§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment he has made of the success of the voluntary approach to the regulation of pesticides against the criteria set by his Department; [38565]
(2) which organisations he is consulting in the course of his review of the self-regulation arrangements for pesticides; [38563]
199W(3) if he has received the progress reports from the independent steering group on the voluntary pesticides partnership approach; and if he will publish those reports; [38564]
(4) if it is his policy that his assessment of the success of the voluntary approach to pesticides control should take account of the costs of clearing up pollution currently borne by water companies. [38566]
§ Mr. Boateng[holding answer 4 March 2002]: The independent steering group overseeing the voluntary package of measures to minimise the environmental impact of pesticides is made up of signatories to the package, an equivalent number of environmental organisations and an independent chairperson. The steering group reports to DEFRA. Publication of its reports is a matter for DEFRA.
Reports from the independent steering group will help the Government's assessment of the success of the package. The assessment of whether the package is delivering environmental benefits over and beyond those that would result from a pesticides tax will consider the uptake of the measures in the package, their coverage, effectiveness and cost. It will therefore take account of the impact of the measures on pollution that has to be cleaned up by water companies.