Circuses
Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to allow public access to circus inspection reports. [71172]
Mr Paice: A number of inspections of animals in travelling circuses have been conducted by DEFRA-appointed inspectors or vets in the past decade. However, no central record is kept of such inspections, nor of any reports which might have been written as a result of an inspection. The three inspections carried out for DEFRA in 2008 as part of a feasibility study to evaluate the potential of an inspection system for such circuses were conducted on a confidential basis, and as a consequence we will not release these reports.
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The proposed new circus animal licensing scheme will put inspections of travelling circuses with wild animal acts on a formal, statutory, footing. The new scheme will ensure that we have a record of all the licensing inspections carried out at these circuses. We will also want to consider what information about, and from, the inspections should be made available publicly to ensure that the scheme is as transparent as possible.
Cocoa: EU External Trade
Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will place in the Library a copy of her Department's response to the British Standards Institution's recent consultation on its position for the European Committee for Standardisation vote on establishing a new European traceable and sustainable cocoa standard. [86722]
Mr Paice:
The new European standard for sustainable and traceable cocoa is being developed by the independent
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industry standards body for the industry itself to comply with. DEFRA did not respond to the British Standards Institution's consultation as we believe it was for industry, producer countries and civil society to respond to.
Common Agricultural Policy
Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of the UK's contribution to the EU budget was accounted for by the common agricultural policy in each year since 2005 in (a) cash and (b) percentage terms. [87445]
Mr Paice: The UK contributes to the EU budget as a whole and not to individual spending programmes within it and there is not, therefore, a specific UK contribution to common agricultural policy expenditure. Details of the UK's contributions to the EU budget for the period 2005-06 to 2010-11 are set out in Table 3B, page 16, of European Union Finances 2011 (Cm 8232).
| £ million | |||||||
| 2005 Outturn | 2006 Outturn | 2007 Outturn | 2008 Outturn | 2009 Outturn | 2010 Outturn | 2011 Estimated Outturn (1) | |
| (1) The figures for 2011 are forecasts; those for earlier years are outturn. (2) Gross payment figures include TOR payments at 75%. The remaining 25% is retained by the UK to cover the costs of administering collection on behalf of the EU. (3) Due to rounding, totals may not exactly correspond to the sum of individual items. Source: HM Treasury | |||||||
In 2005 expenditure on the CAP represented 46.2% of the EU budget. By 2011 this had declined to 43.7%.
Sources:
1. European Union Finances 2011
http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm82/8232/8232.pdf
2. Financial Management in the European Union (2007)
http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc0607/hc04/0401/0401.asp
Common Fisheries Policy
Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many active fishing fleets were registered in the UK in each year since 2001. [87833]
Richard Benyon: The UK fishing fleet plays an important role in providing food, jobs, wealth and social benefits, particularly in some coastal communities. Prior to 2006 the details of activity by vessels of 10 metres and under in England and Wales were often recorded as part of grouped data for landings and effort. As such the activity of individual vessels is not available for this time frame and has lead to the apparent low levels of active vessel data before 2006. With the introduction of the requirement for buyers and sellers of first sale fish to be registered, more accurate data started to be captured against the individual vessels involved, therefore providing details oh the activity of these vessels. This can be found in the following table, split between number of registered vessels, and those considered to be active.
| Number of vessels registered as at 1 January | Of which active during preceding year | |
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Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people were convicted of offences governed by the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora in the UK in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [88333]
Richard Benyon: The number of persons found guilty at all courts of offences under the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997 in England and Wales from 2006-10 (latest available) is shown in the following table.
Annual court proceedings data for 2011 is planned for publication in spring 2012.
Dairy Farming
Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the conclusions of the Committee on Climate Change's Fourth Carbon Budget report and the Government Office for Science's Foresight report on Global Farming Futures on the effects of reduced consumption of meat and dairy products, what steps the Government is taking to (a) define and (b) promote a sustainable diet. [87830]
Mr Paice: I do not believe that Government should tell people what to eat. Our role is two-fold in providing a solid evidence base firstly to give consumers consistent messages on the information they need to be able to make informed choices for themselves; and secondly to support industry and NGOs in their work towards encouraging sustainable consumption and avoiding food waste.
DEFRA is working with industry to reduce the impact of the meat and dairy sectors throughout the lifecycle of its products, to ensure the environmental footprint of the meat and milk we consume is as low as possible, while continuing to maintain its nutritional quality.
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Dangerous Dogs
Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to (1) repeal breed specific legislation in relation to dangerous dogs; [87936]
(2) extend the provisions of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to cover private property. [87937]
Mr Paice: Having consulted the police service and carefully considered all the other available evidence, I do not consider that there is a strong case for repealing the existing ban on the ownership of certain types of dogs.
However, my noble Friend Lord Taylor, who leads on the subject of dangerous dogs in DEFRA, has been working alongside Lord Henley to see how the proposed antisocial measures, currently being developed in the Home Office, can be best applied to such behaviour relating to dogs. DEFRA has also been developing proposals on reducing dog attacks and promoting more responsible dog ownership. This is now at an advanced stage and we expect to be able to make an announcement early in the new year.
Departmental Assets
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assets with a value of £250,000 or more her Department has bought since May 2010; for what purpose; and if she will make a statement. [77371]
Richard Benyon: Detailed as follows are assets purchased and added to the Fixed Asset Register from May 2010 onwards—please note construction in progress has not been included.
| Assets | Value (£) | Purpose |
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DEFRA's other Executive Agencies reported no assets meeting this criterion.
Food Procurement
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much her Department spent on food purchased through its food and catering services in the last 12 month period for which figures are available. [86987]
Mr Paice: Food purchased through DEFRA's food and catering services is incorporated within a hospitality account code and is not recorded separately. DEFRA does not receive any separate invoicing from our caterers which identifies ‘food’ specifically. To extract this information would incur disproportionate cost.
Chief Scientific Adviser
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what the resource budget allocation was for the office of her Department's chief scientific adviser in each of the last five years for which figures are available; [72467]
(2) what the salary, including benefits, was of her Department's chief scientific adviser in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how many individuals have held the post in the last five years; [72468]
(3) how many full-time equivalent staff were employed in the office of her Department's chief scientific adviser in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and on what date the office was established. [72469]
Richard Benyon: Resource budget allocation figures for the office of the chief scientific adviser are only available for the last three years, and these are given in the following table. Earlier figures are unavailable as a result of internal restructuring.
| £ | |
These figures cover pay costs and standard non-pay allocation.
Details of the salary, including benefits, payable to the Department's chief scientific adviser as set out in DEFRA's annual reports and accounts each year. These are available on the DEFRA website.
Two individuals have held the post of chief scientific adviser in the last five years.
DEFRA's first chief scientific adviser (CSA) was appointed on 27 February 2002. In each of the last five years the CSA's office has consisted of one full time HEO or HEO(D) Private Secretary, and one full time EO Assistant Private Secretary. Since June 2011 the EO post has been filled on a part-time basis (20 hours per week).
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Departmental Communications
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) press officers, (b) internal communications officers, (c) external communications officers, (d) communications strategy officers and (e) other positions with a communications remit were employed by (i) her Department, (ii) its agencies and (iii) each non-departmental public body sponsored by her Department on the most recent date for which figures are available. [84205]
Richard Benyon: Communication functions in DEFRA, its executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies have been reviewed. The following figures reflect the situation at 25 November 2011. Job descriptions will vary from organisation to organisation.
Detailed figures relating to smaller arm lengths bodies are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The Environment Agency figures cover England only.
| Press officers | |
| Number | |
| Internal communications officers | |
| Number | |
| External communication officers | |
| Number | |
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| (1) Communication and engagement roles within the Environment Agency are integral to work with external partners to ensure that environmental outcomes are met, including working with businesses to help them comply with environmental regulations and increasing public awareness of flood risk. | |
| Communication strategy officers—central and corporate planning | |
| Number | |
| Other communication positions includes managerial and support staff and online communications staff | |
| Number | |
Food Procurement
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of food sourced by (a) her Department and (b) public bodies for which she is responsible was procured from UK food producers in the latest period for which figures are available. [83723]
Mr Paice: EU treaty principles of non-discrimination and the free movement of goods and services between member states prevent public bodies from discriminating in favour of domestic food suppliers. This is reflected in UK and EU procurement legislation.
In June 2011 the Government introduced Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services which specify that food procured should be produced to UK or equivalent standards, except where that would incur an increase in overall cost. We want to drive up standards and encourage people to buy food with the highest production and animal welfare standards.
Officials are taking action to encourage these standards to be adopted as a minimum across the public sector and this will include all agencies and arms length bodies with which DEFRA is engaged. DEFRA’s current catering
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contract covers the whole of DEFRA’s estate including Fera, the Rural Payments Agency, Natural England, AHVLA and DECC and we are working with the caterer to ensure that Government Buying Standards are met in full.
The percentage of food under the contract between May and September 2011 that was sourced specifically from the UK was:
Meat: 43.5%
Poultry: 67.1%
Fruit and Veg: 23.3% of total, 38.5% of indigenous.
Departmental Manpower
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people were working in her Department on (a) 11 May 2010 and (b) 8 December 2011. [87349]
Richard Benyon: Staff in-post statistics are compiled at the end of each month. The number of full-time equivalent staff who were employed in DEFRA, at the dates nearest to those requested, are as follows:
30 April 2010: 2,558
30 November 2011: 2,091.
Official Hospitality
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much her Department spent on hospitality for events hosted by each Minister in her Department in each of the last 12 months. [73663]
Richard Benyon: DEFRA's spend on hospitality organised through ministerial offices for the months requested is given in the following table. Spend is not recorded according to which Minister hosted a particular event. It is also possible that some spend on events hosted by Ministers was incurred by other areas of the Department, but this information is not recorded centrally.
| Month | Ministerial expenditure (£) |
All expenditure incurred was in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been spent on hospitality by her Department since May 2010. [80268]
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Richard Benyon: The total amount spent on hospitality by the Department since May 2010 through to November 2011 is £155,362.
For information the following table includes the statistics for the preceding three years.
| £ | |
Procurement
Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what methodology (a) her Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible used to estimate savings to the public purse made in respect of its procurement and purchasing since May 2010. [69279]
Richard Benyon: On 15 November 2010, Official Report, columns 615-16W, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander), said in response to PQ16752 that the Government had announced a more specific and innovative approach to efficiency and reform across the public sector, including:
a reduction in administration budgets of 34% across the whole of Whitehall and its arm's length bodies saving £5.9 billion a year by 2014-15;
radically reducing the number of arm's length bodies across Government; and
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the Efficiency and Reform Group's tough new efficiency regime which will drive savings in procurement, major projects and estate management.
In August 2011, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), announced that the Efficiency and Reform Group's new measures had saved £3.75 billion over 2010-11.
This impact was assessed using methodologies attached at Annex A which describes the results across Government. The assessment has been independently verified by Government auditors who found the benefits assertions to be fairly calculated and presented.
The Department, its Executive agencies and NDPBs also generate other procurement savings on other categories of expenditure through the four areas of:
Renegotiation of existing contracts
Efficiencies made in the actual buying process
Demand Management
Reconfiguration of service delivery on items such as telephony, interims etc.
These savings are borne out in Department accounts. Note 10 (page 92) of the DEFRA Report and Accounts 2010-11 (HC1003) reports that non-pay Gross Admin Costs (excluding non-cash items) for DEFRA reduced from £253 million in 2009-10 to £222 million in 2010-11. Figures in this report are prepared in accordance with HM Treasury's Financial Reporting Manual for central Government Departments and associated Treasury resource accounting and budgeting guidance.
In addition to using the methodologies described as follows for other categories, DEFRA uses the National Audit Office's definition of VFM to demonstrate savings.
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Departmental Public Expenditure
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much her Department spent on new furnishings in the last year. [73123]
Richard Benyon: Core DEFRA’s total spend for the last financial year (2010-11) on furnishings (including office furniture) is estimated at £227,124. This includes furnishing needs arising from office refurbishments and relocations.
Departmental Publications
Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) leaflets, (b) posters and (c) reports her Department has published since May 2010; how much each cost; and which company (i) published and (ii) designed each. [83005]
Richard Benyon: Since May 2010 DEFRA has used two separate publishing contracts. For the financial year 2010-11 information is available on publishing and design costs for leaflets, posters and reports on a monthly basis as set out in Table A. However, exact numbers of individual publications are not available and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost. This contract was handled by Communisis, who were appointed via fair and open competition, and who have handled the majority of such work for DEFRA in this period.
| Table A | |||
| £ | |||
| Design costs | Print costs | Total | |
In total, 393 jobs were invoiced.
Since March 2011, a contract with Publishing Delivery Service (PDS) was used, also appointed on a fair and open competitive basis.
In addition the Central Office of Information (COI), and various agents who work with them, have undertaken some publishing and design work for the Department. Due to the way costs are categorised it is not possible to separate out design and publishing costs separately, although it is possible to provide a composite figure. Please see Table B for 2010-11.
It is not currently possible to provide information on the 2011-12 financial year as figures have not yet been confirmed by final audit.
| Table B: COI and linked agencies—financial year 2010-11 | |
| Design and print costs (£) | |
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In total, 163 jobs were invoiced.
Secondment
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what secondments there have been to her Department from (a) industry and (b) the third sector since May 2010; what the (i) purpose and (ii) duration is of each secondment; and whether each secondment was to a policy development role. [86141]
Richard Benyon: Since May 2010 there has been one secondment into DEFRA from industry and there have not been any from the third sector.
The secondee is a technical analyst working on requirements, design and testing on the UK Location programme. The duration of the secondment is two years. The secondment is not to a policy development role.
Departmental Temporary Employment
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many temporary staff have been recruited to her Department between September and November 2011. [88007]
Richard Benyon: Temporary staff are people directly employed by core DEFRA under employment contracts of less than 12 months and paid via the DEFRA payroll. Between September and November 2011, no temporary staff were recruited to core DEFRA.
Detergents
Ben Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received on the adequacy of regulation of the use of environmentally harmful chemicals in household detergents. [87392]
Richard Benyon: DEFRA has not received any representations on the adequacy of regulation of the use of environmentally harmful chemicals in household detergents.
Dogs: Tagging
Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what estimate she has made of the likely cost to the public purse of the compulsory microchipping of dogs; [86637]
(2) what assessment she has made of the operation of the voluntary microchipping system for dogs. [86639]
Mr Paice: Officials have prepared an assessment of all aspects of microchipping, including the voluntary system and the cost of compulsory microchipping, and this assessment will inform DEFRA policy.
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Mr Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on the mandatory electronic chipping of dogs; and if she will make a statement. [87404]
Mr Paice: The Government support voluntary identification of pets—by microchipping, permanent identification and the registering of pets on nationwide databases. DEFRA Ministers and officials are currently engaged with key stakeholders from wider government, the police and animal welfare organisations concerning the content of possible legislation, including the microchipping of dogs.
We intend to make an announcement on tackling irresponsible dog ownership early in the new year.
Elephants: Africa
Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what support the Government is providing through international organisations to tackle the poaching of elephants in Central and West Africa. [87154]
Richard Benyon: The UK as a party to the convention on international trade in endangered species (CITES) supports its efforts to maintain or enhance countries' enforcement capabilities. In May this year, the UK participated in a CITES-organised rhino and elephant enforcement task force meeting at which intelligence reports and methodologies were exchanged and strategies were developed to tackle the illegal trade in both animals across their ranges.
The UK provides funds for two CITES monitoring programmes: Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) and the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), which were set up to monitor and assess the levels of poaching and trafficking to inform subsequent decisions in CITES.
We will continue to look to engage constructively in international discussions on his issue and assist elephant range states where needed. For example, African elephant range states have recently agreed an action plan covering a wide range of conservation measures. The UK is contributing funds to this work.
Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what financial support her Department is providing to the African Elephant Action Plan through the African Elephant Fund. [87663]
Richard Benyon: The Department has recently agreed funding of £32,000 for the African Elephant Fund in support of the African Elephant Action Plan.
EU Landfill Directive
Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of the EU Landfill Directive since its introduction. [87829]
Richard Benyon:
The EU Landfill Directive, first implemented in 2002, has helped bring about consistently high standards in the design, operation, closure and
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aftercare of landfill sites, the costs of which fall to landfill site operators. DEFRA has not undertaken any specific assessment of the estimated cost to the public purse of the Directive.
In line with the waste hierarchy, landfill is the least preferred option for the disposal of biodegradable and recyclable waste. This is on the grounds that it is a waste of resources, and because landfill gas is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
The additional costs of the Directive requirements to divert biodegradable municipal waste from landfill above and beyond the baseline trend have largely fallen to local authorities. The Landfill Allowance Trading scheme (LATS) was introduced in 2005 to meet these diversion targets. DEFRA has allocated waste infrastructure credits (formerly PFI credits) to part-finance 32 local authority infrastructure projects which will divert biodegradable municipal waste from landfill. The payments to local authorities will total £4 billion.
Subsequent to the introduction of the LATS, landfill tax has been raised significantly. This is in order to reduce the environmental impact of landfilling, and promote more sustainable treatment of waste both covered by the Landfill directive targets and that which is not. As a result, it was agreed as part of the 2011 Review of Waste Policy in England to end LATS in 2013. Both the proposals to set up the scheme and to end it were accompanied by impact assessments on the costs and benefits.
Copies of these impact assessments are available on DEFRA’s website.
Fisheries
Mr Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of active fishermen in each (a) constituent part of the UK and (b) region in each year since 2001. [87836]
Richard Benyon: The UK fishing industry provides many jobs in coastal communities, and brings both social and economic benefits to communities where other opportunities to find employment are often scarce. The following tables contains data relating to the number of full-time and part-time fishermen. The data has been broken down into regions within each constituent part of the UK. Prior to 2004, the data collected regarding the number of fishermen employed in the fishing industry was only broken down into constituent parts, rather than the major port areas.
| Number of fishermen employed through the fishing industry (full time and part time) by constituent part of UK | |||||||
| Regular | |||||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | |
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| Part Time | |||||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | |
11 Jan 2012 : Column 367W
| Total | |||||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | |
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| England and Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | UK | |||||||||
| Regular | PT | Total | Regular | PT | Total | Regular | PT | Total | Regular | PT | Total | |