197](2) if he will list the prosecutions of Railtrack by the Health and Safety Executive for failure to meet targets for improvements to signals to reduce incidents of signals passed at danger in each year since 1995–96. [31198]

There have been no such prosecutions for failure to meet such targets.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) what action he is taking to encourage councils to include organ donor registration forms in their electoral registration form; [31350](2) how many councils include organ donor registration forms in their electoral registration form. [31351]

While it is the responsibility of each electoral registration officer (ERO) to decide what additional literature to include when issuing electoral registration forms, we asked the Association of Electoral Administrators, prior to the canvass in October 2000, to encourage EROs to include organ donation literature. Information about how many EROs do this is not collected.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps the Government are taking to allow local authorities to make the electoral register available for commercial purposes. [31216]

We intend to publish shortly a paper setting out the Government's intentions for regulations making provision, with effect from the 2002 canvass, about the sale of electoral registers to commercial organisations. Under current legislation, in the light of a recent High Court judgment, electoral registration officers must continue to sell registers, but when selling to commercial organisations must in general exclude the particulars of electors who have objected to their details being included in such cases.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions for what reason a civil servant from his Department accompanied Associated British Ports to a meeting with the Tug Company Adstream UK Ltd. on 11 January. [31535]

An official from my Department was visiting the harbour authority on 11 January as part of the Department's monitoring to confirm the assurances which have been given by the harbour authority that the safe operation of the Humber ports will not be affected by the dispute with the Humber pilots. He found that the harbour master was due to attend a meeting with the tug company, tug skippers and crew representatives; and it was agreed by all the parties that his attendance would enable the Department to know first hand of any safety concerns relating to the tug operation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many delays were caused by technical faults of (a) signals and points and (b) trains on the Metropolitan line in each of the last five years. [31370]

For the number of delays caused by signals and points failures on the Metropolitan line in each of the last five years, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Westbury (Dr. Murrison) on 18 July 2001, Official Report, column 197W.For the number of delays attributed to problems with rolling stock on the Metropolitan line over the same period, I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend the Minister for Transport gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West (Mr. Thomas) on 21 January 2002,

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what measures he is undertaking to help local authorities recruit school crossing patrols; and if he will make a statement. [31368]

My Department is grant-aiding the update of the guidelines for local authorities on the management and operation of the school crossing patrols that was produced by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and the Local Authority Road Safety Officers' Association. I hope this will address any general problems associated with the recruitment and retention of people to provide this valued service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education and Skills concerning the effect on traffic congestion of private car transport of pupils to and from school; and if he will make a statement. [31494]

My officials are in regular contact with officials from DfES in the context of the School Travel Advisory Group. The group was set up by the then Transport, Education and Health Ministers in December 1998 to advise on ways to reduce car use and improve safety for children on the journey to school. We have published guides and introduced a new programme of advice and support to assist local authorities and schools in promoting more sustainable school travel.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent discussions he has had with operators of commercial fleets and other bodies on the level of road crashes involving their vehicles; and if he will make a statement. [31484]

The Department meets and corresponds with representatives of operators of commercial fleets and others on a regular basis on a wide range of issues. The Work-related Road Safety Task Group consulted the industry and its representatives last year on at-work road safety issues. The task group's report was published on 22 November 2001 and the Government are now considering the recommendations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent studies he has commissioned to establish the number of road crashes involving company driven vehicles; and if he will make a statement. [31482]

The Work-related Road Safety Task Group considered the nature and scale of at-work road traffic incidents. The group commissioned research by the Business Strategy Group and their report, published on 22 November 2001, summarises the findings of that and other related research projects. The report may be viewed on the Health and Safety Executive's website at www.house.gov.uk/road/content.traffic1/pdf. Details of the research are set out in Annexe 3.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make it a requirement for drivers of company cars and vans to undertake additional driver training; and if he will make a statement. [31493]

The Government support high quality training for all drivers and are working with the training industry to ensure that those offering the training have the right skills. We have no plans to introduce compulsory training for company car or van drivers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will apply to drivers of company cars and vans the safety time limits for driving applied to heavy goods vehicles; and if he will make a statement. [31481]

There are no plans for legislation to restrict the number of driving hours by company car users. Drivers of goods vehicles under 3.5 tonnes operate under the UK domestic drivers' hours legislation as they are specifically exempted from European Union (EU) drivers' hours rules.We announced plans in the Transport White Paper to consult on the possible repeal of the UK drivers' hours rules, in favour of the EU rules. Unfortunately these plans had to be put on hold pending the outcome of discussions on the draft EU directive extending working time limits to mobile workers in the road transport industry. While the terms of this directive have now been agreed and are expected to be published in April, there is now a draft European Commission proposal to amend the EU drivers' hours rules themselves on which we have just gone out to consultation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what contracts his Department has with KPMG; and what the value is of each one. [31318]

There are currently seven contracts the Department has with KPMG, which are listed as follows; the total value is £2,970,759.00.

(1) The Next Generation Accounting System Project

(2) London Transport Statutory Audit

(3) London Transport Grant Audit

(4) Support for Business Improvement (Highways Agency)

(5) Assessing the Impact of the Housing Green Paper Rent Policies on Individual Housing Associations

(6) First Stage Review of English Partnerships

(7) Guidance on Commercial Conversions and the Re-use of Empty Houses.

I am unable to provide individual values for each contract, as the information is deemed commercially sensitive.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) how much funding has been awarded by central Government to local authorities to cover the implementation of plans to undertake shoreline clean-ups following marine pollution incidents in each of the last 10 years; [31211](2) if he will make it his policy to introduce a statutory duty on coastal local authorities to

My Department recognises the importance of the role of coastal local authorities in preparing and maintaining contingency plans for responding to shoreline pollution following marine pollution incidents, and in carrying out that response. Since the beginning of 1998, my Department has received representations concerning the introduction of a statutory duty on coastal local authorities to plan for or undertake shoreline clean-ups following marine pollution incidents from: Aberdeenshire council, Ceredigion county council, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, Devon county council, Dumfries and Galloway council, Dundee city council, Fife council, KIMO (Kommunenes Internasjonale Miljøorganisasjon), the Local Government Association, Pembrokeshire county council, Purbeck district council, Shetland Islands council, South Ayrshire council and the Tyne and Wear Emergency Planning Unit. This is a subject which falls within the scope of the Cabinet Office's ongoing review of "The Future of Emergency Planning in England and Wales", and specifically that review's proposal that existing emergency planning legislation be replaced with a new statutory duty for emergency planning, and my Department has made an input to that review. The result of the review is awaited.The information requested about coastal local authorities which have implemented contingency plans on a voluntary basis has been placed in the Libraries of the House, in the form of a list compiled by my Department's Maritime and Coastguard Agency, using data collected in January 2001 (and which are being updated presently). Information about the amount of funding which local authorities have requested to cover the implementation of plans to undertake shoreline clean-ups following marine pollution incidents, and the amounts which local authorities have spent on setting up plans to undertake shoreline clean-ups following marine pollution incidents and on cleaning up shorelines following marine pollution incidents, is not held centrally. No specific grants have been made covering the implementation of shoreline clean-up plans following a marine pollution incident. My Department's Maritime and Coastguard Agency does, however, annually provide training courses for local authority officers on oil pollution contingency planning and response, and shorter courses on oil spill response, at no cost to the local authorities involved.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to introduce legislation requiring companies advertising airline flights to provide information about the size of the pitch of the aircraft's seats in their advertisements. [31567]

The Government have no plans at present to introduce such legislation.The voluntary European Airline Passenger Service Commitment, to which all UK airlines operating long haul scheduled or charter services are signatories, includes a commitment to make information on seat pitch available to passengers on request. The European Airline Passenger Service Commitment will take effect from 14 February 2002.To improve the information available to passengers my Department is working with the Civil Aviation Authority and the airlines to ensure a common public understanding of the phrase "seat pitch".

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the instances in which his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies failed to pay valid invoices within 30 days or after the agreed credit period in the financial year 2000–01. [32025]

The total number of invoices paid by my department and its agencies in 2000–01, and the numbers paid late, based on the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions structure in place at 31 March 2001, are shown in the table. Listings of individual invoices paid late, and information in respect of non-departmental public bodies, are not held centrally.

Invoices paid 2000–01	Number of invoices paid	Number of invoices paid late	Percentage paid late
DETR(C)	76,241	1,868	2.45
Driving Standards Agency	31,357	249	0.79
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency	22,456	445	1.98
Vehicle Certification Agency	2,604	43	1.65
Vehicle Inspectorate	36,896	384	1.04
Highways Agency	100,288	4,383	4.37
Maritime and Coastguard Agency	30,863	132	0.43
Planning Inspectorate	9,349	350	3.74
QEII Conference Centre	3,208	7	0.22
The Rent Service	22,701	835	3.68
Total	335,965	8,696	2.59

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what additional security measures are planned by his Department to deter and detect theft and fraud. [31794]

The Department takes its responsibility to minimise losses due to theft or fraud very seriously. It has a fraud response plan, based on the Treasury model, which it keeps under regular review. It issues periodic reminders to staff about the plan and related matters.All incidents are reviewed for lessons about improved control and investigations are initiated whenever appropriate.No additional security measures are judged necessary at the present time.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 28 January 2002, Official Report, column 62W, if new proposals for St. Kevin's Playing Fields in Kirkby which are (a) at variance with the local urban development plan, (b) at variance with the planning inspector's recommendations and (c) materially different in other substantial ways, will be treated as a wholly new application; and if he will make a statement. [32079]

It is for Knowsley metropolitan borough council as the responsible local planning authority for the area and in this case as applicant to decide whether their proposals for the site have changed to such an extent that a fresh planning application should be made.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what planning permissions will need to be granted by which authorities to permit the development of an asylum accommodation centre on Ministry of Defence land at Throckmorton, Worcestershire. [31725]

Development by the Crown, including Government Departments, does not require planning permission. Development is undertaken under the non-statutory arrangements set out in Part IV of the Memorandum attached to DOE Circular 18/84. The developing Department must serve a Notice of Proposed Development on the local planning authority. If the local planning authority objects to the proposal and the objections cannot be resolved by negotiation, the developing Department must refer the proposals to the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions for his determination. To enable him to reach a decision the Secretary of State will either ask for written representations or institute a non-statutory public inquiry.If a Government Department is proposing to dispose of land in anticipation of development of that land by another, non-Crown body, it may apply for planning permission under section 299 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Development undertaken on Crown land by a private body requires planning permission in the normal way.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the level of council house rent rises was in each year since 1991 to 2001 in (a) real and (b) percentage terms, in each local authority in descending order. [30563]

[holding answer 30 January 2002]: A table showing the annual change (actual and percentage) in the level of local authority weekly rents for each year from 1991–92 to 2001–02 has been placed in the Libraries of the House.The local authorities are ranked in descending order, with the local authority with the biggest cumulative increase in council rent over the period 1990–91 to 2001–02—Barking and Dagenham—at the top.It should be noted that between April 1990 and April 2001 the retail prices index rose by 38.4 per cent. Since only the last two local authorities in this table (Redbridge and Bournemouth) saw an overall rise in rents of less than 38.4 per cent, in all other authorities the "real" rise in council rents over the period 1990–91 to 2001–02 has been positive.Note that the only local authorities shown in this table are those that existed both in 1990–91 and in 2001–02 and did not undergo any significant boundary changes during the intervening years.Local authorities that existed in 1990–91 but have since transferred their stock to housing associations (registered social landlords) have been omitted.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many written parliamentary questions regarding private finance initiatives have been tabled since 1 January 2000; and in how many of these information was not provided on the grounds of commercial confidentiality. [31966]

The Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions was formed on 8 June 2001. In the period 8 June 2001 to 30 January 2002, my Department responded to 191 parliamentary questions tabled about private finance initiatives and similar public private partnerships. Of these, five responses did not provide information on grounds of commercial confidentiality.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when the hon. Member for West Chelmsford can expect a reply to the letter he sent on 4 September 2001 from Mr. R. Black of the Chelmsford Area Access Group. [31688]

I wrote to the hon. Member on 29 January.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when his Department will grant authorisation for the installation of interactive speeding signs in Bredhurst village, near Sittingbourne, Kent. [31693]

Kent county council as the Highway Authority has responsibility for the main roads, Forge Lane and The Street, that flow through Bredhurst village. KCC took part in a pilot scheme with the Transport Research Laboratory for testing interactive speeding signs and a programme for installation of an extended pilot scheme covering a further 15 signs has been agreed on. Bredhurst is not included in that extension.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps he is taking to ensure that district authorities have the flexibility to fund and deliver high quality public services to local people which the Government have called for. [31302]

I can confirm that, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said in reply to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush (Mr. Soley) on 18 December 2001, Official Report, column 137, we have improved the terms of the minimum grant increase for 2002–03 guaranteed to shire district councils.We have done this by introducing an alternative baseline for 2001–02, which, in effect, adjusts only for the transfers of service for which shire districts are responsible. In order to guarantee a minimum 2.3 per cent. increase for shire districts, we will give each district whichever increase is greater: 2.3 per cent. on the original fully adjusted baseline, or 2.3 per cent. on the alternative.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps he is taking to ensure that the new grant formula that will replace SSA will be fairer and simpler and address the needs of all classes of authority. [31303]

The Government are working closely with local government to develop simpler and fairer grant formulae. We will consider the cases of all classes of authority in taking decisions on the new system.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when the Highways Agency's Annual Report and Accounts for 2000–01 will be published; and what results it will report. [32979]

The Highways Agency 2000–01 annual report will be published today under the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1921. In the year, the agency met all but one of its eight ministerial targets, missing the final target by only a very narrow margin. The agency also managed its expenditure within its budget, resulting in a very small underspend of 0.6 per cent. A copy of the report will be placed in the House Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement about the Merseyrail passenger franchise. [33078]

The Merseyrail franchise operates on a network of lines which are almost entirely separate, physically and operationally, from the rest of the national rail network. The current franchise expires in February 2003. Merseytravel (the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive and Passenger Transport Authority) has brought forward proposals to take Merseyrail services outside the franchising process operated by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), leaving the way open for Merseytravel to offer a local concession (in effect, similar to a franchise) for these services. Having discussed the proposals in detail with both the SRA and Merseytravel I have it in mind to support this approach which will provide local control over this unique local network and will help bring much needed improvements for passengers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what powers (a) local authorities, (b) English Heritage and (c) other agencies have to require owners of listed buildings to maintain their exterior appearance. [27636]

I have been asked to reply.Local authorities and the Secretary of State have powers under section 48 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 to require owners of listed buildings to carry out works which are considered to be reasonably necessary for the proper preservation of a listed building. Under section 54 of the Act, local authorities have powers to execute works which appear to be urgently necessary for the preservation of unoccupied listed buildings. The Secretary of State also has powers under section 54 of the Act to authorise English Heritage to carry out such repairs on her behalf. No other agencies have statutory powers concerning listed buildings.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to support village shops, pubs and post offices in rural communities. [29547]

Ensuring that people in rural areas have access to essential services such as village shops, pubs and post offices is a key theme of the Government's Rural White Paper strategy. Since we published the White Paper a year ago we have implemented a range of measures and provided extra funding to boost these basic services to rural communities. The details are provided in "England's Rural Future", which I published in December and placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what support is given by the European Commission to rural communities in disadvantaged areas of the UK. [29548]

:There are many ways in which help support disadvantaged rural communities. Not but the European Not all of them are European funded, Commission finance the following additional match funding from the Government:

The England Rural Development Programme which supports schemes to help and encourage farming, forestry and other rural businesses and communities to adapt to changing circumstances and to create a productive and sustainable rural economy.

Structural Funds (Objective 1) funding is available in certain areas (Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Merseyside and South Yorkshire) to promote similar measures to the ERDP. However, because these areas are defined by the Commission as being of greater need, the rates of grant are slightly higher.

Leader+ assists local action groups (which could include farmers, rural villages, rural businesses, local authorities, parish councils and voluntary organisations) in improving the quality of life and economic prosperity in their area through innovative approaches to sustainable rural development.

A more extensive list of sources of funding—both European and domestic—together with advice for rural businesses and communities can be found in Annexe 1 of the Rural White Paper—"Our Countryside: the future, a fair deal for rural England", a copy of which is in the House of Commons Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many live sheep were exported from the UK in the last year for which figures are available before the outbreak of foot and mouth disease. [29549]

According to our computer system used to issue export health certificates, 2,282 breeding sheep, 627,566 fattening sheep and 2,590 slaughter sheep were certified for export from the UK during 2000. The computer system also shows that during the period 1 January to 20 February 2001, seven breeding sheep, 86,900 fattening sheep and 703 slaughter sheep were certified for export from the UK. The figures for sheep exported from Northern Ireland to Ireland are not available.These figures may be subject to updating and amendment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the losses incurred by farmers through the OTMS due to restrictions on movements during the foot and mouth epidemic. [29570]

The over-30-months scheme (OTMS) delivers some £240 million per annum in payments to beef and dairy farmers. Farmers will have incurred losses arising from additional costs of keeping cattle, delays in sales receipts and, any differences between prices actually received and those which would otherwise have been obtained. However, there are no statistics available to identify the number of cattle that entered the OTMS scheme as a result of movement restrictions and therefore it is not possible to quantify any losses.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the recycling of refrigerators and freezers. [29550]

There are number of options for dealing with waste fridges that are already in place, including re-use, export within Europe, high temperature incineration and storage. Investors are in the process of providing a network of new recycling facilities in the United Kingdom. I understand that the first new facilities are likely to be operational in the spring.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the development of new recycling plants for refrigerators and freezers. [29559]

Investors are in the process of providing a network of new recycling facilities in the United Kingdom. I understand that the first new facilities are likely to be operational in the spring.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the implications of climate change upon the risk of flooding of the River Severn. [29551]

In 1995 MAFF sponsored research at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, which considered the impact of climate and land use change on the Severn and Thames river basins. This was used as the basis for subsequent national guidance published in 2000. The Environment Agency is currently carrying out further studies to develop a strategy for the Severn and a Catchment Flood Management Plan, both of which will give further consideration to the potential impacts of climate change.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the Government's plans for improving energy efficiency. [29552]

The Government are committed to the importance of energy efficiency as a highly cost-effective way of achieving our climate change goals, for example through the climate change agreements, the energy efficiency commitment, our forthcoming CHP Strategy, and our support of the Carbon Trust and Energy Saving Trust. We recognise that a great unrealised potential still remains and the Department will develop new strategies for realising this in the future.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to promote Europea-wide measures to encourage recycling. [29553]

The Government support the Common Position on the Sixth Environmental Action Programme, which calls on the Commission to develop thematic strategies on the sustainable use and management of resources and on waste recycling. This will include measures aimed at ensuring the collection and recycling of priority waste streams.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made by her Department on improving air quality since 1997. [29554]

Good progress has been made since 1997 in improving urban air quality in the UK, although we still need to do more if we are to achieve all of the objectives in our Air Quality Strategy. The improvements are, in large part, the result of the actions we have taken to reduce emissions from road transport and industry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent contact she has had with her Polish counterparts regarding the agricultural chapter of Poland's EU enlargement application. [29555]

I visited Poland on 13 and 14 January and had one-to-one meetings with the Agriculture Minister and the Environment Minister. I encouraged Poland to play an active and constructive part in preparing itself for EU membership, congratulated the Government on reaching a conclusion on the environment chapter and stressed the importance of maintaining the implementation and enforcement programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action she is taking to encourage the development of new sources of CHP. [29556]

The Department is developing, in close collaboration with DTI and other Departments, a draft CHP strategy, which will set out the measures needed to achieve the CHP target of at least 10,000 mega watts of Good Quality CHP by 2010. We aim to issue the Strategy for consultation shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she is taking to support rural pubs. [29557]

Public houses can act as important community assets in rural areas, sometimes offering a range of products and essential services to the local community. Since we published the Rural White Paper a year ago we have implemented a range of measures and provided extra funding to support rural pubs and other village services. Through the Countryside Agency we encourage mutual support between various services in rural areas—including post offices, village halls, local shops and pubs—to help improve their chances of remaining viable.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she proposes to take to reduce the length of journeys of livestock to slaughter. [29558]

This is a matter that will be considered when the European Commission produces its proposals for changes to the present EU rules on the protection of animals during transport.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on Government policy towards the production of organic food for children. [29560]

We wish to secure the success of organic farming and will be looking at all aspects of the organic food market in the organics action plan which I have announced.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the proportion of organically produced food consumed in (a) the UK and (b) other EU countries which is imported; and if she will make a statement. [29573]

UK producers' share of the organic market varies widely between different products but it is estimated that overall imports account for about 70 to 80 per cent. of the value of organic food sold in the UK. We do not have information on the position in other EU countries.The relatively low overall share of the organic market supplied by UK producers is one of the issues to be addressed in the action plan for organic farming announced at the end of last year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will outline the subsidies available to encourage farmers to become organic farmers; and what subsidies are available in other EU member states. [29349]

Under the England Rural Development Programme, support is granted over five years at varying amounts depending on the type of land for conversion to organic farming. Total payments over five years range from £50 to £450 per hectare. In addition, farmers are offered three lump sum payments totally £600 towards the cost of training.The Organic Conversion Information Service provides free on-farm advice to prospective organic farmers to assist them to evaluate suitability of their farms for organic production methods.Information about support in other member states of the Community is available at www.organic-europe.net

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what (a) regional and (b) local strategies her Department is pursuing to inform consumers about the availability of organic produce; and if she will make a statement; [31074](2) what she is doing to promote the use of organic food produce among other Government Departments; and if she will make a statement. [31073]

We have already made considerable support available to encourage conversion to organic farming, which has increased the quantities of UK organic produce available. The Action Plan for organic farming, which we will be developing with stakeholders in the light of the recommendations of the Policy Commission, will address all aspects of the organic food market.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures will be taken this year to consult local communities over the locations of farm scale evaluations of GM crops. [29561]

The Department will announce the proposed sites for the spring 2002 farm scale evaluations six weeks before the first seeds will be sown, to allow people more time to find out about the FSEs in their area. Advice and information will be provided to all relevant councils. Farmers participating in the evaluations have been encouraged to discuss their plans with their neighbours.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the industrial action in her Department. [29562]

The current industrial action by staff in the Department who are members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) began on 20 August 2001. Since that date 16,201 working days have been lost due to strike action.A revised pay offer was made on 10 January 2002 and the PCS suspended all industrial action on 11 January. Negotiations are continuing with a view to an early settlement.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received on the operations of NETA in relation to (a) CHP and (b) renewables. [29563]

NETA is a matter for Ofgem and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. I have met the CHP industry, including the Combined Heat and Power Association on a number of occasions, and at these meetings have heard first hand the effect NETA is having on CHP generators. I have not received representations on the operation of NETA in relation to renewables.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the Parrett Catchment Project. [29564]

I welcome the holistic view taken in this study which has involved creation of an effective local partnership and identified a number of options for future flood management. DEFRA stands ready to help in any way we can within the terms and conditions of the relevant support schemes. Funding has been allocated to the Environment Agency for the development of a Catchment Flood Management Plan (one of five national pilot plans) to determine the most effective approaches to flood risk management for this complex catchment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the state of sub-post offices in rural areas; and if she will make a statement. [29565]

The Countryside Agency has investigated the provision of post offices in its triennial surveys of service provision in rural areas. The agency's Rural Services Survey 2000 reported a continued decline in post offices. 93.5 per cent. of rural households live within 2 km (1.25 miles) of a post office, between 1997 and 2000 546 rural post offices closed. A range of initiatives have been introduced by Post Office Ltd. to prevent avoidable closures in rural areas, while initiatives from the Countryside Agency include encouraging mutual support between post office and other services to help improve their chances of remaining viable.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what role her Department is playing in the review of the landfill tax credit scheme; and what her objectives are for the review. [29567]

In the pre-Budget report the Government stated that they were attracted to replacing all or part of the LTCS with a public spending programme to direct resources towards Government priorities on sustainable waste management. The Government are soon to consult on the future of the scheme and the Department is one of those helping to develop that consultation paper.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on what assessments have been conducted of the potential (a) environmental, (b) economic and (c) social impacts of the manufacture of MOX fuel at Sellafield. [29568]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and I announced on 3 October 2001 that we had decided that the manufacture of MOX fuel is "justified" under the terms of the Euratom basic safety standards directive. The decision document which we issued on that day dealt with these and other relevant issues, and referred to earlier work in particular that undertaken by the Environment Agency, PA Consulting and A. D. Little.A copy of the decision document is in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what targets she has set for carbon dioxide reduction in the next five years. [29569]

No targets have been set for carbon dioxide reduction over the next five years. Under the Kyoto Protocol, the UK has a target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2008–12. The Government have an additional domestic goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2010. The UK's climate change programme, published in November 2000, sets out a range of policies and measures that we estimate could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 23 per cent. by 2010. The programme will be monitored and evaluated at regular intervals, including a formal review in 2004–05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will next meet the board of British Waterways to discuss the extension of the English canal system; and if she will make a statement. [29571]

I have no plans at present to visit the board of British Waterways to discuss the extension of the canal system, but my noble Friend Lord Whitty has regular meetings with British Waterways. We are aware of a number of proposals in the pipeline and look forward to discussing them with British Waterways at the appropriate time.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on progress towards meeting the targets of the Government's Waste Management Strategy (2000) and progress since the waste summit. [29572]

Since launching the national waste strategy in May 2000, the Government have set demanding statutory targets for the recycling and composting of household waste for each local authority, increased the landfill tax and consulted on a system of tradable landfill permits in order to achieve the diversion from landfill required. It has also set up the Waste and Resources Action Programme to help create stable and efficient markets for recycled materials and products, with funding from the Government and the devolved Administrations of around £40 million over three years.Following the waste summit held on 21 November, which considered what more needs to be done to ensure effective delivery of the strategy, the Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) have begun their study to review Waste Strategy 2000. The study is assessing what extra instruments, changes to targets or regulations, or additional funding may be required to ensure that the strategy is delivered effectively and that we are able to develop more sustainable waste management.The PIU will be consulting with key stakeholders through the study. Further details about the study are available on the PIU website at www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/innovation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessments she has made of the effect on animal welfare and transport costs of the use of electronic livestock markets during the foot and mouth epidemic. [29574]

We have no information on animals traded as a results of electronic livestock markets but the welfare of such animals and the related transport costs would be the responsibility of the parties involved. Electronic markets do have the potential to reduce animal movements with the benefits of welfare and cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on farm incomes. [33079]

Revised estimates of farm income, output and productivity of agriculture during 2001 were published on 31 January. These confirm the increase in farm incomes forecast last November and indicate a modest rise of 13 per cent. (11 per cent. in real terms).This increase is due to improved prices leading to higher values of output for milk, potatoes and horticulture outweighing lower values of output for cereals and livestock. Incomes are forecast to show a further rise in 2002 as the volume of cereal production returns to more normal levels and the industry starts to recover from the effects of FMD.Details have been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what additional control measures have been introduced to control the possible spread of bovine TB after the foot and mouth disease outbreak. [33076]

I am announcing today the introduction of TB movement restrictions on certain herds with overdue TB tests. The herds affected are those in annual test frequency parishes that have missed the six and 12 month tests carried out after the lifting of movement restrictions put in place after an earlier TB incident. A veterinary risk assessment has shown that these have been historically more at risk of being infected with TB than herds with other types of TB test. The measure is expected to affect up to 1,250 herds mainly in the south and west of England.In addition we are introducing additional checks on herds that have been reformed after FMD. These herds will be TB tested at 12 and 24 months after the normal TB check test at three months after restocking.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the fees to be paid by merchants and saddlers for registration in 2002–03 with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain under the Medicines (Exemptions for Merchants in Veterinary Drugs) Order 1998 have yet been determined. [33077]

Yes. With the consent of the Treasury, the schedule of fees for registration, retention and restoration have been determined. This is given in the table as follows:

Fees
£
Application in respect of each premises	Previous	New
Agricultural merchants
1. For registration under Article 5	224	224
2. For retention of registration under Article 5	133	140
3. For restoration of registration under Article 5	190	190
Saddlers
1. For registration under Article 5	127	127
2. For retention of registration under Article 5	78	76
3. For restoration of registration under Article 5	107	107

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the annual administration costs of the Rural Enterprise Scheme are. [30647]

The Rural Enterprise Scheme (RES) is one of the new grant schemes in the England Rural Development Programme which was launched in October 2000. It is delivered on a regional basis by DEFRA's Rural Development Service (RDS). Expenditure on the development and administration of the scheme in 2001–02 was forecast to be around £2 million. The final outturn figure is likely to be lower because a significant number of RDS staff were diverted temporarily on to foot and mouth disease work.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many bids have been received by the Rural Enterprise Scheme since it began; what (a) the aggregate value of bids, (b) the number of successful bids and (c) their aggregate value was; and if she will make a statement. [30648]

Between October 2000, when the Rural Enterprise Scheme was launched, and the end of December 2001, 867 applications were received. The aggregate value of applications (ie grant sought) is some £54 million. Of the total number of applications received, 207 applications have been successful, with an aggregate value of £5.6 million in grant. A further 346 applications are currently being processed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 25 January 2002, Official Report, column 1171W, on zoos, how many zoos failed to meet required standards in (a) health and safety and (b) animal welfare requirements in each year since 1990 for which figures are available. [31967]

The information is not held centrally. The administration of both the Zoo Licensing Act 1981 and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 falls to local authorities, and there is no requirement for them to report this information to central Government.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many officials from her Department have attended the environmental appraisal and integration into policy training course run by the civil service college; [28993](2) when the last occasion was on which she requested an environmental appraisal before making a policy decision; [28990](3) how many environmental appraisals have been published by her Department since 1 January 2001; and if she will list the last four; [28989](4) what plans her Department has to appraise the environmental implications of its Spending Review submission to the Treasury; [28992]

As my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment indicated in his answer to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 21 January 2002, Official Report, column 610W, my Department has published two free-standing environmental appraisals since its creation in June 2001. These are: an economic analysis to inform the review of the Air Quality Strategy Objectives for particles, September 2001, and the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, August 2001.The need to show any significant costs and benefits to the environment of all major policy proposals is a Cabinet Committee requirement. To this end, my Department is responsible for the cross-Government guidance, "Policy Appraisal and the Environment", which gives advice to Departments on how and when to carry out environmental appraisal. This guidance is incorporated in the Policy Makers' Checklist published by the Cabinet Office to improve policy making within government and I would expect the requirements of environmental appraisal to have been met, as appropriate, by the time major policy proposals are put to me, or other DEFRA Ministers, for decision.No officials from my Department attended the one environmental appraisal and integration into policy training course which the college has held since June 2001—although my officials regularly provide advice and speakers to the college for the course.All the proposals that will make up the Department's Spending Review submission to the Treasury are being considered against the 15 headline indicators of sustainable development. Those proposals that are likely to have a significant impact in terms of sustainable development are being subjected to an integrated policy appraisal.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many invoices for the provision of water services have not been paid for over one year; what their total value is; what the same figures were in each of the last four years; and if she will make a statement. [30116]

The Office of Water Services have centrally gathered data on debt from water and sewerage companies only in respect of the years since 1998–99, and only for households. The number of households in England and Wales who had debt outstanding for over a year and the total value of that debt was as follows:

	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01
Number of households with debt outstanding for more than one year	1,308,176	1,409,497	1,581,620
Household debts outstanding for more than one year	1289	1326	1362
1 £ million

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what studies her Department has completed on the impact of cross-subsidy in the water industry; and what future studies are planned; [31510](2) what assessment she has made of the impact of the ending of the cross-subsidy on the delivery of water services for rural customers; [31508](3) what measures she plans to take to protect

Following my announcement to the House on 30 March 2001, Official Report, column 831W, the Department has been examining in further detail the scope for extending competition in the water industry. This work includes careful consideration of the implications for all customers, including those in rural areas and on low incomes, and the possible effects on existing cross subsidies. DEFRA will be publishing a consultation paper, setting out the issues and proposals later this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) if she will list the (a) quantities, (b) radioactive components and (c) location of intermediate and high level waste in the UK in the last 12 months; [25887](2) if she will make a statement on her policy on the long-term management of the UK's nuclear waste. [25892]

By the end of the century there will be half a million tonnes of radioactive waste. Some of it will be potentially dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years. Deciding the best way to manage it is one of the greatest environmental challenges we have ever faced. The Government and the devolved Administrations published the consultation paper "Managing radioactive waste safely" on 12 September. We propose a programme of national debate and research, leading to scientifically sound decisions on the long-term management of radioactive waste which inspire public confidence across the UK. In the meantime radioactive waste is safely stored, and rigorously controlled by regulators including the Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency.I gave further details of our policy in oral evidence to the Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs inquiry into radioactive waste management at its hearing on 17 December. The consultation closes on 12 March and we hope that people all over the UK will let us have their views.Information on the quantity, radioactive components and location of high, intermediate and low level radioactive waste in the UK is published in the "United Kingdom radioactive waste inventory". A copy of the most recent inventory, for 1998, was placed in the Library of the House and I have sent a copy on CD to the hon. Member. The latest inventory, for 2001, is being completed by Electrowatt-Ekono (UK) under contract to my Department and to UK Nirex Ltd., and will be published later this year. I shall place a copy in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the policy initiatives her Department, or its predecessor Departments have made since 1997 which affect parish and town councils. [27663]

The Government set out a number of policy initiatives to support parish and town councils in the Rural White Paper, published in November 2000. The main measures to help parish and town councils develop a new role and give communities the opportunity to shape their future have now been put in place. These are:

the Community Service Grants scheme, providing £15 million (over three years) to help maintain or introduce services which are local priorities;

the £15 million (over three years) Parish Transport Grants scheme for small scale projects to meet local needs;

£5 million (over three years) to help up to 1,000 parishes draw up their own town or village plans to set out local needs and aspirations.

the national training and support strategy for parish and town councils published by the Countryside Agency and the National Association of Local Councils, to which we have allocated £2 million;

detailed proposals for putting the quality parish and town councils concept into practice, set out in a consultation paper published in November.

The Department is also responsible for the £32.5 million Leader+ European Community Initiative, which can be expected to benefit the parish and town councils involved in the 24 Local Action Groups approved by the Secretary of State.In addition, the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions continues to take the lead on a number of policy areas and initiatives inherited from the former Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, which directly affect parish and town councils. These include:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to regulate emissions of bioaerosols arising from waste composting schemes. [29613]

Waste composting activities, including the emissions of bioaerosols from waste composting schemes, are regulated by the controls contained in Part II of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994. Waste composting activities must be licensed with the Environment Agency or operate under a registered exemption, and must be carried out in a way which does not harm the environment or human health. Under the 1990 Act, the Environment Agency are required to monitor waste sites, and carry out periodic inspections of waste composting schemes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the role of waste composting schemes in meeting the Government's target for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. [29610]

The Government have set out their policies for meeting their greenhouse gas reduction targets in the UK Climate Change Programme, copies of which are available in House Libraries. Waste disposal—principally landfill—is the second largest source of methane in the UK.The EU landfill directive requires a progressive reduction in the amount of biodegradable municipal waste going to landfill. The Government and the National Assembly have set challenging targets in "Waste Strategy 2000" to recycle or compost at least 25 per cent. of household waste by 2005, rising to 33 per cent. by 2015. These measures—together with energy recovery schemes at landfill sites—are projected to reduce methane emissions from the waste disposal sector to 65 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2010.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if proposals for new waste composting schemes will require an environmental impact assessment. [29619]

Waste composting schemes are not referred to specifically in the list of projects subject to environmental impact assessment, as set out in Directive 85/337/EEC as amended, but could be subject to EIA as part of a wider project. The position in relation to the EIA regulations would depend on the circumstances in each case and would be considered by local planning authorities where projects were subject to the planning legislation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what studies have been undertaken by the Environment Agency into the dispersion and dispersion mechanisms of bioaerosols arising from the composting of waste; and if she will make a statement; [29612](2) what assessment she has made of the level of emissions of bioaerosols arising from the composting of waste; [29611](3) if she will list her targets for the composting of waste for

The Government's waste strategy sets national targets to recycle or compost at least 25 per cent. of household waste by 2005, at least 30 per cent. by 2010 and at least 33 per cent. by 2015. Annual composting targets have not been set for 2002 or the following five years, but statutory performance standards for household waste recycling and composting have been set for each local authority under the Best Value process for 2003–04 and 2005–06. The achievement of these will deliver the first of the national targets in 2005.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is towards reducing the level of methane emissions. [29620]

The Government's policy for reducing methane emissions are set out in the UK's Climate Change Programme, copies of which are in the House Libraries. A range of policies has been introduced which is leading to reductions in methane emissions. A key policy is the increased collection of landfill gas for use as energy, an important aspect of the Waste Strategy and the EU landfill directive. Emissions are also falling from other sources including the agricultural sector, coal mines and the natural gas distribution network. Methane emissions are currently projected to fall by about 45 per cent. below 1990 levels in 2010.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage reduction target from the 1990 baseline she has set for each of the greenhouse gases. [29615]

Under the Kyoto Protocol, the UK has a target to reduce emissions of a basket of six greenhouse gases by 12.5 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2008–12. The six gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride. The Government have an additional domestic goal to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2010. Further targets have not been set for the other greenhouse gases. The UK's climate change programme, published in November 2000, sets out a range of policies and measures that we estimate could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 23 per cent. by 2010.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the average number of food miles travelled by food consumed in the UK. [29622]

The Continuing Survey of Roads Goods Transport recorded that UK registered HGVs transported food, animal feed and drink (totalling 354 million tonnes) a total distance of 4,437 million kilometres within the UK at an average length of haul of 128 kilometres. Such vehicles account for around 95 per cent. of all freight moved by road. This includes the domestic part of any trips that start or end in a foreign country, and excludes food, feed and drink transported by foreign-registered HGVs. In terms of freight movement (ie weight of goods multiplied by distance travelled) this represents 45 billion tonne-kilometres.There are no official statistics available on the distance travelled by imported food, feed and drink up to the point of entry into the UK. However an academic study

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to support the domestic game industry; and if she will make a statement. [31204]

The only sizeable farmed game industry in the UK is the deer (venison) industry. In the main, Government help for that industry has come in the form of funding R&D. The Government have funded deer related projects since 1988, the most recent being a three year project, costing £178,000, looking at low input systems for venison production. For the future, R&D in the deer sector is likely to concentrate on sustainability and the comparative environmental cost of farming deer.Deer farming has also benefited from grants under the Agriculture Development Scheme, aimed mainly at developing assurance schemes in this sector.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the reasons for signing the Water Framework Directive. [31179]

The UK played a leading role in drafting many aspects of the Water Framework Directive during and after its presidency of the European Union 1998. The directive will help ensure protection and improvement of our inland and coastal waters for the benefit of generations to come, thereby contributing to sustainable development.The Directive introduces a common approach to environmental objectives for all groundwaters and surface waters within the Community as well as a common implementation method, based around the principle of river basin management.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the differences are between current methodology employed to map nitrate vulnerable zones and that used when nitrate vulnerable zones were designated in 1996. [31177]

Identification of discrete area nitrate vulnerable zones as presented under Option 2 of the current consultation paper "How should England implement the 1991 Nitrates Directive?", published on 20 December 2001, has required assessments of the status of several different types of water bodies.For surface waters, the primary differences between current and past methodology are that the proposed designations are the result of the application of a more robust statistical methodology used to assess nitrate concentrations, coupled with the use of a more extensive water quality sampling network. Following the European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgment in 2000 that we failed to fully implement the nitrates directive, we were required to cover all waters, not just those used for drinking water supplies. The entire Environment Agency GQA monitoring network is now used. Statistical assessments of nitrate concentrations have been based on a minimum of five years of data, compared to a single year of data in the past. For the first time, trend-analysis has also been used to cover the requirement to protect those waters which may be subject to unacceptably high nitrate pollution in the future.For groundwaters, the 1996 designations of groundwater NVZs were based on monitoring data taken from Public Water Supply boreholes and delineated by groundwater catchments. Following the ECJ judgment, we were required to ensure that the new methodology identifies all groundwater vulnerable to agriculturally-derived nitrate and not just the catchments (zones of contribution) for Public Supply Wells. This was accomplished by combining a statistical assessment of groundwater data with a groundwater vulnerability model derived from an examination of the risk factors associated with land use, rainfall, soil and geological characteristics. The spatial distribution of nitrate values from the monitoring network was used in conjunction with the vulnerability map to define nitrate vulnerable zones.The nitrates directive also requires designation of nitrate vulnerable zones draining into estuarine areas which have been adjudged to be eutrophic and where a significant proportion of nitrogen arises from diffuse agricultural sources. Such areas are identified in England under the proposals for Option 2 for the first time.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the overlap between the water framework and nitrates directives. [31180]

Measures required under the nitrates directive are also "basic" measures which must be included in "programmes of measures" under article 11 of the water framework directive. These programmes of measures have to be published in draft by December 2008 as part of proposed comprehensive River Basin Management Plans.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reason the methodology for mapping groundwaters in relation to proposed nitrate vulnerable zones has been changed from that applied on nitrate vulnerable zones designated in 1996. [31178]

Identification and designation of groundwater nitrate vulnerable zones (NVZs) in 1996 was based on monitoring data from Public Water Supply boreholes. Following the European Court of Justice judgment that we have failed to fully implement the nitrates directive, we were required to extend the methodology to cover all groundwaters, not just drinking water supplies. The Environment Agency therefore used in addition to all available private borehole monitoring data and developed a modelling methodology, calibrated to best fit available borehole monitoring data, to identify vulnerable groundwaters. Further details are in Annexe A of the current consultation document "How should England implement the 1991 Nitrates Directive?" (PB6269) published on 20 December 2001.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact on livestock farmers who have imminent markets for animals of her Department's changes to the procedure for the issuing of movement orders by trading standards office; for what reasons the change requiring movement orders to be despatched by post was made; and what consultations were made with farmers and representative organisations prior to the change being introduced. [31511]

Guidance issued by DEFRA to local authority trading standard departments has not changed. It has consistently advised that licences should only be issued in hard copy form with faxed copies only being used in exceptional circumstances.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had with HM Treasury on match funding for European Union agri-environment scheme subsidies; what steps she has taken to press for the introduction of modulation of direct compensation payments to farmers as part of the 2003 mid-term review of the common agricultural policy; and if she will make a statement. [31513]

The funding arrangements for the agri-environment schemes under the England Rural Development Programme, including the match funding for European Union funds, were confirmed under the Spending Review 2000. Levels of funding will be considered as part of the Spending Review 2002. Part of the European Union funding is derived from modulation of direct compensation payments.Government are currently engaged in informal discussions with like-minded member states on various aspects of the 2003 mid-term review of the Agenda 2000 common agricultural policy reforms. Those discussions include mechanisms for switching funds from the first to the second pillar of the common agricultural policy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the spread of Cameraria ohridella in Europe; and if she has assessed the potential impact on the UK. [30955]

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Harry Cohen) on 25 October 2001, Official Report, column 362W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs further to her answer of 5 December 2001, Official Report, column 398W, on Elvaston landfill site, what actions the agency has taken on the operator's proposed plans; and what steps are being taken to inform residents of progress. [31065]

A public meeting was held on 11 December 2001 where the proposals for work on the site were explained. The public had an opportunity to put questions to representatives of the various organisations with an interest in the activities at the site including Biffa, the Environment Agency and the local and county authorities. Newsletters are being sent to the residents and businesses in the area when new information regarding the site is available.The Environment Agency continues to review and seek any necessary improvements to the operator's proposed plan for the site. The agency report that progress is being made on the site in working towards reducing leachate levels. 10 pumps are operational on site to remove leachate from the cells. This is either going via sewer, for the less concentrated sources, or via collection by tanker—for treatment at an appropriate facility—for the strong leachate. Improvements on the gas collection system and capping of the cell area which appeared to be causing many of the odour problems is progressing well and according to the operator should be complete by the end of February.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the number of complaints he has received about the operations of Eaga. [28287]

The Government's main programme for tackling fuel poverty in the private sector in England is the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (HEES), now marketed as The Warm Front Team. The scheme is administered by two scheme managers, TXU Warm Front Ltd. (eastern, east midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber) and Eaga Partnership Ltd. (the rest of England).Over 250,000 householders have been assisted since the launch of the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (HEES) on 1 June 2000. The number of complaints received by my Department since that date concerning Eaga Partnership's three regions is 330 or 0.1 per cent of work completed. A significant number of the complaints received relate to customer service issues and heating delays.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the industrial action being carried out by staff employed at her Department's regional offices; what assessment she has made of the impact of delays in IACS and ESA payments on individual farm cashflow; and if she will take measures to ensure that farm claimants receive interest on all payment amounts delayed by industrial action. [29088]