Agriculture: Genetically Modified Crops Questions Asked by The Countess of Mar 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 Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Davies of Oldham) 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 The Countess of Mar 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] Lord Davies of Oldham 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.