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25 Mar 2008 : Column 117W—continued
Duchy of Lancaster
Charities: Bexley
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many organisations in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and (b) the London Borough of Bexley have charitable status. [194660]
Phil Hope: This is a matter for the Charity Commission as the non-ministerial Government Department responsible for the regulation of charities in England and Wales. The chief executive of the Charity Commission will write to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Disease Control
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps are being taken to ensure utility companies maintain good bio-security practice when carrying out works on farmland. [195221]
Jonathan Shaw: Encouraging good bio-security by everyone that enters and leaves farms is something the Government take seriously. DEFRA has published guidance for anyone who enters a farm or premises with farm animals, or enters land used for grazing or keeping farm animals, including specific advice for utility companies. This can be found on the DEFRA website.
DEFRA has written to all utility companies on its database to remind them of the need to practice good bio-security, and take appropriate precautions when coming into contact with livestock or poultry.
Agriculture: Subsidies
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what value of single farm payments were issued by the Rural Payments Agency for between (a) £60.01 and £80.00, (b) £80.01 and £100.00, (c) £100.01 and £120.00, (d) £120.01 and £150.00 and (e) £150.01 and £200.00, excluding delayed payments from previous years, in each of the last three years. [195439]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 19 March 2008]: The number and value of Single Payment Scheme payments in the bands specified in the question and by scheme year are as follows:
| SPS 2005 | SPS 2006 | |||
| Band | Number | Value (£) | Number | Value (£) |
The figures are presented by scheme year to avoid including delayed payments from previous years.
SPS 2007 payments are still being made and so we cannot provide equivalent figures at this stage.
Animal Welfare: Birds
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what changes have been made to the regulations governing the welfare of birds in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [195249]
Joan Ruddock: Assuming that the hon. Member is referring to birds under the control of man, a significant amount of legislation regarding their welfare has changed in some way in the last 10 years.
While it is not possible to list every change succinctly, two of the most important changes to the requirements are:
i. a duty of care for the owners and keepers of all animals, including birds, in the Animal Welfare Act 2006; and
ii. a ban on the use of conventional cages for laying hens from 2012, in the provisions of the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007.
Additionally, further changes have been made to improve welfare for birds during transport and at slaughter; these are provided for by the Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006, and six amendments to the Welfare of Animals (Slaughterer Killing) Regulations 1995.
Similar legislation has also come into force in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Arm’s Length Management Organisations: Finance
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2008, Official Report, column 34W, on arm’s length management organisations, what funding will be provided by his Department to each of its (a) arm’s length bodies and (b) gross controlled agencies in 2008-09; and if he will make a statement. [194954]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 17 March 2008]: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the following written answers published on 28 February 2008, Official Report, columns 1853-55W.
Birds: Game
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many birds were killed in sport shooting events in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [195247]
Joan Ruddock: My Department does not hold information on how many birds are killed in sport shooting events. The most recent information my Department is aware of is the Public and Corporate Economic Consultants report on Shooting Sports. The report estimates that the total number of game birds and wildfowl shot for sport in the UK in 2004 was just under 19 million, almost four-fifths of these were pheasants and 99 per cent. were destined for the food chain.
Bovine Tuberculosis
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what evidence of the policies of other countries he plans to take into account when making a decision on whether badger culling should form part of his Department’s response to outbreaks of bovine TB. [194414]
Jonathan Shaw: In making our decision, we are considering all available evidence, including bovine TB policies in other countries, such as Ireland, New Zealand and Australia, and anything we can learn to help with the situation in England. However, it is important to bear in mind that other countries’ experiences are not directly transferable to England because the wildlife population, farming practices and general environment are all different. As a result, while we can learn from other countries’ experiences, directly applying such policies here is not possible.
Bovine Tuberculosis: Shropshire
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what compensation payments were made to farmers in Shropshire in respect of cattle destroyed following contraction of bovine tuberculosis in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007. [194683]
Jonathan Shaw: A county breakdown of the amount of compensation paid to farmers is not available.
Civil Service Appeal Board
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what percentage of appeals by employees of (a) his Department and (b) its agencies were (i) heard and (ii) upheld by the Civil Service Appeal Board in each of the last 10 years; how much was awarded in compensation by the Board to each successful appellant in each year; what the reason was for each compensation award; how many appellants were reinstated by the Board in each year; and what the reason was for each (A) dismissal and (B) reinstatement. [192514]
Jonathan Shaw: The information requested could be provided only by incurring disproportionate cost.
Dangerous Dogs Act 1991
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he plans to revise the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991; and if he will make a statement. [195332]
Jonathan Shaw: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 10 March 2008, Official Report, column 36W.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he has taken to reduce his Department's carbon dioxide emissions in 2008-09. [191008]
Jonathan Shaw: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs can confirm that DEFRA is working in partnership with the Carbon Trust and industry experts to deliver carbon emissions reductions. A number of initiatives are currently being implemented through its carbon management and energy efficiency programmes. DEFRA is the first Government Department to receive energy efficiency accreditation for its core and Executive agency estate.
Through site level benchmarking, monitoring and targeting of energy consumption, DEFRA has built up a site by site data set of its energy use and has identified opportunities for significant carbon reductions across its network estate over the next three years.
Initiatives already undertaken include: installation of voltage optimisation technologies (powerPerfector(TM)); energy efficient lighting technologies; insulation and draught proofing and feasibility studies for renewable energy technologies. A fully costed investment programme has been agreed to enable savings to be delivered that are required to meet cross-Government sustainability targets (2010 and 2020).
Departmental Data Protection
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether confidential or personal information has been compromised through the loss of property from his Department since 1997. [193444]
Jonathan Shaw: Except in exceptional cases, when it is in the public interest, it has been the policy of successive Governments not to comment on breaches of security. However, following the publication of the Data Handling Procedures in Government: Interim Progress Report on 17 December 2007, Official Report , column 98WS, all Departments will cover information assurance issues in their annual reports.
Departmental Impact Assessments
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many regulatory impact assessments his Department has conducted in the last 12 months. [191268]
Jonathan Shaw: Information on impact assessments (IAs) is published on DEFRA's website at:
The Department published 19 consultations in 2007 which included a draft or partial regulatory impact assessment (RIA)/IA. For the same period, DEFRA published 51 final RIAs/IAs to support orders laid in Parliament. Information on the final RIAs/IAs published between 1 January and 30( )June 2007 can also be found in Command Paper 7297, available at:
For DEFRA, 33 RIAs/IAs have been listed.
Departments are in the process of identifying the final RIAs/IAs published between 1 July and 31 December 2007 for the next Command Paper.
From April 2008, all final IAs will be published on a central BERR/BRE website.
In accordance with BERR guidance, impact assessments are not required where policy changes will not lead to costs or savings for businesses, the public, third sector organisations, regulators or consumers. Nor are they required where changes to statutory fees or taxes are covered by a predetermined formula. It is also standard practice not to produce impact assessments where emergency legislation is concerned.
Departmental Older Workers
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people over the age of 55 have been recruited by his Department in each of the last three years. [191530]
Jonathan Shaw: The civil service statistics are collected by ONS from the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (formerly Mandate) and the latest published statistics are for the year to 30 September 2006.
The information requested is shown in the following table. All figures are headcount.
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