Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) mobile telephones and (b) BlackBerrys have been provided to (i) Ministers and (ii) special advisers in his Department since March 2009; and at what cost to the public purse. [313175]
Dan Norris: DEFRA procures BlackBerry services and mobile phones via two different arrangements.
1. In the case of BlackBerry services, these are provided through the IBM contract. The cost to the Department since 1 February 2009 to 31 January 2010 is:
| Number | Cost (£) | |
2. In the case of mobile phones, these are purchased via OGC’s Mobile Solutions contract. The cost to the Department since 1 February 2009 is:
| Number | Cost (£) | |
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many citizen juries or summits have been hosted by his Department since October 2008; on what date each event took place; and which Ministers were present at each event. [310781]
Dan Norris [holding answer 14 January 2010]: The Department has not held any citizen juries or summits since October 2008.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he has taken to phase out phosphorus in domestic laundry cleaning products; and if he will make a statement. [314765]
Dan Norris: We are proposing to limit phosphate content in domestic laundry cleaning products by revising the Detergents Regulations 2005. DEFRA has consulted twice on this subject—first in February 2008 when we consulted the public on the principle of a limitation, and then in January 2010 on draft regulations detailing the mechanism for achieving it. The proposals are for a limitation of phosphate content in domestic laundry cleaning products by 2015.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the number of farms in the UK under five hectares in size. [315584]
Jim Fitzpatrick: DEFRA only holds data on farms in England. The most recent 2008 data on the numbers of agricultural holdings in England with less than five hectares are shown in the following table. The 2009 data will be available mid-February 2010 on the DEFRA website.
| 2008 | |
| Number | |
| (1) These are holdings which are registered with the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) but we nave not yet obtained any information on their levels of farming activity. These holdings are stored on the statistical register but with a zero farmed area. The numbers are shown here for completeness. Source: June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture | |
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 22 October 2009, Official Report, column 1645W, on local government finance, what data sets not contained in the national indicator set local authorities are required to submit to (a) the Environment Agency and (b) his Department. [314950]
Dan Norris: DEFRA and the Environment Agency do not hold a central register of information and datasets collected from local authorities. To produce a definitive list of such collections would involve disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of wildlife crime. [315394]
Dan Norris: Government are working to reduce wildlife crime by supporting the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime; funding the National Wildlife Crime Unit; chairing the Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking; and through our commitment to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the role is of the new North East Sustainable Resources Board; how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to it; and in what other Government office regions such a board has been (a) established and (b) proposed. [314948]
Dan Norris:
The North East Sustainable Resources Board is a public-private partnership set up by the North East Region to provide effective leadership across all sectors to deliver recycling and waste policies in the Regional Strategy. It is supported by a cross-sector Stakeholder Group that advises the Board and assists
with delivery. The Stakeholder Group includes a number of regional government bodies, including the Government Office for the North East on behalf of DEFRA, as well as relevant private and third sector organisations. The Board itself met for the first time on 11 January 2010.
Advise the public sector—Government, Agencies, local authorities—on key issues to help overcome structural barriers.
Promote the ‘resources hierarchy’ to businesses and householders.
Persuade stakeholders in all sectors to share ideas, pool resources, and improve sustainability.
Its full role is explained in its Terms of Reference which will be available on the Board’s website when it goes live on 26 February 2010:
www.nesrb.org.uk
DEFRA regional waste funding was used by the North East to assess how best to provide effective leadership in resource management. This led to the Board’s establishment. No public funding has been allocated to the Board. It is supported by private sector funding, but One North East, the Regional Development Agency covering North East England, has agreed that one of their delivery bodies can provide regional co-ordination and administrative help for establishing and supporting the Board and Stakeholder Group.
Apart from the statutory London Waste and Recycling Board, this is the first funded regional board covering the management of resources, recycling and waste. Other regions are considering their own appropriate strategic arrangements to co-ordinate sustainable resource management. This will contribute to their regional strategies, as proposed under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009.
Keith Hill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Streatham constituency, the effects on that constituency of changes to his Department’s policies since 1997. [313397]
Dan Norris: Due to the broad nature of the question and the wide range of DEFRA policies implemented in Streatham, which falls under Lambeth council, it is not possible to provide a detailed answer in the form requested.
As a local authority, Lambeth is obliged through statute to comply with central Government legislation. DEFRA’s policy responsibilities are summarised in its departmental strategic objectives (DSOs) that have been agreed with the Treasury:
To promote a society that is adapting to the effects of climate change, through a national programme of action and a contribution to international action.
To promote a healthy, resilient, productive and diverse natural environment.
To promote sustainable, low carbon and resource efficient patterns of consumption and production.
To promote an economy and a society that are resilient to environmental risk.
To champion sustainable development.
To promote a thriving farming and food sector with an improving net environmental impact.
To encourage a sustainable, secure and healthy food supply.
To provide socially and economically sustainable rural communities.
To be a respected Department delivering efficient and high quality services and outcomes.
DEFRA publishes annual departmental reports which set out progress against its Public Service Agreement targets and DSOs. The 2009 Report is available at:
www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/about/how/deprep/2009-report.htm
Past reports are available online in the National Archives.
For information on a specific DEFRA policy in Lambeth, the Government Office for London is able to provide information on implementation and the benefits to the area.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer on 14 January 2010, Official Report, column 1079W, on wood: Government departments, whether guidance provided by the Central Point of Expertise on Timber is binding on all non-departmental public bodies. [315585]
Dan Norris: I can confirm that pursuant to the answer on 14 January 2010, Official Report, column 1080W, on wood: Government Departments, the UK Government timber procurement policy is mandatory for all central Government Departments, agencies and non-departmental public bodies.
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport on what date officials of his Department first met representatives of the aviation industry to discuss the implications for UK airport security of the attempt to detonate an explosive on a commercial airliner on 25 December 2009. [314735]
Paul Clark: Departmental officials were in contact with the aviation industry immediately after news of the incident on 25 December was received and throughout the Christmas and new year period. The Secretary of State met senior executives from a number of major airports on 6 January 2010 to discuss the security implications of the incident and a formal consultation session for representatives from the aviation security sector was held on 7 January 2010.
Mr. Leech: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the total amount of bonuses paid to members of the senior civil service in his Department was in (a) 2008 and (b) 2009. [305949]
Chris Mole: The total amount of non-consolidated performance-related awards paid to members of the senior civil service in the Department for Transport was £1,344,831 in 2008 and £1,310,804 in 2009.
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the average queuing time was at the Dartford River Crossing (a) northbound and (b) southbound toll plaza per 15-minute interval per weekday in the last 12 months. [315446]
Chris Mole: Specific data on queuing times at the Dartford River Crossing toll plaza are not recorded.
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how long on average payment transactions took at each toll booth at the Dartford River Crossing in the last 12 months. [315447]
Chris Mole: In the last 12-month period from February 2009 to January 2010 the average payment transaction time for the toll booths at the Dartford Crossing was 12.3 seconds. Figures for individual booths can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department spent on bottled drinking water in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [313028]
Chris Mole: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost. All expenditure was incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what average time his Department took to answer questions for (a) ordinary written answer and (b) written answer on a named day in the last 12 months. [313652]
Chris Mole: In the calendar year 2009 the Department for Transport took an average of 4.26 days to answer written questions and 2.70 days to answer named day questions.
With effect from the current Session of Parliament, each Department will provide the Procedure Committee with sessional statistics on the time taken to answer written questions. This implements recommendation 24 of the 3rd report from the Procedure Committee, Session 2008-09.
Mr. Todd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment he has made of the reason for the cost of the finance function of the Government Car and Despatch Agency referred to in the publication, “Benchmarking the Back Office: Central Government”; and if he will make a statement. [312684]
Paul Clark:
Annex A to the publication “Benchmarking the Back Office: Central Government” states that the cost of the finance function in the Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) was 5.5 per cent. of its
turnover in 2008-09. Although this could be perceived as high against the best practice benchmark of 1 per cent. in relative terms due to the overall costs of the GCDA being relatively low, the percentage costs of the functional elements become inflated.
The finance function was increased in order to address temporary peaks in business activity and the introduction of a new IT system. Staff levels in the finance team are now falling.
The new interim chief executive has begun looking into ways to introduce further efficiencies.