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11 Dec 2008 : Column 206W—continued


Teenage Pregnancy

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the conception rate was among girls aged under 18 years in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007. [240377]

Kevin Brennan: The information falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated December 2008:

Number and rate of conceptions to girls aged under 18, England and Wales
Year Number Rate( 1)

2006

41,768

41

1 Per 1,000 female population aged 15-17.

Textile Industry: Manpower

Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many people were employed in the (a) weaving, (b) spinning, (c) dyeing, (d) finishing and making-up and (e) silk industry sectors of the clothing and textiles industry at the latest date for which figures are available. [240416]

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated December 2008:


11 Dec 2008 : Column 207W
Table 1: Number of employee jobs in selected clothing and textile industries( 1) , 2006—Great Britain

Number (thousand)

Weaving(2)

7

Spinning(3)

5

Finishing and Making-up(4)

86

Silk(5)

3

(1) Using four-digit Standard Industrial Classification 2003 (SIC03)
(2) The four digit SIC03 codes used are 1721-1725 (which includes weaving of silk).
(3) The four digit SIC03 codes used are l711-1717 (which includes spinning of silk).
(4) The four digit SIC03 codes used are 1740-1330.
(5) The four digit SIC03 codes used are1715 and 1724.
Source:
Annual Business Inquiry

Unemployment

Jenny Willott: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the (a) employment and (b) unemployment rate for (i) women, (ii) men and (iii) men and women aged (A) 16 to 24, (B) 25 to 34, (C) 34 to 49 and (D) 50 to 60 years was in each month of the last 10 years. [241444]

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated December 2008:

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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. [242291]

Huw Irranca-Davies [holding answer 10 December 2008]: In DEFRA, public relations covers a wide range of activity which forms an important element of a
11 Dec 2008 : Column 208W
broader communications mix. This can include advertising, direct 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 Communications UK

Climate Change Champions

32,216

EdComs and Blue Rubicon

DEFRA Year of Food and Farming

242,578

April 2008 to November 2008

EDComs and Blue Rubicon

DEFRA Year of Food and Farming

28,230

Munro and Forster

ACT on CO2 campaign

77,788


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

Departmental Rail Travel

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what date he last used a train in the course of his official duties. [242602]

Hilary Benn: All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code. My latest official duty outside London was on 28 November, when I attended the meeting of the Cabinet in Leeds. I travelled to and from Leeds by train.

Environment Agency: Manpower

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects the Environment Agency's first flooding engineers to graduate from university and take up positions in the agency. [241507]

Huw Irranca-Davies: The first Environment Agency Foundation Degree students in flood and coastal engineering graduated from the University of the West of England in 2006. To date, 75 students have graduated and over 90 per cent. are employed by the Environment Agency as technician engineers.

There are currently 138 engineering graduates and students training with the Environment Agency under a national development programme that includes the Foundation Degree students, Masters Degree students
11 Dec 2008 : Column 209W
from various universities and graduates under professional training agreements. The Environment Agency expects that 50 engineering staff will join its business each year by 2010 through this programme.

Flood Control

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the Environment Agency on repairs of critical infrastructure which is at risk from flooding. [241499]

Huw Irranca-Davies: Ministers have had discussions with the Environment Agency on this and other matters. The agency has held a significant number of discussions with local resilience forums and emergency services about the critical infrastructure in their areas. The agency has also provided extensive advice to operators of critical national infrastructure and is currently working closely with them to identify their sites at risk and provide them with appropriate flood warnings.

Forestry Commission: Public Relations

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer of 19 November 2008, Official Report, column 476W, on public relations: Forestry Commission, if he will break down the indicative cost for 2007-08 by category of services provided. [242088]

Huw Irranca-Davies [holding answer 10 December 2008]: The nature of the Forestry Commission's activities means that individual staff deal with several aspects of communications as part of a single project and it is therefore not possible to break down costs into discrete communications activities. An indicative breakdown can be given for the broad areas of activity.


11 Dec 2008 : Column 210W

Promotion of the public forest estate, including advertising and marketing of events, promotion of visitor facilities and attractions and literature for walks, cycling facilities etc., amounted to £316,000.

Press, media and internet communications carried out by Forestry Commission staff and external agencies working on the Commission's behalf amounted to £544,000.

Corporate publicity, which includes the promotion of sustainable forestry policy and practice, grants and licences literature, events and trade shows amounted to £120,000.

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer of 15 October 2008, Official Report, columns 1218-22W, on non-departmental public bodies, how the budget savings over the period (a) 2007-08 to 2008-09 and (b) 2008-09 to 2010 of (i) Natural England, (ii) Carbon Trust, (iii) Encams, (iv) RPA Operations and (v) the Marine and Fisheries Agency break down among spending areas. [240842]

Huw Irranca-Davies: [h olding answer 8 December 2008]: The budgets for Natural England, Carbon Trust, Encams, RPA Operations and the Marine and Fisheries Agency, split between resource and capital spending areas are provided in the following table. A comparison between years is also provided.

Budgets are set annually, based on forecast workloads contained in business plans. Budget savings are managed in-year through normal budget monitoring and management procedures and the outcome reported in the relevant bodies' annual reports and accounts.

Budgets 2007-08 to 2009-10
£ million
2007-08 2008-09 2009-10

Resource Capital Total Resource Capital Total Resource Capital Total

Natural England

175.3

5.7

181.0

169.8

6.1

175.9

165.8

6.1

171.9

Carbon Trust

70.7

20.0

90.7

58.7

30.4

89.1

58.7

27.0

85.7

ENCAMS

5.0

0.0

5.0

5.0

0.0

5.0

5.0

0.0

5.0

RPA Operations

239.1

25.1

264.2

201.6

22.0

223.6

182.7

19.6

202.3

Marine and Fisheries Agency

20.7

4.0

24.7

20.5

3.0

23.5

20.5

3.0

23.5


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