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6 Nov 2006 : Column 688W—continued

Legal Costs

Ms Gisela Stuart: To ask the Solicitor-General if he will list the occasions over the last 10 years when the Government have decided not to claim after winning a court case against litigants seeking or obtaining judicial review of Government policy decision; whether the Government conceded the principle of not reclaiming such costs in advance of each court case being heard; and what criteria are used in deciding whether to pursue such costs. [99211]

The Solicitor-General: This information is not held centrally. The information is held on individual case files, and could be recovered only by examining every relevant file. This information can, therefore, only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
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Ministerial Travel

Mr. Pope: To ask the Solicitor-General what steps he has taken to offset the carbon dioxide emissions caused by ministerial travel in the Law Officers' Departments. [98746]

The Solicitor-General: All central Government ministerial and official air travel is being offset from 1 April 2006. Departmental aviation emissions are calculated on an annual basis and subsequently offset through payments to a central fund. The fund purchases certified emissions reductions credits from energy efficiency and renewable energy projects with sustainable development benefits, located in developing countries.

Ministerial Visits

David Simpson: To ask the Solicitor-General on how many occasions he has visited (a) Wales and (b) Northern Ireland in the last 12 months. [95019]

The Solicitor-General: Since October 2005 I have made one visit to Northern Ireland and no visits to Wales.

Victim Compensation

Mr. Evans: To ask the Solicitor-General in what proportion of successfully prosecuted cases in Lancashire compensation for victims was (a) requested and (b) secured in the last period for which figures are available. [97444]

The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) holds no central record of requests or awards for compensation. The information is held on individual case files, and could be obtained only by examining every relevant file in each CPS office. This information can, therefore, be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Aberdeen Angus Cattle

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what support his Department offers to farmers who breed Aberdeen Angus cattle. [98711]

Barry Gardiner: There is no scheme of assistance designed specifically for farmers of Aberdeen Angus cattle. However, such farmers may be eligible for financial assistance under one of the DEFRA-run rural funding schemes. Further information is available on the DEFRA website at:

www.defra.gov.uk/funding/who/farm.htm.

Administration

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how he measures the burden of administration in his Department; [99504]


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(2) what estimate he has made of the administrative burden in his Department in each year since 1997; and what progress has been made towards the target of a reduction of 25 per cent. in the administrative burden. [99505]

Barry Gardiner: DEFRA participated in the cross-Government administrative burden measurement exercise carried out by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) on behalf of the Cabinet Office. The exercise used an internationally agreed model, recommended to the Government by business, to establish a baseline.

As the first UK Government to take this radical approach to managing the regulatory burden, there is no comparative data before 2005 when the PwC exercise was carried out. However, we will shortly be publishing a revised DEFRA Simplification Plan. Copies will be placed in the Library. The revised Plan will update action taken since the November 2005 Initial Simplification Plan “Lifting the Burden”. It will also take account of the outcome of the PwC measurement exercise and identify progress towards meeting DEFRA's commitment to reduce the overall administrative burden imposed on stakeholders by 25 per cent.

Age Discrimination

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if his Department will (a) carry out an age audit of its staff to establish an age profile of its work force, (b) negotiate an age management policy with trade unions and employees to eliminate age discrimination and retain older workers, (c) identify and support training needs and offer older staff flexible working to downshift towards retirement and (d) extend to over-50s the right to request to work flexibly and the right to training with paid time off; and if he will make a statement. [96493]

Barry Gardiner: The information is as follows.

All employees can request flexible working either for downshifting to retirement or for any other reason. Line managers have responsibility to ensure all such requests are fully considered and where flexible working is not agreed, to support their decision with robust and objective justification. This is in line with the “Delivering a Diverse Civil Service” initiative.

Agricultural Support

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was spent on European support payments to farmers in each of the last five years. [98702]

Barry Gardiner [holding answer 2 November 2006]: The following table shows payments made through
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CAP schemes and Rural Development Programmes to farmers in the United Kingdom for the period 2001 to 2005 as recorded in the production and income account of the economic account for agriculture. They exclude
6 Nov 2006 : Column 692W
payments made through the Over Thirty Month Scheme, compensation for losses due to animal disease and capital transfers. The proportion of EU funding for each scheme is shown in the right hand column.

Direct payments made through CAP schemes and rural development programmes to farmers in the United Kingdom( 1)
£ million
Calendar years
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005( 2) EU funding (percentage)

Crop subsidies

Arable Area payments (except set-aside)

827

875

924

901

0

100

Arable Area Payments on set-aside

180

143

177

129

100

Other crop subsidies(3)

3

2

3

12

11

100

Livestock subsidies

100

Beef Special Premium(4)

241

236

238

266

100

Suckler Cow Premium(4)

219

204

208

230

100

Slaughter Premium

76

133

136

156

100

Extensification Payment Scheme

118

137

145

154

100

Beef National Envelope

19

34

34

36

100

Scottish Beef Calf Scheme

20

100

Sheep Annual Premium

181

264

276

300

100

Sheep National Envelope

10

10

17

100

Dairy subsidies(5)

79

108

100

Single Payment Scheme

2375

100

Rural Development Programmes:

Less favoured areas support schemes(6)

165

165

163

153

144

Agri-environment schemes:

Countryside Stewardship and

Schemes that are part of Rural Development Programmes are partly EU funded. Funding may be up to 50 per cent. depending on the national contribution to the scheme(7).

Arable Stewardship Schemes

43

59

71

104

114

(7)

Countryside Premium and Rural Stewardship Schemes

9

9

13

11

10

(7)

Tir Cymen and Tir Gofal

10

13

17

21

24

(7)

Countryside Management Scheme

1

3

3

6

3

(7)

Organic Aid and Organic Farming Schemes

18

22

21

14

10

(7)

Environmentally Sensitive Areas Scheme

70

73

81

82

79

(7)

Nitrate Sensitive Areas Scheme

2

2

(7)

Other(8)

3

3

4

3

3

(7)

(1) Shows payments after deduction for modulation where appropriate.
(2) Provisional.
(3) CAP hops and herbage seeds support; hemp and flax aid; oilseed rape and linseed support; protein crop premium; area aid for nuts; energy crops aid.
(4) Includes extensification premium and deseasonalisation premium.
(5) Includes agri-monetary compensation; dairy premium and additional dairy premium.
(6) Tir Mynydd in Wales, Less Favoured Area Compensatory Allowance Scheme in Northern Ireland, Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme in Scotland and Hill Farm Allowance in England.
(7) As shown in the table.
(8) Includes Moorland, Habitat and Countryside Access Farming schemes; Entry Level Pilot Scheme.

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