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12 Oct 2009 : Column 290W—continued
DEFRA's other Executive Agencies-the Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA), the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) and the Centre for Environment,
Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS)-recover their full economic costs through charges made to customers for services provided.
| (b) Key sponsored bodies | |||||||
| £ million | |||||||
| Actual | Budget | ||||||
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | |
| (1) £5 million of capital grant was brought forward from 2010-11 to 2009-10 for infrastructure projects under the Government's fiscal stimulus initiative. (2) Excludes the Agency's Closed Pension Fund. £20 million of capital grant was brought forward from 2010-11 to 2009-10 for flood risk management work as part of the Government's fiscal stimulus initiative. (3) Prior to 2007-08, DEFRA did not fund JNCC directly. DEFRA funding to JNCC was provided through English Nature and its successor body Natural England. Funding for JNCC was also provided by the devolved administrations through Scottish Natural Heritage and the Countryside Council for Wales and, from 2006-07, the Northern Ireland Department of Environment. (4) Covers funding for existing National Parks and the Broads Authority. Funding for the new South Downs National Park is excluded as there will not be an Authority until 2010-11 at the earliest and the grant has yet to be agreed. (5) Figures for NE represent DEFRA core funding plus annually agreed elements for cost neutral recharges for common services such as IT and HR support. The recharges for 2010-11 have yet to be finalised and are therefore not included in the 2010-11 budget figures. (6) Data for the years 2004-05 to 2008-09 is based on grant claimed by WRAP from DEFRA. Data for 2009-10 is based on DEFRA's grant offer to WRAP. Data for 2010-11 is based on DEFRA's indicative grant offer to WRAP. As a result of the implementation of the Delivery Landscape Review, data for 2009-10 and 2010-11 includes funding previously provided separately by DEFRA to Action Sustainability, Centre for Remanufacturing and Reuse, BREW Centre for local authorities, Envirowise, Construction Resources and Waste Platform and the National Industrial Symbiosis programme. Data for 2009-10 includes funding provided in Budget 2009 for capital expenditure on anaerobic digestion and in-vessel composting infrastructure. | |||||||
Since 2007-08, the costs of funding JNCC have been shared by the four sponsoring administrations according to a funding formula whereby DEFRA alone funds the costs of JNCC's work on reserved matters such as marine work beyond territorial waters, overseas territories and international conventions. This element of the budget is set out in the table above. The remaining costs are shared by DEFRA (49.25 per cent.) funded through Natural England; Scottish Executive (29 per cent.) funded through Scottish Natural Heritage; Welsh Assembly Government (14.5 per cent.) funded through the Countryside Council for Wales; and DOE Northern Ireland (7.25 per cent.). The full GIA figures for JNCC, including contributions from the devolved administrations, are as follows
| £ million | |
In 2009-10, further funding (£1.5 million) has been made available from the DEFR Marine programme to JNCC for the establishment and monitoring of marine protected areas/marine conservation zones (MPAs/MCZs) and broader marine biodiversity monitoring needs.
Only the DEFRA funding for JNCC's work on reserved matters has so far been determined for 2010-11. The costs to be shared amongst the four sponsoring administrations and DEFRA marine funding have yet to be agreed.
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which Minister in his Department has been assigned responsibility for overseeing the delivery of value for money in his Department; whether his Department has established a public sector reform team to implement service reforms; and if he will make a statement. [289741]
Dan Norris: The Secretary of State is responsible for overseeing the delivery of value for money within the Department.
The Department is committed to reforming public services to improve services for the citizen, and various teams are working closely with colleagues in the centre of Government on this important agenda.
Departmental Recruitment
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what data his Department holds on the level of diversity in its recruitment of employees in each of the last three years. [290505]
Dan Norris: Information on the diversity of Government departments, including DEFRA, is published annually and is available via the link provided at:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=2899&;Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=422
Information on the DEFRA employee diversity profile as at 31 March 2008 was published in the Diversity Workforce Monitoring Report and data for 31 March 2009 will be published later in the year.
Departmental Sick Leave
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of sickness absence in each of the last five years. [290523]
Dan Norris: An estimate of the cost of sickness absence in DEFRA and its agencies in each of the last two financial years is shown in the following table. Comparable costs for earlier years are unavailable.
| £ million | |
There is no agreed method of calculating the cost of sickness absences in the civil service. DEFRA has calculated the annual cost by multiplying the number of working days lost due to sickness in each grade by the average salary for that grade. No account has been taken of staff on long-term sick who are on reduced or no pay, which would reduce the totals.
DEFRA manages sickness absences in line with its sickness absence policy. This includes facilitating timely employee access to occupational health advice, medical or well-being interventions. Long-term sick employees are encouraged to return to work on a programme of recuperative duties where appropriate. All individuals returning to work from sickness absence will have a 'welcome back' discussion with their manager.
Departmental Training
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many external training courses were attended by staff of his Department in the last 12 months; and what the cost was of each course. [289689]
Dan Norris: The information requested is not held centrally, as training budgets are delegated to divisions and individual managers within the Department.
As a consequence the information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Work Experience
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what provision is made to enable students to undertake work experience in his Department; by what means members of the public may obtain information about work experience in his Department; and if he will make a statement. [288730]
Dan Norris: Work experience is currently provided in DEFRA as follows:
Five graduates in their penultimate year of undergraduate study are currently on placements with DEFRA which commenced on 6 July 2009, three via the Cabinet Office Summer Development Programme (ethnic minorities) and two from the Summer Placement Scheme (disability).
We have also provided two further placements to interns, one on a four-week short-term contract and one on a voluntary basis.
These paid periods of work experience last for 12 weeks, and are intended to develop interns' work skills and increase their employability.
Members of the public may obtain information on this type of work experience directly from civil service/Cabinet Office recruitment material and via their school/university careers service.
Additionally, DEFRA receives requests for ad hoc periods of work experience from both school and university students. Where possible, provision for this is made at local level subject to legal requirements and departmental workload.
Dogs
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department was represented at the RSPCA Status Dogs summit 2009. [290369]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yes. The summit was attended by DEFRA's Chief Veterinary Officer, who delivered a presentation, and by an official from the Department.
Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will issue guidance on the desirable frequency of collection of household waste in hot weather. [290435]
Dan Norris: The frequency with which a local authority collects household waste is a matter for that authority to decide. The Government believe local authorities are best placed to make these local operational decisions and so does not interfere.
However, the Government do have a role in ensuring that local authorities are as well informed as possible when making their decisions on waste collection and recycling services. The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), through its Recycling and Organics Technical Advisory Team (ROTATE), is able to advise local authorities on the available options.
Employment Tribunals Service
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times his Department has been taken to an employment tribunal in each of the last five years; what the reason cited in each case was; and in how many cases the tribunal found in favour of the (a) employee and (b) Department. [290525]
Dan Norris: DEFRA and its Executive agencies have been taken to an employment tribunal 13 times in the last five years. As the number of employment tribunals in each of the last five years is such a small number, we cannot give further details because of the possibility of giving away the identity of the individuals concerned.
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