§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the local authorities which(a) have responded to the Environment Minister's letter on timber procurement from 19 September 2002, (b) have confirmed that they have policies to ensure that all timber purchased is from legal and sustainable sources and (c) do not have policies to ensure timber procurement from legal and sustainable sources; and what percentage of local authorities have taken action under (a), (b) and (c) [89078]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 8 January 2003]: My letter of 19 September 2002 asked chief executives of local authorities in England to pledge their support to a commitment to purchase timber from legal and sustainably managed sources, and to put in place the necessary procedures to ensure its effective implementation. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Elmet (Colin Burgon) on 28 July 2000, Official Report, column 947W, on how Central Government sets its policy.
Replies have been received from the following local authorities: Basingstoke and Deane, Blackpool, Bolton, Bournemouth, Braintree, Bristol, Broadland, Buckinghamshire, Bury, Calderdale, Camden, Chelmsford, Chichester, Copeland, Cornwall, Cotsworld, Derbyshire, East Cambridgeshire, East Lindsey, East Staffordshire, East Sussex, Eastbourne, Eastleigh, Epping Forest, Fareham, Gateshead, Gloucester, Gosport, Hampshire, Harlow, Harrogate, Harrow, Hart, Havant, Huntingdonshire, Kensington and Chelsea, Kent, Kerrier, Kirklees, Knowsley, Lewes, Lincolnshire, Liverpool, Malvern Hills, Manchester, Mansfield, Melton, New Forest, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Norfolk, North Devon, North Shropshire, North Somerset, Northumberland, Purbeck, Reading, Redcar and Cleveland, Richmondshire, Rochdale, Salford, Sheffield, Shepway, South Oxfordshire, South Ribble, South Somerset, South Staffordshire, St. Albans, St. Edmundsbury, Staffordshire, Stockport, Swindon, Tandridge, Tendring, Tonbridge and Mailing, Tunbridge Wells, Wandsworth, Wellingborough, West Lindsey, Westminster, Wirral, Wolverhampton, Worcester, Worcestershire, Wyre Forest and Yorkshire.
The 88 authorities that replied represent 23 per cent. of the 387 written to. Of those that replied, 46 (52 per cent.) confirmed they had policies in place, and 36 (41 per cent.) were either putting or considering putting policies in place. Some of the respondents, however, did not specifically stipulate that timber should be sourced from both legal and sustainably managed sources. Six (7 per cent.) were using other strategies such as procuring through regional buying consortiums that had sustainable procurement policies in place. The information received is now over three months old and, therefore, it is possible that more of these authorities will now have policies in place.
562WI am in the process of writing again to request a response from those that did not reply. I will be updating them on progress being made by the Government on implementing its policy and stressing the importance we place on them declaring their position.