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28 Jun 2010 : Column 358W—continued
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Environment Protection
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received on the new stewardship schemes applied by Natural England. [4155]
Mr Paice: The newest strand of Environmental Stewardship is Uplands Entry Level Stewardship. This was launched in February and welcomed by a number of farming groups. Some representations have recently been made about the requirement for tenant farmers with lets of less than five years to have their application countersigned by their landlord. However, this requirement is necessary to meet European Union rules governing land management under agri-environment, and to ensure sufficient time for the accrual of environmental benefits and make the scheme effective. DEFRA has worked closely with industry and environmental groups throughout the scheme development, and guidance has been published jointly with the Tenancy Reform Industry Group to support tenants and landlords considering joining Uplands ELS.
Biodiversity
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of levels of biodiversity. [4579]
Richard Benyon: 'UK Biodiversity Indicators in your pocket' was published on 20 May 2010. Of the 33 measures assessed, 24 (72%) are 'improving' or 'showing little or no overall change' since the baseline year of 2000, compared with 11 (33%) over a longer term assessment of change.
These figures show that some improvements have been made-for example in relation to populations of widespread bats and woodland birds, both of which have declined dramatically in the past. More land is managed in environmental schemes and more people are volunteering, but many pressures on biodiversity remain high and some species, such as farmland birds and sea birds, have continued to decline.
Biodiversity is one of DEFRA's top priorities. We will be taking action through a White Paper on the natural environment and will promote green spaces and wildlife corridors to restore and increase biodiversity.
Departmental Manpower
Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) front-line and (b) other staff were employed by (i) her Department and (ii) each of its agencies in the latest year for which figures are available; and what her most recent estimate is of the annual cost to the public purse of employing staff of each type at each of those bodies. [535]
Richard Benyon: The Department and its Executive Agencies contain a mix of staff working in a wide range of areas, including policy development, analysis and research, operational services to the public, and support functions. We have not at this stage carried out a detailed analysis of how many posts fall into which category and so information on the breakdown between front-line and other staff is not held by the Department.
The following table shows the total number and cost of staff employed by the Department.
| Department/Agency | Number of staff | Cost of staff (£ million) |
The numbers of staff shown are full-time equivalents as at 31 March 2010.
The cost of staff includes salaries plus employers' National Insurance and Superannuation contributions, and covers the 2009-10 Financial Year.
The Marine and Fisheries Agency is included in the table as it was not subsumed into the Marine Management Organisation non-departmental public body until 1 April 2010.
Fisheries: Northern Ireland
Ms Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will ensure that representatives of the Northern Ireland Executive will be part of the UK delegation to the Fisheries Council on 29 June 2010; and if she will make a statement. [4501]
Richard Benyon: The Northern Ireland Fisheries Minister, Michelle Gildernew, will not be part of the UK team attending the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 29 June. She will, however, be sending officials from the Northern Ireland Executive to accompany me, the UK Fisheries Minister.
Flood Control
Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will consider the merits of changing her Department's method of flood risk rating from ratio projections to high, medium and low ratings. [4513]
Richard Benyon: In the National Flood Risk Assessment, the Environment Agency has used both a ratio and a description (significant, moderate, low) to express the likelihood of a particular flood occurring.
The three categories used to describe the likelihood of flooding are:
Significant (the chance of flooding in any year is greater than 1 in 75);
Moderate (the chance of flooding in any year is one in 75 or less but greater than one in 200); and
Low (the chance of flooding each year is one in 200 or less).
Food: Imports
Paul Goggins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what quantity of imported fresh produce was (a) examined and (b) rejected at (i) Heathrow and (ii) Manchester airports in the last (A) six months, (B) 12 months and (C) two years. [4640]
Mr Paice: Fresh fruit and vegetables being imported into England are examined by two main inspectorate bodies, the Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate (HMI) and the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate (PHSI).
The following tables show the quantity of fresh fruit and vegetables covered by EU marketing standards examined and refused entry(1) by the HMI at Heathrow and Manchester airports in the last six months, 12 months and two years.
Figures for last six months have dropped due to the deregulation/simplification-at both EU and national
level-resulting from changes to the EU rules on marketing standards and how they are implemented in the UK.
(1) When fruit and vegetables are refused entry, the trader still has the option to bring the produce inland for corrective action to be taken under HMRC control before final release/entry to the EU.
Source:
The Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate
| Last six months 1 January to 31 June 2010 | Last 12 months 1 July 2009 to 31 June 2010 | Last two years 1 July 2008 to 31 June 2010 | ||||
| Number of consignments | Weight in KG | Number of consignments | Weight in KG | Number of consignments | Weight in KG | |
| Last six months 1 January to 31 June 2010 | Last 12 months 1 July 2009 to 31 June 2010 | Last two years 1 July 2008 to 31 June 2010 | ||||
| Number of consignments refused entry | Weight in KG | Number of consignments refused entry | Weight in KG | Number of consignments refused entry | Weight in KG | |
The following tables show the quantity of fresh fruit and vegetables and cut flowers examined and refused entry by the PHSI at Heathrow and Manchester airports in the last six months, 12 months and two years. Where consignments are subject to HMI and PHSI controls and the HMI decide to inspect a commodity, their inspection includes inspection for PHSI purposes. As a consequence, there is likely to be a small amount of overlap between the HMI and PHSI tables.
| Heathrow airport | |||||||
| Period | Number. consignments examined | Weight examined (tonnes) | Number stems examined | Number consignments rejected | Weight rejected (tonnes) | Number stems rejected | |
| Manchester airport | |||||||
| Period | Number. consignments examined | Weight examined (tonnes) | Number stems examined | Number consignments rejected | Weight rejected (tonnes) | Number stems rejected | |
| Notes: 1. Six months: January 2010 to June 2010 2. 12 months: July 2009 to June 2010 3. 24 months: July 2008 to June 2010 Source: The Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate | |||||||
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