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Gender Pay Gap

Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the pay gap between men and women employed by her Department and its agencies in (a) Southampton, (b) Eastleigh, (c) Winchester and (d) Romsey. [171633]

Alun Michael: In response to the Equal Opportunities Task Force report "Just Pay", the Government committed all departments and agencies to undertake an equal pay review by April 2003 and to prepare action plans to close any equal pay gaps. Consequently, an equal pay audit of the Core Defra, Pesticides Safety Directorate and Veterinary Medicines Directorate pay system was carried out, the results of which revealed that there were no significant inequalities in pay for staff in these locations. There are 17 Core-Defra staff employed in offices in Southampton and Winchester.

Of my Department's other agencies, only the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) and the Central Science Laboratory (CSL) have staff in these locations. The VLA has 33 staff and CSL has three staff based in or near Winchester. Both agencies have carried out equal pay audits of their pay systems. The CSL audit did not identify any pay inequalities. The Chief Executive of the VLA will reply to the hon. Member separately.

Honours

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much time her Department spent dealing with honours in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by Civil Service grade. [173038]

Alun Michael: For the period April 2003 to January 2004 the Departmental Honours team consisted of a full-time Honours Secretary graded at a Higher Executive Officer (HEO) supported by two full-time Administrative Officers (AO's).

From February 2004 the Departmental Honours team has been re-organised and is now a full-time Honours Secretary who is an Executive Officer (EO) supported by one full-time Administrative Officer (AO).

The Honours Secretary is involved with the twice-yearly Departmental Honours sift with the Permanent Secretary and other senior officials.

The majority of the work on honours is undertaken by the Departmental Honours team. Information is not available on time spent on honours related work, by departmental staff who are not members of the Departmental Honours team.

Public Bodies

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) total budget and (b) budget for administration were for the
 
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(i) Agricultural Wage Committee, (ii) Agricultural Dwelling House Advisory Committee, (iii) Consumers' Committee for Great Britain, (iv) Committee of Agricultural Valuation, (v) Committee of Investigation for Great Britain, (vi) Commons Commissioners and
 
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(vii) Hill Farming Advisory Committee in financial year 2003–04. [176273]

Alun Michael: Details of the total budget and budget for administration for 2003–04 for the NDPBs requested is as follows.

	Total costs budget	Administrative costs budget	Comments
Agricultural Wage Committee	35,000	No separate budget	—
Agricultural Dwelling House Advisory Committee	44,000	No separate budget	—
Consumers' Committee for Great Britain	0	0	This NDPB is dormant
Committee of Agricultural Valuation	0	0	This NDPB is dormant
Committee of Investigation for Great Britain	0	0	This NDPB is Dormant
Commons Commissioners	30,000	30,000	—
Hill Farming Advisory Committee	0	0	Dormant

Note:
Advisory and Tribunal NDPBs—Administrative Costs
Administration costs for advisory and tribunal NDPBs Include the costs of board members (fees and expenses) and any associated direct costs of running the NDPB. It does not include the costs of the secretariats within Defra.

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) total budget and (b) budget for administration were for the (i) Dairy Produce Quota Tribunal, (ii) Horticultural Development Council, (iii) Home Grown Cereals Authority, (iv) Meat and Livestock Commission, (v) Forum on Non-Food Uses of Crops, (vi) Advisory Committee on Organic Standards and (vii) Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment in the financial year 2003–04. [176286]

Alun Michael: Details of the total budget and budget for administration for 2003–04 for the NDPBs requested is as follows:

	Total costs budget	Administrative costs budget	Comments
Dairy Produce Quota Tribunal	0	0	Activities on hold
Horticultural Development Council	3,900,000	293,300	—
Home Grown Cereals Authority	10,167,000	582,000	—
Meat and Livestock Commission	36,946,000	2,064,000	—
Forum on Non-Food Uses of Crops	150,000	No separate budget	—
Advisory Committee on Organic Standards	167,000	167,000	—
Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment	40,000	40,000	—

Notes:
Executive NDPBs—Administrative Costs
Both management accounting practices and the definition of administration costs differ from organisation to organisation. Therefore comparisons between NDPBs may not be appropriate.
Advisory and Tribunal NDPBs—Administrative Costs
Administration costs for advisory and tribunal NDPBs include the costs of board members (fees and expenses) and any associated direct costs of running the NDPB. It does not include the costs of the secretariats within Defra.

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) total budget and (b) budget for administration was for the (i) Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB, (ii) Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee, (iii) Veterinary Products Committee, (iv) Plant Varieties and Seeds Tribunal, (v) Integrated Administration and Control Systems Panel, (vi) Agricultural Land Tribunals and (vii) Veterinary Residues Committee in financial year 2003–04. [176298]

Alun Michael: Details of the total budget and budget for administration for 2003–04 for the NDPBs requested is as follows:

	Total costs budget	Administrative costs budget	Comments
Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB	124,000	124,000	—
Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee	290,029	No separate budget available	—
Veterinary Products Committee	149,000	149,000	—
Plant Varieties and Seeds Tribunal	0	0	This NDPB has not met since 1984 and therefore has not incurred costs
Integrated Administration and Control Systems Panel	Costs met from overall Rural Payments Agency budget	Costs met from overall Rural Payments Agency budget	This NDPB is demand led. The levels of expenditure are determined by the throughput
Agricultural Land Tribunals	30,000	30,000	—
Veterinary Residues Committee	18,000	18,000	—

Note:
Advisory and Tribunal NDPBs—Administration Costs
Administration costs for advisory and tribunal NDPBs include the costs of board members (fees and expenses) and any associated direct costs of running the NDPB. It does not include the costs of the secretariats within Defra.





 
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Thames Barrier

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions her Department has held with the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser on the reasons for increased use of the Thames Barrier. [176484]

Mr. Morley: There have been no direct discussions between Defra and the Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) on the specific issue of the usage of the Thames Barrier. However, Defra has provided assistance in sourcing material for the CSA to use in papers on a variety of subjects including the Thames barrier usage.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Adult Education

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment the Government has made of the benefits of non-academic adult education; and if he will make a statement. [177277]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department has completed a number of studies that look at the benefits of non-academic or leisure based adult education courses. These include work by the DfES-funded Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning, published on their website at www.learningbenefits.net and the results from the first sweep of a DfES commissioned tracking survey of 1,900 learners who have participated in Adult and Community Learning to be published by the DfES on 24 June.

The results from both areas of work confirm the positive impact of adult learning e.g. on health and civic participation and on the individual's confidence and motivation to undertake further learning. That is why we remain committed to safeguarding a varied range of learning opportunities for personal fulfilment, community development and active citizenship.

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding has been allocated to each local council in 2004–05 for the purposes of adult education. [177278]

Alan Johnson: The Department allocates funds for education and training in the post-16 learning and skills sector to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The LSC decides the funding allocated to local education authorities and other providers. Information about these allocations is not collected by the Department. This is an operational matter and the responsibility of the LSC. Mark Haysom, the LSC's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Member with this information and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many investigators are employed by the Adult Learning Inspectorate; [176339]

(2) how many deaths have been investigated by the Adult Learning Inspectorate since its creation; [176341]

(3) how many bullying incidents have been investigated by the Adult Learning Inspectorate since its creation; [176342]
 
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(4) what training in military procedures and weapons handling is planned in order to prepare the Adult Learning Inspectorate for its role in inspecting military bases. [176343]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: These are matters for the Adult Learning Inspectorate. David Sherlock, the Chief Inspector, will write to my hon. Friend with this information and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the budget is of the Adult Learning Inspectorate in 2004–05; and what funds have been set aside to inspect military establishments. [176340]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The annual budget of the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) was set out in the Secretary of State's Grant Letter issued on 16 December 2003. This Grant Letter provides the Inspectorate with up to £24.2 million from the Department for Education and Skills, and a further £5.75 million from the Department for Work and Pensions/Jobcentre Plus, for 2004–05. There is no funding specifically set aside for the inspection agreement between the ALI and Ministry of Defence (MoD) because this is commissioned work, which will be funded on a full cost recovery basis by the MoD.

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