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Departmental Buildings

Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his Department's policy is on improving the energy efficiency of the buildings which it (a) rents and (b) owns; what changes there have been in the energy efficiency of such buildings in the last (i) five and (ii) 10 years; and whether his Department has adopted targets on energy efficiency improvements in the buildings it occupies over the next (A) five and (B) 10 years. [221087]

Jonathan Shaw: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is committed to improving the energy efficiency of all buildings that it owns and to work with landlords to improve the energy efficiency of those buildings which it rents.

The Department has signed up to the Carbon Trust's Carbon Management Programme and in 2007, became the first Department to gain the Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme award for its core Department and executive agencies. This standard measures improvement in energy efficiency in 19 specific areas and is widely recognised as an industry standard in measuring efficiency gains.

DEFRA is currently producing benchmarks for its sites using the CIBSE (Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers) TM22 Energy Assessment and Reporting Methodology. This supports the roll out of display energy certificates which is required for all public buildings over 1000m(2).

Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what account his Department takes of the level of energy efficiency of buildings before entering into agreements to (a) rent and (b) purchase those buildings. [221103]

Jonathan Shaw: Where the acquisition of new premises involves new build or substantial refurbishment the Department will insist on the building attaining the BREEAM Excellent construction standard or above. Design at this level seeks to optimise the energy efficiency performance the building can deliver.

The Department is also keen to support sustainability around the re-use of existing premises either forming part of its own estate or the wider Government estate. The Department will always seek to identify the property with the best overall sustainability score to minimise our environmental impact. In seeking re-use of existing premises, especially older premises on the civil estate, it is not always possible to secure the highest environmental or energy performance standards. As a consequence, where appropriate, planned investment will be employed to improve environmental and energy efficiency of older buildings acquired.

While the Department looks for sustainability and energy efficiency, the identification and acquisition of premises is often market dependent. The supply of
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greener buildings can be limited outside the major towns and cities, especially for specialist buildings and locations. In such circumstances, the Department seeks the best sustainability performance available and encourages potential landlords to invest in sustainability and sustainable technologies.

This approach is employed whether the buildings are acquired freehold or leasehold.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which organisations have received (a) free and (b) discounted room hire from (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies in each of the last five years; and what the commercial value of the discount was in each case. [221584]

Jonathan Shaw: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Compensation

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the 10 highest payments made by his Department were under property compensation cases brought against it over the last 12 months for which figures are available; which of the cases were (a) contested and (b) uncontested by his Department; and what the nature of each incident was. [216707]

Jonathan Shaw: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs had not made any payments under property compensation cases brought against it over the last 12 months.

Departmental ICT

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what IT contracts his Departments and its agencies have entered into in the last two years. [215157]

Jonathan Shaw: The IT contracts entered into by DEFRA and its agencies in the last two years are listed as follows.

DEFRA

Central Science Laboratory


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Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science

Rural Payments Agency


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Veterinary Medicines Directorate

Veterinary Laboratories Agency

Departmental Inquiries

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what independent inquiries have been commissioned by his Department in the last five years; what the (a) purpose and (b) cost was of each; and what steps were taken following each. [211119]

Jonathan Shaw: My Department has commissioned a number of inquiries in the last five years. The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Manpower

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the change in the number of employees in his Department and its agencies has been since July 2006. [217071]


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Jonathan Shaw: The number of staff in DEFRA and its agencies (in full-time equivalents) has reduced from on 12,650 on 31 July 2006 to 10,375 on 31 May 2008.

During this period, 1,160 DEFRA staff transferred to the newly-created Natural England on 1 October 2006 and 175 staff in the Pesticide Safety Directorate transferred to the Health and Safety Executive on 1 April 2008.

Departmental Procurement

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his Department's policy is on requesting discounts from its suppliers in return for swift payment of invoices. [220436]

Jonathan Shaw: The Department’s payment policy is to pay its suppliers within 30 days or less of receipt of a valid, undisputed invoice. Decisions on requesting discounts from its suppliers in return for earlier payment of valid and undisputed invoices would be taken on a case by case basis subject to value for money considerations and be consistent with HM Treasury Accounting Rules (Managing Public Money).

Departmental Public Participation

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) reviews and (b) public consultations have been initiated by his Department since 27 June 2007. [221378]

Jonathan Shaw: A full list of public consultations published by DEFRA since 27 June 2007 to 18 July 2008 (a total of 86) is set out as follows. All public consultations published by the Department since January 2006 are available on the DEFRA website:

My Department does not hold information centrally on the reviews that it undertakes. The information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

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