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8 Mar 2005 : Column 1664W—continued
EU Committees
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State forEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Management Committees of the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets for Sugar met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [217846]
Alun Michael: On average the EU's Sugar Management Committee meets around 18 times during each presidency period. These meetings take place in Brussels on Thursday afternoons and are attended by officials from Defra and additionally, as necessary, by officials from other UK Agriculture Departments or the Rural Payments Agency.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairshow many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU Committee on agricultural structures and rural development met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [217873]
Alun Michael: The following meetings of the European Commission's committee on agricultural structures and rural development took place during the periods of (a) the Italian, (b) the Irish and (c) the Dutch presidencies.
Meetings of the Committee are held in Brussels, and are chaired by the Commission, not by a representative of the member state currently holding the presidency of the Council. The UK Government experts present at these committees are officials working on rural development issues under the current programme and policy on future programmes from 2007–13—usually the head of the EU policy branch in the Rural Development Division in Defra (Colin Macleod). Experts from the devolved administrations also attend when issues relating to their particular Rural Development Programmes are on the agenda.
Farm Waste Grants
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans shehas for replacement of the Farm Waste Grants Scheme. [219309]
Alun Michael: Defra are considering whether to replace the Farm Waste Grants Scheme which ends on 31 March 2006. The scheme was introduced in 1996 for a seven year period when the first Nitrate Vulnerable Zones were designated under the EC Nitrates Directive.
New NVZ designations were made in October 2002 increasing the NVZ area in England from approximately 8 per cent. to 55 per cent. of the country. At the same time these designations were made, the 1996 scheme was extended to the new NVZs to assist farmers in meeting the manure handling and storage requirements under the NVZ Action programme. An announcement extending the scheme for a further two years was made on 30 September 2003.
As part of the Rural Strategy, Defra is currently introducing simplified and streamlined funding arrangements that replace the plethora of existing grant schemes. The new funding framework will be centred around three major flexible funds based on Defra's strategic priorities of natural resource protection, sustainable farming and food and sustainable rural communities.
Sickness Absence
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what initiatives her Department is taking to reduce the numbers of sick days taken by staff in the Department. [216633]
Alun Michael: The Department is fully committed to the management of sickness absence and introduced a new Sickness Absence Management policy on 1 December 2004, which includes many of the best practices contained in the Report of the Joint Review by the Ministerial task Force for Health, Safety and Productivity and the Cabinet Office report on 'Managing Sickness Absence in the Public Sector' (November 2004). Defra's policy has the support of the Departmental Trade Unions and includes:
Welcome back discussions between line managers and staff returning from sickness absence, on each occasion of absence.
Prompts for action sent to managers when staff have accumulated 15 and 30 days sickness absence in a rolling 12month period.
Occupational Health referral options for managers who are concerned about the attendance of their staff.
The Department is also introducing a new electronic Human Resources Management system, which will produce real time management information on sickness absence.
Defra is supporting the recommendations made in the 'Managing sickness absence in the public sector' report, by taking part in a trial of more sensitive arrangements for the use of special/compassionate leave.
DEFENCE
12 Mechanised Brigade
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the radios of 12 Mechanised Brigade. [219526]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 3 March 2005]: 12 Mechanised Brigade will deploy to Iraq in April with a mix of Bowman and Clansman radios. Our assessment is that this will provide robust communications for the brigade. Bowman will provide a significant increase in capability compared with the earlier Clansman system.
Aircraft Crashes
Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will place in the Library a copy of the complete RAF Board of Inquiry into the crash of RAF Harrier aircraft GR7 ZG475 on 1 June 1995; [218160]
(2) if he will place in the Library a copy of the complete RAF Board of Inquiry into the crash of RAF Tornado F3 ZH558 on 8 July 1994; [218161]
(3) if he will place in the Library a copy of the complete RAF Board of Inquiry into the crash of a RAFChinook HC1 helicopter ZA721 on 27 February 1987. [218780]
Mr. Caplin: I will write to the right hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Camp Bucca
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the performance of the Prisoner of War Registration Unit and the PrisonerMonitoring Team at Camp Bucca in ensuring that the UK met its obligations under the Geneva Convention. [219751]
Mr. Ingram:
The Independent Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is the recognised international authority to scrutinise procedures and organisations within detention facilities in Iraq. The ICRC visited Camp Bucca during the period that it contained some internees for which the United Kingdom was responsible and we understand that they were content that UK obligations under the Geneva convention were met.
8 Mar 2005 : Column 1667W
Defence Contracts (Chorley)
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many defence contracts have been given to companies in Chorley constituency since 1997; and what the value was in each year. [219037]
Mr. Ingram: Estimates of the number and value of contracts placed directly by MOD (excluding its Trading Fund Agencies) with companies in the Chorley constituency are as follows:
| Financial year | Number of contracts | Total contract value(£ million) |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 9 | 4.4 |
| 1998–99 | 14 | 110.4 |
| 1999–2000 | 17 | 137.6 |
| 2000–01 | 14 | 40.0 |
| 2001–02 | 16 | 5.9 |
| 2002–03 | 12 | 39.5 |
| 2003–04 | 7 | 3.8 |
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