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6 Nov 2006 : Column 701W—continued
Cambridgeshire county council
We are considering funding a second round of projects in 2007 to focus on changing people’s behaviour but a decision has not yet been taken. Any further rounds will be publicised and announced on our website, www. climatechallenge.gov.uk.
Consultants
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on consultancy fees in each year between 2001-02 and 2004-05. [94324]
Barry Gardiner: The Department came into being in July 2001. The information held centrally is listed in the following table.
| (£) | |
Figures for the financial year 2004-05 include spending on management and business consultancy combined following reclassification of expenditure on professional services. Figures for previous financial years reflect expenditure on management consultancy alone.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on management consultants in each of the last five years. [96163]
Barry Gardiner: From data held centrally, the information is as listed:
| Financial year | Value (£) |
Figures for the financial years 2004-05 onward include spending on management and business consultancy combined following reclassification of expenditure on professional services. Figures for previous financial years reflect expenditure on management consultancy alone.
Cremation
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what steps he plans to take to tackle the effect on the environment of cremation; [99855]
(2) what assessment he has made of the effect on climate change of crematoria. [99856]
Mr. Bradshaw: Crematoria are regulated by local authorities under the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations 2000 (PPC). As such, they are subject to the provisions and limit values for all key emissions using the best available techniques (BAT). Statutory guidance on BAT is set out in DEFRA's Process Guidance Note PG5/2, which was reviewed and revised in 2004 and can be found at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/airquality/lapc/pgnotes/pdf/pg5-02.pdf.
Considerable improvements have already been made to crematoria emissions under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which the PPC Regulations now
replace. The latest guidance is aimed at reducing mercury emissions from all crematoria by 50 per cent. by the end of 2012, using an innovative burden sharing approach developed with the sector. I announced on 19 October, in a departmental press notice, our findings that the approach was proving successful, although we will be continuing to monitor the situation.
I am pleased to be able to announce that we will be issuing revised guidance to local authority regulators that we consider a lower temperature of 800(o)C, rather than 850(o)C, to be adequate to deal with emissions where crematoria are fitted with abatement equipment to achieve our required 50 per cent. reduction in mercury emissions. This will help reduce fuel usage and CO2 emissions. We will be discussing further with the cremation sector how to obtain evidence of whether any similar measures can be taken for crematoria not fitted with abatement, without compromising environmental protection.
The UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory does not report figures for any direct emissions of greenhouse gases from crematoria.
Departmental Dress Code
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his Department’s policy is on the display of religious (a) artefacts, (b) symbols and (c) dress by its staff; how many staff have been subject to disciplinary proceedings regarding this policy in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [95645]
Barry Gardiner: The Department’s commitment not to discriminate unfairly on the grounds of religion or belief is set out clearly in its equal opportunities policy.
The Department does not have a formal policy on the display of religious artefacts, symbols and dress by its staff. There have not been any disciplinary proceedings in relation to religion.
Departmental Expenditure
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on organising and hosting conferences in the last 12 months. [93101]
Barry Gardiner: DEFRA expenditure on conference organisation and sponsorship through DEFRA Communications Directorate plus centrally recorded spend from DEFRA's financial chart of accounts during the last 12 months was £3,562,246.04 This is comprised of:
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his Department has (a) planned to spend and (b) spent in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [98628]
Barry Gardiner: DEFRA’s final Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) Budget and final DEL outturn for each year since its creation are shown in the following table.
| £000 | ||
| Financial year | Final DEL budget | DEL outturn |
| Note: 2005-06 figures are provisional | ||
Departmental Staff
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many jobs his Department and its agencies had (a) in York and (b) at the Central Science Laboratory site at Sand Hutton in each year since 1992. [96613]
Barry Gardiner [holding answer 30 October 2006]: The information requested is as follows:
| Core Defra staff at York site | |
| Number | |
| PSD staff at York site | |
| Number | |
| Staff in post at CSL site at Sand Hutton between 1996 and 2006 | |
| Number | |
| (1 )No data available. | |
The MHS employed the following numbers of staff at its headquarters in York:
| Financial year | HQ staff |
| Note: Excludes individuals such as contractors who may have been working on site. | |
We are unable to provide data from 1994 (when the York site opened) up to 2003 as the work needed to provide this data would result in disproportionate costs.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff in his Department received bonus payments in each of the last five years for which information is available; what proportion of the total work force they represented; what the total amount of bonuses paid has been; what the largest single payment was in each year; and if he will make a statement. [98526]
Barry Gardiner: The following table shows details of bonuses awarded to staff in DEFRA in each financial year since November 2004. Data prior to November 2004, is available only at disproportionate cost.
| Period | Number of staff awarded bonuses | Proportion of work force (percentage) | Total amount of bonuses paid (£) | Highest bonus (£) |
| (1) These figures represents in-year performance bonuses only, paid to staff at grade 6 or below. (2) This figure represents annual performance bonuses paid to staff in the SCS and at grade 6 and below. In addition it also includes in-year performance bonuses paid to staff at grade 6 and below. (3) This figure represents annual performance bonuses paid to staff in the SCS only and in-year performance bonuses paid to staff at grade 6 and below. (4) This figure includes annual performance bonuses about to be paid to staff at grade 6 and below in November salaries. | ||||
Separate performance bonus arrangements operate for staff in the SCS and those at Grade 6 and below.
Non-consolidated cash payments, otherwise known as bonuses, reward in-year performances in relation to agreed objectives, or
short term personal contribution to wider organisational objectives. Bonuses are paid in addition to base pay increases and do not count towards pension.
Bonuses are allocated by Departments from a “pot” expressed as a percentage of the SCS salary bill, which is agreed centrally each year following the SSRB recommendations. The intention is that bonus decisions should be differentiated in order to recognise the most significant deliverers of in-year performance.
For staff at grade 6 and below:
The High Performance Bonus Awards scheme introduced in April 2005, provide DEFRA staff with recognition and reward for delivery of an outstanding outcome or performance that significantly exceeds normal expectations. The process should provide staff at all grades with an opportunity to earn a bonus, and ensure that achievements in operational, policy and corporate services areas are recognised as being of equal esteem.
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