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22 Feb 2010 : Column 42W—continued
Air Pollution: Greater London
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) when he last discussed air quality in London with the Mayor of London; and if he will make a statement; [317718]
(2) what steps his Department is taking to ensure that London meets air quality standards provided for in legislation; and if he will make a statement. [317724]
Jim Fitzpatrick: As Minister for the Environment, I last met with the Mayor of London in August 2009 to discuss air quality in London. Since then, the Secretary of State participated in a teleconference with the Mayor on this same matter on 7 December 2009.
DEFRA officials meet regularly with the Greater London Authority (GLA) and Transport for London to discuss the Mayor's Air Quality Strategy and action necessary to meet both NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) and PM10 (particulate matter) limit values in London. These meetings include discussions on our preparations for our resubmission to the Commission for additional time to meet the PM10 limit value in London. The latest draft of the Mayor's strategy was published in October 2009 and contained many helpful measures within it. However, further detail on the impact of these measures is needed to assess their contribution to meeting air quality standards. I am advised that public consultation on the strategy should commence in March this year and officials will continue to work with the GLA on the contribution of the strategy to meeting air quality standards.
Animal Health Bill: Draft
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the draft Animal Health Bill, whether he plans to bring forward proposals to extend the powers available to inspectors. [315786]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Clause 47 of the draft Animal Health Bill broadens the powers available to inspectors to take samples of substances such as blood, tissue, excreta and milk to find out whether disease, or causative agents of disease exist.
The draft Animal Health Bill has been published for consultation and will be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by Parliament before any such Bill is formally introduced.
Animal Tracing Schemes
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what livestock traceability schemes his Department is responsible; and what the (a) objectives and (b) costs in 2009-10 are of each. [316826]
Jim Fitzpatrick: DEFRA is responsible for traceability across the main farmed livestock species: cattle, pigs, sheep and goats. Reliable traceability of livestock underpins disease control measures, ensures effective disease surveillance and maintains consumer confidence. Detailed figures by species are not available but identifying the main livestock species in England and tracking their movements costs Government and the livestock industry in the region of £55 million per year(1).
(1) NAO report "Identifying and Tracking Livestock in England": November 2003.
Association of Photographers
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations he has received from the Association of Photographers on Environment Agency photography contracts. [316715]
Jim Fitzpatrick: DEFRA has received a letter on behalf of the Association of Photographers on the Environment Agency's photography contracts.
The Environment Agency has been in contact with relevant photography organisations to clarify that all
photographers will be paid for their work whether that be covering expenses, royalties or paying an agreed rate for their time.
Bees: Imports
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he has made an estimate of the cost to the bee industry of importing queen bees in the last five years. [316499]
Dan Norris: No estimate has been made of the cost of importing queen bees. The cost to the bee industry varies considerably depending on the country of origin and the number of bees per consignment and can range between approximately £7-£50 or more for specialist breeder queens. The Food and Environment Research Agency's national bee unit records data on the number of bees imported into England for statutory disease control purposes. These data were set out in the answer of 7 December 2009, Official Report, column 7W.
Carbon Emissions: Business
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the average amount of carbon dioxide emitted by companies which do not meet the minimum reporting guidelines on greenhouse gas emissions in each of the last three years. [317629]
Dan Norris: We encourage companies to publicly disclose their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using the recently published DEFRA/Department of Environment and Climate Change "Guidance on how to measure and report your greenhouse gas emissions", but such disclosures are not collected by the Government. No estimate has been made of the average carbon dioxide emissions of companies that do not report their GHG emissions.
Departmental Accountancy
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether any written instructions have been provided to his Department's Accounting Officer in accordance with paragraph 5.5 of the Ministerial Code since May 1997. [315561]
Dan Norris: Each accounting officer receives a copy of chapter 3 of Managing Public Money (the Accounting Officer Memorandum), which includes instructions on ministerial directions.
Departmental Consultants
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much consultants employed by his Department and its agencies have been paid (a) in total and (b) in reimbursable expenses in each of the last 10 years. [313992]
Dan Norris: The information is as follows:
(a) DEFRA has reported its use of consultants in its annual departmental reports.
| £ million | ||
| Area | ||
| Departmental reports | Management and business consultancy | Specialist consultancy |
| Note: The figures were derived on identifying the spend with particular external suppliers and placing all that spend under one of the areas shown in the table. It was recognised that this does lead to some inaccuracies as spend with a supplier may be across more than one expenditure area. But at the time, this was the only method available. | ||
Refined processes were introduced in 2007-08, which allowed DEFRA to be more specific in the 2009 departmental report (for fiscal year 2007-08) with more accurate figures for Professional Services Consultancy. This is based on the extensive use of improved procurement category codes, a process which OGC adopted for the first Public Sector Procurement Expenditure Survey in October 2008 using their own version of category codes and to which we needed to map our category codes.
| PSPES reports( 1) | |
| £ million | |
| (1) PSPES-Annual Public Sector Procurement Expenditure Survey. (2) To be validated for next PSPES. | |
(b) Information on reimbursable expenses could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Domestic Visits
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many planned visits by Ministers in his Department within the UK were cancelled within 72 hours of the visit taking place in the last 12 months; and what the planned venue or venues were for each such visit. [309878]
Dan Norris: The Department does not hold information in the form requested. Even if collation in this form were possible, it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many employees in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies are in transition prior to being managed out; how long on average the transition window between notification and exit has been in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its agencies in each of the last five years; what estimate he has made of the salary costs of staff in transition in each such year; and what proportion of employees in transition were classed as being so for more than six months in each year. [313242]
Dan Norris: The definition of 'in transition' we have used in answering this question is 'employees who have been officially declared surplus'.
As at 4 February 2010, the number of surplus employees in core DEFRA is so low that we are withholding it on the grounds of the confidentiality of the individuals concerned. There are currently 33 surplus employees in the Rural Payments Agency and seven in animal health. None of the other agencies currently have surplus employees.
Not all the information requested is available as DEFRA has not maintained a historical central record of its surplus employees, but it is doing so now.
Departmental Recruitment
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many job vacancies in his Department and its agencies were filled through external recruitment in the last year for which figures are available. [315475]
Dan Norris: For the 2009 calendar year DEFRA and its agencies filled 909 vacancies through external recruitment. Core DEFRA and its agencies comprises 10,189 staff (figure at 31 March 2009).
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department and its agencies spent on external recruitment consultants in the last year for which figures are available. [315476]
Dan Norris: Our purchasing systems do not separate out expenditure on external recruitment consultants from expenditure on other HR consultancy services supplied to DEFRA and our agencies. The information requested can therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Food: Origin Marking
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications he has received for an EU Traditional Speciality Guaranteed designation for UK products in each of the last four years. [317924]
Jim Fitzpatrick: DEFRA is the National Competent Authority for the UK. Applications are submitted to and assessed by ADAS (for England), and the appropriate devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland before being forwarded to DEFRA.
Since 2006, five applications have been made for protection under the EU's Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) designation. The breakdown of applications is as follows:
| Number of TSG applications received | |
Hotels
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many separate bookings for stays at five star or above hotels were made through the Expotel contract by his Department in the last year for which figures are available; and at what cost. [315474]
Dan Norris: Expotel are unable to provide details of the star rating of the hotel accommodation booked, this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Origin Marking
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications he has received for EU (a) Protected Geographical Indication and (b) Protected Designation of Origin status for UK products in each of the last four years. [318008]
Jim Fitzpatrick: DEFRA is the national competent authority for the UK, although applications are submitted to and assessed by ADAS (for England), and the appropriate devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland before being forwarded to DEFRA.
Since 2006, the number of UK applications for Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) or Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status which have been received are as follows:
| PGI | PDO | |
Power Stations: Plymouth
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how frequently the Environment Agency monitors the effect on air quality of emissions from Langage power station. [317348]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Environment Agency require Langage power station to monitor chimney emissions continually. Each day a turbine is running, the operator is required to record the daily average and maximum hourly average emissions.
The Environment Agency can inspect or audit the collection of these data on-site at any time.
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