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15 Jun 2007 : Column 1360W—continued

Carbon Emissions

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government have taken to date to try to reach the UK target of a 20 per cent. reduction in carbon emissions by 2010 compared with 1990; and what further steps it intends to take. [142112]

Ian Pearson: The UK Climate Change programme, revised in 2006, sets out the Government’s policies and measures to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions up to 2010. The target to reduce emissions to 20 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2010 was always designed to be stretching and as we have acknowledged, it looks increasingly difficult to achieve.

Our latest projections, published in the recent Energy White Paper, suggest that our CO2 emissions, including the impact of the EU Emissions Trading scheme, could fall to about 16 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2010. This would represent definite progress towards the domestic target. It would also mean that we had reduced our emissions of the basket of greenhouse gases to more than 23 per cent. below base year levels, a percentage reduction almost double what we are required to achieve under the Kyoto protocol.

However, it does show why we need to do much more to reduce emissions. The long-term framework that the Climate Change Bill will provide, and the new measures announced in the Energy White Paper, which will further reduce emissions up to 2020, are therefore essential.

If every household, business and community took measures to reduce their CO2 emissions by reducing energy used in the home and in buildings, and by changing how journeys are made, we could still make further progress towards our 2010 target. The Government are continuing to encourage and enable those choices and changes in behaviour through initiatives such as the “Act on CO2” campaign, and by funding the work of the Carbon Trust and Energy Saving Trust.


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Carbon Price

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what his policy is on the level of carbon price which should be used to calculate emission limits for the EU Emissions Trading Scheme; [142104]

(2) what the price of carbon is; and what assessment he has made of trends in the price of carbon over the last 12 months. [142105]

Ian Pearson: The Government do not set or seek a particular price for carbon allowances. Under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, the Government set a cap on the total emissions that may be emitted by the installations covered by the scheme in the UK, as does every other member state for their installations. The total EU cap sets a limit on allowances available in the market and the demand for allowances from installations to cover their emissions then determines the price.

The price for a carbon allowance for one tonne of CO2 in phase I carbon price was €0.24 at market close on 12 June. The forward price for phase II 2008 allowances was €22.61 at close on 12 June.

Climate Change: Young People

Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Welsh Assembly Government on extending the climate change champions young ambassadors scheme to Wales. [141620]

Ian Pearson: We have announced our intention to hold a second climate change champions competition. Initial discussions on whether the Welsh Assembly Government might like to run an extension of the competition have taken place at official level and these discussions will be taken further as we develop our plans.

Departments: Manpower

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff funded by the public purse in his Department are classified as people without posts. [137705]

Barry Gardiner: People without posts are required to join DEFRA’s Priority Movers List. There are currently 136 staff on the Priority Movers List. Staff on the Priority Movers List have access to vacancies within DEFRA before they are advertised more widely and management support is given to staff without posts in order to maximise redeployment opportunities. Staff are engaged on short-term projects within the Department while looking for permanent positions.

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff funded by the public purse in the Pesticides Safety Directorate are classified as people without posts. [141638]


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Ian Pearson: I assume the hon. Member is referring to the number of staff employed by Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD) for which the agency does not have the funding or who are deemed to be surplus to existing requirements. PSD has no such staff.

Departments: Recruitment

Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department and its agencies paid to recruitment consultants in each year since 1997. [140035]

Barry Gardiner: DEFRA came into being in June 2001. From information held centrally, the amount (including VAT) paid by core DEFRA in each financial year commencing with 2002-03, when information was first available, is shown in the following table.

£

2002-03

684,795.34

2003-04

1,106,361.08

2004-05

447,712.00

2005-06

999,207.53

2006-07

1,418,359.43


Expenditure by DEFRA’s Executive agencies is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

DEFRA’s use of recruitment agencies is limited to recruiting specialist and senior posts requiring specialist skills which are not readily available internally and therefore requires recruitment of the right talent and experience from outside of the organisation.

EU Emissions Trading Scheme

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what the UK Government’s assessment is of the effectiveness of (a) the total level of permitted emissions and (b) the national distribution of permits under the EU Emissions Trading scheme; [142108]

(2) what new limit of total carbon output the UK Government are seeking for the 2008 European Emissions Trading scheme. [142113]

Ian Pearson: In Phase I (2005-07) of the EU Emissions Trading scheme (EU ETS), the UK National Allocation plan (NAP) is set to deliver emission savings of 65 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2). For Phase II (2008-12), our cap is set to deliver emission savings of 145 million tonnes of CO2 over a five year period. Overall, the EU member states have to date emitted around 220MtCO2 below the total cap.

The results to date have shown the trading mechanism and institutional framework is viable and functioning as envisaged. We believe this is a solid base on which to build for the future. In the UK, compliance has been excellent. In 2006, all operators surrendered sufficient allowances within the deadlines. There have been no successful legal challenges to the national distribution of allowances.


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In Phase II, the cap on the total number of allowances allocated to installations in the UK will be 246.17 million allowances (tonnes of CO2) each year. The EU ETS however, is a trading scheme and under the scheme rules, operators may emit more or less than the allocated amount and purchase or sell allowances to meet their requirements.

Eunomia Consultancy

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of each report that the Eunomia consultancy has produced for (a) his Department and (b) its agencies. [104097]

Mr. Bradshaw: The following reports have been produced by Eunomia for core-DEFRA. Placing copies of the Reports in the Libraries of the House would cost in excess of £4,000. On this occasion therefore a website link for each Report has been added.


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The core-Department does not hold copies centrally of any report that Eunomia has produced for its agencies.

Fisheries

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many foreign-registered vessels have pair trawled within the UK's 12 mile limit in each month since the ban on British pair trawlers inside the 12 mile limit was implemented. [142156]

Mr. Bradshaw: Information on the total number of foreign vessels that have pair trawled within the UK 12 mile limit in this period is not available, since their countries of registration are not required to submit this information to us and it is not possible for our own enforcement authorities to inspect all such vessels at all times.

However, the number of pairs of foreign vessels which have been confirmed from our own inspections at sea and other sightings as engaging in pair trawling within the UK 12 mile limit is set out in the following table. This includes the proportion of pairs of foreign vessels which were observed in ICES area VIIe, within which the English ban on pair trawling applies.

Year/month UK (pairs) Total within ICES area VIIe

2005

February

2

2

April

3

1

December

6

0

2006

April

1

1

July

1

1

August

1

0

November

1

0

2007

February

1

1

April

1

1


Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions
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he has had with his (a) Scottish, (b) Welsh and (c) Northern Ireland counterparts on UK fisheries since May 2007; and if he will make a statement. [142306]

Mr. Bradshaw: I met with my Scottish counterpart, Richard Lochhead, on 6 June in advance of the 11-12 June Agriculture and Fisheries Council. He also accompanied me to the Council itself and we had regular discussions as the negotiations developed.

I have not met my counterparts from Wales and Northern Ireland on fisheries matters since May 2007. My officials are however in regular contact with their counterparts from the devolved administrations on fisheries matters to ensure a coherent UK line.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the timetable outlined in Annex III of the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on a Community Action Plan to reduce discards of fish (COM(2002)656 final), dated 26 November 2002 has been met; and if he will make a statement. [142313]

Mr. Bradshaw: There hasn’t been the detailed analysis at Community level of the various options identified in the report that was anticipated. However, the more recent Commission Communication takes the discussion forward, to reflect those developments which have occurred in the interim, like increased data on the scale of the problem (and its geographical and fisheries distribution) and the application of technical measures to improve selectivity.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been spent on fisheries enforcement in each year since 1997. [142314]

Mr. Bradshaw: UK expenditure on fisheries enforcement including monitoring control and surveillance on land, at sea, aerial surveillance and satellite monitoring is set out in the following table:

£ million

1997

(1)—

1998

24.0

1999

24.8

2000

24.8

2001

25.7

2002

23.9

2003

24.6

2004

25.4

2005

26.8

2006

26.6

(1) Files not available to confirm figures.
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