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End-of-life Vehicles
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what obligations are placed on members of the public wishing to sell vehicle parts on (a) the internet and (b) elsewhere under the End of Life Vehicles legislation. [82427]
Mr. Bradshaw: End of Life Vehicles legislation does not place any requirements on members of the public selling vehicle parts on the internet or elsewhere.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Environment Agency in enforcing the End of Life Vehicles legislation. [82428]
Mr. Bradshaw: DEFRA is satisfied with the way the Environment Agency are enforcing the End of Life Vehicles legislation.
In 2004, the Environment Agency took 15 prosecutions for offences involving the keeping or treating of End of Life Vehicles (ELVs). The figure for 2005 was 30. There have been 13 in the first five months of 2006. These are cases where ELVs were the main or a significant proportion of the waste being handled illegally.
English Nature
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the grant-in-aid to English Nature for 2006-07 will be paid. [81083]
Barry Gardiner: Grant in aid is paid to English Nature on a monthly basis. Payments totalling £16,000,000 have already been made to English Nature during the first quarter of this financial year. The next monthly claim, for £4,000,000, has recently been submitted by English Nature to cover July operational costs and this will be paid within the next week. My Department expects to be in a position to confirm English Nature's overall financial settlement for 2006-07 shortly.
Fisheries
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his Libyan counterpart on British fishing rights in Libyan waters. [81461]
Mr. Bradshaw: I have participated in no recent discussions regarding fishing opportunities for UK fishermen in Libyan waters.
Fishing opportunities for European Fishermen in Third Country Waters are negotiated by the European Commission through a Fisheries Partnership Agreement. Under the Common Fisheries policy the European Commission has competency to represent the member states in this context.
Currently there is no Fisheries Partnership Agreement between Libya and the European Community and there are no plans to make one in the foreseeable future.
This would not prevent individual UK fishermen gaining access to Libyan waters under a private agreement with Libyan fishermen. There are no European or UK laws preventing this at present. However this would be a private business venture up to the fishermen involved, and would necessitate the agreement of the Libyan Government.
Housing
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on the Affordable Rural Housing Commission; and when he expects to make a decision on additional funds for housing in rural areas. [77813]
Barry Gardiner: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Yvette Cooper the Minister for Housing both took part in discussions of the Affordable Rural Housing Commission report on the day of its launch. Affordable rural housing will continue to be one of the subjects covered in the regular dialogue between the two departments and across Government.
The Government are currently considering the report and will use a range of channels and mechanisms to respond in a constructive way to the agenda set by the Commission, including in the forthcoming Spending Review.
Information Technology
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was spent on information technology (IT) sourced from outside his Department in each of the last five years; who is responsible for such projects in his Department; and what IT (a) expertise and (b) qualifications they possess. [71792]
Barry Gardiner: In each of the last five years, the Department (core Defra only) has spent the following on information technology (IT) sourced from outside the Department:
| Amount (£) | |
| Notes: 1.
These figures do not include expenditure on Capital Equipment or
Construction in Progress (CIP)*. 2. Capital Expenditure
(Capex) is shown on clearing account balance sheets, if expenditure is
not cleared to the Fixed Assets Register (FAR) and CIP
Register. 3. Therefore the end year balances on the Clearing
equipment and CIP balance sheets may include expenditure c/f from
earlier years. 4. There are no central records of actual IT
Capex spend for these years. 5. Costs include consultancy
expenditure related to the E-nabling programme. 6. Does not
include any IT spend hidden in
programme—0460**. | |
The Chief Information Officer, Chris Chant, is responsible for the successful delivery of IT projects within Defra. He has extensive experience in leading business transformation, large programme management, strategic supplier management and change management. His previous experience includes being the Service Delivery Team Director in the e-Government Unit of the Cabinet Office, and responsibility for the Inland Revenue e-Services Programme.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) originally estimated, (b) most recently estimated and (c) outturn cost was in each of the five largest information technology contracts agreed with outside suppliers over the last five years. [71793]
Barry Gardiner: The Department is able to confirm that over the last five years there have been three large IT contracts agreed with outside suppliers, and these are with Accenture, IBM, and LogicaCMG.
(a) Original estimated cost—£34.10 million
(b) Recently estimated costs—£55.04 million
(c) Outturn costs—£55.04 million (plus enhancement work to the value of £928,000 in 2005-06 and £2.7 million in 2006-07).
(a) Original estimated cost—£85 million per year
(b) Recently estimated costs—£85 million per year
(c) Outturn costs—£24,499,785 in 2004-05 and £97,217,291 in 2005-06.
(a) Original estimated cost—£16.10 million
(b) Recently estimated costs—£17.492 million (plus annual indexation)
(c) Outturn costs—Cost of supply was £6.7 million in 2002. The balance is for support and maintenance to be paid over the remainder of the contract, which ends in 2014.
Smaller, local
IT contracts will also have been agreed; however, information on these
is neither managed nor maintained centrally, and therefore it would
incur disproportionate costs to collate. Only by
reference to such information would it be possible to determine which
are the fourth and fifth largest IT contracts, agreed with outside
suppliers, in the
Department.
Meat Imports
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many samples of imported beef and beef products from (a) other EU member states and (b) other countries were tested for residues of (i) oestradiol,(ii) testosterone, (iii) progesterone, (iv) zeranol,(v) trenbolone and (vi) melegesterol acetate in (A) 2004 and (B) 2005; [81209]
(2) what the most recent date on which beef imported into the UK was tested for residues of oestradiol; and how many samples were collected. [81210]
Mr. Bradshaw: In 2004, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) organised the testing of 301 samples of imported beef for trenbolone and zeranol (one sample was found to be of UK origin and one was unassailable on arrival at the laboratory).
Of the 299 assayable imported samples, 82 were from other EU member states and 217 were from other countries. No detectable residues of either trenbolone or zeranol were found in 2004, which was also the case in 2003. Trenbolone and zeranol were therefore removed from the imports surveillance programme for 2005 on the recommendation of the independent veterinary residues committee, which oversees the surveillance work of the VMD and advises the food standards agency on relevant surveys. They may be included again in the future.
| 2003 | 2004 | |||
| Substance | Samples | Positive | Samples | Positive |
Testing was not carried out for the other listed substances in 2004 and 2005 and imported beef has not been tested for residues of oestradiol. All of the results of the VMD’s surveillance for residues of veterinary medicines and other substances are published in its quarterly magazine, (MAVIS) available from its website at: www.vmd.gov.uk
Oestradiol is a naturally occurring hormone. It will be present in beef at varying concentrations, dependant on the physiological state of the animal when it was slaughtered, and also its sex and age. Muscle, which is the matrix available for testing is not ideal. The EU’s community reference laboratory recommends serum, which is not available in imported beef.
Scientific advice from two of
the UK’s national reference laboratories for veterinary residues
analysis is that any difference in concentrations between untreated
animals and those treated with exogenous oestradiol is very small. So,
distinguishing between them would be unlikely. Therefore no testing has
been carried out on imported beef in the last 10 years. Responsibility
for testing produce from non-EU member states rests with
the country of entry into the EU. Once produce has entered the EU, it
should have free circulation within all member states, as part of the
single market.
EU legislation imposes a series of health and supervisory requirements on non-EU countries before they export food to the EU. These are designed to ensure that imported animals and animal products meet standards at least equivalent to those required for production in, and trade between, member states. The use of the listed substances as growth promoting hormones is banned in the EU, and therefore they should not be present in beef imported into the EU.
The European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office check on compliance with such legislation in EU and non-EU countries exporting to the EU.
Milk Industry
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assistance he is making available to encourage co-operation in the milk industry. [76072]
Barry Gardiner: The Government are helping to promote greater co-operation through the Dairy Supply Chain Forum. The group regularly brings together all the key links in the supply chain to discuss the challenges facing the dairy industry, and to develop collaborative solutions.
The dairy industry also directly benefits from grants awarded under the Agriculture Development scheme. These are helping to fund benchmarking workshops and create a network of dairy best practice groups.
The Government are also supporting the work of English Farming and Food Partnerships (EFFP). Its aim is to promote and encourage greater co-operation and collaboration in all sectors of the farming and food industries, and all the major dairy co-operatives in England are involved. EFFP is currently taking forward an initiative called “share to milk”, which will highlight examples of successful collaborative activity and best practice in the dairy sector.
Minister of State (Sustainable Farming and Foods)
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 2 June 2006, Official Report, column 100W, on the Minister of State (sustainable farming and foods), if he will estimate the proportion of the time that Lord Rooker has devoted to official duties that he has spent on the affairs of his Department. [79226]
Barry Gardiner: Jeff Rooker works full-time on Defra affairs. His other responsibilities, as Northern Ireland spokesman and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords, are undertaken on top of his departmental duties when he is in the House of Lords.
New Technologies (Research)
Dr.
Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage
of his Department’s budget was spent researching new technologies
in the last period for which figures are available.
[76807]
Barry Gardiner: Science, engineering and technology (SET) statistics provide a breakdown of GovernmentR and D expenditure by primary purpose and Department. The following table outlines spend for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for 2003-04 on Technology Support and gives this as a percentage of the Department’s total budget. The category Technology Support includes strategic as well as applied research, and pre-competitive research. These figures exclude funding of the research base under the science budget and are derived from SET statistics. Tables 3.5 and 3.10 are available on theDTI website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/science/science-funding/set-stats/govt-exp-r&d/index.html hard copies of which are available in the House of Commons Library.
| Analysis of DEFRA R and D expenditure | ||
| Purpose | £ million | Percentage of total Department budget |
| Definitions: General
Support for research All basic and applied R and D which
advances knowledge for its own sake; support for postgraduate
research studentships (PhD’s). Government
Services R and D relevant to any aspects of Government
service provision (all defence included here). Policy
Support R and D which Government funds to inform policy
(excluding Government Services and Technology Support) and for
monitoring developments of significance for the welfare of the
population. Technology
Support—applied R and D that advances technology
underpinning the UK economy (but excluding defence). The category
includes strategic as well as applied research, and pre-competitive
research under schemes such as
LINK. Source: ONS Government R and D
Survey. | ||
Olympics
Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which officials in his Department (a) are responsible for Olympics-related activity and (b) sit on the inter-departmental steering group for the Olympics. [81562]
Barry Gardiner: Jonathan Tillson, head of the sustainable communities division, is responsible for Olympics-related activity within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and sits on the inter-departmental steering group for the Olympics.
Rural Enterprise Scheme
Mr.
Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will enable surplus funds in
his Department’s rural enterprise
scheme and processing and marketing scheme to be re-allocated to the
South-West England region to cover the funding shortfall; and if he
will make a statement.
[81760]
Barry Gardiner: The rural enterprise scheme and processing and marketing grant have been very popular and successful across the country. The announcement, in February this year, that these schemes would close on 30 June led to a large increase in the number of applications, all of which were seeking funding from a limited budget.
DEFRA and the Rural Development Service (RDS) expect to be able to fully award the remaining funds to projects in the respective regions where that money was scheduled to be allocated. In the event that any money remains unallocated after the final Regional Appraisal Panels have met (in August), RDS have put in place plans and procedures to allocate any surplus to the highest quality reserve projects from around the country.
Good quality reserve projects from the South West region would be included in this exercise, but in such an event projects will be judged on their merits regardless of the region they are from.
Rural Payments Agency
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his estimate is of the costs of running the Rural Payments Agency for each year since 2001. [71515]
Barry Gardiner: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is an agency of the Department for Environment,Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) was formed on16 October 2001. Its main objective is to administer the common agricultural policy for England. The gross running costs associated with the administration of the payments to farmers for each of the five years are given as follows. The figures for 2000-01 are the combined figures for the Intervention Board and the elements of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that merged to become RPA in October 2001.
| Amount (£ million) | |
| (1)
Restated figure due to reclassification of costs. (2)
Restated figure under merger
accounting. | |
The detail supporting each of the years can be found in RPA’s annual report and accounts under House of Commons publication numbers HC 1197 (for both 2000-01 and 2001-02), HC 940, HC 1009 and HC 82 respectively.
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