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6 Nov 2006 : Column 701W—continued

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.


6 Nov 2006 : Column 702W

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.

(£)

2002-03

15,317,093

2003-04

20,260,714

2004-05

78,671,992


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 (£)

2002-03

15,317,093

2003-04

20,260,714

2004-05

78,671,992

2005-06

44,136,007

1 April 2006-27 September 2006

10,760,237


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
6 Nov 2006 : Column 703W
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:


6 Nov 2006 : Column 704W
Conference organisation sponsorship for Core DEFRA 12 Month spend: 1 October 2005 to 30 September 2006
(£)

Non-Pay Operational Costs of Conference Provision (i.e. administrative costs excluding DEFRA staff salaries)

814,373.78

UK/EU presidency in 2005—Residual Payments

97,622.42

Communications Directorate Facility Managed Conferences

600,803.51

G8 and European Union Presidency

1,242,684.72

G8 and International Climate Change

806,761.61

Total

3,562,246.04

Note: These figures do not include costs incurred by any DEFRA Agency/NDPB, as this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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

2001-02

2,959,389

2,781,687

2002-03

2,469,291

2,320,880

2003-04

3,139,131

2,880,514

2004-05

3,480,986

3,317,788

2005-06

3,520,266

3,519,164

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

As at:

1 November 2004

367

1 April 2005

378

1 April 2006

403


PSD staff at York site
Number

As at:

1 November 2004

182

1 April 2005

198

1 April 2006

198



6 Nov 2006 : Column 705W
Staff in post at CSL site at Sand Hutton between 1996 and 2006
Number

1996

(1)

1997

431

1998

431

1999

443

2000

587

2001

592

2002

629

2003

656

2004

645

2005

660

2006

648

(1 )No data available.

The MHS employed the following numbers of staff at its headquarters in York:

Financial year HQ staff

1995-96

39

1996-97

55

1997-98

73

1998-99

80

1999-2000

80

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 (£)

November 2004 to March 2005

(1)513

6.7

179,879

7,616

April 2005 to March 2006

(2)3,535

44.9

3,364,032

34,040

April 2006 to October 2006

(3)1,019

13.9

1,362,657

15,000

(November) 2006

(4)(1,680)

(23.1)

(2,933,611)

(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.

For the SCS:

For staff at grade 6 and below:

There are two types of award:


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