Written Answers to Questions
Monday 3 December 2007
Leader of the House
Written Questions: Regional Government
Mrs. May: To ask the Leader of the House whether she plans to allow regional Ministers to answer written parliamentary questions from hon. Members. [169598]
Ms Harman: The accountability of regional Ministers is one of the issues which the Select Committee on the Modernisation of the House of Commons has confirmed will be an inquiry.
House of Commons Commission
Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards: Pay
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the (a) salaries of staff in and (b) total costs incurred by the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards were in the most recent year for which figures are available. [170474]
Nick Harvey: The total staffing costs of the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards for 2006-07 were £379,609 and the overall running costs £386,548, as reported in the Commissioner’s 2006-07 Annual Report (HC1012). These figures do not include indirect overhead costs, such as accommodation, which are not available. It is not the Commission’s practice to give details of individual salaries.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Birds: Conservation
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he (a) has had recently and (b) plans to have with conservation organisations and statutory country agencies on the future of the UK bird registration scheme under section 7 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. [168925]
Joan Ruddock: My Department has discussed the bird registration scheme with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the RSPB and the Hawk Board recently. On 6 December, I am due to meet the RSPB, the Hawk Board and a number of other organisations, together with Members of Parliament who have shown an interest in the future of the bird registration scheme.
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the likely effect of a discontinuation or weakening of the UK bird registration scheme under section 7 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 on (a) the enforcement of wildlife crime in the UK and (b) the UK's biodiversity targets; and if he will make a statement. [168926]
Joan Ruddock: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Bridgend (Mrs. Moon) on 21 November 2007, Official Report, column 861W. Birds registered under section 7 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 are primarily captive bred birds. The UK's biodiversity targets are aimed at improving the conservation status of wild species. Only six species of wild birds subject to registration are also subject to biodiversity action plans, and these are only kept in very low numbers. Therefore any discontinuation of the bird registration scheme is unlikely to affect the UK's biodiversity targets.
British Waterways: Finance
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the likely impact of budget reductions on British Waterways. [170527]
Jonathan Shaw: The formal comprehensive spending review settlement for 2008-09 to 2010-11 for Departments has been announced and will now be followed by DEFRA’s own financial allocation process, during which the budget for British Waterways will be determined. The final allocations will not be known until the new year after further discussions with Ministers. The process of allocation will be based on careful prioritisation across the Department and all its sponsored bodies. We are engaging British Waterways in this and working with them to develop a long-term strategy which will maximise public benefits while delivering an affordable sustainable network within the total funding available.
Carbon Emissions: Government Departments
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the carbon dioxide emissions of each Department as a result of the consumption of (a) gas, (b) electricity and (c) water in each year since 1997. [169919]
Mr. Woolas: The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) publishes information on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions arising from central Government Departments in its sustainable development in government report. SDC data are only from 1999-2000 and include data on emissions from electricity and use of fossil fuels. There are no estimates of CO2 emissions arising from water consumption.
The latest annual report is available on their website at:
Climate Change
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Oldham West and Royton of 12 November 2007, Official Report, column 12W, on climate change, if he will clarify the information given in the tables; and if he will make a statement. [170116]
Mr. Woolas: A detailed description of UK emissions estimates can be found in the ‘UK Climate Change Programme: Annual Report to Parliament, 2007’, as laid before Parliament by the Secretary of State in accordance with section 2 of the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006. Copies of the report can be found in the parliamentary Libraries.
Coastal Areas: Standards
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many beaches were awarded blue flag status in each of the last three years. [169852]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is set out in the following table.
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
More information can be found on the Blue Flag website.
Commission for Rural Communities: Finance
Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will publish the budget of the Commission for Rural Communities for (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08; and what the planned budget is for (i) 2008-09 and (ii) each subsequent year of the current spending round. [170084]
Jonathan Shaw: The 2006-07 budget for the Commission for Rural Communities has already been published in their Annual Report and Accounts, which are available in the Libraries of the House. The budget for 2007-08 has also already been published and is available in the Commission's published Corporate Plan, available from their website. Details of the Commission's future funding will be announced in due course.
Convention on Biological Diversity
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on decision V/5 of the Convention on Biological Diversity on socio-economic and scientific assessments; and if he will make a statement. [168238]
Joan Ruddock: Decision V/5 of the Conference of the Parties refers to the programme of work on agricultural biodiversity and covers a wide range of issues. To be able to provide the information required by the hon. Member a more specific request is required. The hon. Member is welcome to write to me with the details and I will respond to him.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if his Department will adopt the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Management Programme. [167809]
Mr. Woolas: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs adopted the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Management Programme in April 2005.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department met the targets in the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate to reverse the trend in carbon dioxide emissions by April. [167810]
Joan Ruddock: The report of Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate 2006-07 is not yet complete. Publication is expected in January 2008.
Departmental Finance
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons he transferred £26,800,000 to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills for the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste programme; and if he will make a statement. [166461]
Joan Ruddock: The Business Resource Efficiency and Waste Programme’s (BREW) funding is distributed to regional and national delivery bodies over three years (April 2005 to March 2008).
£26,800,000 was transferred to the Department for Innovation, University and Skills’ Technology Strategy Board in 2007-08 to run the Sustainable Consumption and Production strand of their Technology Programme, which provides grants for research and development into resource efficiency and for knowledge transfer networks. The transfer reflected commitments that had already been made by the Technology Programme, in agreement with DEFRA.
EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the Agriculture and Fisheries Council held in Luxembourg on 22 to 23 October 2007. [170947]
Jonathan Shaw: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made on 8 November 2007, Official Report, column 17WS, by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State (Hilary Benn).
Floods: Kent
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which areas of Kent he has identified as particularly vulnerable to flooding; and if he will make a statement on future plans for flood defence spending in Kent. [169565]
Mr. Woolas:
The areas of Kent at the greatest risk of flooding are those within the low-lying fringes of the coastline. Flooding from the sea has major consequences
due mainly to the speed at which the flood can occur. Two thirds of the 71,000 people at risk of flooding in Kent are at risk from the sea.
The Environment Agency is the principal operating authority with responsibility for flood risk management in England and uses long-term plans to identify the best way to reduce flood risk. These 100-year plans, developed with key partners, set out the schemes required. This year the Environment Agency is spending a capital budget of £18 million in Kent to reduce flood risk.
Specific allocations for future years have not yet been set but spend for flood and coastal erosion risk management across all operating authorities will rise progressively from the current level of £600 million a year to £800 million in 2010-11. DEFRA funding will be directed to the most pressing problems on a national basis using a prioritisation system which reflects new Outcome Measures for the programme.
Floods: Repairs and Maintenance
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 27 November 2007, Official Report, column 141, on responsibility for repairing damage to infrastructure from flooding, who is responsible for the maintenance of, and repairs to, the infrastructure of drains following the summer floods in 2007. [169851]
Mr. Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 12 November 2007, Official Report, column 14W.
Fly-Tipping
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many incidents of fly-tipping were recorded in (a) the east of England and (b) Suffolk in each of the last five years; what the estimated cost was of dealing with incidents of fly-tipping in each area in each year; and how many (i) prosecutions and (ii) convictions there were for fly-tipping in each area in each year. [169568]
Joan Ruddock: I have arranged for a table to be placed in the Library of the House showing the number of fly-tipping incidents and prosecutions recorded in each local authority by local authorities on Flycapture for 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07.
Following the release of the 2006-07 Flycapture statistics on 9 October 2007, this information has been sent to all MPs and has been placed in the Printed Paper Office.
It is also available to download electronically on DEFRA's Flycapture website:
Game: Non-Domestic Rates
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will provide his Department's list of game farms to the Valuation Office Agency for its work on business rates; and if he will make a statement. [168918]
Joan Ruddock: DEFRA holds information on those game farms of over 50 birds that have provided their details to the Great Britain Poultry Register (GBPR), a register set up to control and prevent avian influenza. DEFRA is currently consulting on expanding the uses to which the information on the register might be put.
One of the issues canvassed in the consultation paper is the possibility of sharing data with other Government Departments and non-departmental public bodies (NDPB). When the consultation process is complete, and responses have been analysed, DEFRA will be able to form a view on whether the supply of personal data to the Valuation Office Agency (or any other Government Department or NDPB) is tenable.
No decisions will be made about the sharing and use of GBPR data, in addition to what already happens, until this process is complete. Since a lot of the information in question would constitute personal data, any such decisions will take full account of our obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 and relevant guidance, such as that issued by the Information Commissioner.
Home Energy Efficiency Scheme: Finance
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the procedure is for reimbursing CORGI gas installers who accept Warm Front vouchers and who do not have access to the internet. [169338]
Mr. Woolas: Installers registering for the Warm Front 300 heating rebate scheme must do so using the internet.
Once successfully registered, installers are reimbursed by sending the voucher and claim form with the customer's signature and a copy of the invoice to the Scheme Manager at eaga plc. Following checks, eaga plc will make the payment within 30 days.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at what stage his Department informs CORGI gas installers installing equipment under the Warm Front programme that £50 of each £300 voucher they accept in payment from a customer will be withheld from them as payment for administration charges. [169339]
Mr. Woolas: The scheme description and processes sections of the Warm Front 300 rebate scheme website details the £50 administration charge. Installers must confirm that they fully understand these processes prior to their registration to work on the scheme.
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