§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why the 1987 licence to dump explosives from ICI's Nobel division in the Clyde estuary was excluded from the 1989 disposal of waste at sea report; what other licences granted in respect of dumping at sea have been excluded from the report; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. CurryDisposal at sea in Scottish waters is a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland. The report published in 1989 covered dumping of wastes at sea throughout Great Britain in 1986 and 1987 and includes all licences issued for that purpose for England and Wales under part II of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985. In covering licensed dumping at sea it did not extend to operations exempt from licensing under the Deposits in the Sea (Exemptions) Order 1985 (SI 1985 No. 1699), nor to materials dumped by the Ministry of Defence which have Crown exemption from licensing.
The report was not intended to deal with other activities controlled by licensing under part II of the Act, including construction works below mean high water, use of tracers in research, application of biocides and burial at sea.