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6 Oct 2003 : Column 1192W—continued

Private Office Costs

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what have been the running costs of Ministers' private offices in her Department in each year since 1997. [123100]

Margaret Beckett: The running costs of Ministers' private offices in my Department since 8 June 2001 (when Defra was formed) were as follows:

Year end 31 March£
2001–02(52)943,101
2002–031,194,162
2003–04(53)269,367

(52) Part year

(53) To 31 July 2003


Radioactive Material

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what quantity of radioactive material has been incorporated into consumer goods pursuant to EU Directive 96/29. [129252]

Mr. Morley: This is a matter for my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.

"Refreshing the Rural White Paper"

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the re-appraisal document, "Refreshing the Rural White Paper", and its conclusions on whether affordable housing in small villages is sustainable. [131377]

Alun Michael: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced a review of the Rural White Paper last November. The review is nearing completion and will be published in due course.

As my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Housing and Planning announced on 17 July, Official Report, column 53WS, the Government are consulting on an update of the existing nationwide guidance on planning for affordable housing, and the public consultation period runs until October 31. The update will be supported by practice advice. The update addresses a number of matters including the provision of affordable housing in rural areas. The proposed changes give greater flexibility to local authorities to seek affordable housing on smaller sites where this is justified. It is also envisaged that in rural areas affordable housing provision may be supported by allocating sites solely for affordable housing, on land within or adjoining existing villages, which would not otherwise be released for housing and where this would contribute to the attainment of mixed communities.

Retail Banks

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how often she has met the head of the agricultural departments of retail banks in the last six months. [129497]

Margaret Beckett: I have not done so in the last six months.

6 Oct 2003 : Column 1193W

Sea Temperature

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what records she maintains of sea temperature around the various sectors of the British Isles; and what movements in temperature have taken place over the last 20 years. [130366]

Mr. Bradshaw: Sea temperature data collected for the waters around the British Isles are collated by such national and international bodies as the British Oceanographic Data Centre and the Hydrographic Service of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).

The ICES Working Group on Oceanic Hydrography produces an Annual Ocean Climate Status Summary of the North Atlantic Region, and include long time series from the seas around the British Isles.

Other relevant publications include:


Round Britain most surface temperature series show a warming trend at a rate of between 0.5oC and 1oC per decade since the 1960s. This warming has largely been driven by a strongly positive phase of the fluctuating atmospheric pattern called the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO).

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the sea temperature bands required by each main species of fish in waters surrounding the British Isles. [130367]

Mr. Bradshaw: The table shows the estimated temperature range associated with several important commercial species:

Common nameScientific nameTemperature (°C) Range
CodGadus morhua0–20
HaddockMelanogrammus aeglefinus4–10
SaithePollachius virensTemperate
LingMolva molvaTemperate
WhitingMerlangius merlangusTemperate
MonkfishLophius piscatoriusTemperate
SalmonSalmo salar2–9
BassDicentrarchus labrax8–24
DogfishScyliorhinus caniculaSub-tropical
PlaicePleuronectes platessa2–15
Lemon soleMicrostomus kittTemperate
SoleSolea solea8–24
HerringClupea harengus1–18
MackerelScomber scombrus4–14
SpratSprattus sprattusTemperate
PilchardSardina pilchardusSub-tropical
SandeelAmmodytidaeTemperate

Note:

References to temperate and sub-tropical in the table indicate that a specified range is not available in the scientific literature.


While a change in sea temperature could affect stock distribution, spawning, migratory patterns and survival of very young fish, the effect of long term temperature trends on fish stocks is not easy to predict. Increased sea temperature has been linked to reduced recruitment (the

6 Oct 2003 : Column 1194W

numbers of young fish entering the population) in cold-water species such as cod, and improved recruitment in other species such as bass, but the factors influencing the survival of fish are complex and in many cases still poorly understood. For heavily fished species, fishing pressure remains the primary control on stock size but recruitment success also has a significant impact.

Secondments

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her Department's policy is on employing secondees from the private sector; how many secondees from the (a) private and (b) public sectors her Department employed in each year since 1997; from which companies and organisations they were seconded; at what level they were employed; and if she will make a statement. [127064]

Alun Michael: Secondments into and out of Defra are vital in meeting our commitment to develop a modern, flexible, outward focused Civil Service that works in partnership with all sectors of society. Defra promotes and encourages the interchange of personnel between the Department and a range of organisations, in the private sector, the public sector and the voluntary and community sector.

Since the creation of Defra in June 2001 the Department has seconded personnel from the following organisations all at middle to senior management level:

Organisation
From June 2001 to March 2002
PrivateBBC
British Petroleum
GlaxoKlineSmith
Greater London Enterprise
Total4
PublicCountryside Agency (2)
English Nature
Environment Agency
Imperial College
Local Government Association
New Zealand Government
Warwick University
Natural Environment Research Council
Total9
Voluntary and CommunityWorld Wildlife Fund
Year in Industry
Total2
April 2002 to March 2003
PrivateChemical Industrial Association
Envirowise
TXU Warm Front
Total3
PublicCountryside Agency (2)
English Nature
Environment Agency (4)
Forum for the Future
Global to Local
Gloucestershire CC
Energy Action Grants Agency (EAGA)
Total11
Voluntary and CommunityEnvironmental Campaigns
Groundwork
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) (2)
World Wildlife Fund
Total5
April 2003-to date
PrivatePowergen CPH Ltd.
Total1
PublicCambridgeshire CC
English Nature
Environment Agency (2)
SW Regional Development Agency
Total5
Voluntary and CommunityEnvironmental Campaigns
Total1

6 Oct 2003 : Column 1195W

Letter from Professor Mike Roberts to Ms Annabelle Ewing, dated July 2003:






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