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Government Departments: 0870 Numbers
The Earl of Northesk asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many, and which, government departments and agencies are currently using 0870 telephone numbers for the purposes of public communication with their offices. [HL434]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville): The Office for Government Contracts Buying Services (OGCBS) draws up framework contracts for government departments to purchase telephony services. These do not stipulate what kinds of services individual departments should choose, and so there is no centrally held information on which government departments and agencies currently use 0870 numbers.
The independent regulator the Office of Communications (Ofcom) allocates 0870 numbers to eligible network communications providers in units of 10,000 numbers. Those providers then allocate individual numbers to end-users either directly or through resellers. Although Ofcom knows who is reponsible for all number blocks it has no record of individual 0870 number end-users, including government departments and agencies.
Community Hospitals: Remuneration of GPs
Earl Howe asked Her Majesty's Government:
What arrangements are in place to ensure fair rates of remuneration for general practitioners working in community hospitals. [HL564]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner): The pay of general practitioners working in community hospitals is decided locally by the relevant employer or commissioner for these services. The NHS Confederation (representing NHS employers) has recently looked at this issue as part of a study into the terms and conditions of non consultant career grade doctors. The confederation has recommended that there should be more appropriate and flexible use of existing options for setting appropriate local remuneration for doctors undertaking this hospital work.
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Badgers
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether there have been any studies into the effects of an increase in the badger population on hedgehog and ground-nesting bird populations; and, if there have been such studies, what have been the conclusions. [HL300]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty): Badgers are known to predate on ground nesting birds, although such predation is likely to be largely opportunistic. The impact of badger predation on bird populations has not been specifically quantified, but is not thought significantly to affect populations nationally. Locally, however, the situation may be different.
Bird remains are typically found in about 7.5 per cent of badger dung in the UK, and diet studies confirm that badgers eat eggs, nestlings and adult birds. These studies are unable to distinguish between scavenged and killed birds, and do not quantify the importance of birds in the badger diet.
Defra is currently funding research aimed at providing a scientifically vigorous assessment of the importance of badger predation for ground nesting birds. The project involves a review of current knowledge and intensive field investigations to assess the extent of predation by badgers. The project, which is being undertaken by the Central Science Laboratory, will report its findings in March 2005.
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
What has been the cost of repairing damage to canal banks caused by badgers for each year since 1997; and what is the estimated cost of repairing recent damage, attributed to badgers, to the bank of the Llangollen Canal. [HL492]
Lord Whitty: No records of damage to canal banks by badgers are kept by navigation authorities. British Waterways has advised that repairs to the bank of the Llangollen Canal are likely to be in the region of £500,000. It is probable that the damage was caused by badgers.
Inland Waterways Amenity Advisory Council
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
When they expect to make a formal announcement on the future of the Inland Waterways Amenity Advisory Council; and when they expect the council to be operating as an independent body. [HL528]
Lord Whitty: As has previously been made clear, Ministers have decided that the Inland Waterways Amenity Advisory Council's administrative ties with British Waterways should be severed and that the
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council should be reconstituted as an independent body reporting to and supported by government. The main role of the new council will be to provide a source of strategic advice to government, navigation authorities and other waterway bodies about the inland waterways generally.
The Government now plan to use the proposed Modernising Rural Delivery Bill to provide the legislative changes necessary to implement these decisions and will make a more detailed announcement when the draft Bill is published. The changes would take effect early in 2007.
Common Agricultural Policy:Payments to Farmers
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the total of payments made to farmers under the integrated administration and control system scheme of the Common Agricultural Policy in each of the past three years; and what is their estimate of payments to be made in each of the next three years under the single farm payment scheme of the modified common agricultural policy. [HL590]
Lord Whitty: The table below sets out figures for expenditure by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) under schemes covered by the integrated administration and control system (IACS) of the common agricultural policy (CAP) in each of the past three years. Also set out below is the estimated expenditure by RPA for claimants under the single payment scheme (SPS) of the modified CAP in each of the next three years. The devolved administrations make payments under these schemes in other parts of the UK. The figures include payments to claimants who have land both in England and in one of the devolved areas of the UK.
Expenditure paid under IACS for the past three financial years
Estimated Expenditure under SPS for the first three years of the scheme
The UK has been allocated a national ceiling for SPS of 3.667 billion euros for the 2005 scheme year (1 December 2005–30 June 2006), 3.840 billion euros for the 2006 scheme year (1 December 2006–30 June 2007) and 3.840 billion euros for the 2007 scheme year (1 December 2007–30 June 2008), excluding
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29.8 million euros allocated to Scotland to operate the Beef National Envelope. The above figures cannot be converted into pounds sterling as the exchange rate has not yet been published.
Rural Payments Agency
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many staff are presently employed by the Rural Payments Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; how many have professional qualifications in agriculture; and what they expect the equivalent staff figures to be by the end of 2005. [HL593]
Lord Whitty: As at 31 December 2004, 3,702 people were employed by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). Of these, 308 have a qualification in agriculture or related sciences.
By the end of 2005, it is expected that 3,033 people will be employed by the RPA. Of these, the total number of staff possessing professional qualifications in agriculture is planned to rise rather than fall, owing to the RPA's commitment to a broad range of professional training over the forthcoming year.
Rail Fatality Management Group
Lord Patten asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Davies of Oldham on 15 December (WA 96), by what date the Rail Fatality Management Group expects to publish its guidelines for preventing suicides and handling their aftermath. [HL568]
Lord Davies of Oldham: The Rail Fatality Management Group expects to publish its guidelines for preventing suicides and handling their aftermath by the end of March 2005.
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