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Written Answers to Questions

Thursday 8 July 2004

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Serious Fraud Office

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Solicitor-General what the whole time equivalent staff resources of the Serious Fraud Office were in (a) 1997, (b) 2001 and (c) on the latest date for which figures are available. [182100]

The Solicitor-General: There were 166 whole time permanent equivalent staff as at 1 April 1997 and 44 non permanent members of staff.

There was an average of 195 whole time permanent equivalent staff in 2001 and 15 non permanent members of staff.

There are 247.5 whole time permanent equivalent staff as at 6 July 2004 and there are 29 non permanent members of staff.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Curry Commission Report

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much public funding has been supplied to the (a) Assured Food Standards, (b) Food Chain Centre, (c) English Farming and Food Partnerships, (d) Red Meat Industry Forum, (e) Food from Britain, (f) Cereals Industry Forum, (g) CST Recorded Ram Marketing Group Ltd., (h) Farmcare, (i) First 4 Farming, (j) IGD, (k) Meadow Quality, (l) Plunkett Foundation, (m) Rural Energy and (n) UK Sire Services Ltd. to support project work recommended by the Curry Commission Report; what goals were set for each project; and what outcomes were achieved. [179978]

Alun Michael: The public funding supplied to each of these bodies, the goals set for each project and the outcomes achieved are set out in a table which has been placed in the Library of the House. For projects funded under grant schemes, the awarded amount is match-funded by the organisation.

Foot and Mouth

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much her Department is withholding from businesses in connection with charges arising from the provision of goods, services and works carried out during the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001. [180793]

Alun Michael: The Department is disputing £53.3 million of charges from contractors arising from the provision of goods, services and works during the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001. The Department has
 
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been advised that the retention is justified fully on any or all legal, accounting and quantum grounds including, but not limited to, the inability of some contractors to provide any substantiating evidence in support of their charges; some contractors seeking payment on the basis of incorrect contractual rates; and claims being made involving duplicate charges or based on other accounting errors.

Mercury

Mr. Olner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions her Department has had with the British Dental Association about the use of fillings containing mercury. [181670]

Alun Michael: The Department issued a consultation paper in May 2003 which included information from the British Dental Association and received a response from the British Dental Association to that consultation paper. The consultation paper and a summary of the responses can be found at http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/crematoria/index.htm . The BDA will also be consulted on the follow-up consultation paper.

Mr. Olner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many crematoria were involved in the monitoring carried out by the Department designed to establish mercury levels emitted into the atmosphere after cremation. [181680]

Alun Michael: The monitoring referred to was undertaken in 2000 by AEA Technology on behalf of the Federation of British Cremation Authorities. Three crematoria were involved, which were chosen to include one of each of the three main types of cremators currently in use in the UK and also to represent different types of location.

Milk Price

Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with farming organisations about the farm gate price of milk. [182049]

Alun Michael: Ministers frequently meet with farming representatives for discussions which include the farm gate price of milk. Farming organisations are also represented on the Dairy Supply Chain Forum, chaired by my noble Friend Lord Whitty, which meets quarterly.

The forum provides a framework in which all within the dairy supply chain, can come together to discuss the challenges facing the sector and develop collaborative solutions to improve the efficiency and promote the sustainable development of the sector. It does not discuss price negotiations, which are a private commercial matter between farmers and purchasers. However, the work of the forum and its various subgroups should help address some of the underlying causes of low farm gate prices.

Vital Villages Programme

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) whether a value-for-cost study has been carried out on the Vital Villages programme; [181985]
 
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(2) when the budget for the grants in the Vital Villages initiative will end; [181986]

(3) how many parishes have received a grant from the Vital Villages programme to help produce an action plan outlining the needs of the community; [181987]

(4) how much has been distributed through grants in the Vital Villages initiative; [181988]

(5) if she will replace the Vital Villages programme; and if she will make a statement. [181989]

Alun Michael: The Countryside Agency's Vital Villages programme was established in 2001. It was always intended as a time-limited means of exploring what would best enable parishes to identify their service needs and have a greater say in their own affairs. The total funding distributed from the start of the Vital Villages programme in 2001 until April 2004 is in excess of £40 million, including an investment of £14 million this year. The agency has met its three-year target and the programme is now closed to new applicants. From April 2001 to date, over 1,044 parishes have received funding for their parish plans. The programme was closed to new applications at the end of March 2004 but the agency will honour all existing commitments, which run until 31 March 2006. The emphasis in the programme from now on will be on sharing the best practice learned from successful projects as widely as possible and encouraging others to take up the ideas. In addition, the agency has commissioned an independent quantitative and qualitative evaluation to measure the impact of the programme.

Announcements about any successor to Vital Villages will be made before the programme ends. With a variety of partners, we are considering how best to promote the lessons of the programme and support rural communities that need assistance through mainstream programmes.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Democratic Republic of Congo

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of UK aid to Burundi is spent on assisting refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo; what discussions he has had with the Burundi Government on assisting refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo; and what plans he has to deliver emergency aid to the Democratic Republic of Congo refugees in northern Burundi. [182423]

Hilary Benn: A DFID assessment mission visited the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi between 22 and 29 June and is liaising with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and United Nations agencies inter alia to look at support needs for
 
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DRC refugees in Burundi. DFID's assessment is that to date, agencies based in Burundi such as International Rescue Committee, Medecins Sans Frontieres and GTZ have mounted an effective response to the influx from DRC. Resourcing of these operations appears to be covered, although we have made it clear that DFID is ready to consider supplementary requests for support on an urgent basis.

The team also discussed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees proposal to develop an inter-agency contingency plan to cover any potential larger influx from Eastern DRC. DFID keeps in close contact with the Government of Burundi and the UN Mission in Burundi (ONUB) on the situation of refugees and internally displaced persons and their support needs.

In parallel, DFID has contributed £500,000 to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) under the 2004 UN Consolidated Appeal Process (UNCAP) for Burundi, to support the repatriation of refugees and reintegration of returnees to Burundi during the period March to December 2004.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of the loss of humanitarian aid and property in the Democratic Republic of Congo during recent looting. [182428]

Hilary Benn: Two DFID staff visited parts of eastern DRC in late June. They reported that in some areas a large amount of NGO equipment, especially communications, had been lost during recent periods of unrest.

DFID is seeking ways to provide quick-disbursing support to enable NGOs to respond rapidly to meet the emerging needs of the vulnerable populations in eastern DRC. This will depend on NGO requirements, but could include increased air services (light aircraft are often the most effective and secure means of travel in much of DRC) and help to replace looted NGO communications equipment and vehicles.

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