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12 Oct 2009 : Column 280W—continued
Birds: Urban Areas
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding he has provided for research into the impact of seagull droppings on town centres in (a) 2009-10 and (b) subsequent years; and if he will make a statement. [292153]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information is as follows:
(a) None
(b) None.
Coastal Areas
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many coastal change pathfinders he expects to be created following the consultation on coastal change policy; and if he will make a statement. [290054]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The Consultation on Coastal Change Policy was launched alongside the pathfinder competition on 15 June 2009. It included a number of criteria against which bids from local authorities interested in becoming pathfinders will be assessed. The number of pathfinders that are created will depend on the nature of the bids received and how well they meet the published criteria.
The closing date for bids was 11 September 2009 and I can confirm that 20 bids have been received. These are now being assessed against the published criteria and I expect to announce the selected pathfinders later in the autumn.
Compost: Health Hazards
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effects on public health of odour emissions from mushroom composting sites in England. [291238]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 16 September 2009]: Mushroom composting operations which produce compost for sale are regulated under the local authority pollution control regime. It is intended shortly to extend this form of regulation to all mushroom composting operations. A key focus of such regulation is on the control of odour emissions, which can be particularly offensive. No assessment has been made of the effect of the odour emission on public health.
Delivery Unit
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what stocktake meetings his Department has had with the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit in the last 12 months. [289943]
Dan Norris: The PMDU is in constant contact with Departments as part of its process of taking stock of delivery. It reports regularly to the PM, the Treasury and the Departments concerned.
Departmental Advertising
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on newspaper advertising carried in each newspaper in the most recent year for which figures are available. [289505]
Dan Norris: Please find as follows a table which indicates newspaper advertising carried in each newspaper for 2008.
| Title/Display | 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2008 t otal (£) |
Please find as follows costs for statutory and recruitment advertising. As a number of DEFRA's recruitment adverts are placed through the Cabinet Office framework as part of a whole advertising campaign (campaigns can include the preparation of application packs, advertisements, sifting and assessments) it is not possible to split out the advertising element at a proportionate cost.
| Classified/Recruitment | £ |
Departmental Databases
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what databases are (a) owned and (b) maintained by his Department. [291845]
Dan Norris: DEFRA own and maintains a wide range of databases reflecting its diverse policy and regulatory functions. A full list could be provided only at disproportionate cost to the Department.
However, DEFRA's information asset register does provide details of many of the databases managed by the Department. This register is available on the Department's website at:
Departmental Dismissal
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many members of staff have (a) been dismissed and ( b) had their contract terminated by his Department in each of the last five years; what the reason was in each case; and what the severance costs in relation to (i) dismissal and (ii) contract termination were in each such year. [290526]
Dan Norris: The following table details the number of employees dismissed from DEFRA and its executive agencies in each of the last five years together with the reasons and associated costs where appropriate:
| Financial year | Performance | Attendance | Misconduct | Costs (£) |
| (1) Withheld on confidentiality grounds Notes: 1. The data are for DEFRA's executive agencies but not non departmental public bodies as sourcing this information can be supplied only at disproportionate cost. 2. Because of the small number of dismissals in these years, we cannot give figures because of the possibility of identifying individuals. | ||||
These dismissals were the result of staff undergoing procedures for unsatisfactory performance (including probation), unsatisfactory attendance and misconduct.
The Civil Service Management Code sets out the requirements for Departments to have procedures in place to deal with discipline, attendance and performance issues. All dismissals are conducted in line with DEFRA's misconduct, attendance and performance policies and procedures, which are available to staff via DEFRA's intranet.
The following table details the number of employees who have had their contract terminated as a result of redundancy in each of the last five years together with associated severance costs where appropriate:
| Financial year | Number of redundancies | Costs (£) |
| Notes: 1. The data are for DEFRA's executive agencies but not non departmental public bodies as sourcing this information can be provided only at disproportionate cost threshold. 2. Because of the small number of redundancies in this year, we cannot give figures because of the possibility of identifying individuals. | ||
Departmental Flexible Working
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what flexi-time arrangements were available to staff of his Department in each of the last five years; and how many staff participated in such arrangements in each such year. [290528]
Dan Norris: DEFRA and its agencies are committed to helping their staff to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Managers and employees are encouraged to think creatively about working patterns to help ensure the Department delivers a high quality service to its customers whilst accommodating the flexible working requests of its employees wherever possible.
In doing so, DEFRA meets the legal requirement to provide certain employees the right to request flexible working arrangements. Eligible employees are those responsible for bringing up a young (under 16) or disabled (under 18) child and those who are responsible for caring for an adult.
The flexible working practices in place for staff in DEFRA include:
Part-time working
Working compressed hours
Working flexi-time
Job share arrangements
Working from home.
DEFRA has also promoted the Civil Service Job Share website that was launched in May 2009 to help its employees find job share partners.
In terms of DEFRA'S flexi-time provisions, all staff below senior civil service (SCS) are eligible to apply to participate. The system allows employees to accrue time worked over and above their conditioned hours which they can then take in addition to their annual leave entitlement with approval from their manager.
Requests by staff to participate in the flexi-time arrangements are agreed, or otherwise, by line managers and no records are held centrally. These data can therefore be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Departmental Information Officers
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many press officers his Department employs. [291844]
Dan Norris: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs currently employs 18 full-time equivalent press officers.
Departmental Location
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many of his Department's staff have their main place of work (a) in and (b) outside London. [291851]
Dan Norris: The following table shows the number of staff in DEFRA and its agencies that work in London offices and the number that work outside London. The figures are staff in post (headcount) as at 31 August 2009.
| Department/agency | London-based | Outside London | Total |
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