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Committee on Radioactive Waste Management
Lord Jenkin of Roding asked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the outcome of the inquiry into the suspension of Dr Keith Baverstock from membership of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management. [HL197]
Lord Bach: Dr Baverstock's appointment to the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management was terminated on 19 April 2005 in line with the outcome of the independent inquiry into his position on the committee.
Single Farm Payment Scheme: Motor Sports
Earl Attlee asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Single Farm Payment Scheme will have any effect on the number of sites that can be used for legal off-road motoring events; and [HL286]
Under the Single Farm Payment Scheme, what will be the effect of motor sport not being an "allowed activity". [HL287]
Lord Bach: Land used in support of claims for payment under the 2005 single payment scheme (SPS) must be at claimants' disposal for the 10-month period nominated on their claim forms. Under recently updated guidance issued by the department, motor sports may take place on up to 28 days during the nominated 10-month period, in addition to all of the remaining two months. of the year. It remains the case that all claims for payment are subject to observance of set cross-compliance conditions, which apply for the whole calendar year. The updated guidance takes on board representations made by motor sports interests and, overall, we would expect the impact of the SPS on the availability of farmland used for such sports to be limited.
Scrapie
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the report in Farmers Weekly on 23 March, on what authority the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the devolved administrations are now permitted to apply movement restrictions to sheep and goats on farms when a case of scrapie is suspected rather than when it is confirmed. [HL303]
Lord Bach: Commission Regulation 1492/2004 amending Regulation (EC) No. 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council obliges the UK and other member states in cases where scrapie is suspected in an ovine or caprine animal at a holding, to place all other ovine and caprine animals from that holding under official movement restriction pending
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confirmation or otherwise of the suspect case. Powers in the TSE (England) Regulations 2002, as amended—in particular, Regulation 80—are relied on to apply these measures. Devolved administrations rely on similar statutory powers.
Defra: Domestic Horticulture
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
What proportion of flowers, plants, fruits, vegetables and salads incorporated on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs stand at the 2005 Chelsea Flower Show were United Kingdom grown. [HL306]
Lord Bach: Defra did not have a stand at this year's Chelsea Flower Show but it helped to sponsor the exhibit of the Eden Project and the Institute of Horticulture, which estimates that about three-quarters of the produce displayed there was grown in the UK.
Horse Manure
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Bach: Analysis of the Environment Agency's national enforcement database shows that there has been one pollution incident directly attributable to horse manure in the past three years.
Contrary to some press coverage, the recent changes made in the Waste Management Licensing (England and Wales) (Amendment and Related Provisions) Regulations 2005 apply only to the compositing of waste. The regulations do not apply to the storage of manure. All individuals and most liveries, stables and other establishments that keep horses will not be subject to the recent changes. No one is required to apply for a waste management licence or to register a licence exemption simply to store manure on the site where it was produced.
Oil Storage Tanks
Lord Vinson asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have records of the number of installations of oil storage tanks for (a) domestic use, and (b) commercial use, in the United Kingdom. [HL218]
Lord Bach: This information is not collected centrally, but the latest available figures indicate that there are approximately 1 million oil storage tanks for domestic use (a) (source: ODPM Building Regulations, Regulatory Impact Assessment: October 2001,
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Section 3, Part J, "Combustion Appliances and Fuel Storage Systems") and more than 580, 000 tanks for commercial use (b). (The figures for commercial use in England, Scotland and Wales relate to 1998 and were included in the regulatory impact assessments on the oil storage regulations).
Lord Vinson asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Health and Safety Executive has records of pollution incidents caused by leaking, as opposed to spilling, from (a) non-domestic heating oil storage tanks, and (b) domestic heating oil storage tanks, over the past five years. [HL219]
Lord Bach: The following table produced by the Environment Agency shows incidents of pollution to water by oils and fuels by premises type in England and Wales for 2001–04. It is not possible to provide this breakdown for 2000 and before, and "leakage" and "spillage" incidents are not recorded separately. However, overall figures for all oil pollution incidents (including category 4) are available for earlier years and show a significant decline in the five-year period 2000–04 from 6,215 to 4,306.
Incidents in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 where pollutant is oils and fuels by premise type.
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Key
Category 1—the most severe
Category 2—significant, but less severe
Category 3—relatively minor
Category 4—no impact on the water environment
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