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11 Jan 2010 : Column 686W—continued
Immobilisation of Vehicles
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department and its predecessor have paid in vehicle clamping charges incurred on (a) privately-owned and (b) publicly-owned land in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [302745]
Dan Norris: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Department would expect clamping charges and any other motoring fines to be paid by the individual(s) who incurred them.
Poultry: Animal Welfare
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he plans to introduce a ban on the trimming of the beaks of laying hens in England from January 2011. [309414]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government have accepted advice from the Farm Animal Welfare Council, an independent advisory body, that a complete ban on beak trimming of laying hens should not be introduced from 1 January 2011 (as is currently in legislation), but should be deferred until it can be demonstrated reliably under commercial conditions that laying hens can be managed without beak trimming, without a greater risk to their welfare than that caused by beak trimming itself.
The Government will shortly issue a consultation on proposed amendments to the Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) (England) Regulations 2007 (as amended) to remove the total ban on beak trimming, to allow for routine beak trimming of day old chicks intended for laying to be done using the infra-red technique only.
Tuna: Conservation
Mr. Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his Department's negotiating position is on the proposal to include Atlantic bluefin tuna (thunnus thynnus) on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. [309678]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The UK has publicly supported the need for improved protection of Atlantic bluefin tune. The UK and other EU member states are currently considering the positive outcomes of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) annual meeting in November 2009. We are looking to see whether the measures agreed at the meeting provide sufficient reassurance that the regional fisheries management organisation can, and will, take the necessary steps to turn around the dramatic decline in the species population. Consequently, we have not yet ruled out the need for a convention on international trade in endangered species (CITES) Appendix I listing, and it certainly remains an option under consideration in the run up to the CITES Conference of Parties meeting in March this year.
Waste and Resources Action Programme
Robert Neill:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 18 May
2009, Official Report, columns 1138-9W, on the Waste and Resources Action Programme, what (a) services and (b) publications the Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and Sustainable Resource Management has provided to the programme. [308806]
Dan Norris: Membership of the Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and Sustainable Resource Management (ACR+) network gives access to research reports, conference proceedings, newsletters and gives discounts for attendance at conferences. It also allows effective sharing of information between approximately 100 local and regional authorities that have a shared interest in waste management and resource recovery. It also facilitates joint participation in research projects, allowing costs to be spread and reducing duplication of effort.
Waste and Resources Action Programme: Finance
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the written ministerial statement of 24 November 2009, Official Report, columns 48-9WS, on departmental expenditure limit (2009-10), for what reason the funding for the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is being transferred to the Department for Energy and Climate Change; and which department is now the sponsoring department for WRAP. [308372]
Dan Norris: In Budget 2009, the Chancellor announced that he was making available £10 million to support the development of anaerobic digestion and in-vessel composting projects in 2009-2010. Some £8.4 million of this funding was allocated to DEFRA with the remainder going to the devolved administrations. DEFRA and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) decided that the timescales associated with the planning and construction of new anaerobic digestion and in-vessel composting projects precluded DEFRA from fully utilising the Budget 2009 funding in the current financial year. Therefore DEFRA, HM Treasury and DECC agreed that £4.4 million of this allocation should be transferred to the latter to allow it to accelerate the implementation of the Anaerobic Digestion Demonstration Programme in 2009-2010. This programme is delivered by WRAP on behalf of DEFRA, but is funded by DECC's Environmental Transformation Fund. In recognition of this arrangement, DECC will be making a reciprocal transfer of £4.4 million to DEFRA in 2010-2011.
WRAP is mainly funded by DEFRA with subsidiary funding from DECC and the devolved administrations. Therefore DEFRA remains the sponsoring department for WRAP.
Water Charges
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the likely change to customer bills following the transfer of private sewers and drains to water company ownership; and if he will make a statement. [308078]
Huw Irranca-Davies:
The impact assessment that accompanied my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs'
announcement on 15 December 2008 estimated the increase in sewerage customers' bills to be between £4 and £12 per year, which is around 7.5p to 23p a week.
The impact assessment is available on DEFRA's website.
Home Department
Departmental Billing
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what proportion of invoices submitted to his Department have been paid within 10 days in each month since October 2008; and if he will make a statement. [307956]
Mr. Woolas: The Home Department has invested significantly in its people, with the creation of a professional Shared Service Centre and Procurement Centre of Excellence complemented by the creation of new processes and upgraded Procure to Pay systems.
The Department has been putting a firm focus on paying its suppliers on time when it is in receipt of a compliant invoice. It has been working closely with colleagues in the Department for Business Innovation and Skills reporting on both our legislative obligations of 30 days as well as the 10 day PM's commitment for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for correctly presented compliant invoices.
The Home Office performance for paying all invoices within 30 days and paying SME compliant invoices within 10 days for the period October 2008 to November 2009 is shown in the following table:
| Table 1: The Home Office performance of paying total number of invoices within 30 days and SME compliant invoices within 10 days for the period October 2008 to November 2009 | ||||
| Home Office | ||||
| Month | Total number of all invoices paid | Percentage of total number of all invoices paid within 30 days | Number of SMEs' compliant invoices paid within 10 days | SMEs, percentage of compliant invoices paid with 10 days |
| (1) Not recorded prior to PM's announcement to pay all SMEs within 10 days. | ||||
The Criminal Records Bureau's (CRB) started to record performance of paying invoices in April 2009 and to provide information before this date would incur disproportionate cost. CRB's performance of paying invoices within 10 days for the period April 2009 to November 2009 is shown in the following table.
| Table 2: CRB performance of paying SME invoices within 10 days for the period April 2009 to November 2009 | |||
| Month | Total number of all invoices | Number of SME invoices paid within 10 days | SME percentage of invoices paid within 10 days |
Departmental Energy
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the energy efficiency rating is of each of his Department's buildings in London. [307419]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 15 December 2009]: Display Energy Certificates (DEC) were introduced in 2008. OGC publish central Government Departments' Display Energy Certificate (DEC) operational ratings on a building by building level twice a year. The most recent data for the Home Office, published on 31 July 2009, which includes DEC ratings up to and including 28 February 2009 can be seen via this link:
Data to October 2008 can be seen via this link:
Data to 30 September 2009 can be seen via this link:
Departmental Lost Property
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) laptop computers, (b) desktop computers and (c) memory sticks his Department and its agencies have recorded as (i) stolen and (ii) lost in each of the last 10 years and how many of each were (A) stolen and (B) lost from its offices in Scotland in each such year. [306905]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 14 December 2009]: The Home Office group only holds the information requested from 2005 onwards. The following table sets out the IT equipment that was recorded as lost (or missing) and stolen:
| Laptops | Desk top computers | Memory sticks | ||||
| Lost | Stolen | Lost | Stolen | Lost | Stolen | |
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