Questions
Asked by
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many staff were in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' unit responsible for genetically modified organisms in each year since 2000; and what was the annual budget for that unit in each year since 2000. [HL2794]
The following table gives the information requested from 2003-04, based on the number of Defra staff working full-time on GM policy issues. Other Defra staff contribute some of their time to work on GM issues, but it would be difficult to apportion this accurately. Information for earlier years is not available.
Year Number of staff working full time on GM issues at the beginning of each financial year Pay costs for staff working full time on GM issues (salary, ERNIC and employer's pension contribution) 2003-04 22 830,000 2004-05 20 626,000 2005-06 15 649,000 2006-07 13 646,000 2007-08 10 387,000 2008-09 9 361,000 2009-10 8 372,000
Asked by
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many meetings have taken place between ministers and (a) representatives of the biotechnology industry and its trade organisations, and (b) representatives of non-governmental organisations and consumer groups, on matters relating to genetically modified crops and foods in the past five years. [HL2866]
Since the beginning of 2007, Defra Ministers have had five meetings with representatives of the biotechnology industry and three meetings with non-governmental organisations specifically about matters relating to genetically modified crops and foods. Information for earlier years is not available.