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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) physical, (b) environmental and (c) health impacts of the detonation of a single trident nuclear warhead on an urban area.

Asked by

Llew Smith (Labour)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

7 April 2005

Reference

432 c1640W;432 c1636W; 224987

House

House of Commons

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what assessment he has made of the environmental impact of the Government's proposed new housing for the South East; what assessment he has made of the impact on (a) road and (b) rail infrastructure of the new housing he proposes for the South East;...

Asked by

Lord Redwood (Conservative)

Answering body

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

7 April 2005

Reference

432 c1603W; 224781;224782;224783;224784

House

House of Commons

Committee of the Whole House (HL)

Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill. Lords Committee stage. Clauses 1, 2, 4-19, 21-101 agreed to. Clauses 3 and 20 as amended agreed to. Standing Order No 47 having been dispensed with, (pursuant to resolution), Lords report stage and third reading (formal). Passed and returned to the Commons with amendments.

Lead member

Lord Whitty

Answering member

Lord Dixon-Smith

Department

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Type

Committee of the Whole House (HL); Debates on bills

Date

6 April 2005

Reference

671 c785-97

House

House of Lords

Debate on bill

Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill. Consideration of Lords amendments. Lords amendments 1 to 4 agreed to.

Department

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Type

Debates on bills

Date

6 April 2005

Reference

432 c1538-41

House

House of Commons

The role and effectiveness of CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment).Government response to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Select Committee fifth report of session 2004/05 (HC 59).

Type

Select Committee reports (Government responses); Command papers

Date

4 April 2005

Reference

Cm 6509

House

House of Commons

Dept for International Development

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment the Commission for Africa made of the economic and environmental sustainability of uranium exports from African countries.

Asked by

Llew Smith (Labour)

Answering body

Department for International Development

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

4 April 2005

Reference

432 c1198W; 223765

House

House of Commons

Debate on bill

Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill. Lords second reading debate. Agreed to on question.

Lead member

Lord Whitty

Answering member

Lord Dixon-Smith

Department

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Type

Debates on bills

Date

22 March 2005

Reference

671 c179-213

House

House of Lords

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what plans he has to increase the number of trees in London; and whether, he has met (a) the Mayor, (b) the London boroughs and (c) his Department's ministers to discuss this.

Asked by

Baroness Teather (Liberal Democrat)

Answering body

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

10 March 2005

For answer on

21 March 2005

Answered on

21 March 2005

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to increase the number of trees in London; and whether, he has met (a) the Mayor, (b) the London boroughs and (c) his Department's ministers to discuss this. [221945] Keith Hill: The London Tree and Woodland Framework Consultation Document was launched in July 2004, produced by the London Woodland Advisory Group which includes Government Office for London, Greater London Authority (GLA) and the Forestry Commission (FC). Consultation involved a wide range of London stakeholders, and as key members of the Advisory Group the Mayor and officials from the GLA were closely involved in drawing up proposals in the framework, while boroughs through the London Tree Officers Association were key consultees. The Government plan to launch the Tree and Woodland Framework for London shortly. The document will provide a firm commitment by a wide partnership of London bodies including the GLA and the FC to maintain and enhance London's trees and woodlands as a vital part of the environment and will establish priority locations for new tree planting, taking into account such factors as levels of social deprivation, transport corridors and gateways, derelict land, biodiversity objectives, areas of regeneration and community forests. The `million trees campaign' which is managed by Trees for London, supported by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the FC, was initiated in September 2003. This project involves a London-wide partnership to plant one million new trees in London by 2010. To date this has already achieved a total of 330,000 trees. The work of the FC and Thames Chase Community Forest has also resulted in substantial areas of new planting with full public access in the North East of London. This project has been supported by the Government's Capital Modernisation Fund and work to extend the forest will continue. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are also actively involved in the Greening the Gateway partnership which is the shared environmental vision for the Thames Gateway London. I am in regular contact with the Mayor and London boroughs on environmental issues.

Date

21 March 2005

Reference

432 c582W; 221945

House

House of Commons

Cabinet Office

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to reform the methodology of regulatory impact assessments in order to reflect more accurately the social and economic benefits of new environmental technologies; and if he will make a statement.

Asked by

David Chaytor (Labour)

Answering body

Cabinet Office

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

21 March 2005

Reference

432 c525W; 221730

House

House of Commons

Whitty, Lord

What is the estimated cost per badger, based upon the estimated badger population in the south west and midland regions of England, of (a) providing manpower and resources for testing cattle for bovine tuberculosis; (b) the slaughter of affected cattle; (c) compensation of farmers for slaughtered livestock; and (d) damage...

Asked by

Countess of Mar (Crossbench)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

21 March 2005

Reference

671 c13-4WA; HL 1708

House

House of Lords

DESTRUCTION OF THE ICELANDIC HIGHLANDS

That this House is seriously concerned at the construction of a series of dams at Karahnjukar in the Icelandic highlands, one of Europe's last unspoilt wildernesses, to power an aluminium smelting plant for the US multinational Alcoa; notes that Iceland's National Planning Agency rejected the project on the grounds of...

Primary sponsor

Sue Doughty (Liberal Democrat)

Type

Early day motions

Date

9 March 2005

Reference

883; 883A1

House

House of Commons

HOUSE BUILDING IN OXFORDSHIRE

That this House expresses its deep concern at the plans to impose massive housebuilding on Oxfordshire; notes that such plans are based on the Government's Sustainable Communities Plan launched by the Deputy Prime Minister; congratulates the Environmental Audit Committee on its report Housing: Building a Sustainable Future, which attacks the...

Primary sponsor

Tony Baldry (Conservative)

Type

Early day motions

Date

9 March 2005

Reference

868

House

House of Commons

Dept for International Development

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what contribution his Department has made to the United Nations Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and what use he expects to make of the Assessment once it is published; and if he will make a statement.

Asked by

Norman Baker (Liberal Democrat)

Answering body

Department for International Development

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

24 February 2005

For answer on

4 March 2005

Answered on

4 March 2005

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what contribution his Department has made to the United Nations Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and what use he expects to make of the Assessment once it is published; and if he will make a statement. [218905] Hilary Benn: The Department for International Development (DFID) welcomes the forthcoming publication of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), the first public release of which will be at the end of March. We will look for opportunities to publicise the launch of this report internally to DFID staff. The MA focuses on ecosystem services and how changes in ecosystem services affect human well-being. Building on this, the MA will identify policy, institutional, or technological changes that could not only improve the management of ecosystems, but also contribute to development and to long-term sustainability. DFID has been involved in consultations with a number of MA working groups, providing comments and suggestions on the draft stages of the report. DFID also funded two co-ordinating lead authors through the provision of financial support to the International Institute for Environment and Development. One of the main financial contributors to the MA process has been the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to which the UK is currently contributing £103 million over four years from 2002. The UK is the fourth largest donor to the GEF. DFID uses the results and recommendations of reports such as the MA to inform thinking on issues of poverty-environment linkages and the continual development and improvement of tools to support work to integrate environmental considerations into development co-operation. DFID is particularly interested in the findings of the MA that seek to highlight effective policies and interventions that respond to environmental challenges while bringing financial and livelihood benefits to the poor. Examples of these options include payment for ecosystem services such as catchment management and forest certification schemes. DFID will also be encouraging those agencies involved in commissioning the report, including the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the Secretariats of the Conventions (in particular the Convention on Biodiversity and the Framework Convention on Climate Change), to use the analyses and results of this major study to inform their future policy and implementation work.

Date

4 March 2005

Reference

218905; 431 c1453-4W;431 c1447-8W

House

House of Commons

Dept for Culture Media and Sport

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will list each of the programmes that have been funded by the New Opportunities Fund since 1997, broken down by amounts (a) allocated and (b) distributed. - Including table.

Asked by

John Whittingdale (Conservative)

Answering body

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

23 February 2005

For answer on

3 March 2005

Answered on

3 March 2005

Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list each of the programmes that have been funded by the New Opportunities Fund since 1997, broken down by amounts (a) allocated and (b) distributed. [218570] Estelle Morris: The table shows the total funding target for each of the New Opportunities Fund's policy direction initiatives, together with amounts committed, since 1997. Several of these programmes are long-term initiatives which were not intended to be completed by 2005 or where planning and design of facilities was expected to take time. For example, the Big Lottery Fund are on target to comply with the direction to commit all the Fund for New Opportunities for PE and Sport before the end of this year. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. £000 Initiatives Total funding target Amount committed as at Amount distributed as at 31 December 2004 31 December 2004 Health Programmes Healthy Living Centres 300,000 267,775 124,536 Cancer prevention detection 149,530 145,193 135,295 treatment and care Reducing the burden of CHD, 213,500 199,088 102,819 stroke and cancer Palliative Care 84,470 78,616 30,063 Education Programmes Out of school hours learning 258,900 214,906 167,794 Out of school hours childcare and 418,500 372,785 279,386 childcare Community access to lifelong 200,000 188,218 169,279 learning ICT training and content creation 301,000 287,361 255,540 Opportunities for young 852,050 597,968 82,385 people--PE and sport in schools Opportunities and activities for 67,200 64,549 60,913 young people Young People's Fund 174,120 0 -- Environment programmes Green spaces and sustainable 130,000 116,727 94,251 communities Transforming communities 159,000 138,062 29,381 Small scale grants scheme 54,840 44,519 38,367 Fairshare 50,000 50,000 50,000 Veterans1 5,160 10,723 9,074 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Remaining Veterans budget to be allocated from ICT underspend

Date

3 March 2005

Reference

218570; 431 c1322W;431 c1316W

House

House of Commons

Dept of Trade and Industry

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what duty of care there is on corporate directors to take account of the consequences to (a) communities, (b) the environment, (c) health and safety of employees and (d) shareholders of decisions they take.

Asked by

Jim Cunningham (Labour)

Answering body

Department of Trade and Industry

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

3 March 2005

Reference

431 c1304-5W;431 c1298-9W; 218999

House

House of Commons

The role and effectiveness of CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment). Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Select Committee fifth report with proceedings, evidence and appendices.

Type

Select Committee reports; House of Commons papers; Parliamentary committees

Committee

ODPM: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Committee

Notes

Received 09.03.05

Date

1 March 2005

Reference

HC 59 2004/05

House

House of Commons

Ministry of Defence

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what environmental assessments (a) were carried out before and (b) have been carried out during the lifetime of the RAFT project; how much had been spent on the RAFT project at the date of its cancellation; and if he will make a...

Asked by

Mike Hancock (Liberal Democrat)

Answering body

Ministry of Defence

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

9 February 2005

For answer on

22 February 2005

Answered on

22 February 2005

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what environmental assessments (a) were carried out before and (b) have been carried out during the lifetime of the RAFT project; [216505] (2) how much had been spent on the RAFT project at the date of its cancellation; and if he will make a statement. [216506] Mr. Ingram: At the time of the suspension of Remote Ammunitioning Facility Tamar in 2002, £15 million had been spent on works (covering design, ammunition clearance, dredging and site preparation). Subsequent cancellation and project management costs have increased expenditure to a total of £25 million and this has been highlighted as a potential constructive loss in the departmental annual accounts for financial year 2003-04. A number of environmental assessments were carried out prior to the commencement of the RAFT project. The first in 1996, was carried out by Babtie, the Ministry of Defence's Project Manager. In 1998, the Babtie Group carried out a desktop archaeological study to review the potential effect of RAFT on existing scheduled monuments at Bullpoint. This was followed by a supplementary report on the effects of RAFT dredging on potential buried archaeological artefacts in peat deposits in the riverbed. An Ecological Study, also in 1998 and carried out by Panscape Consultancy, considered the potential impact of RAFT on the key habitats and species in Plymouth Sound and its estuaries. In addition, a Baseline Environmental Survey of Estuarine Sediment and Benthic Macrofauna, carried out by Zeneca and which supplemented the Ecological Study, assessed the potential environmental impact of dredging on surface sediments and resident worms. In 1999, an extensive hydraulic modelling study was undertaken by Hydraulics Research Wallingford, which covered the potential effects of dredging on the River Tamar (in particular on the salmon), the inter-tidal habitats of the Tamar and the salt marshes in the Upper Tamar estuary. A detailed sedimentation study was carried out of the whole tidal extent of the Tamar rather than just the local area of RAFT. The conclusions and results were overseen by an independent expert appointed by English Nature. In 2000, during the lifetime of the RAFT project and following award of the construction contract, a Conservation Management Plan was jointly produced with English Nature and the Environment Agency. In support of this plan, extensive mitigation measures were applied, including noise pollution monitoring of the surrounding areas and water quality monitoring in the River Tamar, during the dredging. The Environment Agency has recently confirmed that, as a result of this mitigation, there have been no permanent effects on fish stocks in the river.

Date

22 February 2005

Reference

431 c604W;431 c600W; 216505;216506

House

House of Commons

Debate on bill

Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill. Programme motion (No 2) on proceedings on Report and Third reading. Agreed to on division (245 to 116). Report stage. New clauses 6 and 11 debated and withdrawn. New clause 2 debated and negatived on division (268 to 210). New clauses 10,12-13,15-18 debated. Bill reported...

Lead member

Alun Michael

Answering member

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering

Department

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Type

Debates on bills

Date

21 February 2005

Reference

431 c31-123

House

House of Commons

Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the link between trees in urban areas and air quality. - Inc figures.

Asked by

Baroness Teather (Liberal Democrat)

Answering body

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

3 February 2005

For answer on

21 February 2005

Answered on

21 February 2005

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the link between trees in urban areas and air quality. [214937] Alun Michael: Trees provide benefits to urban air pollution, but can also have adverse effects on air quality. Adverse effects of trees on air quality Trees can have adverse effects on air quality. They can release biogenic emissions known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which in combination with oxides of nitrogen (NOx), can contribute to the formation of other pollutants, especially ozone and particles. Ozone and particles are known to damage human health when in the lower atmosphere. In addition, trees release pollen, which can cause allergic reactions in sensitive people, and can be associated with hay fever and asthma. Beneficial effects of trees on air quality Trees deliver air quality benefits in two ways. Firstly, the cooling effect of their shade can directly reduce evaporative emissions from vehicles and other fuel storage, and by cooling homes and offices, power generation emissions are also lessened. Cooling also reduces the speed at which atmospheric chemical reactions occur. Secondly, trees can remove various pollutants from the atmosphere via deposition to their leaves and needles. Trees can remove pollutants typically associated with urban air pollution such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and ammonia reducing atmospheric concentrations and improving air quality. The pollutants generally collect in the leaves or bark which are then shed as part of the tree's life cycle. Trees also reduce concentrations of harmful particulate matter when leaf surfaces collect airborne particles, that are subsequently washed to the ground when it rains. The trees most suited to removal of particles are those with large leaf areas, or sticky or hairy leaves. Studies indicate that the hairy leaves of lime trees can collect four times as many PM10 particles than plane trees. In addition, trees can have a positive benefit in terms of global warming by acting as a sink for carbon dioxide, which is the most common greenhouse gas. Trees remove carbon dioxide from the air and release oxygen during photosynthesis. The carbon is stored in the tree and the oxygen is released back into the atmosphere. A recent report entitled "Trees and Sustainable Urban Air Quality", produced under the Natural Environment Research Council's Urban Regeneration and the Environment (URGENT) programme by the University of Lancaster and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Edinburgh, investigated the role of trees in reducing urban air pollution. The report concluded that trees that emit the least reactive VOCs and have large leaf surface areas have the best effect on air quality. Scots pine, common alder, larch, Norway maple, field maple, ash and silver birch were found to remove the most pollutants without contributing to the formation of new pollutants, whereas oaks, poplars and willows were found to have detrimental effects on air quality downwind. In general, the report concludes that the effects on air quality of large scale planting of most tree species in cities would be positive and for example, by doubling the number of trees in the West Midlands, the concentration of small particles could be reduced by 25 per cent., avoiding 140 deaths that are currently caused by airborne particles each year in the West Midlands.

Date

21 February 2005

Reference

431 c187-8W; 214937

House

House of Commons

Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the US Administration about its policy on countries entering into international environmental agreements as a condition of bilateral trade agreements.

Asked by

Lord Deben (Conservative)

Answering body

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

10 February 2005

Reference

430 c1657W; 213227

House

House of Commons

Librarians' tools

Type

House

Session

Year

Department

Member

Primary member

Answering member

Legislative stage

Legislation

Subject

Publisher