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17 Jun 2008 : Column 803W—continued
The percentages shown are the proportions of the 627 staff who received bonuses in 2007. The data on bonuses includes SCS and non-SCS staff in DEFRA, Animal Health, Government Decontamination Service, Marine and Fisheries Agency, Pesticides Safety Directorate and Veterinary Medicines Agency.
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.
Departmental Postal Services
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on sending mail overseas in each year since 2001, broken down by delivery company. [208514]
Jonathan Shaw: DEFRA came into being in June 2001. The core-Department uses ‘Royal Mail’ and ‘Amtrak’ as delivery companies for overseas postal services. Information prior to 2006 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
For the financial years 2006-07 and 2007-08 the requested information is as follows.
| £ | ||
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
Departmental Training
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies spent on training courses for staff in the last (i) 12 months and (ii) five years. [210559]
Jonathan Shaw: We do not have a historic record of spend on training for the last five years, however DEFRA had a corporate learning and development budget of £1.2 million last year. DEFRA does not hold information centrally on what its agencies spent on training courses.
Departmental Transport
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when each of his Department’s and its agencies’ green transport plans were introduced; and if he will place in the Library a copy of each such plan. [209415]
Jonathan Shaw: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (formerly the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) introduced green travel plans in 1999 as part of the MAFF greening operations strategy. This strategy was revised in 2001 to reflect cross Government targets and the organisational changes which resulted from the creation of DEFRA.
It is not possible to place copies of individual green travel plans in the Library as they are site specific, subject to local review and therefore change according to each site’s local circumstances and requirements. Facilities managers at each site are responsible for developing and maintaining them. This activity is checked at all sites covered under the Department’s Environmental Management System (EMS) ISO14001, during internal audit of the sites.
Derelict Land
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he plans to take to develop the brownfield skills strategy; and what recent discussions he, other departmental Ministers and his officials have had with the Academy for Sustainable Communities on the development of environmental decontamination skills. [209971]
Mr. Iain Wright: I have been asked to reply.
The draft Brownfield Skills strategy has been developed by English Partnerships and the Academy for Sustainable Communities. It was published on 4 March 2008 following extensive research and consultation surrounding the barriers that prevent or hinder the reuse of brownfield land, including those relating to environmental decontamination. The skills strategy is an important element in the implementation of the wider National Brownfield strategy and was available for public consultation between 4 March and 10 June 2008. The responses to the consultation will now be analysed by English Partnerships and the Academy for Sustainable Communities prior to the publication of a final strategy document later this year. Communities and Local Government Ministers and officials are in regular contact with the Academy for Sustainable Communities on a range of issues including the developing Brownfield Skills strategy.
Dog Fouling
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times the maximum fine for dog-fouling offences was ordered in Wirral West constituency in each year since 2005. [211262]
Jonathan Shaw: DEFRA does not collect information on the number of fixed penalty notices issued, which carry the maximum fine possible for dog fouling offences.
Dogs: Microprocessors
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he has given consideration to introducing a national dog micro-chipping scheme. [210047]
Jonathan Shaw: The Government do not plan to introduce mandatory micro-chipping for all dogs. We support voluntary identification, where dog owners voluntarily undertake to have their pets permanently identified and registered on nationwide databases.
Dolphins
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many dead dolphins have been found on Cornwall's beaches in each year since 1979. [211014]
Jonathan Shaw: The UK Government has funded the UK Cetacean Strandings Scheme since 1990. Prior to 1990 there was no such scheme and strandings were recorded by the Natural History Museum on an ad hoc basis. The following table details recorded strandings, taken from the UK Cetacean Strandings Scheme database. Data on strandings recorded before 1989 have been taken from the Cornish Wildlife Trust Database(1).
(1) We are currently awaiting data from NHM for cetacean strandings data prior to 1989 and as such the figures provided above may differ from those in the NHM database, but it is unlikely they will differ significantly.
| All cetaceans | |
The increase in numbers of strandings presented in the table in part reflects the increase in reporting effort with the operation of the Strandings scheme. It would therefore not be meaningful to compare stranding numbers collected before 1990 (which were ad hoc reports) with those collected since the scheme started. A very active cetacean strandings volunteer group also operates in the south-west which has increased effort into reporting of cetacean strandings.
Domestic Animals: Animal Welfare
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will establish an investigation into the animal welfare implications of breeding techniques for domestic animals. [211197]
Jonathan Shaw: The Government have no proposal to establish an investigation into breeding techniques for domestic animals.
Environment Protection: Finance
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons his Department stopped providing funding for the Atmosphere, Climate and Environment Information Programme in 2005. [207608]
Jonathan Shaw: The project was unsuccessful in obtaining Environmental Action Fund (EAF) grant for 2005-08 because it no longer fitted sufficiently within the EAF grant regime. The priority for this round was to fund Sustainable Consumption projects and DEFRA received many applications which fitted the eligibility and thematic criteria completely. The EAF was highly competitive, with 36 of the 250 applications being successful.
Environmental Stewardship Scheme
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications there were to the (a) entry level and (b) higher level of the environmental stewardship scheme in (i) lowland areas and (ii) upland areas in each of the last five years; and how much was claimed in each of those years. [210077]
Jonathan Shaw: The number of applications received under Entry Level Stewardship and Higher Level Stewardship in upland and lowland areas in each year since the scheme was launched in 2005 are set out in the following table:
| ELS (lowland) | ELS (upland) | HLS (lowland) | HLS (upland) | |
The amounts of grant aid paid on agreements in the above categories in each year since payments began in 2006 are set out in the following table:
| £ | ||||
| ELS (lowland) | ELS (upland) | HLS (lowland) | HLS (upland) | |
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the renewal rates were for (a) classic schemes and (b) environmental stewardship schemes in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [210079]
Jonathan Shaw: The 'classic' agri-environment schemes (notably Countryside Stewardship and Environmentally Sensitive Areas) closed to new applications in 2004, so any remaining "live" schemes will have the option of moving into Environmental Stewardship (ES) only. Natural England estimates that a minimum of 32 per cent. of expiring classic agreements were renewed directly into Environmental Stewardship between 2004 and 2007.
Environmental Stewardship was introduced in 2005. Agreements under the scheme have a duration of at least five years, so the earliest renewals will not be due until 2010. However, there were 249 'pilot' Entry Level Stewardship agreements which were set up in advance of the launch of the main scheme and which expire this year. All 249 pilot agreement holders have been invited to submit applications to renew by 15 July and Natural England is providing support and advice in the form of farmer workshops and some 1:1 site visits . We do not yet know what the final number of renewals will be.
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