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29 Jan 2008 : Column 244W—continued
Waste Disposal: Domestic Waste
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance his Department has given to waste collection authorities on (a) closed lid policies and (b) no side waste collection policies. [182224]
Joan Ruddock: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 14 January 2008, Official Report, column 869W.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether households on council tax benefit will be liable for the proposed new household rubbish collection charge in the pilot areas. [182272]
Joan Ruddock: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 8 January, Official Report, column 393W.
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance his Department has provided to local authorities on providing fortnightly collections for (a) recycling and (b) household rubbish; if he will place a copy of the guidance in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [182371]
Joan Ruddock: DEFRA has not provided guidance to local authorities on fortnightly collections of household waste. However, the DEFRA funded Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has published guidance for local authorities on the design and implementation of alternate collection services, which is available from WRAP’s website.
Copies of this guidance have already been placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what penalty may be imposed on people who not do pay the levied charge in a pilot area for the proposed new household rubbish collection charge scheme. [182424]
Joan Ruddock: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 21 January, Official Report, column 1497W.
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2008, Official Report, column 868W, on waste disposal: domestic waste, if he will place in the Library a copy of the 2006 DEFRA research reports into (a) bonfire smoke complaints and (b) emissions of dioxins. [183160]
Joan Ruddock: I am arranging for the information requested to be placed in the House Library.
Waste Disposal: Hazardous Substances
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to reduce the amount of hazardous waste generated; and if he will make a statement. [183101]
Joan Ruddock: In general, arisings of hazardous waste continue to decline and the Government, along with the Environment Agency in England and Wales, continues to pursue policies to encourage this process. For example, the Environment Agency-sponsored HazRed scheme encouraged small and medium sized enterprises in six key sectors to minimise and manage hazardous waste. Although the scheme is now closed, businesses and industry continue to learn from its lessons.
Other policies, such as those in the Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (ROHS) aim to reduce the amount of hazardous components and materials in certain products, which in turn leads to reductions in hazardous waste arisings.
In addition to the efforts to reduce the amount of hazardous waste generated, the Government are seeking ways to recover material and energy from hazardous waste, as well as ensuring its safe treatment and disposal.
Waste Management
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many tonnes of waste the Waste and Resources Action Programme disposed of in the last year for which figures are available; and what proportion of total residual waste this represented. [182222]
Joan Ruddock: The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) recycles or composts 84 per cent. of the waste it produces, capturing 95 per cent. of the materials it is currently able to recycle. The remaining 16 per cent. is sent for residual waste management. This represents approximately 2 tonnes of waste per annum and 10 tonnes of recycling and composting.
The amount of waste produced, including recycling, is 57kg per office based employee. This is substantially below the Government's best practice level of 200kg per employee, set in Information Note 17/2000 by the Central Advice Unit of Property Advisers to the Civil Estate.
Whales
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) which other governments he plans to send copies of ‘Protecting Whales—A Global Responsibility’ document this year; and if he will make a statement; [181195]
(2) to which other governments the ‘Protecting Whales—A Global Responsibility’ document has been sent; on which date the document was sent in each instance; and if he will make a statement. [181198]
Jonathan Shaw: The UK has led efforts to recruit more conservation-minded countries to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) through our publication 'Protecting Whales—A Global Responsibility'. This publication has recently been updated and was re-released on 21 December 2007. In the coming weeks, posts will deliver the updated version to host governments, and will continue to engage in discussions with their counterparts on whaling at every appropriate opportunity.
This year, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has written to 18 countries, encouraging them to join the IWC for the greater protection of whales.
'Protecting Whales—A Global Responsibility' has been sent to over 60 countries, both anti and pro-whaling, encouraging them to join the effort to protect these species. Listing these countries could compromise our efforts to persuade them to join the IWC and adopt an anti-whaling stance.
Duchy of Lancaster
Admiralty House
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) how many bedrooms each of the three official ministerial residences in Admiralty House has; [176345]
(2) how much has been spent from the public purse on beds for the official ministerial residences in Admiralty House since 1997. [176511]
Mr. Watson: One flat has one or two bedrooms, depending on the configuration adopted. The other two flats have between two and four bedrooms, also depending on the configuration adopted. Information on the purchase of furniture is not held centrally.
Cabinet Committees: Disclosure of Information
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will reconsider the Government’s practice on the disclosure of information on the attendance at and activities of Cabinet Committees. [181102]
Mr. Watson: It has been the practice of successive governments not to disclose the details of attendance at and activities of Cabinet Committees.
My hon. Friend the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Mr. Wills) announced on 25 October 2007, Official R eport, column 19WS, that the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor have asked Paul Dacre, working with Professor David Cannadine and Sir Joseph Pilling, to review the length of time after which public records are released, currently 30 years. Any changes made as a result of this review may affect the release of details of attendance at and discussions within Cabinet Committees in the relevant time period.
The review is now in progress and will report to the Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor by summer 2008.
Civil Service: Codes of Practice
Mr. Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2008, Official Report, column 916W, on official hospitality, if he will amend the (a) Ministerial Code and (b) Civil Service Code to introduce specific guidance on making bets (i) with and (ii) via a commercial organisation on political events; [180432]
(2) if he will initiate an investigation into whether any breaches of the Civil Service Code occurred in relation to movements in the political betting market on 6 October 2007 on the date of any future general election. [180639]
Mr. Watson: The Government believe the principles set out in the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Code continue to be appropriate. No further action is planned.
Departmental Freedom of Information
Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what percentage of Freedom of Information requests received by his Department have given rise to responses that have been published by his Department. [180217]
Mr. Watson: Information on the number of requests received by the Cabinet Office is published by the Ministry of Justice:
Responses published by the Cabinet Office are available on the Cabinet Office website:
In addition, the Cabinet Office publishes on an annual basis information about Cabinet Ministers’ visits overseas, gifts received by Ministers’ valued at more than £140 and the names and cost of special advisers. The Government are also committed to an annual list of relevant Ministers’ interests and details of all Ministers’ overseas visits costing more than £500.
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Jeremy Browne:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) how much was paid in bonuses to press and communication officers in the Prime
Minister’s Office in each of the last 10 years; and what the (a) highest and (b) lowest such bonus was in each of those years; [182728]
(2) how much the Cabinet Office paid in bonuses to press and communication officers in each of the last 10 years; and what the (a) highest and (b) lowest such bonus was in each of those years. [182731]
Mr. Watson: The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
The information on which bonuses were paid specifically to press and communication officers in each of the last 10 years is not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
For overall information on bonuses paid I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 14 January 2008, Official Report, column 913W, to the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond), which gives information on bonuses paid to Cabinet Office staff since 2003.
Departmental Pay
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many employees of the Prime Minister’s Office were paid (a) over £60,000 and (b) over £100,000 per annum, inclusive of bonuses, in the most recent financial year for which figures are available. [173105]
Mr. Watson: The Prime Minister’s Office forms part of the Cabinet Office. Members of the Senior Civil Service are paid under arrangements determined by the Senior Salaries Review Body. SCS bonuses represent 7.6 per cent. of the total SCS pay bill.
The number of Senior Civil Servants in the Cabinet Office is published by ONS in the annual Civil Service Statistics, this can be found at:
Departmental Telephone Services
Rob Marris: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many 0845 or similar cost telephone numbers are used by (a) his Department and (b) related departmental bodies for public access to services. [179007]
Mr. Watson [holding answer 28 January 2008]: The Cabinet Office and its related departmental bodies do not directly employ 0845 or similar cost telephone numbers for public access to services.
Honours: Criminal Investigation
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2008, Official Report, columns 755-56W, on honours: criminal investigation, and with reference to the letter of 18 December 2007 from the Cabinet Secretary to the Chairman of the Public Administration Committee, which lawyers were commissioned to provide external legal advice. [181342]
Edward Miliband: The law firms commissioned to provide external legal advice were Eversheds LLP, Peters & Peters, and Russell Jones & Walker.
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2008, Official Report, columns 755-56W, on Honours: Criminal Investigation, and with reference to the letter of 18 December 2007 from the Cabinet Secretary to the Chairman of the Public Administration Committee, what the cost was to the public purse of the external legal advice and support for the right hon. Tony Blair. [181343]
Edward Miliband: The right hon. Tony Blair received no external legal advice and support. Therefore there was no cost to the public purse.
Ministers
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) how many Ministers have held more than (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five, (f) six, (g) seven, (h) eight, (i) nine and (j) 10 ministerial positions in the last 10 years; [181475]
(2) how many ministerial positions there were in each of the last 10 years, broken down by Government Department. [181476]
Mr. Watson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Edward Miliband) to the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) on 17 September 2007, Official Report, column 2225W.
Ministers: Pay
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what increase in ministerial pay there was in each of the last 10 years; and what percentage of the 1997 level of ministerial pay each increase represents. [181477]
Mr. Watson: Ministerial salaries are paid in accordance with the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975. Details of ministerial salaries are available at:
and in the Library of the House.
Non-Departmental Public Bodies
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many and what percentage of non-departmental public bodies changed their names in each of the last 10 years. [181502]
Mr. Watson [holding answer 24 January 2008]: The names of all non-departmental public bodies are listed in the annual Cabinet Office “Public Bodies” publication. Information for 1998 to 2006 can be downloaded from:
Information for 2007 will be published shortly.
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) when he will publish information on the number and expenditure of non-departmental public bodies for 2007; [181481]
(2) how many non-departmental public bodies there were in each of the last 10 years, broken down by Government Department. [182651]
Mr. Watson: Information on non-departmental public bodies is published annually by the Cabinet Office. Information covering the period 1998 to 2006 appears in the “Public Bodies” publications. These can be downloaded from the civil service website at:
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