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29 Sep 2008 : Column 2414W—continued
Figures exclude VAT, production, and miscellaneous costs, COI fees and advertising rebates.
Departmental Official Hospitality
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on entertainment in each of the last five years. [219253]
Jonathan Shaw: The core-Department holds no information centrally on the expenditure category of entertainment.
Departmental Overtime
Mr. Hoban:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many hours
of overtime were worked by staff in each pay grade in his Department in each of the last 12 months. [221246]
Jonathan Shaw: The following table shows the total number of hours overtime worked in each of the last 12 months, broken down by pay grade. The data cover staff in core-DEFRA and those agencies covered by core-DEFRA pay arrangements (i.e. Animal Health, Marine and Fisheries Agency, Veterinary Medicines Directorate, Government Decontamination Service and Pesticides Safety Directorate (who merged with the Health and Safety Executive on 1 April 2008).
| AA | AO | EO | HEO | FS | SEO | VO | G7 | G6 | |
| Grade equivalent: AA: Administration Assistant AO: Administration Officer EO: Executive Officer HEO: Higher Executive Officer FS: Fast Stream SEO: Senior Executive Officer VO: Veterinary Officer G7: Grade 7 G6: Grade 6 | |||||||||
The higher levels of hours overtime worked apparent in the period of September 2007 to December 2007 correspond to pressures on the Department in relation to foot and mouth disease and avian influenza. This is especially pronounced in veterinary grades and those grades that would provide administrative and policy support in these areas.
Departmental Pay
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was claimed in reimbursable expenses by press officers in his Department and its agencies in each of the last three financial years. [221180]
Jonathan Shaw: The following table sets out how much was claimed in reimbursable expenses by press officers in core DEFRA in each of the last three financial years.
| £ | |
Information for DEFRA’s agencies is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Responsibilities
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which projects his Department has commissioned from (a) think tanks and (b) charities in each of the last two years for which figures are available; what the aim of each project was; which think tank or charity was commissioned; and how much was paid. [221609]
Jonathan Shaw: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Domestic Wastes: Waste Management
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on the frequency of bin collections; and if he will make a statement. [224204]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 17 September 2008]: DEFRA does not have a policy on the frequency of bin collections. It is the local authority’s duty to collect household waste and to reduce the amount of household waste being sent to landfill. They are best placed to make decisions on how they fulfil their duties, including the frequency of collections.
Environment Agency: Finance
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how the Environment Agency's planned £17 million savings from the flood risk management budget in 2007-08 break down among spending areas. [224199]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 17 September 2008]: The £16.7 million of savings made by the Environment Agency in 2007-08 on flood risk management as reported in the Annual Report and Accounts in 2007-08 were as follows:
The savings are efficiency and productivity savings and therefore will not adversely affect delivery.
Environment Protection: Offenders
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many fixed penalty notices for environmental offences were issued in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (a) type of offence and (b) issuing authority. [223560]
Jonathan Shaw [holding answer 15 September 2008]: Data on the number of fixed penalty notices issued for environmental offences by, or on behalf of, each local authority in England and Wales are available on the DEFRA website from the reporting year 1997-98 onwards.
Flood Control
Mr. Peter Ainsworth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many local resilience forums have received information on
critical infrastructure at risk or areas at risk of flooding since the summer 2007 floods. [224200]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 17 September 2008]: Following the recommendation in Sir Michael Pitt's interim report of December 2007 into last summer's floods—that Category 1 responders should be urgently provided with a detailed assessment of critical infrastructure in their areas—information has been provided to 35 local resilience forums in England and to the London resilience team on behalf of the six local resilience forums in London. Briefing for the remaining two local resilience forums, due to take place in July, was postponed until later this month because of changes in key personnel.
In addition, since last summer's floods the Environment Agency has met with local resilience forums to discuss the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to flood risk to assist in emergency response planning. This has included providing information on areas susceptible to surface water flooding.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what timetable has been set for the implementation of a national floods exercise. [224202]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 17 September 2008]: Firm dates for the next scheduled national flood exercise have yet to be fixed.
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