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24 Jan 2007 : Column 1795W

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Advertising

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on advertising with The Guardian newspaper including online, advertorials and advertising features in the latest year for which figures are available. [114039]

Barry Gardiner: DEFRA (excluding executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies) spent a total of £108,000 with The Guardian media group, including online, advertorials and advertising features, in financial year 2005-06. The majority of this expenditure was on advertising vacancies.

DEFRA also purchases some media space via media buying agencies. Some of the expenditure by these agencies may have been with The Guardian media group. A figure for this expenditure is not available.

Carbon Neutral Woodchip Burners

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many departmental buildings use carbon neutral woodchip burners to provide heating. [110148]

Barry Gardiner: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has one departmental building (Whittington road, Worcester) which uses a woodchip burner to provide heating.

Common Agricultural Policy

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the cost per head of population in the last year of (a) the Common Agricultural Policy and (b) other national and European measures to support agriculture; and what the cost was (i) five, (ii) 10 and (iii) 20 years ago. [116502]

Barry Gardiner: Agricultural policy in the EU generates transfers to producers from both consumers and taxpayers. An estimate of the cost of the Common Agricultural Policy can be obtained by combining the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) consumer support estimates for the EU with data on agricultural expenditure from the EU budget.

The OECD also compiles estimates of national expenditures on agricultural policies within the EU.

The following table sets out estimates of these costs per head of population, as requested:

Cost of the CAP per head National expenditures per head

2005(1)

210

n/a

2001

215

35(2)

1996

216

38

1986(3)

319

27

(1) EU 25 (provisional)
(2) Average 1999-2001
(3) EU 12

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Correspondence

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many letters were received by his Department from hon. Members in each of the last 12 months; how many such letters were responded to within (a) 10 and (b) 20 days of receipt; how many were answered after 20 days from the date of receipt; and if he will make a statement. [114666]

Barry Gardiner: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given on 11 January 2007, Official Report, column 687W.

Departmental Expenditure

Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to his answer of 19 December 2006, Official Report, column 1777W, on Departmental Expenditure (107707), whether he issued advice to other Departments on reducing use of bottled water. [116179]

Barry Gardiner: We provide general advice to public bodies under the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative to improve environmental performance and reduce waste in public sector catering, This includes a case study on the PSFPI website—‘Inn The Park’, The Royal Parks (London)—which gives as one of the steps taken to improve environmental performance:

URL:

We are looking at providing more specific advice.

Environment Agency and English Nature Expenditure

Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much English Nature spent on programme expenditure in Gravesham's local authority area in the most recent year for which figures are available. [117304]

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much English Nature spent on programme expenditure in Tunbridge Wells local authority area in the most recent year for which figures are available. [110576]

Barry Gardiner: English Nature’s finance systems did not permit the recording of expenditure by local authority area and therefore this information is not available.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Environment Agency spent on programme expenditure in Chorley's local authority area in the most recent year for which figures are available. [110547]


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Ian Pearson: The Environment Agency's (EA) north-west region central area covers most of Lancashire and parts of Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cumbria. Expenditure is recorded within an area by technical or operation teams that have specific operational boundaries that normally relate to river catchment, and covers a number of functions. The EA is not required to, and does not, keep records of sums expended in local authority districts. Therefore, the information requested is not available.

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Environment Agency spent on programme expenditure in Tunbridge Wells local authority area in the most recent year for which figures are available. [110574]

Ian Pearson: The southern region of the Environment Agency (EA) covers most of the geographical areas of Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and records its expenditure in relation to those areas. Expenditure is recorded within an area by technical or operation teams that have specific operational boundaries that normally relate to river catchments. Therefore, the information is not available in the form specified in the question.

Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Environment Agency spent on programme expenditure in Gravesham local authority area in the most recent year for which figures are available. [117305]

Ian Pearson: The southern region of the Environment Agency (EA) covers most of the geographical areas of Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and records its expenditure in relation to those areas. Expenditure is recorded within an area by technical or operation teams that have specific operational boundaries that normally relate to river catchments and covers a number of functions. The EA is not required to, and does not, keep records of sums expended in sub-areas or local authority districts. Therefore, the information requested is not available.

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much (a) the Environment Agency and (b) English Nature spent in Faversham and Mid Kent constituency in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by programme. [110643]

Barry Gardiner: [holding answer 23 January 2007]: The southern region of the Environment Agency (EA) covers most of the geographical areas of Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and records its expenditure in relation to those areas. Expenditure is recorded within an area by technical or operation teams that have specific operational boundaries that normally relate to river catchments and covers a number of functions. Therefore, the information is not available in the form specified in the question.

However, information is available on flood risk management expenditure for two specific projects in the Faversham area. These include the Medway and
24 Jan 2007 : Column 1798W
Swale Estuary Shoreline Management Plan at £71,000 for 2006-07 and £108,000 for 2007-08, and the North Kent Rivers Catchment Flood Management Plan at £23,000 for 2006-07 and £71,000 for 2007-08.

English Nature’s finance systems did not permit the recording of expenditure by local authority area and therefore this information is not available.

Food Surpluses: European Union

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what food surpluses exist within the European Union; what the costs were of storing and handling UK intervention products in the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available; what the costs were of storing and handling intervention products in the EU; and how much the UK paid towards that cost. [116501]

Barry Gardiner: At the end of the 2006 public storage financial year (30 September 2006), EU public stocks were 13,476,812 tonnes of cereal, rice, sugar and milk products and 3,529,002 hectolitres of alcohol/wine.

The individual quantities of these products are listed in the table.

Expenditure for intervention operations in the UK during the budget year 2006 was £1,380,911.70.

Receipts of £1,892,043.40 were gained from the sale of intervention products leading to a net gain of £511,131.70.

Expenditure for intervention operations during the budget year 2006 for the EU was €1053.5 million.

Receipts of €452.6 million were gained from sales of intervention products leading to an overall total expenditure of €600.9 million.

These figures are provisional and take into account aid, storage, sales and depreciation.

A figure for how much the UK contributes towards these specific costs is not available as the UK contributes to the EU budget as a whole rather than to individual components of it.

At the end of the 2006 public storage financial year (30 September 2006), EU public stocks were as follows:

Breakdown of Intervention Stocks in the EU
Product Quantity (tonnes)

Cereals

12,184, 741

Rice

61,589

Olive Oil

0

Milk sector (including butter)

117,831

Sugar

1,112,651

Beef meat

0

Total

13,476,812


Product Quantity (hectolitres)

Wine/Alcohol

3,529,002

Total

3,529,002

Source: European Commission Public Storage Flash Report of 11 December 2006

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Furniture

Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was spent by his Department on furniture made by British firms in each year since 2000. [105140]

Barry Gardiner: The Department’s expenditure for furniture manufactured by British firms is as follows:

£

2000-01

634,715.24

2001-02

820,731.86

2002-03

381,676.10

2003-04

793,109.02

2004-05

1,800,549.93

2005-06

1,863,904.78


Orangutans

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has held with EU colleagues on preventing the importation for food production of palm oil whose production has damaged the habitat of the orangutan. [117063]

Barry Gardiner: I have held no recent discussions with EU colleagues on this issue.

Public Appointments

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which public appointments have been made by his Department to former Ministers who served in the Government since May 1997. [105771]

Barry Gardiner: The following table details the public appointments made by DEFRA to former Ministers since the Department was formed in 2001.


24 Jan 2007 : Column 1800W
Body Former Minister Dates

Water Services Regulation Authority

Lord Whitty

Appointed in March 2006 but resigned to take up post with Environment Agency as below

Environment Agency Board

Lord Whitty

18 September 2006 to 17 September 2009

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Baroness Hayman

1999 to July 2006 resigned due to election as Speaker for the House of Lords


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