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15 Jun 2009 : Column 80W—continued
Departmental Data Protection
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many notifications his Department made to the Information Commissioner in the year ended 30 April 2009 in respect of the loss or mishandling of personal information or data; what was notified in each such case; and how many individuals were the subjects of personal information or data in respect of which such notifications were made. [278743]
Dan Norris: Under the mandatory requirements of the Data Handling Report published on 25 June 2008, DEFRA is required to give a summary report on data breaches reported to the Information Commissioner in our annual resource accounts.
DEFRA has reported on personal data breaches in 2007-08 in our 2008 Departmental Report and this can be found at:
We will be publishing information on personal data security breaches reported to the Information Commissioner for the 2008-09 reporting year before Parliament rises in July. The information is currently being compiled and is to be audited and verified before it is laid before Parliament.
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have been (i) disciplined and (ii) dismissed for (A) breaches of data protection requirements and (B) inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data in the last 12 months. [278744]
Dan Norris: There have been no staff in the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), or its agencies, who have been disciplined or dismissed for (A) breaches of data protection requirements or (B) inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data in the last 12 months from 1 June 2009.
Information is a key asset to Government and its correct handling is vital to the delivery of public services and to the integrity of HMG. The Security Policy Framework and the Data Handling Report produced by the Cabinet Office provide a strategic framework for protecting information that Government handles and put in place a set of mandatory measures which Departments must adhere to.
The Civil Service Management Code sets out the requirements for Departments to have procedures in place to deal with conduct and disciplinary issues. DEFRA's procedures are laid down in the staff handbook which all staff can access via the Department's intranet. Before being permitted to access DEFRA's IT systems all users are required to read and agree to a personal commitment statement. This outlines the requirements to follow the Department's security policies which are held on the intranet, including those which relate to the use of e-mail and the internet.
If staff are found to have been responsible for a serious breach of data security procedures, dependent upon the circumstances, a range of sanctions are available including disciplinary or administrative action, and in extreme or persistent cases, termination of employment/services and, if appropriate, criminal proceedings.
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was spent on salaries for communications and press officers by (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years. [276272]
Dan Norris: Details of how much the Department (including Executive Agencies) spent on salaries for communications and press officers, where information is available, is illustrated in the table at (a).
The position in relation to the Department’s non-departmental public bodies is outlined at (b).
(a) Details of the spend on salaries for press/communications officers in DEFRA (including Executive Agencies) over the last five years :
| £000 | |||||
| Department/Agency | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
| (1) The figures for Core-DEFRA, exclude costs relating to agency staff, contractors and consultants. (2) Details are not held centrally and Animal Health have indicated could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. (3) The Marine and Fisheries Agency was created on 1 October 2005. No information is available for 2004-05 at all, as there was no communications/press officer provision in the Agency or for 2005-06 and 2006-07. A dedicated senior information officer joined MFA on 12 May 2007. (4) The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) do not have any dedicated communications or press staff. Any comms work is carried out on behalf of VMD, by Core-DEFRA’s press office, on an ad-hoc basis. (5) The Communications Directorate in the Rural Payments Agency was only set up in November 2006, a fact that is reflected in the figures. Figures for earlier years are not held in a form that is readily accessible and consequently, could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The figures quoted include both the costs of employing both permanent staff and contractor/consultancy staff over the respective periods. (6) The new Food and Environment Research Agency, which was created on 1 April 2009, does not specifically employ press or communications officers. Instead they route all of the press queries that they receive through the Core-DEFRA press office. | |||||
(b) Details of the spend on salaries for press/communications officers in DEFRA’s NDPBs :
This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Marketing
Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been spent by his Department on advertising in weekly and regional newspapers in each of the last five years. [277157]
Dan Norris: The following table shows how much DEFRA has spent on advertising in weekly and regional newspapers in the last five years.
| £ | ||||||
| Type | April 2004 to March 2005 | April 2005 to March 2006 | April 2006 to March 2007 | April 2007 to March 2008 | April 2008 to March 2009 | Total |
The increase in spend in the last financial year (April 2008 to March 2009) correlated with the start of our major consumer-facing campaign, Act on CO2.
Departmental Official Hospitality
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on (a) conference services and (b) banqueting services in each of the last five years. [274506]
Dan Norris: The core-Department’s financial system category codes record the following expenditure on conferences and events services.
| £ | |
Information before this date could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The core-Department’s financial system has no category code for banqueting services.
Departmental Pay
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff employed in London on work contracted out by his Department earn less than £7.45 per hour. [274948]
Dan Norris [holding answer 12 May 2009]: From information held centrally, there are no staff employed in London on work contracted out by the Department earning less than £7.45 per hour.
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many bonuses were paid to staff in (a) his Department and (b) each of its non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years; and how much was paid in each case. [276271]
Dan Norris: The following table shows the figures requested for DEFRA and its Executive Agencies. Due to system changes, data prior to 2005-06 for Core DEFRA are available only at disproportionate cost. Data for non departmental public bodies are not held centrally and also can only be made available at disproportionate cost.
| DEFRA | VLA | CEFAS | RPA | ||
For DEFRA, the data cover staff in the core Department and those Executive Agencies covered by DEFRA terms and conditions at that time, as well as staff who transferred to DECC on 3 October 2008.
Non-consolidated performance related variable pay is used to reward excellent performance during the year and is based on a judgment of how well an individual has performed relative to their peers. Performance related pay schemes encourage high attainment because bonuses have to be earned each year. They help drive high performance in Departments and agencies and support better public service delivery.
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