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8 Dec 2009 : Column 189W—continued
Projects for the improvement of fish populations within the River Tame catchment include creating refuges to shelter fish from pollution and flooding and improving the river-habitat, for example, by re-profiling projects at Tamworth and Croxall.
Feasibility reports for fish passes to allow fish to migrate to spawning habitats and re-colonise the river.
River restoration projects along the Tame and its tributaries, including channel braiding, gavel introduction, tree planting, floodplain habitat creation and reconnecting the river to its floodplain.
The first set of River Basin Management Plans for the period 2009-15 are due to be published on 22 December 2009.
Rural Payments Agency: Manpower
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) full-time, (b) part-time, (c) permanent and (d) temporary staff have been employed at the Rural Payments Agency in each year since 2005; and if he will make a statement. [304015]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Table 1 details the number of permanent and temporary staff employed at the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) in each year since 2005.
| Table 1 | ||||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
| (1) Includes only civil servants with permanent employment contracts. (2) Includes all staff who do not have permanent employment contracts, for example fixed-term and casual civil servants, employment agency workers and contractors. | ||||
Table 2 shows how many full-time and part-time civil servants were employed at RPA in each year since 2005. RPA has not historically kept records on whether agency staff or contractors are full or part time.
| Table 2 | ||||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
Sewers: Private Sector
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of the proposed provisions of the Private Drains and Sewers Transfer Bill on the drainage contracting industry. [305348]
Huw Irranca-Davies: At each stage of the Review of Private Sewers DEFRA has published Impact Assessments to accompany consultations and decisions. The latest Impact Assessment accompanied Hilary Benn's announcement of the decision to proceed with transfer in November 2008 and is available at:
The Small Firms Impact Test within this Impact Assessment acknowledged that some smaller independent drainage contractors perceive transfer as a threat. Some do see opportunities, such as CCTV work for example, because of course the work on sewers and laterals will still need to be undertaken.
A further Impact Assessment will accompany the consultation on proposals for implementation regulations on which I anticipate consulting this winter (2009-10), prior to presenting the final regulations to Parliament for approval.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what consultation his Department undertook with the drainage contracting industry regarding the transfer of private drains to water companies in 2011. [305349]
Huw Irranca-Davies: In July 2003 DEFRA published the 'Review of Existing Private Sewers and Drains in England and Wales' consultation paper that sought views on a range of strategic options to deal with the problems of private sewers. The Government published a response to this consultation in October 2004. 81 per cent. of stakeholders favoured a change of ownership, and of these, 90 per cent. held the view that sewerage undertakers should take over responsibility. DEFRA acknowledged the strength of support for this solution and undertook to look at it in more depth.
Subsequently, representatives of 50 stakeholder groups were invited to a private sewers seminar in January 2005. This included a workshop looking at the potential impacts on small businesses.
Because of the drainage industry's fragmented nature and the fact that no national body specifically represents the views of smaller drainage companies it has been particularly difficult to seek contractors' views. However, following the workshop DEFRA undertook a telephone
survey of over 130 contractors to identify the potential impacts of any transfer on them. DEFRA has also included the Society of British Water and Wastewater Industries and the National Sewerage Association, together with the Enterprise Directorate (formerly the Small Business Service), on a stakeholder steering group. These organisations have consistently made representations about the potential impact of transfer on smaller drainage businesses.
In February 2007 the Government published their decision paper and committed to consult on options for the implementation of transfer. A consultation paper on implementation options was published in July 2007, and Hilary Benn announced on 15 December 2008 the Government's decision to proceed with transfer from 2011.
Copies of the 2003 and 2007 consultation papers and the Government's 2004 response to the review were placed in the Library of the House on publication. A Summary of Responses to the 2007 Consultation on Implementation Options was published in March 2008 and is available from DEFRA.
Further consultation on the content of regulations to implement transfer will be published this winter and DEFRA continues to work closely with a range of interested stakeholders in developing proposals for implementation.
Water Charges: Concessions
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer of 14 October 2009, Official Report, column 950W, on water charges, in which financial year he expects such concessionary schemes to commence; and what prior steps he is taking to assist voluntary organisations which are subject to surface water drainage charges. [305259]
Huw Irranca-Davies: Legislation to enable water and sewerage companies in England and Wales to operate concessionary schemes for community premises for the purpose of surface water drainage charges was included in the Flood and Water Management Bill. This was presented to Parliament on 19 November.
Currently four of the 10 water and sewerage companies in England and Wales have switched to site area charging for surface water drainage for non-household customers. Most of the problems originally occurred with United Utilities and it is currently looking at options to ensure that community groups do not face unaffordable surface water drainage charges ahead of the Government's legislation being in place.
Culture, Media and Sport
Departmental Official Hospitality
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies spent on (i) alcohol and (ii) entertainment in the last 12 months. [305543]
Mr. Simon: All expenditure on entertainment is incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
The overall expenditure on entertainment by the Department in the last 12 months (to November 2009) was £126,470. It is not possible to disaggregate the spend on alcohol except at disproportionate cost.
The Royal Parks, the Department's agency, does not record information against these expenditure headings and it would incur disproportionate cost to obtain it by manually reviewing the year's underlying paperwork.
Departmental Public Relations
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what payments Digital UK has made to (a) Weber Shandwick and (b) Fishburn Hedges in the last 12 months; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contracts under which such payments have been made. [305136]
Mr. Simon: The information you have requested is not held centrally and is a matter for Digital UK.
Accordingly, I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member for Ruislip-Northwood. Copies of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what payments the British Museum has made to Weber Shandwick Public Affairs in the last 12 months for which figures are available; for what purpose; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contracts under which such payments have been made. [305145]
Margaret Hodge: The information you have requested is not held centrally and is a matter for the British Museum.
Accordingly, I have asked the director to write to the hon. Member for Ruislip-Northwood. Copies of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Departmental Security
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many security passes his Department has issued to contractors providing consultancy services in the last 12 months. [303950]
Mr. Simon: While the Department holds a record of security passes that have been issued to contractors, this is not broken down into those providing consultancy services and those who are not.
Departmental Telephone Services
Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many telephone lines with the prefix (a) 0870, (b) 0845 and (c) 0800 his Department (i) operates and (ii) sponsors; how many calls were received to each number in the last 12 months; and whether alternative numbers charged at the BT local rate are available in each case. [305219]
Mr. Simon: My Department operates one of these, an 0800 number, and 1,422 calls were made to that number in last 12 months. No alternative number charged at the BT local rate is available as it is not necessary.
Holiday Accommodation: Overseas Visitors
Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what his latest estimate is of the use by overseas visitors of self-catering holiday accommodation in this country in each of the last three years. [303360]
Margaret Hodge: VisitBritain makes available data from the Office for National Statistics' International Passenger Survey. The data capture the number of inbound visitors, the number of nights spent in Britain by inbound visitors, and the amount spent on trips within the UK broken down by accommodation categories, though not specifically self-catering holiday accommodation. This information can be accessed at:
Horserace Totalisator Board
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made in preparations for the sale of the Tote. [305045]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Government are preparing for the sale of the Tote in line with my right Hon. Friend the Prime Minister's announcement on 12 October 2009. The current intention is that a sale process would start in summer 2010 and be completed around March 2011.
Leisure: Expenditure
Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) how many (a) playing fields and (b) swimming pools there are in each (i) district council and (ii) unitary authority area in the East of England; [304577]
(2) what information his Department holds on expenditure on running costs for sports and leisure facilities at district and unitary council areas in the East of England. [304993]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Sport England has supplied the information in the following table for the number of grass pitches and swimming pools in each district council and unitary authority area in the East of England.
| District/Unitary Authority (UA) | Green Fields | Swimming Pools |
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