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9 Oct 2006 : Column 194W—continued
Consultants
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been paid in fees to external consultants working on the amalgamation of English Nature, the Rural Development Service and the Countryside Agency; and from which budget the payments are made. [90336]
Barry Gardiner: The costs of external consultants in establishing Natural England have come from DEFRA's budget and are as follows:
| (£) | |
Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he will reply to the letter dated 12 May from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms C. Greenaazeh. [89734]
Barry Gardiner: My right hon. and noble Friend Lord Rooker responded to my right hon. Friend’s letter on 13 September.
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he will reply to the letter of 6 April from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire which was transferred to his Department from the Department of Trade and Industry. [90001]
Ian Pearson: I apologise for the delay in replying to the hon. Member’s letter. A response was issued on 18 September.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he will reply to the letter of 21 July 2006 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. D. I. Ford. [92056]
Barry Gardiner: I apologise for the delay. A reply was sent on 6 September 2006. I have arranged for a copy to be resent.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he will reply to the letter of 12 May 2006 from the right hon. Member for Manchester Gorton with regard to Mrs. C. Greenhalgh. [92061]
Barry Gardiner: I apologise for the delay. A reply was sent on 13 September 2006. I have arranged for a copy to be resent.
Countryside and Rights of Way Act
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 on the numbers of walkers in the countryside. [90221]
Barry Gardiner: The right of access under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 has been in place throughout England for nearly a year and implementation has been generally trouble free on the ground.
The results of the 2005 England Leisure Visits Survey, expected to be published later this year by Natural England, will provide information on the number of people using the right of access. The results will provide a baseline against which to measure any impact of the new access rights on walkers' use of open country and registered common land.
Crematorium Fees
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment the Government have made of the effect of Process Guidance Note 5/2 (04) on local authority crematorium fees. [89793]
Mr. Bradshaw: Process Guidance Note 5/2 (04) did not specify major pollution control improvements for existing crematoria, beyond those contained in previous versions of the guidance issued in 1995 and 1991. It did, however, specify that new crematoria should have equipment fitted to abate mercury emissions.
Following two written consultations (available on the DEFRA website at http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/closed.htm), an amendment to Process Guidance Note 5/2 (04) was issued in January 2005 which specified that 50 per cent. of all cremations at
existing crematoria should be subject to mercury abatement by the end of 2012.
The consultation papers estimated that the cost of fitting mercury abating equipment to all crematoria would be likely to increase cremation fees by £55 per cremation. Since the decision was to apply this to only 50 per cent. of cremations, using an innovative ‘burden sharing’ approach to regulation, it is estimated that the increase should be in the region of £25 to £30. To put this into perspective; figures from the Office of Fair Trading in 2001 put the average cost of a cremation funeral at £1,215 and £2,048 for a burial.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the total carbon emissions from his Department’s buildings in each year since 1997. [89594]
Ian Pearson: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was created on 8 June 2001.
Annual carbon emissions from those buildings on the DEFRA and Executive Agency estate for which we have contractual responsibility for energy use are shown as follows:
| Tonnes carbon | |
These figures should be viewed in the context of changes in the structure of the estate and a 27 per cent. increase in staff employed in DEFRA and its Executive Agencies over the period 2001-02—2005-06.
The rise in 2005-06 is largely due changes in the structure of our HQ office estate. Several large new laboratory buildings were added during the year, and extended office opening hours at one of DEFRA’s Executive Agencies also affected energy use and carbon emissions.
Departmental Child Care Facilities
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what child care (a) provision and (b) assistance is available to his Department’s staff. [89598]
Barry Gardiner: DEFRA’s child care provision, and the assistance available to the Department’s staff is set out in the following table.
| DEFRA child care provision | |||
| Child care type | Location | Places | Full-time costs/subsidies |
| (1) Dependent on demand | |||
DEFRA employees are also able to use a salary sacrifice scheme to reduce their child care costs by up to £243 per month.
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which of his Department's premises have child care facilities on-site. [89599]
Barry Gardiner: There are currently on-site childcare facilities at the DEFRA offices in York and Guildford, and at the Central Science Laboratory, Sand Mutton.
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether there are waiting lists for places at child care facilities which his Department provides for its employees. [89600]
Barry Gardiner: There are waiting lists for nursery places at all childcare facilities which DEFRA provides for its employees except the nursery on its Guildford site.
Departmental Contracts
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what contracts his Department has entered into with (a) Infoterra Ltd. and (b) BlueSky International Ltd. since 1997. [89794]
Barry Gardiner: DEFRA came into being in July 2001. From information held centrally, the Department has spent £1,951,164.92 with Infoterra Ltd. from financial year 2001-02 through financial year 2005-06 with the payments related to work on IT elements of the English Rural Development programme. No records of payments exist for BlueSky International Ltd.
Departmental Publications
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) circulation, (b) cost and (c) title is of each publication his Department has issued since 1 July 2005. [89595]
Barry Gardiner: A list of publications produced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (including those relevant publications from the Departments that formed DEFRA in June 2001) is detailed on the DEFRA website (“Publications” link on the main website ‘home’ page; http://www.defra. gov.uk/corporate/publications/default.htm).
The circulation and individual production cost of each of the publications could be collated only at a disproportionate cost.
Departmental Staff (Bicycles)
Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what tax efficient schemes for the purchase of bicycles his Department makes available to its employees; how many and what percentage of his Department's staff purchased bicycles through such schemes in 2005-06; whether the schemes are available through a range of suppliers; and whether arrangements are made to enable staff with disabilities to purchase adapted bicycles from a specialist supplier. [90066]
Barry Gardiner: DEFRA does not operate any tax efficient schemes for the purchase of bicycles by its employees.
Advances of salary are available at the Department's discretion, to assist staff with the purchase of a bicycle and essential equipment, for travelling between home and office. This arrangement is also available to staff with disabilities requiring specialist equipment. The advance—above 50 and up to a maximum of 600—is repayable over a maximum period of 12 months.
Travelling by bicycle is strongly encouraged as part of DEFRA's sustainable travel strategy, and is promoted via dedicated pages on the DEFRA staff intranet, and some offices have their own bicycle user groups.
A large number of DEFRA offices offer a range of facilities for cyclists including: secure cycle storage; lockers; drying facilities; and showers.
Departmental Targets
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether any of his Department's Public Service Agreement targets have been withdrawn in the last three years. [89943]
The Department provides regular performance updates against its outstanding Public Service Agreement targets through its annual departmental report and its autumn performance report published in spring/summer and autumn respectively. The 2006 version, which is the most recently published, is available in the House Libraries and online at http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/deprep/2006/index.htm.
DEFRA’s 2006 autumn performance report is due for publication in autumn 2006.
Emission Reductions
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions his Department has had with the Department of Trade and Industry on emission reduction scenarios. [92501]
Ian Pearson: DEFRA continues to liaise closely with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), both at official and ministerial level, as we work to meet the challenges of climate change.
The package of measures in the 2006 UK Climate Change Programme (UKCCP), are projected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 16.2 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2010.
Moreover, the measures contained in both the 2006 UKCCP, and the Energy Review published by the DTI in July 2006, will ensure that we can make real progress towards the long-term goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by some 60 per cent. by about 2050, that we committed to in the 2003 Energy White Paper.
The UK Climate Change Programme is available on the DEFRA website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/ukccp/index.html.
The Energy Review is available on the DTI website at: http://www.dti.gov.uk/energv/review/page31995.html.
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