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17 Jun 2008 : Column 798W—continued
Bovine Tuberculosis
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 5 June 2008, Official Report, column 1070W, on bovine tuberculosis, in how many of the parishes in (a) England and (b) Wales where incidents of bovine tuberculosis took place in each year since 1997 had no cases of bovine tuberculosis been confirmed in the preceding four years. [210829]
Jonathan Shaw: Animal Health only hold data for the seven years prior to an exercise carried out in 2004. Consequently, they do not hold bovine tuberculosis data prior to 1997.
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures are used to calculate the value of cattle with bovine tuberculosis in England; and what information he holds on measures used in Wales. [210943]
Jonathan Shaw:
In England compensation for TB affected cattle has, since February 2006, been determined primarily through table valuations. Within this system
47 cattle ‘categories’ are used. These categories are based on the age, gender, type (dairy or beef) and status (pedigree or non-pedigree) of animals. Table values are a true average of contemporaneous prices achieved for same category, but healthy, animals at a large number and wide range of cattle sales. If insufficient sales data are collected for a particular category, compensation is determined either by using a previously determined sales average or through individual valuation.
Responsibility for bovine TB in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Assembly. A system of individual valuations is used in Wales.
Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will consider a trial cull of badgers in Cornwall as a measure against the spread of bovine tuberculosis. [211672]
Jonathan Shaw: Ministers are considering all the evidence in relation to badgers and bovine TB in cattle before making a decision on badger culling in England. There is a great deal of complex evidence to consider and the matter is receiving our urgent attention. There is no confirmed timetable for a decision.
Carbon Emissions: Advisory Services
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much he has allocated to the green homes service for (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11. [211018]
Joan Ruddock: Government will be providing over £100 million in the next three years to the Energy Saving Trust to develop a proactive green homes service, based on the Act on CO2 advice line and a regional network of one stop shops. In this year alone, DEFRA is providing the Energy Saving Trust with £35.2 million, £24.5 million of which will be specifically for the Act on CO2 advice line and the roll out of the regional advice centres. Funding for 2009-10 and 2010-11 has yet to be confirmed.
Common Agricultural Policy
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy. [210490]
Jonathan Shaw: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 3 June 2008, Official Report, column 854W.
Dangerous Dogs Act 1991
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people were charged under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 in each of the last five years. [210124]
Jonathan Shaw: The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, in England and Wales, for the years 2002 to 2006 is in the following table.
Charging data are not held by the Ministry of Justice. Information on numbers proceeded against has been provided in lieu of charging data. These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with.
Court proceedings data for 2007 will be available in the autumn of 2008.
| Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 in England and Wales, 2002-06 | |
| Proceeded against | |
| Source: Court proceedings data held by CJEA—Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice | |
Dangerous Dogs Act 1991: Registration
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the index of exempted dogs to owner-led applications will be re-opened. [211196]
Jonathan Shaw: No. There are no plans to amend the dangerous dogs legislation to allow owner-led applications.
Departmental Cost Effectiveness
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) original target and (b) actual reduction in (i) staffing numbers and (ii) associated expenditure in his Department was in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [208188]
Jonathan Shaw: This Department had an obligation under the SR2004 spending settlement, with the Treasury, to reduce the numbers of staff it employs by 31 March 2008. The original target was agreed as reductions in the overall headcount of 2,400 full-time equivalents (FTEs) across DEFRA and its agencies by 31 March 2008. DEFRA used the target to reshape the Department as well as resize, and implemented an organisation design that allows DEFRA to deliver its objectives.
The majority of these reductions were to have come via scaling down of the operation of the Rural Payments Agency (RPA), which was to have contributed 1,600 posts to the overall total. However, problems with implementation of the scheme for making single payments to farmers meant that it was not possible for RPA to make these savings. A revised target was agreed, with Treasury Ministers, in June 2007 to achieve reductions, in DEFRA and the agencies, totalling 1,400 FTEs by 31 March 2008.
The reduction from the previous years staffing numbers in each year from 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2008 and the costs of early departures were as follows:
| Total FTE | Reduction in staff numbers (FTE) | Expenditure on early departures (£ million) | |
The baseline against which the Department’s performance in respect of the SR04 reduction target is measured is an FTE figure, as originally agreed with HMT, of 13,650 FTEs. Machinery of government changes, definitional changes in the treatment of maternity leave for FTE reporting purposes and transfers to and from elsewhere in the public sector led to adjustment of the baseline to 12,898. For the purposes of measuring performance against the SR04 reduction target, and with the inclusion of 135 DEFRA FTEs operating within the Government offices for the regions, DEFRA’s total FTE on 31 March 2008 was 10,775. Therefore, the overall reduction measured against the baseline is 2,123 FTEs.
DEFRA has achieved its reduction target through a combination of natural wastage, controls imposed on external recruitment and two voluntary early departure schemes open to applicants within the core-Department between December 2006 to July 2007 and September 2007 to January 2008 with provision set aside in the 2007-08 financial year for any payments to retirees, consequent on their departure under this scheme, which might fall in future years. The total 2004-08 early departure cost of £83.89 million (above) includes all of early departures including those in association with the earlier periods and ill health. During financial years 2006-07 and 2007-08 this Department spent £14.8 million and £49 million respectively, on the funding of voluntary early departures under the two voluntary early departure schemes.
Departmental Manpower
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what proportion of his Department’s employees are (a) male, (b) female, (c) from an ethnic minority, (d) disabled and (e) not heterosexual; and if he will make a statement. [208391]
Jonathan Shaw: The latest available data on the disability status and ethnic background of civil servants in Departments and agencies are as at 30 September 2006 and are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as Civil Service Statistics 2006. Information can be accessed from the following websites:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=2899&;Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=422
Declaration of ethnic background and disabled status is voluntary.
The latest available data on the gender of civil servants are as at 31 December 2007 and are also published by ONS, as part of their wider Quarterly Public Sector Employment Statistics (QPSES). Information can be accessed via the following website:
Information on civil servants’ sexual orientation is not currently collected or published.
In 2005 the civil service 10-point diversity plan was launched. The plan aims to make the civil service representative of the population it serves. The 10-point plan is currently being revised and DEFRA will align its strategy accordingly. DEFRA will develop an inclusive approach which will aim to increase diversity at all grades within the organisation.
Departmental Pay
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was paid in end-of-year performance bonuses to (a) all staff and (b) staff at senior civil service level in (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies in the 2007-08 financial year; and how many payments were made. [207465]
Jonathan Shaw: The following table shows details of end-of-year performance bonuses awarded to SCS and non-SCS staff in DEFRA and its agencies in the 2007-08 financial year. For DEFRA, the data relates to staff in core-DEFRA, Animal Health, Government Decontamination Service, Marine and Fisheries Agency, Pesticides Safety Directorate and Veterinary Medicines Directorate.
| Department/agency | Number of bonuses | £ |
Bonuses are used to reward excellent performance during the year and are based on a judgment of how well an individual has performed relative to their peers. Performance related pay schemes encourage high attainment because bonuses have to be earned each year. They help drive high performance in Departments and agencies and support better public service delivery.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what proportion of employees in his Department who received a performance-related bonus at their last appraisal were (a) male, (b) female, (c) from an ethnic minority, (d) disabled and (e) not heterosexual; and if he will make a statement. [208381]
Jonathan Shaw: The number and proportion of employees who received an annual performance bonus in 2007 were as follows:
| Number | Percentage | |
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