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12 Mar 2008 : Column 412W—continued
| 2007 | |
| Week ending | Number |
Police: Disclosure of Information
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there is external review of the type and quality of information held by the police and released by chief constables under the enhanced disclosures procedure. [190615]
Meg Hillier: Sir Rhys Davies QC is the Independent Monitor of information released from local police records as part of the Criminal Records Bureau Enhanced Disclosure procedure. Chief constables are required under Part V of the Police Act 1997 to disclose any information held in local police records that they consider relevant to an Enhanced Disclosure application. The Independent Monitor’s main role is to scrutinise such information to ensure that a proper balance is struck between the rights of an individual and those of vulnerable groups.
Safegarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of people subject to registration if open age sport is included in the Safegarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. [185746]
Kevin Brennan [holding answer 18 February 2008]: I have been asked to reply.
We have received useful feedback on the issue of under 18 year olds playing in open age sport from stakeholders in the sports sector while developing policy in this area. It is not our intention to make any activity a regulated activity unnecessarily, particularly if that means children could be denied access to a wide range of sporting activity.
As a consequence of feedback from stakeholders we consulted on the proposal that activities relating to the teaching, training and instruction of children aged 16-17 years should not be considered to be regulated activity, where the 16 or 17 year old is part of an activity aimed at mixed age groups which include adults. The consultation closed on 20 February 2008 and we will be analysing the responses including those from the sports sector to feed into the formal Government report. It would be wrong to pre-empt the results of this process.
The Department for Children Schools and Families, the Department of Health and the Home Office will continue to consult widely with stakeholders including sports bodies and will continue working with the Department for Culture Media and Sport to help inform Regulations and prepare for implementation of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Animal Welfare: Finance
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 28 February 2008, Official Report, column 1848W, on animals: diseases, what the animal health and welfare budget is for (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09, (c) 2009-10 and (d) 2010-11. [192031]
Jonathan Shaw: The Animal Health and Welfare budget for 2007-08 is £404 million and the indicative figures for 2008-09 are £394 million. Detailed figures for 2009-10 and 2010-11 are not yet available.
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 28 February 2008, Official Report, column 1848W, on animals: diseases, what proportion of the £121 million reduction to his Department’s animal health and welfare budget will be made up of (a) efficiency savings and (b) transfers and charges. [192032]
Jonathan Shaw: Based on our current plans, we estimate that around two thirds of the annual saving of £121 million by 2010-11 should be achieved through efficiency savings, with the remaining third through transfers and charges.
Bluetongue Disease
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to fund research into blue tongue vaccines other than those for the BTV-8 strain. [192489]
Jonathan Shaw: DEFRA currently has no plans to invest in vaccines for use in bluetongue serotypes other than serotype 8 (BTV-8). This strain arrived in East and South East England in September 2007.
We will keep this under active review in the light of vaccine developments and veterinary risk assessment of the likely spread of other serotypes.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect of the recent mild winter on the likely prevalence of blue tongue. [192490]
Jonathan Shaw: Bluetongue disease is spread from animal to animal via the bites of midges.
During the winter, midge activity is at its lowest, and low temperatures mean that virus does not replicate in the midges. Therefore, because of a very low risk of disease transmission, we declared a vector-free period on 20 December 2007. Based on the assessment of meteorological data and historic vector (midge) trapping, this period will end on 15 March. As temperatures increase and midges become more active, we may expect to see the disease re-emerge this year.
Experiences in Northern Europe in 2007 showed that the virus reappeared in June/July. Given our similar climate, we are preparing on the basis of a similar scenario in the UK this year. Cases of bluetongue
identified during the winter, and subsequent amendments to the restricted zones mean that we are confident that the disease is currently contained within the protection zone.
Further information about our control and vaccination strategy is available on the DEFRA website.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his Department’s strategy is for informing livestock owners that blue tongue vaccines will be available if there is a deterioration in the current blue tongue situation. [192491]
Jonathan Shaw: The UK’s Bluetongue Emergency Vaccination Delivery Plan, published on 18 February, sets out how mass vaccination can be achieved through a voluntary approach. This is coupled with an industry-led campaign promoting the importance of vaccination.
DEFRA will play an active role in supporting the communications strategy.
Bovine Tuberculosis: Finance
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was received by his Department from the sale of meat from cattle slaughtered as a result of bovine tuberculosis testing in each of the last three years. [192798]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 10 March 2008]: The amount of money received by the Government from the sale of the cattle slaughtered in England, as a result of bovine tuberculosis control measures from 2004-05 to 2006-07 is set out in the following table.
| Financial year | Amount received (£ million) |
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was paid by his Department to (a) abattoirs and (b) others for the slaughter and disposal of cattle slaughtered under bovine tuberculosis testing in each of the last three years. [192799]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 10 March 2008]: DEFRA does not pay abattoirs directly for the slaughter and disposal of cattle under TB control measures. Abattoirs take a payment from the money received from the sale of slaughtered cattle.
The following table sets out the amount paid to others by DEFRA for the haulage, slaughter and disposal of cattle slaughtered in England under bovine tuberculosis control measures from 2004-05 to 2006-07.
| Financial year | Amount paid (£ million) |
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on each budgetary heading for (a) bovine tuberculosis measures and (b) animal health and welfare in each of the last three years; and how much it plans to spend on each heading in each year of the new Comprehensive Spending Review period. [192800]
Jonathan Shaw: Annual expenditure by DEFRA on bovine tuberculosis (bTB) from 2004-05 to 2006-07 is set out in the following table.
| £ million | |||
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
We are unable to provide an accurate forecast of expenditure on bTB in each year of the new comprehensive spending review period as budgets have not yet been finalised.
The amount spent by DEFRA on animal health and welfare in each of the last three years can be found in the 2007 departmental report. This is available on the DEFRA website.
Departmental Data Protection
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether personal data for which his Department is responsible are (a) stored and (b) processed overseas; and if he will make a statement. [176021]
Jonathan Shaw: No personal data for which this Department are responsible are stored or processed overseas.
Departmental Databases
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether (a) companies based in the United States and (b) UK subsidiaries of US companies have been contracted by his Department and its agencies to provide services involving the use, storage, processing or analysis of databases of personal information held by the Government on UK citizens in the last five years. [188224]
Jonathan Shaw: My Department, including its agencies, has no contract with US registered service providers or a UK subsidiary of a US registered service provider for information storage, processing or analysis.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which of his Department's activities will be discontinued following the recent budget pressures referred to by the Minister for Sustainable Farming, Food and Animal Welfare in evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee on 3 March 2007. [192083]
Jonathan Shaw: In setting a balanced budget for 2008-09 DEFRA has prioritised all its activities. The need to prioritise activities necessitates a review of the extent, timing and way we deliver our services in order to maximise value for money within the available budget. Hence we shall be reviewing the support we provide to business, consumers and the public sector in the drive towards a low carbon and resource efficient economy.
Departmental Public Finance
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether consideration has been given to applying gender responsive budgeting to his Department's budget. [192104]
Jonathan Shaw: The UK Government are supportive of efforts to achieve gender equality and continue to work very closely with both the Women's National Commission and the Women's Budget Group on promoting gender equality within the UK.
In 2004, HM Treasury undertook a pilot project on gender analysis of expenditure with the Women's Budget Group. The project demonstrated the value of gender analysis in some areas and identified what tools and expertise were necessary within Government to carry out gender analysis, but that further work was needed before gender responsive budgeting could be implemented.
In 2008, HM Treasury will be conducting further work that will determine whether it is prudent and feasible to disaggregate departmental expenditure statistics by gender. DEFRA will engage in this HM Treasury-led work as required.
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