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17 Dec 2002 : Column 681W—continued

CABINET OFFICE

Public Appointments

42. Mr. Brady: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will make a statement on the programme of work of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. [85943]

Mr. Alexander: The Commissioner for Public Appointments, Dame Rennie Fritchie, regulates, monitors, advises and reports on ministerial appointments to public bodies within her remit. Her work and advice are highly regarded and respected by the Government.

Government Websites

43. Barbara Follett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what plans his Department has to harmonise Government website addresses. [85945]

Mr. Alexander: As outlined in my answer to my hon. Friend in June all central Government Departments use the .gov.uk domain name.

A Domain Naming Approvals Committee oversees the approval of every domain name request. Requesting Departments and the Committee are steered on eligibility by guidelines and standard conventions.

The Office of Government Commerce (managers of the .gov.uk domain name) and the Office of the e-Envoy have agreed to establish a working party and early in the new year will conduct a formal review of the naming guidelines and how they are applied.

E-Government

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what plans he has to support progress in e-government delivery of the Government's targets for public services. [85939]

Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what plans he has to support progress in using e-government to deliver Government targets for public services. [85942]

Mr. Alexander: In support of our commitment to radical public service reform, we are investing #6 billion over the next three years in e-enablement.

This includes, for example a new commitment to extend broadband connectivity within our education system and major IT enablement in the national health service.

Regulatory Impact Unit

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many employees work in the Regulatory Impact Unit. [87606]

Mr. Alexander: As at 2 December 2002 the Regulatory Impact Unit employed a total of 59 staff. This figure is rounded to full time equivalents.

Spending Review

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will list for his Department (a) those

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Comprehensive Spending Review 1998 targets that were outstanding at the time of the statement on the Comprehensive Spending Review 2002, (b) progress on such targets since then and (c) the expected date when targets not yet achieved will be met. [87690]

Mr. Alexander: The Department published progress against all its outstanding PSA targets in its departmental report 2002 (CM5429) published in June 2002. The Department's autumn performance report 2002 (CM5732) is due to be published and presented to the House shortly.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Warm Front Programme

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proposals she has for publicising the Warm Front Programme to those in receipt of a designated benefit. [86970]

Mr. Morley: Warm Front is the Government's main programme to provide assistance to households in the private sector in England through the provision of a range of measures including heating and insulation to those in receipt of certain benefits.

Warm Front is administered by two Scheme Managers—TXU Warm Front Ltd. and the Eaga Partnership. The Scheme Managers have responsibility for marketing and publicising the scheme and in doing so work in partnership with many organisations. These include local authorities, targeting recipients of council tax and housing benefit, local health and social services providers and other groups in the charity and voluntary sectors.

Mr. Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures are being taken to improve the performance of the Government's warm front scheme. [86679]

Mr. Morley: Warm front is the Government's main programme to provide assistance to households in the private sector in England through the provision of a range of measures including heating and insulation to those in receipt of certain benefits. Since its launch in June 2000, warm front has provided assistance to over 400,000 households.

We are currently carrying out a review looking at the effectiveness and impact of warm front including consideration of the operation of the scheme including the eligibility criteria and range of measures offered.

Agricultural Waste

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she intends to publish draft regulations on agricultural waste. [87224]

Margaret Beckett [holding answer 16 December 2002]: We are preparing the draft regulations necessary to apply the provisions of the Waste Framework Directive to agricultural waste. A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) is also being prepared. On completion, the draft regulations and RIA will be issued

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for consultation with the farming industry and other interested groups. A firm date for publication of the consultation paper has not yet been set but our aim is to publish it early in the new year. I will ensure that a copy of the consultation paper is sent to the hon. Member when it is issued.

Animal Welfare Bill

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Mansfield (Mr. Meale), on 26 November 2002, Official Report, c.230–31W, on the Animal Welfare Bill, if she will list those organisations that she or her officials have met to discuss the issue of pheasants in the proposed Animal Welfare Bill; and if she will make a statement on the balance of views of those organisations. [86123]

Mr. Morley: The organisations that have expressed views on the rearing of pheasants and were invited to the stakeholder meetings on the Animal Welfare Bill include:

Animal Defenders

British Association for Shooting and Conservation

Compassion In World Farming

Farm Animal Welfare Council

Game Conservancy Trust

Game Farmers Association

League Against Cruel Sports

National Gamekeepers Organisation

RSPCA

Union of Country Sports Workers

A number of other organisations have given their views on pheasant rearing and husbandry in response to the consultation on the bill.

I am satisfied that I have received a balanced range of views.

Common Agricultural Policy

Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people received more than #1 million in payments from the Common Agricultural Policy in the last year for which information is available. [86434]

Mr. Morley: In the 12 months ending June 2002, four claimants received more than #1 million each in direct grants and subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy in England. The payment of direct grants and subsidies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland was the responsibility of the devolved authorities in that period. In addition, 130 claimants throughout the UK each received payments in excess of #1 million as part of the market support measures of the CAP, such as export refunds, for which traders as well as farmers are eligible. The figures exclude any compensation received for animals slaughtered during the FMD crisis for reasons of disease control or animal health. We are unable to identify the total payments received by any individual or business making applications using more than one name.

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Diversification

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 20 November, Official Report, column 157W, on diversification, when the research study will be published. [85365]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 5 December 2002]: The research study is nearing completion and it is expected that the report will be published early in 2003.

Farmers' Markets

Mr. Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she is taking to promote farmers' markets. [87410]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 16 December 2002]: The Government does recognise that farmers' markets can bring benefits for both producers and consumers. In support of this, there is provision under the England Rural Development Programme and the Agricultural Development Scheme for grants for activities such as the establishment of farmers' markets.

More specifically, to encourage the development of farmers' markets we have:

written to all Local Authorities drawing their attention to the benefits which farmers' markets can bring;


provided funding towards the National Association of Farmers' Markets' training and marketing programme and their accreditation scheme;


sponsored the Local Government Association Guide on Farmers' Markets;


and


provided funding to help with the re-launch of farmers' markets following the foot and mouth crisis.

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