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7 Mar 2008 : Column 2881W—continued
Jonathan Shaw:
The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) has been consulting on seven initial offshore marine sites since December 2007.
These include: Braemar Pockmarks, Darwin Mounds, Haig Fras, North Norfolk Sandbanks and Saturn Reef, Scanner Pockmark, Stanton Banks and Wyville Thomson Ridge. The consultation is due to close on 14 March 2008.
Of the potential offshore Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) currently undergoing consultation, DEFRA funded surveys for Wyville Thomson Ridge in summer 2006, and Stanton Banks in summer 2003.
Our programme of data collection and survey will continue to identify further sites. Currently, the 13 areas listed in the table have been surveyed for Natura 2000 sites for Annex I habitats through collaborative and commissioned survey. These areas will then be considered by the JNCC against the selection criteria. As a result, some may be recommended to Government as SACs over the next two years.
| Site | Date of survey |
|
Rockall Bank in the Rockall Trough and Bank regional sea, north-west of Scotland | |
Further areas of search for “reefs and submarine structures made by leaking gases” will be surveyed by JNCC in 2008, 2009 and 2010 on the Scottish Continental Shelf, the offshore area in the North West of Scotland and the Irish sea.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2008, Official Report, column 1634W, on seas and oceans: Treaty of Lisbon, what provisions in the Treaty on the European Communities and the Treaty on European Union set out the respective competences of the EU and member states in relation to (a) marine biological resources, (b) marine biological resources under the Common Fisheries Policy and (c) the marine environment; and if he will make a statement. [191737]
Jonathan Shaw: The conservation of marine biological resources under the Common Fisheries Policy is an exclusive competence of the European Union.
All other aspects of marine biological resources and the marine environment are a shared competence.
The Lisbon treaty will not change this, and will be reflected in articles 3(1)(d) and 4(2)(d) and (e) of the treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (Tofu).
Waste Management: Finance
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) budget is for 2008-09; and what funding has been allocated to each of the individual organisations within BREW in that year. [191808]
Joan Ruddock: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave her on 4 March 2008, Official Report, column 2274W.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons the answers given on 27 February 2008, Official Report, column 1634W, on seas and oceans, were not provided on the named day. [191932]
Jonathan Shaw: My ministerial colleagues and I aim to ensure that hon. Members receive a substantive response to their named day question on the due day. Unfortunately, this is not always possible.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Departmental Cost Effectiveness
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what progress his Department has made on its zero-based budget review under the comprehensive spending review. [191495]
Mr. Thomas: I refer the hon. Member to the Annex pertaining to my Department in “Meeting the Aspirations of the British people: the 2007 Pre-Budget Report and Comprehensive Spending Review” (Cm 7227).
BERR published on 20 December 2007 its Value-for-Money delivery agreement:
http://www.berr.gov.uk/about/strategyobjectives/Value%20 for%20Money%20Delivery%20Agreements/page43140.html
Departmental Freedom of Information
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what percentage of Freedom of Information requests received by his Department have given rise to responses that have been published by his Department. [180221]
Mr. Thomas:
Our Department has adopted a selective disclosure log whereby only the most interesting and high profile pieces of information which may be of wider public interest are published on the Department’s website. We believe that if the public has greater
understanding of the sorts of information a public authority holds, it will enable them to make better informed requests for information in the future.
In 2007 this resulted in 20 responses being published on the website which represents about 4 per cent. of cases which were processed during the year. In the two previous years, 2006 and 2005 since the FOI access right came into force approximately 2 per cent. of cases (13 and 15 respectively) were published on the Department’s website.
Departmental Older Workers
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many people over the age of 55 have been recruited by his Department and its predecessors in each of the last three years. [191529]
Mr. Thomas: The figures for civil servants over the age of 55 recruited by my Department (BERR and before that DTI) in each of the last three years are as follows:
| Over age 55 | |
These are overall figures the Department, excluding its agencies and non-departmental bodies.
Departmental Private Finance Initiative
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform which private finance initiative projects were approved by his Department in each of the last three financial years; and what the (a) value and (b) start date was of each. [190753]
Mr. Thomas: The capital value and start date for every signed PFI project are recorded centrally on the Treasury’s website at
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/documents/public_private _partnerships/ppp_pfi_stats.cfm
However I can confirm that BERR has not let any new PFI projects within the last three financial years.
Fairtrade Initiative
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will take steps to promote Fair Trade Fortnight 2008 among staff within his Department; and if he will make a statement. [189511]
Mr. Thomas: The Department will be promoting Fairtrade Fortnight through its contracted service provider. We will have posters and leaflets promoting fairtrade awareness in our restaurant areas.
We will also have stalls telling customers what products are available that are fair-trade produce.
During Fairtrade Fortnight we will also be hosting stalls from those companies who supply our service provider promoting their produce.
Frontiers: Security
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much was spent in total by local trading standards units on border security and enforcement in each of the last three financial years. [186418]
Mr. Thomas: Border security is a matter for the Home Office.
Members: Correspondence
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he will reply to the letter of 5 November 2007 from the hon. Member for Mid Worcestershire on World Trade Organisation agreements and the approach of the US Administration to on-line gambling. [191359]
Mr. Thomas: I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member, this was due to an administrative error. A reply will be issued shortly.
Overseas Trade: Iran
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the value of UK trade with Iran was in years (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2006-07; and what it is expected to be in 2007-08. [191986]
Mr. Thomas: Trade statistics are usually published on a calendar year basis. The Office for National Statistics UK Balance of Payments Pink Book gives the following figures:
| £ million | ||
| 2005 | 2006 | |
Data is not yet available for 2007 on a balance of payments basis. Using a slightly different definition, HM Revenue and Customs ‘Overseas Trade Statistics’ give:
| £ million | |||
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
Personal Records: Data Protection
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether a Government response was issued to the recommendations of the Council for Science and Technology's 2005 report entitled, Better use of personal information: opportunities and risks. [191094]
Mr. Wills: I have been asked to reply.
There was no formal Government response to the Council for Science and Technology’s 2005 report and the Government have not specifically implemented the recommendations. However, the report has been a valuable source of information in developing its thinking on how information is used and protected.
On 25 October the Prime Minister asked Dr. Mark Walport and the Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, to carry out an independent review of the use and sharing of personal information in the public and private sectors. The Ministry of Justice are currently considering how the programme should be structured to deliver service transformation.
Communities and Local Government
Council Tax: Databases
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimates or projections her Department has made of the change in the size of the council tax database due to (a) migration, (b) demographic and (c) household formation changes over the next (i) year, (ii) three years and (iii) five years. [191669]
John Healey: The council taxbase projections used in the local government finance settlements for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 are based on the billing authority’s taxbase as at 8 October 2007 adjusted for student exemptions, increased by the average annual increase between 2005 and 2007. The following link provides a detailed explanation:
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