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24 Jun 2008 : Column 164W—continued
Departmental Furniture
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) chairs, (b) desks and (c) other office furnishings have been purchased by his Department and its agencies in each of the last five years; and at what cost in each case. [211768]
Jonathan Shaw: In total, Special Projects have spent £4,316,178.05 on office furniture between financial years 2004-05 to 2008-09 inclusive.
Special Projects (now known as the Space Utilization Team) is a group within Estates Division set up to co-ordinate large scale personnel moves. Much of the furniture shown was procured in conjunction with the refurbishment of 3-8 Whitehall Place, Nobel House and Ashdown House.
| Furniture expenditure | ||
| 2004-05 | ||
| Item | Number purchased | Cost, including VAT (£) |
| 20 05 -0 6 | ||
| Item | Number purchased | Cost, including VAT (£) |
| 20 06 -0 7 | ||
| Item | Number purchased | Cost, including VAT (£) |
| 20 07 -0 8 | ||
| Item | Number purchased | Cost, including VAT (£) |
| 20 08 -0 9 | ||
| Item | Number purchased | Cost, including VAT (£) |
Dogs
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) which police forces did not respond to his Department’s consultation on the (a) adequacy and (b) enforcement of legislation on dangerous dogs; and if he will make a statement; [210444]
(2) if he will place in the Library the full response from the Lancashire Constabulary to his consultation on dangerous dogs legislation. [210941]
Jonathan Shaw: These requests are currently being considered and I will write separately to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
Flood Control
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what factors he considers when determining the relative priority of measures to deal with coastal flooding and inland flooding; and if he will make a statement. [212957]
Mr. Woolas: Capital works promoted by operating authorities have been prioritised according to the priority scoring system (PSS) which makes use of three main criteria: economics (based on benefit cost ratio); people (number of residential properties protected, risk and vulnerability); and environment (based on the area of habitat created or protected and heritage sites). The risk element of the people score recognised the differences between very fast onset of flooding (common in coastal areas) and slower rising flooding with longer warning times.
New outcome measures for flood and coastal erosion risk management have been developed to provide greater clarity on what policies and funding for flood and coastal erosion risk management are intended to achieve. There are currently nine outcome measures, seven of which apply to both flood and coastal erosion risk, and two to flood risk only.
We are working with the Environment Agency to develop an effective prioritisation approach using the outcome measures and expect a revised system to be introduced for 2009-10. There was no differentiation between coastal and inland areas in setting the targets for the flood management outcome measures, but the funding allocations announced in March did include an underlying minimum allocation for coastal local authorities of £110 million over three years.
Flood Control: Bournemouth
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations (a) his Department and (b) its agencies has received requesting assistance in improving flood defences in Southbourne, Bournemouth. [212459]
Mr. Woolas: DEFRA has received one letter and the Environment Agency has received three letters on this issue from Hengistbury Residents Association.
Flood Control: Canvey Island
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps are being taken to improve working practices between the Environment Agency and local authorities to deal with (a) flooding and (b) drainage for Canvey Island; and if he will make a statement. [212956]
Mr. Woolas: Canvey Island has some of the best defences in the country with the sea walls and associated structures offering a standard of protection against sea flooding in excess of 1:1,000. Additionally, £6 million has recently been invested by the Environment Agency on new pumps to improve drainage on the Island.
Following the exceptionally heavy rainfall which occurred on Canvey Island over the bank holiday weekend, all organisations have assessed how their drainage structures performed. A meeting has been arranged for July, when all organisations with a drainage responsibility will be present to explore what measures can be taken to further reduce future flood risk.
Flood Control: Land Use
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to publish additional guidance on the role of land use management in controlling flood risk. [212659]
Mr. Woolas: The Environment Agency led a project under the Government’s strategy for flood and coastal erosion risk management—“Making space for water”—to investigate the relationship between land management and flood risk.
The outputs of this project were published on DEFRA’s website in February. These include reports on the role of land use and management in delivering flood risk, a review of existing mechanisms, options, recommendations for future work and an initial assessment of catchments sensitive to increased flood risk due to land use change.
DEFRA will shortly be publishing the results of a research project which analysed historical data sets to look for evidence of any connection between land use and management change and flood generation.
There are no further proposals to publish specific guidance on the role of land use management in controlling flood risk. However, as and when other Government guidance on land use and management is reviewed, further opportunities will be sought to encourage practices which help mitigate flood risk.
Floods
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the departmental research projects entitled (a) simulation of flood risk and non-structural flood management, (b) flood risk management strategies in European member states, (c) who benefits from flood management policies and (d) developing the evidence base for flood resilience were completed; and at what cost in each case. [211946]
Mr. Woolas: All of the named projects are currently in the final stages of completion and we anticipate publishing the technical reports in the near future.
| Project title | Project cost (£) |
|
(a) Simulation of flood risk and non-structural flood management | |
|
(b) Flood risk management strategies in European member states | |
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