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14 Dec 2006 : Column 1246W—continued
In addition, the Woodland Trust runs an annual Christmas card recycling scheme with Recycle Now. Their 2005 scheme recycled more than 58 million cards,
collecting the equivalent of at least one card for every person in Britain. The trust has set a 2007 target to recycle 90 million Christmas and new year cards. More information on this year’s scheme can be found on the Woodland Trust’s website at:
http://www.woodland-trust.org.uk/cards/.
Clean Neighbourhood and Environment Act
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what estimate he has made of the cost to local authorities of implementing each of the provisions of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005; [109230]
(2) what powers there are for local authorities to raise funds to implement the provisions of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005; and if he will make a statement. [109231]
Mr. Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 November 2006, Official Report, column 133W.
Contractors
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what contractors based in (a) EU member states and (b) other states provided services to his Department and each executive agency since 31 August 2005; and what the (i) nature and (ii) cost of this work was in each case. [103506]
Barry Gardiner: The Department expects to award all contracts in line with the objective of achieving value for money and in line with EU Treaty obligations on transparency and free movement of goods and services. The Treaty, and the public procurement rules, prohibit discrimination on the grounds of nationality. Accordingly the Department does not hold a central database of non-UK suppliers. Requests for information on individual contractors can be answered on a case-by-case basis.
DHL
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department paid to DHL in each financial year between 1997-98 and 2005-06. [104168]
Barry Gardiner: The Department came into being in July 2001. From information held centrally, the sums paid to DHL by the core Department are as follows:
| Financial year | Value (£) |
Food Labelling
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria were taken into account when setting the requirement to label food containing 0.9 per cent. genetically modified ingredients. [106205]
Caroline Flint: I have been asked to reply.
The European Commission regulation on genetically modified food and feed (1829/2003) provides a 0.9 per cent. threshold for the adventitious presence of authorised genetically modified organisms in food and feed. Food and feed does not need to be labelled as ‘GM’ providing that the GM presence is below 0.9 per cent. and is accidental. The capability of the food and feed supply chain in being able to work to this threshold was taken into account in agreeing this level, in addition to the ability of laboratories to accurately analyse the presence of GM material.
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the UK has sent data to the EC regarding monitoring of food and feed in connection with non-compliance on the GMO labelling requirements introduced under EC Regulation 1829/2003 for the years 2004 and 2005. [106168]
Caroline Flint: I have been asked to reply.
No data have been sent to the European Commission regarding monitoring of food and feed in connection with non-compliance on the GMO labelling requirements introduced under EC Regulation 1829/2003 for the years 2004 and 2005. The regulation does not require such data to be routinely submitted to the commission.
Organic Status
Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what regulations govern the production of organic food; and if he will make a statement. [108152]
Mr. Bradshaw: The production and control standards for organic food are set out in Council Regulation 2092/91. These standards apply both to production within the European Union and to imports from third countries. Additional standards, applying to organic production in the UK, are set out in the Compendium of UK Organic Standards which is available on the DEFRA website at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/FARM/organic/standards/pdf/compendium.pdf.
A revision of EU organic regulation is currently under discussion.
Single Payment Scheme
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many individuals at the Rural Payments Agency are involved in the administration of the Single Payment Scheme, in terms of (a) headcount and (b) whole-time-equivalent. [103333]
Barry Gardiner: Current numbers of full-time equivalents working on SPS processing are approximately 2,043. Headcount data is not maintained.
Softwood
Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction of forecast volume of available supplies of UK sourced softwood on (a) the wood panel industry and (b) other biomass-using industry; and if he will make a statement. [108762]
Barry Gardiner: I have not made any assessment. The recent UK softwood availability forecast, published by the Forestry Commission, provides improved and more up-to-date supply information than was previously available. This should enable any detailed industry appraisals that need to take into account the potential supply of UK softwood to be better informed.
Special Advisers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many of his Department’s civil servants work full-time to support departmental special advisers; and what the salary is of each such civil servant. [106508]
Barry Gardiner: Four officials contribute to the administrative support of departmental special advisers. To respect the privacy of these officials, it is not possible to disclose details of their salaries.
Species Recovery Programme
Mr. Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much of Natural England’s budget has been allocated to the Species Recovery Programme; and how much English Nature allocated to the programme in 2005. [109123]
Barry Gardiner: I am informed by Natural England that the budget allocated to the species recovery work in this financial year is £1.1 million. Further benefits to species will accrue through other Natural England spending, particularly via agri-environment schemes, work on SSSIs and National Nature Reserves. The budget allocated to the Species Recovery Programme by English Nature in 2005-06 was £1.3 million.
Mr. Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will take steps to ensure that the budget allocated to the Species Recovery Programme will be sufficient to ensure the continued funding of programmes to reverse the decline in numbers of England’s animals, plants and fungi. [109124]
Barry Gardiner:
I have been working closely with Natural England to provide a steer on our key Departmental priorities, which include our commitment to halt the loss of England’s biodiversity by 2010. It is the responsibility of Natural England’s Board to ensure that the organisation fulfils the aims and objectives set by my Department, including determining how best to deploy its available resources. I am confident that the grant in aid settlement which I
will shortly be announcing for Natural England, should allow it to deliver its Species Recovery Programme.
Thermal Depolymerization
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the use of thermal depolymerization as a mechanism for (a) generating fuel and (b) disposing of waste; and if he will make a statement. [108080]
Mr. Bradshaw: No assessment of thermal depolymerization has been made by this Department as a mechanism for generating fuel or disposing of waste.
Timber
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what measures he proposes (a) to improve and (b) to tighten enforcement of checks on imports of illegally harvested timber; and if he will make a statement; [109227]
(2) what measures he has put in place to stop the importation of illegal timber. [109645]
Barry Gardiner: There are limited legislative controls in this area at present, although UK Customs have seized wood and wood products protected under CITES legislation.
We are taking further action to tackle imports of illegally logged timber through our implementation of the Forestry Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Regulation. This was formally adopted by the European Union in December 2005, during our Presidency. The Regulation allows the EU to establish legally binding Voluntary Partnership Agreements with timber producing countries. These will include licensing systems to identify legal products, and control their export to the EU. Customs officers will be given powers to prevent access to unlicensed products from partner countries.
Waste Management
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the contribution to waste streams of shelf-ready packaging; and what discussions he has had with retailers about shelf-ready packaging. [108651]
Mr. Bradshaw: We have not made any formal assessment of the contribution to waste streams of shelf-ready packaging. Potentially, it could help to reduce external in-transit packaging. But it could also affect the type or amount of materials used to package individual products.
We are continuing to engage with retailers and the food industry to reduce the amount of food and packaging waste which is being generated—by the industry itself, as well as consumers. For example, DEFRA’s Food Industry Sustainability Strategy
(FISS), published in April this year, challenges the food manufacturing sector to reduce its own waste by 15-20 per cent. by 2010.
13 major grocery retailers (representing 92 per cent. of the UK grocery sector) are also supporting the “Courtauld Commitment”. This means that they have agreed to work with the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) in order to: design out packaging waste growth by 2008; deliver absolute reductions in packaging waste by March 2010; and identify ways to tackle the problem of food waste.
WRAP works closely with the major supermarket chains to achieve the necessary behavioural changes. Three roundtable meetings have taken place to discuss food waste, putting recycling information on package labelling, and the issues and opportunities associated with biodegradable packaging. Through an Innovation Fund, WRAP also provides technical and financial support to retailers and suppliers. This is helping to identify ways of reducing the weight of primary packaging and the cost of production and transportation—mainly through research and development and innovative packaging design.
Defence
Afghanistan
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was paid by the UK Government to Afghan (a) provincial governors, (b) police chiefs and (c) other officials in each of the last four years; and what the purpose was of the payments. [107207]
Dr. Howells: I have been asked to reply.
The wages of Afghanistan’s provincial governors and Government officials are paid by the Afghan Government (GoA) from its core budget. The GoA’s core budget is part-funded by the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) established in 2002 to provide for the recurrent costs of Government. The UK is the largest contributor to the ARTF, committing £355 million between 2002 and 2009; £235 million of that commitment has been disbursed. The UK also contributes funds to the GoA through a number of ongoing projects aimed at building capacity in the Afghan Government.
Police chiefs salaries are covered by the Law and Order Trust Fund (LOTFA) established in 2002 at the request of the Afghan Government and the UN and administered by the UN Development Programme. The UK remains a major contributor to LOTFA both through the European Commission, whose annual contribution to the fund since 2002 has been around €30 million, and bilaterally, contributing £1.5 million in financial year 2006-07.
Agency Personnel: Scotland
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of its personnel budget for financial year 2005-06 the Defence Aviation Repair Agency spent in Scotland in (a) monetary terms and (b) as a percentage of the total personnel budget; how much was spent in each category in 2004-05; and if he will make a statement. [107898]
Derek Twigg: DARA spent £6.63 million on civilian pay at its Almondbank site in Perthshire during the financial year 2005-06. The figure represents 9.19 per cent. of DARA’s total personnel budget during the same period. For the financial period 2004-05 the costs were £6.48 million, representing 7.91 per cent. of DARA’s total personnel costs during that financial reporting period. These figures are only the pay, allowance and overtime costs and exclude agency staff.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people are employed by the Naval Manning Agency; how many are employed in Scotland; what the personnel costs of the agency are expected to be in 2006-07; and what they were in 2005-06. [107899]
Derek Twigg: The Naval Manning Agency (NMA) formally ceased to be a Defence Agency on 1 April 2005. There are therefore no details of employees/personnel costs relating to NMA for 2005-06 and 2006-07.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of its personnel budget for 2005-06 the Defence Analytical Services Agency spent in Scotland in (a) monetary terms and (b) as a percentage of the total personnel budget; how much was spent for each category in 2004-05; and if he will make a statement. [107922]
Derek Twigg: None of the personnel budget for the Defence Analytical Services Agency (DASA) was spent in Scotland in either 2004-05 or 2005-06. No DASA personnel are based in Scotland.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of its personnel budget for 2005-06 the Defence Medical Education and Training Agency spent in Scotland in (a) monetary terms and (b) as a percentage of the total personnel budget; how much was spent for each category in 2004-05; and if he will make a statement. [107927]
Derek Twigg: In the financial year 2004-05, the Defence Medical and Training Agency (DMETA) did not spend any of its budget in Scotland. In the financial year 2005-06, some £129,000 was spent by DMETA on the placement of a service doctor with a Scottish hospital. This represented some 1.5 per cent. of the agency’s total personnel budget.
DMETA does not own any training or other units in Scotland, although it places Defence Medical Services personnel in Scottish hospitals from time to time.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of its personnel budget for 2005-06 the British Forces Post Office spent in Scotland in (a) monetary terms and (b) as a percentage of the total personnel budget; how much was spent for each category in 2004-05; and if he will make a statement. [107937]
Derek Twigg: The figures requested are as follows:
| BFPO personnel budget | ||
| (£) | Percentage | |
| Note: These figures do not include travel and subsistence costs. | ||
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