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ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Competitive Tendering
Mr. Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on how many occasions in the last 12 months the requirement to engage in a competitive tendering process has been waived by her Department due to national security obligations under paragraph 6(h) of the supply regulations. [62816]
Mr. Morley: From information held centrally there have been no occasions in the last 12 months when the requirement to engage in a competitive tendering process has been waived by the Department due to national security obligations under paragraph 6(h) of the supply regulations.
Annual Leave
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average annual leave entitlement is for staff in her Department in 2002. [64657]
Mr. Morley: Following machinery of government changes and the creation of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, all staff outside the senior civil service were given an annual leave entitlement of 30 days from 1 August 2001. This was done as one of the first steps towards harmonising terms and conditions of service for the then ex-MAFF and ex-DETR staff who joined together to form the new Department.
The annual leave entitlement for members of the senior civil service is currently set by Cabinet Office at 30 days.
Staff working part-time or alternative working patterns are entitled to a proportional amount based on either the number of days or hours they work.
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Responsibility for leave matters within the Central Science Laboratory, the Veterinary Laboratories Agency and the Centre for Environmental Fisheries and Aquaculture Agency—all former MAFF Agencies—has been delegated to the Agency Chief Executives and I have asked them to reply direct. The Pesticides Safety Directorate, the Rural Payments Agency and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate Agencies are covered by the departmental response.
Letter from Professor Mike Roberts to Mr. John Bercow, dated July 2002:
- The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has asked me to reply, in respect of the Central Science Laboratory, to your question concerning annual leave entitlement in 2002.
- CSL staff outside the Senior Civil Service receive an annual leave allowance as follows:
- Staff with less than 10 years service: 25 days
- Staff with over 10 years service: 30 days
- Based on the above, the average annual leave entitlement for CSL staff in leave year 2002 is 26.5 days.
- Annual leave entitlement for members of the Senior Civil Service is currently set by the Cabinet Office at 30 days.
Letter from Professor Steven Edwards to Mr. John Bercow, dated June 2002:
- The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question on what the average annual leave entitlement is for staff in her Department in 2002.
- All VLA staff outside the Senior Civil Service are entitled to 25 days annual leave on appointment and 30 days when they have completed 10 years service. Staff working part-time or alternative working patterns are entitled to a proportional amount based on either the number of days or hours they work.
- Information about the average leave entitlement could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Letter from Mr. Greig-Smith to Mr. John Bercow, dated 4 July 2002:
- The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has asked Agency Chief Executives to reply to your question concerning the average annual leave entitlement for their staff.
- Staff at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science have an annual leave allowance of 25 days on entry, rising to 30 days after 10 years service.
EU Directives
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the EU directives relating to her Department which have been (a) amended and (b) repealed in 2002. [64940]
Mr. Morley: In answer to part (a) the table lists directives adopted in 2002, for which DEFRA is the lead Department, which amend previously adopted directives alongside the numbers of the amended directives.
In answer to part (b), the only directive to have been repealed in 2002 for which DEFRA is the lead Department is 1974/649/EEC (on marketing material for the vegetative propagation of vine). This was repealed by Directive 2002/11/EC.
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Littering Offences
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total amount of fines levied against those prosecuted for littering offences in the United Kingdom was in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [64732]
Mr. Meacher: The total amount of fines levied with respect to Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) issued for littering offences in England in each of the last five years was:
- No data in 1996–97
£16,505 in 1997–98
£63,240 in 1998–99
£39,075 in 1999–2000
£28,475 in 2000–01.
Benthic Fauna
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has (a) made and (b) intends to make of the impact of (i) dredging and (ii) other marine activities on benthic fauna; and if she will make a statement. [65503]
Mr. Morley: The Department does not regulate dredging but does provide advice to the Department of Transport and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on the effects of navigation and aggregate dredging respectively on the marine environment, including benthic fauna.
With regard to other marine activities, the Department assesses the potential impact on benthic life of proposals which are the subject of applications for licences under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 to deposit substances or articles in the sea. This includes proposals to dispose of dredged material and for a wide range of marine construction activities.
The Department is funding a programme of research on the effects of aggregate dredging, including the rate of recovery of benthic life after dredging has ceased. In addition the Department's Centre for Environment,
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Fisheries and Aquaculture Science are involved in ongoing research on the impact of fishing activities on the seabed and on the wider marine environment.
0870 Telephone Numbers
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on using 0870 telephone numbers for inquiries by the public to the Department and its agencies. [66192]
Mr. Morley: DEFRA operates helpline numbers for people seeking information or assistance. Some of these services are free of charge but most use local rate call numbers with 0845 prefixes; however one, the Pets Travel Scheme Helpline, uses the prefix 0870.
The decisions on which category of number to allocate are taken after assessing the cost effectiveness of each service in terms of meeting the needs of potential users while minimising expenditure.
Bovine TB
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what staff and resources were allocated in each year since 1999 towards the bovine TB problem in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Herefordshire and (d) Worcestershire. [65690]
Mr. Morley: The information requested on a county basis is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Expenditure by the State Veterinary Service (Field) on the bovine TB programme is shown in Table 1. This includes the cost of local and temporary veterinary inspectors but does not include compensation.
| Expenditure | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | |
| England | 7,757,183 | 7,574,217 | 7,955,962 |
| Wales | 920,011 | 1,472,469 | 1,240,032 |
The amount of compensation paid for cattle slaughtered to control bovine TB from 1999 to 2001 is shown in Table 2. Compensation figures are only readily available for Great Britain as a whole and are collated on a calendar year basis.
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| Expenditure | |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 5,770,983 |
| 2000 | 7,307,797 |
| 2001 | 7,074,125 |
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of Central Science Laboratory research relating to badgers feeding in cattle troughs. [66347]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 3 July 2002]: The study by Central Science Laboratory and Sussex university showed that badgers frequently visited buildings on two farms in Gloucestershire, to exploit a range of food items. During some visits cattle feed was contaminated with badger faeces and badgers came into close direct contact with housed cattle. Given that there is a substantial body of circumstantial evidence implicating the badger in the transmission of bovine TB to cattle, such situations could potentially carry a high risk of infection. CSL will embark on a wider-scale DEFRA funded study later this year to investigate this phenomenon further.
These findings emphasise the need for good biosecurity on farms and the need to minimise access of this kind from badgers.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle were slaughtered after a positive TB test in each year since 1997. [66805]
Mr. Morley: The number of animals compulsorily slaughtered as TB reactors or as direct contacts is given in the table.
| Number of animals slaughtered | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| TB reactors(1) | Contacts(2) | Total(3) | |
| 1997 | 3,213 | 456 | 3,669 |
| 1998 | 4,958 | 926 | 5,884 |
| 1999(4) | 5,910 | 862 | 6,772 |
| 2000(4) | 7,031 | 1,322 | 8,353 |
| 2001(4) | 5,347 | 904 | 6,251 |
(1) Animals which gave a positive result (i.e. reacted) to the tuberculin test and were compulsorily slaughtered.
(2) Animals which, under the terms of Directive 64/432 as amended, were considered to have been direct contacts exposed to TB and therefore compulsorily slaughtered.
(3) Animals compulsorily slaughtered because they reacted to the tuberculin test of because they were considered to be direct contacts. Not all the animals will necessarily be confirmed as being infected with Mycobacterium bovis.
(4) Provisional: data for 1999 onwards will remain provisional until all culture results are available and final data validation carried out.
Source:
DEFRA's Animal Health Database
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