Written Answers to
Questions
Friday 19 April 2002
PRIVY COUNCIL
Departmental Report
Mr. Bercow: To ask the President of the Council when the 2002 Departmental report will be published. [49586]
Mr. Robin Cook: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer that the Chief Secretary to the Treasury gave on 15 April, Official Report, column 774W.
DEFENCE
Afghanistan
Mr. Paul Keetch MP: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which nations have contributed forces to (a) Operation Enduring Freedom and (b) ISAF; how many troops each of these nations has contributed; and if he will make a statement. [50000]
Mr. Hoon: Pursuant to the answer I gave on 16 April, Official Report, column 824W, I regret to inform you that there was an error in the table given. The nation of Poland should have read Portugal.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Performance Targets
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the target has been in each of the last five years for efficiency savings as a percentage of total running costs for each of the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible; and if the target was met. [49638]
Dr. John Reid: No New Deal for Young People staff have been employed by non-departmental public bodies in the last four years.
Overtime Payments
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his policy is on overtime payments for staff in his Department. [49133]
Dr. John Reid: Overtime work is paid for hours worked in excess of conditioned hours to qualifying grades below the Senior Civil Service at a rate determined according to their overtime band.
Staff in overtime band 1 (mainly junior grades) receive non-pensionable hourly payments at the rate of time and a half, Monday to Saturday.
Staff in overtime band 2 (more senior grades) receive non-pensionable hourly payments at plain time rate, Monday to Saturday.
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Staff in grades eligible for overtime receive an additional pensionable payment of half the plain time rate for attendance between the hours of midnight Friday and midnight Saturday. Staff in overtime grades whose pay does not include an element for Sunday attendance, will receive an additional pensionable payment at plain time rate for attendance on Sundays in excess of conditioned hours.
Very senior staff who are required to work exceptionally long hours for a sustained period may receive an ex-gratia payment.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. (1) how many staff were involved in each of the last three years in preparing draft answers to written parliamentary questions; [49145]
- (2) what the cost was to his Department of answering written parliamentary questions in 2001; and how that cost was calculated. [49103]
Dr. John Reid: I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided by my right hon. Friend, The Leader of the House of Commons on 17 April 2002.
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Foot and Mouth
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what notification was received by her Department concerning the possible death of cattle from foot and mouth-disease at Thornhill Farm, Cwymbach, Aberdare on 4 October 2000; and if she will make a statement. [51401]
Margaret Beckett: Inquiries made by the Department indicate that the farmer concerned first informed the National Assembly of Wales (NAW) of his belief that two cattle on his farm had died in August 2000 as a result of foot and mouth disease in a letter dated 3 November 2001 addressed to the First Minister. There is no record of the farmer having made this suggestion to the Department or to the NAW in October 2000, or at any other time prior to his letter of 3 November 2001:
There was no reason to suspect the presence of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom prior to the discovery of the first suspect case on 19 February 2001.
Ozone Depletion
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the economic viability of replacing ozone depleting substances with non-ozone depleting substances. [48073]
Mr. Meacher [holding answer 10 April 2002]: In December 1998, the Department produced a Regulatory Impact Assessment of the EC's proposal for a Regulation which became EC Regulation 2037/2000. This considered two options; either to agree the proposal as it stood, or to argue for modifications to the proposed controls which went beyond the requirements of the Montreal Protocol where these would deliver no real environmental benefit
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or where the costs of compliance would be disproportionate. As a result of consultation with interested parties, the Government agreed to the proposal in broad terms following changes made during negotiations to some of the proposed controls that in the UK's view were disproportionate.
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations her Department has made to other EU Governments regarding the length of period for which use of ozone depleting substances will remain permissible. [48071]
Mr. Meacher [holding answer 10 April 2002]: My officials meet regularly with counterparts from other EC Member States to discuss issues arising from EC Regulation 2037/2000 on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Together with the European Commission, the UK and other Member States consider possible EC proposals for improving and strengthening the Montreal Protocol. EC Regulation 2037/2000 itself goes considerably further than the Protocol in controlling and phasing out ozone-depleting substances. For example, HCFCs are to be phased out under the Protocol by 2030 and under the Regulation by 2015.
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she proposes to take to promote the use of non-ozone depleting refrigerants which have been developed in the UK. [48072]
Mr. Meacher [holding answer 10 April 2002]: The key measure is enforcement of EC Regulation 2037/2000 on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer as this puts pressure on producers, suppliers and users of refrigerants to use alternatives to CFCs through the ban on use and supply and HCFCs through use controls on new and existing equipment. The Department with DTI produced the guidance document, "Refrigeration & Air Conditioning—CFC and HCFC Phase Out: Advice on Alternatives and Guidelines for Users". It is available on the DTI's website, www.dti.gov.uk/access/ozone.htm.
Sites of Special Scientific Interest
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what criteria have to be met for sites of special scientific interest to be classified as in good condition. [48538]
Mr. Meacher: SSSIs are notified because of specific biological or geological features, and when those features are being managed in a way which maintains their nature conservation value, they are said to be in favourable condition. Sites are assessed against Common Standards, published by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) which are well established. This publication will be made available to the Library of the House.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures are being taken to ensure that 95 per cent of all sites of special scientific interest within the UK are brought into good condition by 2010. [48544]
Mr. Meacher: The target under the Department's public service agreement is that 95 per cent of SSSIs in England, by area, should be in favourable (or
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unfavourable and improving) condition by 2010. Nature conservation is a devolved matter. Some 60 per cent of sites in England are presently in favourable condition.
We are addressing the condition of SSSIs on several fronts. English Nature is working with owners and occupiers, advising on management and offering management agreements for positive management of sites. Where necessary, English Nature will also use strong new powers available under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, to tackle the condition of specific sites. With English Nature's advice, we will be looking carefully at the resources necessary to make good progress towards achieving the target.
We are also working with other Departments and public bodies, who own sites, or whose operations might affect sites, to ensure that their activities further the conservation of these special places.
Within DEFRA, we are looking at implementation of the Rural White Paper, the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Farming and Food on sustainable farming and, in the longer term, CAP reform measures with a view to addressing some of the incentives to heavy stocking, which can cause damage, particularly to upland SSSIs.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish (a) the base year emissions of the participants in the UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme 2002, (b) their respective targets and (c) the reductions that they are committed to already, as a result of (i) legislation and (ii) public voluntary commitments. [48979]
Mr. Meacher [holding answer 15 April 2002]: The Government will publish the baseline emissions (average over 1998–2000) for each of the direct participants in the UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme once these have been independently verified by organisations accredited for this specific purpose by the UK Accreditation Service. The respective targets for each direct participant have already been have published on the Department's website. Emission levels required of direct participants through integrated pollution control regulation are already available on the public register. The Department of Trade and Industry's flare consent regime specifies limits on the volume of natural gas flared rather than an emissions level. The 2002 flare consents for British Petroleum plc installations and fields in the Emissions Trading Scheme allow 1,132.55 thousand standard cubic metres of natural gas flared per day. For Shell UK Ltd, the comparable number is 698.17 thousand standard cubic metres of natural gas flared per day. Whilst the Government welcomes any public voluntary commitment made by firms to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, these are a matter for the firms themselves, and not for Government.
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