§ Q6. Mr. Jonathan Sayeed (Mid-Bedfordshire)What action he has taken to co-ordinate the work of Government Departments in connection with the (a) disposal, (b) recycling and (c) re-use of refrigerators.
§ The Prime MinisterA number of Departments, including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Cabinet Office and the Treasury, have been working closely together to devise the most efficient means of recycling old refrigerators, with the overall aim of reducing damage to the environment.
§ Mr. SayeedAbout time too. In 1998, the Government signed up to a directive about the disposal of fridges without understanding the implications of that directive. It was a further two years before they understood what they had agreed to. They then faffed around for some 18 months and failed to request a delay in implementing the directive. Will the Prime Minister tell me why we are in the ludicrous position of having 3 million fridges to dispose of, without having a single plant in the United Kingdom capable of doing the job? Who is going to pay for this fiasco? If ministerial responsibility is to mean anything—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I call the Prime Minister.
§ The Prime MinisterIt is not correct to say that no preparations have been made. Indeed, we have recently announced some £6 million-worth of extra funding—as the hon. Gentleman may know—precisely to help with the issue of recycling that he raises.