§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many incidents of illegal dumping of dredged material have been recorded off the North Wales coast in each of the last 20 years. [53691]
§ Mr. Ron DaviesNone.
A licence is required under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 to dispose of dredged material at sea: licences involving deposits in waters adjacent to Wales are issued on my behalf by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Data on illegal dumping are not readily available prior to 1991 when amendments to the 1985 Act introduced under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 required information about convictions to be held on a public register. Since 1991 a number of alleged breaches of licence conditions and other infringements under the Act have been investigated but none has involved the disposal of dredged material off the North Wales coast.
§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales which(a) organisation's and (b) company's working computer models of the hydrographic regimes of the North Wales coastal region have been commissioned by the Environment Agency. [53686]
§ Mr. Ron DaviesI refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to him on 23 July 1998,Official Report, column 629.