§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 28 February 2000,Official Report, column 19W, on peat compost, (a) what percentage of and (b) how much compost used in his Department's estate gardens is peat; when peat compost will be phased out by his Department's estates; and if he will make a statement. [113346]
724W
§ Mr. MorleyRecords are not kept centrally detailing the amount of peat (if any) and peat substitutes that are used on the Ministry's gardens. To find this information would be time consuming and expensive because many contractors, subcontractors and suppliers would have to be approached for their records. Having said that, the Ministry does not have a large acreage of gardens; rather, we have smaller areas of landscaping and flower-beds around buildings.
As I said in my answer of 28 February, since 1993, the Ministry has had a policy that environmentally acceptable alternatives should be substituted for peat. We will, though, be issuing reminders shortly in line with our Greening Operations Strategy which was revised and reissued in June 1999.