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26 Nov 2008 : Column 1606W—continued

Departmental Pay

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what bonuses were paid by his Department in 2007-08; to which members of staff; and for what purposes. [239664]

Huw Irranca-Davies: It has not proved possible to respond to the right hon. and learned Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Departmental Pensions

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department and its agencies are members of the (a) Classic, (b) Classic Plus, (c) Nuvos and (d) Premium civil service pension schemes. [229534]

Huw Irranca-Davies: The following table provides the figures for each organisation. Data for Core DEFRA, RPA, CEFAS and VLA are from the pension
26 Nov 2008 : Column 1607W
administrator’s database, data for CSL were taken from their internal HR database. All data are as of the last (October) payroll update.

Number Percentage

Core DEFRA (including Animal Health, Veterinary Medicines Directorate, Marine and Fisheries Agency and the Government Decontamination Service)

Total Staff

5,016

Classic

2,833

56.5

Classic Plus

254

5.1

Premium

1,518

30.3

Nuvos

210

4.2

RPA

Total Staff

3,555

Classic

1,782

50.1

Classic Plus

138

3.9

Premium

1,090

30.7

Nuvos

273

7.7

CEFAS

Total Staff

889

Classic

364

40.9

Classic Plus

32

3.6

Premium

190

21.4

Nuvos

67

7.5

CSL

Total Staff

652

Classic

335

51.4

Classic Plus/Premium

256

39.3

Nuvos

29

4.4

VLA

Total Staff

1,342

Classic

711

53.0

Classic Plus

54

4.0

Premium

401

29.9

Nuvos

41

3.1


Departmental Postal Services

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department uses the Royal Mail as the primary company for sending its post, parcels and packages. [238322]

Huw Irranca-Davies: For the period 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2008 the postal service providers that carried most of the (a) letters and (b) parcels sent by the core-Department in each of the last three years were Royal Mail and Amtrak respectively.

Departmental Press Releases

Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many press releases have been issued by his Department in each year since 1997-98; and if he will make a statement. [238976]


26 Nov 2008 : Column 1608W

Huw Irranca-Davies: This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Procurement

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether there has been any nugatory cost to his Department and its agencies relating to tendered procurement where the tender process has been cancelled prior to the award of the contract in the last three years. [239640]

Huw Irranca-Davies: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Departmental Property

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on maintaining its domestic properties in each of the last five years. [238735]

Huw Irranca-Davies [holding answer 24 November 2008]: The Department has expended the following amounts on maintaining its residential dwellings in each of the last five years:

£

2004

18,104

2005

107,131

2006

24,378

2007

22,938

2008

26,997


Departmental Public Expenditure

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much expenditure from the public purse for which his Department is responsible was incurred in 2007-08 in respect of (a) Balmoral Transport Service, (b) MC Chauffeurs and (c) Stratstone; and what the purpose was of such expenditure. [239611]

Huw Irranca-Davies: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Departmental Public Opinion

Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on (a) focus groups and (b) opinion polls in each year since 1997-98; how much he estimates will be spent on each category in 2008-09; and if he will make a statement. [239035]

Huw Irranca-Davies: This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Public Relations

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on external (a) public affairs and (b) public relations consultants in each of the last five years. [233269]


26 Nov 2008 : Column 1609W

Huw Irranca-Davies [holding answer 4 November 2008]: In DEFRA, public relations covers a wide range of activity which forms an important element of a broader communications mix. This can include advertising, direct
26 Nov 2008 : Column 1610W
marketing, live events and publications. The following table shows what public relations activity was procured via DEFRA’s Communications Directorate since FY 2004-05 using the COI Public Relations Framework.

Financial year PR agency Campaign Expenditure (£)

2004-05

Amazon PR

Sustainable Development

58,788

2005-06

Amazon PR

Sustainable Development

67,084

Weber Shandwick

Climate Change

86,781

2006-07

EdComs and Blue Rubicon

DEFRA Year of Food and Farming

50,872

Amazon PR

Sustainable Development

48,973

Trimedia Harrison Cowley

Act On CO2 campaign

49,250

Amazon PR

Sustainable development

48,973

2007-08

Trimedia Harrison Cowley

Act On CO2 campaign (including a series of regional roadshows)

476,301

Munro and Forster

Waste

64,424

Trimedia

Climate Change

32,216

Communications UK

Champions

EdComs and Blue Rubicon

DEFRA Year of Food and Farming

242,578

2008 to September 2009

EDComs and Blue Rubicon

DEFRA Year of Food and Farming

28,230

Trimedia Communications UK

Act On CO2 campaign

78,529


We do not collate expenditure under the heading ‘public affairs’.

Departmental Research

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on joint research projects of each type with (a) universities and (b) companies in each of the last five years; and what the name of each company was. [237232]

Hilary Benn: The information requested is as follows:

1. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has spent the following total amounts on joint research projects with universities and companies in the last five years:

£

Universities

11,867,138

Companies

11,518,417


These figures include amounts spent to date for the 2008-09 financial year

2. The financial year breakdown are as follows:

£
1: Universities

2003-04

1,687,601

2004-05

2,389,961

2005-06

2,782,582

2006-07

2,838,636

2007-08

2,168,358


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