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19 Sept 2002 : Column 301W—continued

RSPB

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much money by way of grants and subsidies her Department has paid to the RSPB, broken down by category, in each of the last five years. [71747]

Mr. Meacher [holding answer 24 July 2002]: Direct payments made by the department, since its creation in June 2001, have amounted to £25,000 in 2001–02 and £100,000 in 2002–03 to date. The RSPB may further receive EU funding and grants indirectly from other DEFRA funded bodies. Collecting information on indirect funding and payments made prior to 2001–02 would involve disproportionate cost.

Pesticides

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent

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discussions she has had with representatives of the farming industry on reduction of the use of pesticides. [73199]

Mr. Morley: The Government is committed to minimising the adverse effects of pesticides. This includes the development and promotion of ways in which farmers can limit their pesticide use. In spring 2001 we invited the industry to implement the Voluntary Initiative—a package of measures aimed at reducing the environmental impact of pesticides. The Government is keeping the progress of the Voluntary Initiative under review to assess whether it is delivering real environmental benefits. DEFRA Ministers met with farming and other representatives in May to discuss progress.

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has had from environmental groups on pesticide residues in food. [73201]

Mr. Morley: Officials from the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD), an executive agency of the Department, has received correspondence from various environmental groups, including Friends of the Earth (FoE) and Pesticides Action Network UK (PAN UK), on pesticide residues in food.

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had with (a) representatives of the food retail industry and (b) consumer representatives on pesticide residues in food. [73200]

Mr. Morley: Officials from the Department meet regularly with representatives of the food retail industry and consumer representatives on pesticide residues in food, in various capacities. The Pesticide Residues Committee (PRC), which oversees the Government's pesticide residues surveillance programme, held its first open meeting last year. Various organisations attended, including representatives from both the food retail industry and consumer groups. Details of the attendees are available on the PRC's website:

www.pesticides.gov.uk/committees/PRC/prc.htm

Examples of organisations my officials met with in the last year are the Chilled Food Association and the Infant and Dietetic Food Association.

County and Agricultural Shows

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total cost was to public funds of her Department's exhibition stands at county and agricultural shows held since 1 April. [73174]

Margaret Beckett: Our records show that as at the end of June 2002, current payments made relating to the financial year 2002–03 by DEFRA for exhibition and related stand costs incurred by attendance at county and agricultural shows totalled £695,121.

EU Advisory Committees

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the EU Advisory Committee on food stuffs is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the

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United Kingdom representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [63636]

Ms Blears: I have been asked to reply.

The mandate for the Advisory Committee for Foodstuffs is set out in European Commission Decision 1980/1073/EEC. The Committee may be consulted by the Commission on any matter relating to the harmonisation of foodstuffs legislation.

The Committee, whose term of office is three years, is composed of ten permanent members and twenty experts, and the secretariat is provided by the Commission. It represents socio-economic interest groups concerned about food safety, such as agriculture, commerce, consumers, industry and workers, and is chaired by a permanent member of one of the economic groups. The Committee has not met during the last twelve months.

The Committee is accountable solely to the Commission which pays the travel and subsistence costs of members amounting to approximately C= 290,000 for each meeting. There are no additional costs to the United Kingdom's public funds.

Chernobyl

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what regulations remain in force to deal with the impact of Chernobyl radioactive pollution; which geographical areas are affected; and if she will make a statement. [72991]

Ms Blears: I have been asked to reply.

The regulations which remain in force to deal with the impact of Chernobyl radioactive pollution, and the geographical areas covered, are as follows:

For England, The Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Radioactivity in Sheep) (England) (Partial Revocation) Order 1996, S.I. 1996 No. 62, covering parts of Cumbria For Scotland, The Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Radioactivity in Sheep) (Scotland) (Partial Revocation) Order 2001, S.S.I—2001 No. 313, covering parts of East Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire and Stirling Council areas.

For Wales, The Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Radioactivity in Sheep) (Wales) (Partial revocation) Order 1998, S.I. 1998 No. 72, covering parts of Conwy, Gwynedd and North Powys.

Each regulation specifies the exact areas to which the controls apply.

All restrictions were removed from Northern Ireland in April 2000.

DEFENCE

Scottish Executive

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many formal and official inter-ministerial

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meetings his Department has held with the Scottish Executive since May 1999, broken down by (a) Scottish Executive department, (b) subject and (c) date. [72714]

Dr. Lewis Moonie [holding answer 24 July 2002]: Information is not available in the form requested. Defence Ministers have frequent meetings with Ministers from the Scottish Executive, both formal and informal, covering a broad range of topics.

Temporary Staff

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many employees under contract from temping agencies worked in his Department; and how much was spent on temporary staff (a) as a total and (b) as a percentage of the total staffing budget in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [72648]

Dr. Lewis Moonie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 24 May 2002, Official Report, column 614W by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces.

Special Advisers

Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) dates, (b) location and (c) sources were of attributable (i) articles, interviews or contributions for the media, books or other journals and (ii) speeches or presentations made in the public domain, by departmental special advisers since March 2001; who in his Department authorised the activity; and on what date this activity was recorded with the departmental Head of Information. [72258]

Dr. Lewis Moonie: All Special Advisers' contacts with the media, and speeches and presentations made by them, are conducted in accordance with the requirement of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. All Ministry of Defence civil servants, including special advisers, are expected to keep the Department's Director of Corporate Communications or delegated officer informed of contacts with the media. Details of such contacts are for internal purposes only.

Press Office

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) full time equivalents were employed by his press office and (b) secondees were placed in his press office in the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [70548]

Dr. Lewis Moonie [holding answer 22 July 2002]: Details of full time personnel who worked in the Ministry of Defence central Press Office in the last five years, together with the number of established posts, is shown in the table below:

Financial Year	Number of full time personnel	Number of established posts
1997–98	20	*
1998–99	18	19
1999–2000	18	18
2000–01	33	19
2001–02	28	24

*information no longer available

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The number of full time personnel includes those employed at any time during the Financial Year. Staff changes will cause these figures to be higher than those shown for established posts.

No records are held on the number of secondees to the Press Office.

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