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27 Nov 2007 : Column 312W—continued
Departmental Manpower
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people aged (a) 30 to 39, (b) 40 to 49, (c) 50 to 59 and (d) 60 to 69 years have (i) applied for jobs, (ii) received interviews and (iii) gained (A) temporary and (B) permanent jobs in his Department in 2007. [165112]
Derek Twigg: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department and its agencies spent on managing their corporate identities in the last 12 month period for which figures are available. [167337]
Derek Twigg: Between 20 November 2006 and 19 November 2007, the Ministry of Defence Directorate of Public Relations spent £82,805 on corporate branding and identity.
Accurate information on how much Defence agencies, top level budget areas, trading funds, joint headquarters, single service commands and military units may have spent on managing their corporate brands is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Secondment
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many secondments of staff were made (a) to and (b) from his Department in each year since 1997; which organisations staff were seconded (i) to and (ii) from; how many staff were seconded in each year; for how long each secondment lasted; and what the cost was of each secondment in each year. [167244]
Derek Twigg: The approximate number of UK based civilian staff seconded to and from the Department since 2002 is shown in the following table.
| Seconded to the Department | Seconded from the Department | |
The other information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Ex-servicemen: Warrington
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many veterans resident in (a) Warrington and (b) Warrington South have applied for their Veterans Day badge. [167130]
Derek Twigg: The Service Personnel and Veterans Agency can confirm, based on postcode details of applicants, that a total of 1,339 veterans’ lapel badges have been issued to residents in the Warrington area. Unfortunately we are unable to distinguish which applications are from Warrington South.
Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who the special advisers in his Department are; what expertise each has; and what the cost of employing them was in the latest year for which figures are available. [163397]
Derek Twigg: I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's statement of 22 November 2007, Official Report, column 147WS.
Prisoners of War: Compensation
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many applicants for compensation for former civilian detainees of the Japanese received the £4,000 damages settlement compensation; how many of these had received the original ex gratia grant of £10,000; and how many claims under the scheme have not been dealt with. [167821]
Derek Twigg:
In October 2006, the Court of Appeal upheld a damages award in the case brought by Mrs. Elias to compensate her for injury to feelings caused by having been discriminated against on the grounds of national origin when her claim for an award
under the ex-gratia payment scheme for former Far East Prisoners of War and civilian internees was rejected under criteria based on place of birth (the “birthlink”).
The Ministry of Defence subsequently confirmed that it would consider claims for compensation from others who were similarly entitled, and it is anticipated that the majority of former civilian internees that were rejected under the birthlink will be eligible for this compensation.
As at 21 November, 189 offers of compensation have been made. Of these, 23 individuals have separately qualified for an ex-gratia payment under the scheme on criteria based on residence. There is currently one civilian claim for an ex-gratia payment that is under consideration on which a decision has not yet been made.
RAF Menwith Hill: Manpower
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK personnel are employed at RAF Menwith Hill, broken down by employer. [166815]
Derek Twigg: As at 1 November 2007 the following UK personnel were employed at RAF Menwith Hill:
| Employer | Number |
I am withholding the number of GCHQ employees in accordance with Government practice not to reveal numbers of personnel working in intelligence at specific locations.
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many US personnel are based at RAF Menwith Hill, broken down by employer. [167000]
Derek Twigg: As at 1 November 2007 the following US personnel were employed at RAF Menwith Hill.
| Employer | Number |
A further 222 US civilians are employed at RAF Menwith Hill by various US agencies in catering and services functions. A detailed breakdown is not available.
Territorial Army: Military Decorations
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will amend the regulations so that members of the Territorial Army can wear medals on Combat Soldier 95 working dress on Remembrance Day Parades and ceremonial occasions. [165907]
Derek Twigg: Where the occasion warrants it, medals are normally worn on Number 2 Dress at Service events such as Remembrance Parades or ceremonial occasions. Where TA personnel are not in possession of Number 2 Dress, which is the soldiers’ usual “parade” or “walking-out” uniform, regional commanders have discretion to allow medals to be worn on Combat Soldier 95 working dress for the duration of such events.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Genetically Modified Organisms
John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he concluded his consideration of the proposed co-existence separation distances between GM and non-GM crops; and what conclusion he has come to. [167325]
Mr. Woolas: My written ministerial statement of 8 November 2007 explained that we will wait for further developments, including the results of scientific research and the expected EU thresholds for labelling adventitious GM presence in conventional seed, before finalising our coexistence policy. This will include crop separation distances.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will publish the recent representations he has received on the Government’s proposals for the co-existence of GM and non-GM crops; and how many were (a) in favour and (b) against the proposal. [167403]
Mr. Woolas: The consultation paper made a number of proposals on how to manage the coexistence of GM and non-GM crops. The summary of responses was published on 8 November 2007 and is available on the DEFRA website.
Climate Change
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what account he takes of the Natural Environment Research Council's research on climate systems in formulating his Department's policy on climate change and adaptation. [167818]
Mr. Woolas: My Department recognises the relevance and importance of the climate change research carried out by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). This make a significant contribution to the evidence base for policy formulation. Much of the climate research undertaken with DEFRA funding is done by the Met Office's Hadley Centre in close collaboration with NERC specialists.
This ongoing research effort is currently being strengthened through a new NERC and Met Office joint climate research programme. DEFRA is represented on the Programme Board of relevant NERC climate change programmes, for example quantifying and understanding the earth system (QUEST). DEFRA specialists liaise closely with NERC scientists and theme leaders and there is close collaboration at the highest level between the two organisations. My Department is a partner in NERC’s new living with environmental change programme, which I anticipate will enable further important collaborations on climate science and adaptation issues.
Domestic Wastes: Waste Disposal
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research (a) has been and (b) will be undertaken by his Department to assess the effects of fortnightly bin collections on levels of fly-tipping. [165914]
Joan Ruddock: My Department has not commissioned any research to formally assess fly-tipping incidents resulting from local authorities moving to alternate weekly collections of residual household waste.
Many alternate weekly collections have been in place for a number of years and pre-date the collection of fly-tipping statistics. In addition, many schemes run in only parts of a local authority area. Therefore, data from Flycapture, the national fly-tipping statistical database, cannot be used to assess a link between switching to alternate weekly collection of household waste and an increase in fly tipping incidents.
However, my Department has been in discussions with the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to investigate whether there are any local authorities which are introducing these schemes in the future that would be prepared to carry out some pre and post-scheme analysis of fly-tipping. No local authorities have come forward to date. Discussions have also taken place with two local authorities that have recently introduced alternate weekly collections across the whole of their boroughs and my officials will investigate whether Flycapture can be used in these instances for any meaningful analysis.
My Department actively encourages local authorities to have fly-tipping prevention and enforcement strategies in place, regardless of whether they introduce alternate weekly collections or not.
Flood Control: Expenditure
Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was spent on (a) river flood defences as internal drainage and (b) sea flood defences and England and Wales in (i) 2004, (ii) 2005, (iii) 2006 and (iv) 2007. [166224]
Mr. Woolas: Flood risk management is a devolved issue, and in Wales, is the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government.
The following table shows flood risk management (river and sea) spend by the Environment Agency in England. It is not possible to separate these costs into river and sea components because in many areas flood risk arises from both rivers and the sea.
| £ million | |||
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
Capital figures reflect spend on new and improved capital measures to reduce flood risk, including flood warning infrastructure. Maintenance figures reflect spend on maintenance of existing assets. Other Flood
Risk Management spend covers the cost of delivering flood warning services, flood mapping, development control, data management such as the National Flood and Coastal Defence Database, regional flood defence committees and other associated costs such as investment in and provision of information systems, accommodation and overheads.
The additional spend in 2005-06 was largely funded from Regional Flood Defence Committee financial balances which are no longer maintained now that the Environment Agency’s principal funding source for flood risk management is direct grant from DEFRA.
The following table shows DEFRA’s grant to local authorities and internal drainage boards for capital flood risk improvement works:
| DEFRA grant to local authorities | |
| £ million | |
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