HC Deb 19 September 2002 vol 390 cc278-80W
Mr. Sheerman

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many new enterprises her Department has stimulated in the rural economy in each of the past five years. [71664]

Alun Michael

The former Processing and Marketing Grant Scheme was closed to new applicants in 1996, while payments under both the new strands of expenditure under the England Rural Development Programme started in 2001. The following table shows projects supported by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and its predecessors in each of the past five years under these Schemes to assist the establishment of new rural businesses or new business developments in existing rural enterprises.

Department has responsibility for the implementation of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive into UK law;[72033]

(3) who has represented the UK at the EU Council of Ministers during discussions of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive; [72041]

(4) who will represent the UK on the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive in the forthcoming EU conciliation meetings. [72034]

Mr. Meacher

The Secretary of State and I represent the UK at the EU Environment Council of Ministers during discussions on the WEEE Directive.

Officials from the UK Permanent Representation to the European Union, led by the UK Deputy Permanent Representative, will represent the UK in the forthcoming EU conciliation committee meetings on the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive.

A decision is yet to be made as to whether DTI or my department will have responsibility for transposing the WEEE Directive into UK law.

Mr. Sheerman

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to ensure that consumers do not pay twice for the recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment. [72042]

Mr. Meacher

The proposed EC Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment is a Producer Responsibility directive which requires producers to provide for the financing of the collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE from private households deposited at collection facilities, onwards.

The Common Position text of the draft Directive—which is still under negotiation and subject to change—stipulates that consumers must be able to return items of WEEE free of charge. The text does not, however, outline the methods by which producers are to provide for the above financing. Without a final text, it is not possible to provide details of how the Directive will be implemented in the UK.

Mr. Sheerman

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what mechanisms she is putting into place to prevent companies avoiding their responsibilities for recycling under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive. [72040]

Mr. Meacher

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive is still under negotiation and without a final text it is too early to outline details of how the Directive will be implemented in the UK.

Throughout negotiation of the Directive, the Government has kept industry informed of their likely responsibilities under the Directive and we have reported back on developments in the negotiations in Brussels as they happen.

The Government will be working with the Environment Agency to ensure that the appropriate penalties are in place for use in cases of non-compliance, as required under the Directive.

Year Commercial and Leisure Noise Commercial per million populatiton Noise Complaints (all categories) per million population Commercial and Leisure Noise Complaints as % of Total
2000–01 1,038 7,081 14.7
1999–2000 960 7,091 13.5
1998–99 836 6,111 13.7

Source:

CIEH 1999, 2000, 2001

Mr. Sheerman

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what she has done to ensure that the views of(a) environmental and consumer organisations and (b) electronics companies are taken into account in the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive. [72038]

Mr. Meacher

The Department and the DTI are in regular contact with industry, including environmental and consumer organizations and electronics companies, about the proposed Directive and its implementation in the UK.

In particular formal DTI consultation was issued in summer 2000. The results were published by the DTI in December 2000; DTI and DEFRA officials have presented on WEEE at conferences and seminars totalling 23 times in past 6 months; The DTI host a series of meetings with retailers focusing on the retailer requirements in the Directive and similar focus groups are planned on permitting and for manufacturers by sector; DEFRA and the DTI are working together with the Small Business Service to organise twenty events in England to raise awareness of the requirements of the Directive and discuss potential implementation methods. Representatives from all stakeholder groups will be invited to put forward their views. Similar events in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are being planned with the Devolved Administrations.

The Government takes into account the views of industry when drawing up our negotiation lines and will continue to do so throughout implementation in the UK.