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17 Mar 2009 : Column 1004W—continued
| (b) England—352,000 properties were covered by the aftercare provision of which 90,145 properties required one or more visits | |
| Number | |
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Departmental Detergents
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to ensure that no cleaning products or ingredients of cleaning products used by his Department have been tested on animals. [261127]
Gillian Merron: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office policy in relation to cleaning products or ingredients of cleaning products is to avoid animal testing at all costs unless it is mandated by legal requirement. Products tested on animals would be used only within the definition of the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances (REACh) set up to protect human health and the environment.
Group Of Twenty: London Summit
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) hiring conference facilities and (b) the media centre for the G20 Summit to be held in London on 2 April 2009. [258885]
Gillian Merron: The financial crisis of autumn 2008, affecting banking systems, is now a global economic crisis, impacting upon jobs and livelihoods. No one country can resolve this crisis alone. International co-operation and the London G20 Summit is essential as it will bring together leaders of the world's major economies and key international institutions.
With the global economic situation continuing to deteriorate our goal for the London G20 Summit is for leaders to: take whatever action is necessary to stabilise financial markets and enable families and business to get through the recession; reform and strengthen the global financial and economic system to restore confidence and trust; and put the global economy on track for sustainable growth.
The London G20 Summit at the Excel Centre in east London, which will hold both the conference and a media centre, is therefore vitally important on the global stage. The current estimate of £1.1 million for the space required should be considered in this context.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Subsidies
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was paid to farmers in each region of England in (a) single farm payments, (b) protein crop premium and (c) energy aid in (i) 2005, (ii) 2006, (iii) 2007 and (iv) 2008. [260343]
Jane Kennedy: The data required to provide payment information for these schemes by region are not held in a form that is easily accessible and cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on set-aside; and what timetable he has set to introduce changes to the existing arrangements. [262986]
Jane Kennedy: As I said in my reply to the hon. Member on 2 March 2009, Official Report, column 1216W, the UK supported abolishing set-aside in the CAP ‘Health Check’, but made it clear that adequate measures were needed to mitigate adverse environmental consequences. We were successful in achieving a new legal basis which allows member states to use cross-compliance for this purpose.
On 4 March 2009 DEFRA launched a 12-week public consultation on proposed changes to cross-compliance, including recapturing the environmental benefits of set-aside. The consultation ends on 27 May and Ministers will be considering these responses before making a decision. It is anticipated that any measures, would be introduced from 2010 onwards.
Angling: Licensing
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications for rod licences from people in each age group were refused in each of the last five years; and for what reasons. [263584]
Huw Irranca-Davies: Anyone over the age of 12 who wishes to fish for freshwater fish and eels in England, Wales or the Border Esk region of Scotland requires a rod licence to fish with a rod and line. The Environment Agency do not refuse rod licences.
Beekeeping
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will take steps (a) to promote beekeeping and (b) encourage existing beekeepers to remain in the sector; and if he will make a statement. [262294]
Jane Kennedy: The National Bee Unit (NBU) provides a free comprehensive training and education programme for all beekeepers to enable them to develop their skills and become more self-reliant in combating disease problems through improved bee husbandry. In 2008, beekeepers in England benefited from nearly 23,000 colony inspections and an extensive programme of training, including over 800 technical events to date, delivered by the NBU to help improve disease control through good apiary management. Implementation of ‘Healthy Bees’, a 10-year plan to protect and improve the health of honey bees in England and Wales, will help beekeepers develop their skills and thus continue beekeeping.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many active beekeepers were registered on the National Bee Unit database at the latest date for which figures are available. [263073]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 12 March 2009]: As of 10 March 2009, there were 17,423 active beekeepers registered on the National Bee Unit’s Beebase database.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State recently announced additional funding of £4.3 million for bee health which includes supporting the implementation of the initial phase of a 10-year plan to improve and protect the health of honey bees in England and Wales. One aim is to gain a more accurate picture of the numbers and distribution of beekeepers and the status of the health of their colonies and increase significantly the proportion of beekeepers registered on Beebase.
The additional funding allocation also includes £0.4 million per annum for five years which will be contributed to a wider research programme on pollinator decline.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of beekeepers. [263074]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 12 March 2009]: An economic evaluation of bee health carried out by ADAS Consulting Ltd. in 2001 estimated that there were approximately 33,000 beekeepers and 230,000 colonies of bees in England. The Secretary of State recently announced additional funding of £4.3 million for bee health which includes supporting the implementation of the initial phase of a 10-year plan to improve and protect the health of honey bees in England and Wales. One aim is to gain a more accurate picture of the numbers and distribution of beekeepers and the status of the health of their colonies.
The additional funding allocation also includes £0.4 million per annum for five years which will be contributed to a wider research programme on pollinator decline.
Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to ensure early take-up by farmers of tests for bovine tuberculosis. [262987]
Jane Kennedy: Responsibility for ensuring that legally required bovine tuberculosis (TB) tests are completed on time rests with cattle owners. However, Animal Health gives every cattle owner advance notification of the two to three-month period in which their test must be completed. These notification letters also make it clear that herd movement restrictions will be applied immediately a test becomes overdue. This provides motivation for herd owners to get tests completed on time, and reduces the risk of disease spread from herds with an unknown TB status. Veterinary practices are also advised of the test due dates for their clients’ herds.
However, a significant number of TB tests are still not completed in the required timeframe. To help reduce this number, Animal Health is developing new, more robust enforcement protocols.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to expedite the collection of cattle infected with tuberculosis. [263120]
Jane Kennedy: Government recognise the importance attached to removing infected animals from farms as quickly as possible. Within England, Animal Health is meeting its current target of removing 90 per cent. of TB reactors within 20 working days. As at the end of December 2008 91.4 per cent. (18,102) of the reactors taken in England since 1 April 2008 had been removed within 20 days.
From 1 April 2009 the Animal Health target will be tightened further to 10 working days. This is a challenging target, one which Animal Health will only be able to meet if it has full co-operation from farmers and vets.
Compost
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect of the entry into administration of Bioganix on (a) present and (b) planned in-vessel composting facilities. [263089]
Jane Kennedy: Information received from the DEFRA-funded Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) indicates that the former Bioganix site at Sharpness Docks in Gloucestershire was recently purchased from the administrators for an undisclosed sum by New Earth Solutions, which has announced that the site will continue in operation under the new ownership.
WRAP provides ongoing support to compost producers specifically through its Programme Support Managers and to all recycling and reprocessing business through its Regional Business Advisors and Business and Markets team (who have links to the investor community).
Departmental Absenteeism
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many members of staff from his Department missed at least (a) 30, (b) 50 and (c) 99 days of work through illness in each of the last five years. [262847]
Huw Irranca-Davies [holding answer 11 March 2009]: The number of DEFRA staff who have missed at least 30, 50 and 99 days of work through illness in the core Department is set out in the following table:
| Number of staff | |||
| Total working days absent in year | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
Record-keeping practices vary across DEFRA’s agencies and analysing the data by the categories requested would incur disproportionate cost. Data prior to 2006 are not available in the form requested.
DEFRA has a policy for managing long-term sickness absence for its employees by facilitating timely employee access to occupational health and medical or well-being advice. Individuals are also encouraged to return to work through the use of occupational health expertise that enables them to undertake a structured programme of recuperative duties, helping them to return to full working hours as quickly as possible. All staff have a return to work interview with their manager.
Departmental Data Protection
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what auditing his Department undertakes to ensure that IT security policies are being followed; and on how many occasions (a) IT security policies have been breached by employees and (b) a member of staff has been sanctioned for a breach of such policies in the last 12 months. [259722]
Huw Irranca-Davies: Compliance arrangements comprise a system of self-assessment, accreditation, assurance reporting, audit and review. The Department undertakes a variety of audit activity and takes action when it is clear that its IT security policies need to be updated. However, for security reasons, it would not be appropriate to provide details of the audit functions undertaken.
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department’s IT security hierarchy. [259723]
Huw Irranca-Davies: It is not in the interest of the security of the Department, or that of the public, to place in the Library a copy of detailed information pertaining to the security of the Department’s IT systems. Disclosing such information could assist criminals and those who would attempt to cause disruptive threats to the Department.
Departmental Surveys
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on staff surveys in each of the last five years; and which companies were contracted to carry out the surveys. [260146]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The Department commissioned ORC International Ltd to run staff surveys in 2005, 2007 and 2008. The Department is currently participating with 10 other Departments in a pilot Civil Service Employee Engagement Survey which is also being run by ORC International Ltd.
Approximately £89,000 was spent in 2007-08, and approximately £31,000 has been spent or identified for spend in 2008-09 to date. It is not possible to identify expenditure in previous years.
The first full Civil Service Employee Engagement Survey, covering over half a million civil servants, is planned for autumn 2009, and it is expected that this will deliver an overall saving for the Exchequer compared with the costs of Departments carrying out surveys unilaterally.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on staff surveys in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008; and which companies were contracted to carry out surveys. [263606]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The Department commissioned ORC International Ltd. to run staff surveys in 2007 and 2008. The Department is currently participating with 10 other Departments in a pilot Civil Service Employee Engagement Survey which is also being run by ORC International Ltd.
Approximately £89,000 was spent in 2007-08, and approximately £31,000 has been spent or identified for spend in 2008-09 to date.
The first full Civil Service Employee Engagement Survey, covering over half a million civil servants, is planned for autumn 2009, and it is expected that this will deliver an overall saving for the Exchequer compared with the costs of Departments carrying out surveys unilaterally.
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