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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 |
| 2002–03 | 1,194,162 |
| 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:
- Alcock, G. and Rickards, L. (2001) Climate of UK waters at the millennium: Status and trends. Inter-Agency Committee on Marine Science and Technology, IACMST Information Document, 9, 48 pp.
Clark, R. A., Fox, C. J., Ben-Hamadou, R. and Planque, B. (2001) A directory of hydrographic and atmospheric datasets for the north east Atlantic and UK shelf seas. CEFAS, Science Series Technical Report, 113, 43 pp.
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 name | Scientific name | Temperature (°C) Range |
|---|---|---|
| Cod | Gadus morhua | 0–20 |
| Haddock | Melanogrammus aeglefinus | 4–10 |
| Saithe | Pollachius virens | Temperate |
| Ling | Molva molva | Temperate |
| Whiting | Merlangius merlangus | Temperate |
| Monkfish | Lophius piscatorius | Temperate |
| Salmon | Salmo salar | 2–9 |
| Bass | Dicentrarchus labrax | 8–24 |
| Dogfish | Scyliorhinus canicula | Sub-tropical |
| Plaice | Pleuronectes platessa | 2–15 |
| Lemon sole | Microstomus kitt | Temperate |
| Sole | Solea solea | 8–24 |
| Herring | Clupea harengus | 1–18 |
| Mackerel | Scomber scombrus | 4–14 |
| Sprat | Sprattus sprattus | Temperate |
| Pilchard | Sardina pilchardus | Sub-tropical |
| Sandeel | Ammodytidae | Temperate |
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:
6 Oct 2003 : Column 1195W
Letter from Professor Mike Roberts to Ms Annabelle Ewing, dated July 2003:
- The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has asked me to reply, with respect to the Central Science Laboratory, to your question concerning secondees from the private and public sectors since 1997.
- The purpose of inward secondments from the private sector is to allow CSL to seek specialist expertise which cannot be provided by existing staff and for which recruitment to permanent posts is not appropriate. Modified rules on fair and open competition apply. CSL would ensure that the best candidate has been selected and the candidate's qualifications and experience qualify them to undertake the duties required. The secondee would continue to be paid and formally employed by the organisation that seconds them and the organisation invoices CSL for the salary costs.
- A posting from another Government Department is classed as a loan and can be for up to 2–3 years. Payment of salary is taken over by the importing department.
- CSL have not had any inward secondments from the private sector since 1997. There has been one loan in 2002 from VLA, a consultant in Veterinary Parasitology.
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