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22 Apr 2008 : Column 1905W—continued
Angling: Licensing
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will provide a detailed breakdown of the (a) administration and (b) enforcement costs of the freshwater angling licensing regime in the last five years; how many staff were involved in each year; what their total salaries were in each year; and if he will make a statement. [199271]
Jonathan Shaw: The cost of administering the rod licence system for each of the last five years is shown in the following table. The figures include Environment Agency staff expenditure, the printing of licences and sales transaction costs.
| Rod licence administration cost | |
| Cost (£ million) | |
There are 280 Environment Agency staff warranted to undertake rod licence enforcement. Rod licence checking only forms a part of the role, so salary costs are worked out according to the proportion of time spent on this activity. While carrying out rod licence checks, these staff also carry out other regulatory activities such as ensuring compliance with fishery byelaws and regulating other licensing systems. Their other warranted activities include auditing and investigating fish introductions to prevent the spread of disease and non native species. The current annual salary cost of enforcing the rod licence is around £1 million. This has not changed significantly during the last five years.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was raised by angling licences in each year since 1997. [199273]
Jonathan Shaw: The following table shows rod licence income since 1997.
| Licence year | Rod licence income (£ million) |
Animal Welfare: Dogs
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he plans to (a) publish and (b) put out to public consultation proposed regulations on greyhound welfare under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. [199168]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 21 April 2008]: We are considering proposals for the regulation of greyhound racing and there is currently no timetable for a public consultation.
Bovine Tuberculosis
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many badgers found dead on roads were tested for tuberculosis in the last 12 months. [198724]
Jonathan Shaw: Badger carcases found dead on roads or motorways are the responsibility of the appropriate local authority or Highways Agency. The carcases are not routinely examined for signs of bovine TB at post mortem.
DEFRA’s Road Traffic Accident (RTA) survey of badgers found dead on roads in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire ran from 2002 to 2005. During that time culture results were obtained for 3,238 carcases. Of these, 481 (approximately 15 per cent.) were positive for bovine TB.
An extended post-mortem examination carried out on a sample of 205 badgers culled as part of the Randomised Badger Culling Trial revealed substantially more infected animals; approximately double the rate, compared to standard post-mortem examination. Badgers submitted under the RTA survey underwent standard post-mortem examination. Therefore, these prevalence values are likely to be under-estimates.
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his most recent estimate is of the proportion of the badger population carrying bovine tuberculosis in England. [198725]
Jonathan Shaw: Not all badger populations in England have been tested for bovine tuberculosis (bTB). However, Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) was detected in 16.6 per cent. of badger carcases from proactively culled areas of the Randomised Badger Culling Trial, located in West and South West England. The prevalence of infection in initial culls was higher in the inner regions of proactive treatment areas (two kilometres or more inside the boundary) than in the outer areas. This is not surprising as trial areas were centred on areas of high bTB risk.
The results of DEFRA’s Road Traffic Accident survey, carried out in seven counties between 2002 and 2005, showed similar levels of prevalence with M. bovis being detected in, on average, 15 per cent. of badger carcases.
An extended post-mortem examination carried out on a sample of 205 RBCT badgers revealed substantially more infected animals, approximately double, than did standard post-mortem examination. Therefore, these prevalence values are likely to be under-estimates.
Cetaceans: Conservation
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the UK has taken to reduce cetacean by-catch; and what representations he has made to the EU on common arrangements. [199916]
Jonathan Shaw: DEFRA and the devolved administrations’ fisheries departments published the UK Small Cetacean By-catch Response Strategy in March 2003. An update on the progress of implementing the strategy can be found on the DEFRA website.
As part of this strategy, the UK Government have put over £2 million, between 2000 and 2008, into researching by-catch mitigation measures and monitoring by-catch on vessels through observers. The purpose of this is to identify those fisheries responsible for high levels of cetacean by-catch and mitigation measures that are effective at deterring cetaceans over the long-term and safe and cost-effective for the industry.
In December 2004, the UK Government banned pelagic pair trawling for bass by UK vessels within 12 miles off the south-west coast of England because of concerns it was the cause of large numbers of dolphin deaths. Unfortunately, the European Commission did not support the UK's request to extend this ban to the vessels of other member states operating within these waters.
Member states are required under Council Regulation (EC) 812/2004 to present an annual report to the European Commission on their by-catch observer programmes. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has been asked by the European Commission to look at these annual reports. I await its analysis before deciding if representations need to be made to the Commission about common arrangements.
Departmental Marketing
Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on publicity and advertising in 2007-08. [198988]
Jonathan Shaw: The core departmental expenditure on advertising and publicity for 2007-08 was £4,382,000.
The largest area of expenditure is focused on delivering public information on how to reduce individual carbon footprints. It also includes engagement with farmers on disease control and a wide range of other matters, much of it necessary or beneficial to the public and the wide range of industries in which DEFRA has an interest, together with local government, voluntary organisations and other bodies.
Individual records of spend for DEFRA’s non-departmental public bodies, agencies and financially sponsored organisations are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Sick Leave
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many working days were lost by his Department due to stress-related illness in each of the last 24 months. [198940]
Jonathan Shaw: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many days sick leave were taken on average by staff in his Department in each of the last five years. [198951]
Jonathan Shaw: Information on sickness absence in the Civil Service is available at:
Published data are available from the 2004 calendar year to the 2006-07 financial year. The average number of working days lost by each member of staff in DEFRA was as follows:
2004: 7.4
2005: 8.2
2006-07: 7.5
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many of his Department’s staff took more than (a) five, (b) 10, (c) 15, (d) 20, (e) 25, (f) 30, (g) 35 and (h) 40 days leave due to stress in each of the last five years, broken down by pay grade. [198969]
Jonathan Shaw: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Sustainable Development
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when his Department plans to publish its sustainable operations policy statement. [195880]
Jonathan Shaw: As part of its ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS), DEFRA has an environmental policy which it displays in all of the buildings covered by its EMS. This policy covers sustainable operations on its estate. A copy of the policy statement can be made available on request.
DEFRA has measures in place to make sure it meets the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate (SOGE) targets. Progress against these targets is assessed annually and results are published by the Sustainable Development Commission in their Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report.
DEFRA published its second Sustainable Development Action Plan (SDAP) in November 2007 which sets out how the Department is putting SD into practice. This plan contains a summary of the initiatives being implemented to improve the operational performance across the estate.
Departmental Telephone Services
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) 0800, (b) 0845 and (c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public are in use by (i) his Department and (ii) agencies which report to his Department. [200125]
Jonathan Shaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris) on 28 January 2008, Official Report , column 74W.
Departmental Working Hours
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many hours (a) in total and (b) on average per employee were worked by civil servants in his Department in the last year for which records are available. [195827]
Jonathan Shaw: There are no central records of the actual hours worked by staff in DEFRA, as the majority of staff work flexible working hours for which only local records are held. Conditioned net hours (i.e. excluding lunch breaks) are 36 per week for London-based staff and 37 per week elsewhere. In addition, 78,400 hours of overtime were worked in the last financial year. The average number of staff in full-time equivalents in the core Department in 2007-08 was 3,424. This gives an approximate total of 6,533,000 hours worked; an average of 1,900 hours per person per year (36.7 hours per week).
Discrimination
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many claims for discrimination, based on (a) sex, (b) race and (c) sexual orientation, were brought by members of his Department and settled (i) in and (ii) out of court in each of the last five years. [194979]
Jonathan Shaw: During the last five years there have been no claims for discrimination based on sex, race or sexual orientation brought by members of this Department which have been settled in or out of court.
The internal formal equal opportunities complaints procedures, including support mechanisms available to staff who perceive discrimination, are on DEFRA's Intranet site and all staff have access to them.
Farms: Inspections
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2008, Official Report, columns 123-4W, on farms: inspections, what proportion of the Animal Health budget for 2007-08 is allocated to on-farm work; what the cost was to the public purse arising from farm inspections conducted by the (a) Rural Payments Agency, (b) Environment Agency, (c) Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate, (d) Natural England, (e) Food Standards Agency, (f) Pesticides Safety Directorate and (g) Health and Safety Executive in each of the last five years. [198092]
Jonathan Shaw: The total Animal Health budget for 2007-08 was £109,864,000. The proportion for on-farm work is 65 per cent., and is estimated to be £71,412,000. This is only an estimate as not all bills have been processed. This estimate includes all on-farm work, including inspections and visits, and back office costs, for example, administration and travel. This does not include disease outbreak costs and costs relating to abattoir visits.
The reduction in percentage for this financial year is mainly attributed to staff who would have been carrying out on-farm work being required to work on the disease outbreaks in 2007 (estimated to be around 16 per cent. of the budget). Therefore, being unable to perform the on-farm work recorded here.
The following table sets out the costs to the public purse incurred by inspections carried out by the Rural Payments Agency. The figure is all-inclusive, covering direct cost of conducting on-farm inspections, management, co-ordination, support and administrative costs such as accommodation, equipment and travel.
| Cost (£) | |
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