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10 May 2004 : Column 29W—continued

Radon Gas

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what regulations govern (a) testing for radon gas in homes and (b) disclosure of radon gas levels when houses are bought and sold. [169718]

Keith Hill: I have been asked to reply.

There are currently no regulations that govern the testing for radon gas in homes.

Approximately 450,000 radon measurements, mostly Government-funded, have been carried out by the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) since 1987. By 1998, every home in England with a greater than 5 per cent. probability of being at or above the radon level of 200 becquerels per cubic metre of air—known as the Action Level—had been offered a free measurement.

The Government have designated areas where new homes should include radon protective measures during their construction to satisfy the requirements of the Building Regulations. This was introduced in 1988 and applied only to parts of Devon and Cornwall, but in 1999 was broadened to include all parts of England and Wales where there is a significant probability of exceeding the Action Level.

It is standard practice for potential home-buyers to carry out a local search. This currently includes information on whether or not the property is located within a radon affected area. Guidance to local
 
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authorities from the Local Government Association asks them to provide further information to enquirers where this is the case.

The Government intend to include standard searches in home information packs, legislation for which is in the Housing Bill.

Rural Payments Agency

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the Rural Payments Agency's performance; how many complaints were received against the Rural Payments Agency in (a) 2001 and (b) 2003, broken down by type of complaint; when the full development of the Rural Payments Agency will be completed; and what her assessment is of the ability of the Rural Payments Agency to cope with changes owing to reform of the common agricultural policy. [170008]

Alun Michael: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State agreed to the creation of the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) on 16 October 2001.

The RPA's second Annual Report and Accounts, which records performance against the agency's key performance targets, as set by the Secretary of State, was published on 18 September 2003.

An Ownership Board chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Environment, Food and   Rural Affairs meets quarterly to monitor the performance of the agency, on behalf of the Secretary of State. In addition, I receive weekly progress reports, as the RPA is part of my ministerial portfolio. I also monitor the response to issues raised by MPs and regularly discuss relevant issues with the agency.

The number of complaints dealt with under the RPA's complaints procedure in 2001 and 2003 are set out in the table. These have been broken down into complaints regarding Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) and Non-IACS schemes.
Schemes2001 12003
IACS3134
Non-IACS021
Total3155


(5) Figures for calendar years from creation of RPA 16 October 2001.


The RPA could not extrapolate the data required to break these figures down to 'type of complaint' without incurring disproportionate costs.

The RPA undertakes regular customer research through a third party to monitor attitudes to its standards of service. The verbatim comments from the 2003 survey indicate that the vast majority of complaints are aimed at the scheme rules and payments rather than at the level of service received.

The primary development of the RPA is through the RPA Change Programme, which now includes the implementation of the changes resulting from CAP
 
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reform. It is planned that these changes will be largely completed by December 2005. The RPA are monitoring the on-going development of the Change Programme to ensure that customer satisfaction is maintained. This may mean future changes to the schedule in order to meet quality requirements. Full year benefits from the Change Programme will be delivered in the financial year 2006–07.

I have every confidence in the ability of the RPA to implement the changes owing to reform of the common agricultural policy.

Timber

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether her Department plans to contribute financially to the establishment of the second phase of the Central Point of Expertise on Timber. [167628]

Mr. Morley: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has lead responsibility for establishing a central point of expertise on timber procurement (CPET) and is responsible for organising the resources necessary for its operation.

In December 2003 Defra announced that as a first step the CPET would assess forest certification schemes in relation to Government contract requirements. Bids for this project have been received and are being evaluated. It is intended that this work will culminate in revised guidance that will be made public at the end of August 2004 or thereabouts.

The experience gained from operating the first phase of the CPET will help shape the plans for services in the subsequent phases. This is a new venture and the Government is concerned to ensure that the value of its   output is matched with the appropriate level of investment. Defra will consult other Government Departments and other stakeholders to determine the detailed objectives for the next phase of the project, when that phase should be implemented and how the resources should be provided. The investment appraisal will consider, among other options, whether an expanded CPET service could become self-financing to some extent.

The Government remains firmly committed to the establishment of the CPET as integral to implementing its timber procurement policy and its wider efforts to   tackle illegal logging and promote sustainable development in forest management.

Vale of York

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she has taken to ensure that officials employed by (a) her Department and (b) executive agencies reporting to her Department who deal with the Vale of York (i) have visited the Vale of York and (ii) have a full working knowledge of the area. [170012]

Alun Michael: The following list shows those Defra organisations who operate 'in the field' in the Vale of York.
 
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A minimum of 16 members of Defra and related organisations staff have within their field/operational responsibility the Vale of York area.

Due to time constraints it is not possible to produce an accurate figure for the actual number of staff involved, nor objectively assess individual's levels of experience.

However, in recognition of this complexity, a Defra Implementers Group (DIG) has been formed in York and Number with an agreed vision statement "To achieve improved implementation of schemes and programmes delivered by the Defra family from the perspective of our customers". This activity pre-dated the Haskins review of Rural Service Delivery and was the first of it's kind to look at better co-ordination of frontline service delivery in Defra. Workshops were held between Jan and May 2003 to consider practical ideas to improve 'frontline delivery' of Defra 'family' work, in terms of service to customers, quality and effectiveness. A pilot project is currently looking to develop these ideas under the following headings;

In an attempt to positively engage with constituency issues such as this, Gordon Kingston (GOYH Rural Director) attends the hon. Member's "Yorkshire First" Westminster Round Table quarterly events.

In addition, all Defra staff are encouraged to have an understanding of customer and other stakeholders needs via our competency framework which are used to measure their performance e.g. the 'Building Relationships' competency.
 
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