Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
25 Jun 2007 : Column 65Wcontinued
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many flights to overseas destinations were taken by (a) civil servants and (b) Ministers in his Department in each of the last three calendar years; and what the total cost of such flights were. [144946]
Barry Gardiner: This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Since 1999, the Government have published on an annual basis a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500, as well as the total cost of all ministerial travel overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. Information for 2006-07 is currently being compiled and will be published before the summer recess. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code, the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people granted (a) temporary part-time, (b) temporary full-time, (c) permanent part-time and (d) permanent full-time contracts of employment in his Department in each of the last three years were (i) male, (ii) female, (iii) registered disabled and (iv) aged 55 years or over. [143895]
Barry Gardiner: This information is partially available from statistics published by the Cabinet Office in the annual Civil Service Statistics reports. The latest published statistics are for 1 April 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Links are provided for each of the three years to the following tables:
Entrants by D epartment and disability status
2002-03:
2003-04:
2004-05:
Entrants by D epartment and gender
2002-03:
2003-04:
2004-05:
Entrants by responsibility level, age and gender (breakdown by D epartment not available)
2002-03:
2003-04:
2004-05:
A further breakdown by permanent/temporary status and working pattern is not available from published sources.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of staff in his Department are (a) male, (b) female, (c) registered disabled and (d) aged 55 or over. [143912]
Barry Gardiner: This information is available from statistics published by the Cabinet Office in the annual Civil Service Statistics reports. The latest published statistics are for 1 April 2005.
Links are provided to the following tables:
Permanent staff in post for all staff and SCS level by gender:
Permanent staff in post for all staff and SCS level by disability status:
In addition, the Office for National Statistics has carried out an ad hoc analysis for permanent staff by Department aged 55 or over. In DEFRA, 13 per cent. of staff were aged 55 or over on 1 April 2005.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which advertising and marketing campaigns were run by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in each of the last five years; which external agencies were involved; and what the cost was of each campaign. [144622]
Barry Gardiner: The total expenditure of the Departments Communication Directorate on marketing activity for each of the last five years is as follows:
Expenditure (£) | |
From its inception to 2003-04, the Department did not record separate costs for campaigns as part of its communications expenditure.
For details of advertising campaigns, costs and external agencies involved from 2004-05 to 2006-07, I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 June 2007, Official Report, columns 1655-56W, to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps). The Department procures its advertising services from the Central Office of Information (COI). Advertising agencies are selected from the COI rosters and supply their services to the COI, not to DEFRA directly.
For details of public relations campaigns, costs and external agencies involved from 2004-05 to 2006-07, I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 June 2007, Official Report, column 1654-55Ws, to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) The Department procures its public relations services from the Central Office of Information (COI). Public relations agencies are selected from the COI rosters and supply their services to the COI, not to DEFRA directly.
For costs for DEFRAs delivery bodies, I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given on 6 March 2007, Official Report, columns 1820-23W, by the Minister for Climate Change and the Environment (Ian Pearson) to the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood).
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will place in
the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between his Department and the Northern Ireland administration. [145937]
Barry Gardiner: My Department does not currently have a concordat with the Northern Ireland Executive but will work with colleagues in the devolved Administration in Northern Ireland to develop one. A copy will be laid in the House when this has been done.
The principles set out in the Memorandum of Understanding and Supplementary Agreements between the UK Government, Scottish Ministers, the Cabinet of the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Executive, published in 2001, continue to underpin our working relationship with the Northern Ireland Executive.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff in his Department received bonus payments in 2007; what proportion of the total workforce they represented; what the total amount of bonuses paid was; what the largest single payment has been; and if he will make a statement. [143104]
Barry Gardiner: The following table shows details of bonuses awarded to staff in core-DEFRA and those Agencies covered by the core-Departments reward arrangements in 2007 i.e. Animal Health, Pesticides Safety Directorate, Veterinary Medicines Directorate, Marine Fisheries Agency and Government Decontamination Services.
January-May 2007 | |
However, these figures represent In-Year Performance bonuses only, paid to staff at Grade 6 and below.
Payment of annual performance bonuses to staff in and below the SCS for 2007 have still to be finalised.
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 staff in DEFRA and those Agencies covered by the core-Departments reward arrangements, 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.
In-Year High Performance bonuses paid to individuals or teams in recognition of one-off achievements during the year; and
Annual High Performance bonuses which are paid to the top 10 per cent. of performers in each DG for delivery of an outstanding outcome or performance sustained throughout the whole year.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many public consultations his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each consultation. [145275]
Barry Gardiner: In the period June 2006 to June 2007 the Department initiated 114 public consultations. The cost of each of these consultations could be calculated only at disproportionate cost.
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) services and (b) products his Department has procured from Remploy in the last 12 months; and at what cost. [143796]
Barry Gardiner: From information held centrally, core-DEFRA spent £522.88 with Remploy in the last 12 months. Departmental accounts classify the expenditure as Diversity Advertising non-recruitment.
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the merits of providing British Sign Language (BSL) videos on his departmental website for the benefit of those whose first language is BSL. [142493]
Barry Gardiner: DEFRA aims to produce a website that is accessible for users with disabilities. In April 2007 changes were made to the site which made it more compliant with Web Accessibility Initiative standards, further supporting DEFRAs commitments under the Disability Discrimination Act.
Video is not used extensively on the DEFRA website but where it is used we aim to provide accompanying transcripts or explanatory descriptive text for those unable to hear the audio content of an online video. We have not assessed the feasibility of also providing BSL.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff surveys his Department undertook in the last 12 months; and at what total cost. [145258]
Barry Gardiner: DEFRAS approach has been to undertake a full staff survey every 18 months. The last full staff survey took place in 2005 and cost approximately £65,000 plus VAT.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 16 April 2007, Official Report, column 77W, on domestic waste, and the Answer of 30 April 2007, Official Report, column 1430W, on domestic waste: Norfolk, when he will publish an amended list of local authorities. [145346]
Mr. Bradshaw: A revised list of local authorities known to be operating alternate weekly collections (AWC) of refuse and recyclables/organic waste is as follows:
Alnwick District Council
Amber Valley
Ashfield District Council
Babergh District Council
Bassetlaw District Council
Barnsley MBC
Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough Council
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
Blyth Valley Borough Council
Boston Borough Council
Braintree District Council
Breckland District Council
Bridgnorth District Council
Broadland District Council
Bromsgrove District Council
Broxtowe Borough Council
Burnley Borough Council
Cambridge City Council
Cannock Chase District Council
Next Section | Index | Home Page |