HC Deb 27 November 2003 vol 415 cc381-3W
Mr. Chaytor

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the(a) work, (b) resourcing and (c) institutional membership of the Marine Environment Monitoring Group. [141668]

Mr. Morley

The Marine Environment Monitoring Group (MEMG), formerly the Marine Pollution Monitoring Management Group, is a group of representatives from the Government organisations with marine environmental protection monitoring obligations. The group is chaired by a representative from the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS). Its aim is to ensure that monitoring of the marine environment is conducted in a co-ordinated way, is as cost-effective as possible and meets national and international requirements.

MEMG has no specific resources. The Departments and agencies who are members support the work of the group, and carry out the monitoring which it seeks to co-ordinate, as part of their own operations.

The core members of MEMG are: Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Environment Agency Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (Northern Ireland) Environment and Heritage Service (Northern Ireland) Fisheries Research Services Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen Scottish Environment Protection Agency The National Assembly for Wales (Environment Division) Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Sciences Joint Nature Conservation Committee IACMST Marine Observations Action Group

Mr. Chaytor

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what resources her Department has committed to support the work of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. [141669]

Mr. Bradshaw

No specific resources are committed directly to support the work of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) other than an annual subscription of approximately £130,000. However, an indirect resource commitment to ICES arises from the participation of scientists from the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), a Defra agency, in ICES science and advisory working groups, and in the governance of ICES itself. These working groups cover areas of marine and freshwater fisheries, aquaculture, the environment and the ecosystem. The Current chairs of the Resource Management Science Committee and the Advisory Committee on the Ecosystem are currently also CEFAS scientists.

My predecessor, my hon. Friend the member for Scunthorpe (Elliot Morley) also signed, on behalf of the UK, the "Copenhagen Declaration" in 2002 in celebration of 100 years of ICES, wherein we affirmed our continuing support for ICES.

Mr. Chaytor

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what regulatory impact assessments have been prepared by her Department in respect of agreements made on the control of radioactive substances under the OSPAR Commission; and if she will place copies in the Library. [141670]

Mr. Morley

The Department published the UK Strategy for Radioactive Discharges 2001–2020 in July 2002. This constitutes the UK national plan for achieving the objective of the OSPAR Strategy with Regard to Radioactive Substances and it includes a regulatory impact assessment. Copies of the UK Strategy are in the Library.

Mr. Chaytor

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which OSPAR priority areas in the radioactive materials sector have been volunteered to date by the United Kingdom as ones on which UK scientists will undertake basic scientific work as the lead country for OSPAR; which other areas are being considered for volunteer research; and if she will make a statement on United Kingdom relations with OSPAR. [141671]

Mr. Morley

UK experts are closely involved in the work programme of the OSPAR Radioactive Substances Committee. Current tasks for which the UK is the lead country are the preparation of proposals for reporting on discharges of radioactive substances from oil and gas installations and proposals for harmonised reporting procedures for inputs of radioactive substances from the non-nuclear sector.

UK experts have also participated in three inter-sessional working groups to establish the baseline situation regarding radioactive substances in the marine environment, against which progress in achieving the objective of the OSPAR Strategy with regard to Radioactive Substances will be assesssed. In addition, a UK expert is a member of the Radioactive Discharges Expert Assessment Panel, which examines trends in discharges from nuclear installations.

Mr. Chaytor

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what joint assessment and monitoring is being undertaken by UK-based scientific institutions on behalf of OSPAR; and if she will publish a list of current research projects in collaboration with OSPAR. [141672]

Mr. Morley

OPSAR agreed a revised Joint Assessment and Monitoring Programme at the Commission meeting in Bremen in June. A copy is in the Library of the House, and is available on the OSPAR website www.ospar.org. A large number of scientific institutions provide data which is used to fulfil the reporting requirements in respect of UK waters. These include the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquatic Science, the Environment Agency, English Nature, and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, and the equivalent bodies in the devolved Administrations.

The Department has an extensive research programme on marine environmental issues, and most projects will in one way or another inform the UK's input into the work of OSPAR. In some cases, such as the development of a number of Ecological Quality objectives, this work is being done by the UK on behalf of OSPAR as lead country; in other cases, the research will inform the UK's input to debate within OSPAR. A list of the 74 projects currently in the programme can be found on the Defra website at www.defra.gov.uk/research/project_data/Default. asp.