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24 Mar 2010 : Column 304W—continued
Departmental Surveys
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of the benchmark results of the Civil Service People Survey for his Department and its agencies. [322567]
Dan Norris: The 2009 People Survey results for the Department and its agencies are now available in the Library. The results for core DEFRA and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate are also available on their respective websites, as follows:
Departmental Theft
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many thefts from his Department have been recorded in the last two years. [318987]
Dan Norris: The following tables show items of official property reported as lost or stolen in 2008-09 and 2009-10 (to 24 February 2010 only).
| Item | 2008-09 | 2009-10 |
DEFRA takes the loss of equipment very seriously and advice and guidance is issued regularly about security in an effort to minimise losses.
Departmental Travel
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much (a) Ministers and (b) staff of each grade in (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies spent on first class travel in the last 12 months. [320401]
Dan Norris: The following tables show the expenditure for first class air and rail travel for (a) Ministers and (b) staff of each grade, for core DEFRA and the agencies that use the Corporate Travel Framework contract, for the 12-month period of February 2009 to January 2010.
To identify spend by those agencies that do not use the Corporate Travel Framework or where it has been incurred outside these arrangements can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
| (a) Ministers travel-February 2009 to January 2010 | |
| Expenditure (£) | |
| (b) Staff travel-February 2009 to January 2010 | ||
| Grade | Expenditure (£) | |
|
Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Studies total | ||
Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will take steps to remove the regulatory provisions which restrict councils collecting recyclable and residual waste from nearby household and business premises at the same time. [323152]
Dan Norris: There are no regulatory provisions that prohibit local authorities collecting waste from household and business premises at the same time. However, we are aware that the Landfill Allowances Trading Scheme (LATS) has been cited as a barrier to the collection of waste from business premises by local authorities.
The consultation 'Meeting EU Landfill Diversion Targets' published on 18 March asks for views on the effectiveness of existing policies, including LATS. Responses from this consultation and further work by DEFRA will inform a second consultation later in the year on the most effective combination of policies to ensure that England meets its landfill diversion targets. We anticipate that the impact of LATS on council provision of waste services for businesses will be a consideration in this wider assessment of the policies needed to ensure England meets its landfill diversion targets.
Meanwhile, DEFRA is looking at ways to encourage greater recycling of waste from business premises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. In particular, we are funding the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to test a number of trade waste 'Bring Banks' and trade waste collection schemes to establish how some of the barriers to higher recycling can be most effectively overcome.
Foxes
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the extent to which urban foxes cause (a) hygiene and (b) litter problems. [323135]
Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA has made no assessment of the hygiene and litter problems caused by urban foxes.
National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of each meeting of the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group in the last 24 months. [323151]
Dan Norris: The National Fly-tipping Prevention Group consists of the representatives of landowner organisations, enforcement bodies and Government. It meets on a quarterly basis to advise and influence Government and to share best practice on the prevention of fly-tipping on public and private land.
The group recently created a website which provides information to anybody who wishes to prevent or deal with fly-tipping:
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