§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) pursuant to her answer of 20 November 2002,Official Report, column 169W, on slurry contamination, how many fines were issued for slurry contamination and what the average fines were, broken down by region, in each of the last 15 years; [85369]
(2) how many cases of slurry contamination have occurred in each region in each of the last 15 years. [85350]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 5 December 2002]: The table as follows shows the number of water prosecutions involving all types of agricultural pollution (including slurry pollution), by Environment Agency region, for the years 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. It is to not practicable to assemble enforcement data before 1 April 1999, when the Agency's National enforcement Database went live. In my answer of 20 November I explained that from the beginning of 2003 the Agency's database will be able to provide information on specific pollutants such as slurry, but information is not currently held at this level of detail.
199W
£ Region Number of fines Average fine Year 1999 Anglian 4 4,875 North-West 3 2,667 Southern 1 1,500 Welsh 1 2,500 Year 2000 Anglian 3 5,333 Midlands 3 15,333 North-West 1 5,000 South-West 4 1,913 Southern 1 2,000
£ Region Number of fines Average fine Year 2001 Anglian 5 3,800 Midlands 4 4,275 North-East 1 1,000 North-West 2 3,000 South-West 1 3,000 Southern 4 3,625 Thames 2 5,750 Welsh 1 5,000 Year 2002 Anglian 1 5,000 North-East 1 3,500 Southern 1 3,000