To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the rules are governing (a) the use by and (b) the admission of guests of (i) hon. Members, (ii) hon. Members' staff and (iii) House of Commons staff in respect of each bar on the House of Commons part of the parliamentary estate. (312634)

Bars on the House of Commons part of the parliamentary estate currently available to staff of the House (all grades) and Members' staff are:

Bellamy's Bar (Mon-Thurs 12.00-23.00 or rise of House, whichever is the earlier, but not before 22.00) with up to two guests.

Moncrieff s CafeBar (Mon-Tue 09.00 (bar 12.00)-20.00; Weds-Thurs 09.00 (bar 12.00)-22.00 or rise of House, whichever is the later; Fri 09.00 (bar 12.00)-16.00) with up to three guests.

Additionally, senior staff of the House of Commons may use the following bar facilities:

Strangers' Bar (Mon-Weds 12.00-23.00 or rise of House, whichever is the later; Thursday 12.00-22.00; Fri 12.00-15.15 or rise of House, whichever is the later). Staff grade A2 and above may take in up to three guests; Staff Grade B may not take in guests.

June-July only: Terrace Pavilion Bar (open 13.00-23.00 Mon-Weds). Access as for Strangers' Bar.

Pugin Room (Bar service open Mon-Tue 11.00-15.00 and 17.30-midnight or 15 minutes after the rise of House, whichever is the earlier; Weds 11.00-15.00 and 17.30-23.00; Thurs 11.00-15.00 and 17.30-22.00; closed Fridays). Open to staff grade A2 and above with up to three guests.

Members and up to three guests have access to all the bar facilities listed above. Also, the Members' Smoking Room is provided for the exclusive use of Members of Parliament (Mon-Tue 14.00-17.00 and 18.00-midnight; Weds 14.00-17.00 and 18.00-23.00; Thurs 13.00-17.00 and 18.00-19.00; closed Fridays).

The following bars are provided elsewhere on the parliamentary estate for all parliamentary pass holders, including Members, their staff and all staff of the House of Commons:

Sports and Social Club bar 12.00-23.00 Monday to Friday (sitting weeks) and at reduced time, depending on the level of trade, during recess.

Lords Bar (Mon-Thurs 10.30-21.00; Fri 10.30-19.30) with up to two guests.

To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how much was spent on running costs for the Department of Resources and its predecessors in each year from 2005-06 to 2008-09; what estimate has been made of such costs in 2009-10; and if he will make a statement. (312213)

The direct running costs of the Department of Resources and its predecessor the Department of Finance and Administration have been:

These figures include staff and directly related accommodation costs, but not other expenditure managed on behalf of the House as a whole. They also exclude ICT infrastructure costs which are managed jointly by the parliamentary ICT for both Houses.

Fluctuations in expenditure represent organisational and other work changes that have arisen during the period. For example, the departmental ICT team was amalgamated into PICT on 1 January 2006, the Internal Audit team transferred to the Office of the Chief Executive on 1 January 2008, and there have been additional resources consumed recently because of FOI, the Legg Review and other Member-related work.

To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what remunerated positions Sir Thomas Legg declared prior to his appointment to review payments from the additional cost allowance; and whether Sir Thomas was required to declare the amount of remuneration he receives from such positions. (313437)

Sir Thomas Legg has declared the following positions: non-executive director of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, consultant to Clifford Chance, and Commissioner of the Audit Commission. Sir Thomas was not required to inform the House Administration of the amount of remuneration from these positions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the reasons for the cost of the finance function of his Department's core headquarters referred to in the publication Benchmarking the Back Office: Central Government; and if he will make a statement. (312681)

The cost of the finance function for the Ministry of Justice's headquarters is made up of:

the costs of finance teams that provide support to a number of the MOJ's Directorates, including the corporate centre which provides support and challenge to the entire Department;

the costs for transaction processing for the former Department for Constitutional Affairs parts of the Department (including HM Courts Service and the Tribunal Service) that are funded and managed through a central contract.

The cost differences reflected in the publication ‘Benchmarking the Back Office: Central Government’ may have a number of causes including, as the report notes: “different bodies in central Government have very different business models to deliver their different services”. I believe that, given the MOJ's business model, this level of headquarters expenditure is reasonable in supporting a wider business area and providing support and challenge to help the board and Ministers to achieve outcomes efficiently.

The MOJ supports the work on benchmarking, and is working with other Government Departments to help us to better understand the variations in costs these data illustrate and to drive further efficiencies across the MOJ through the shared services programme started in July 2009. The MOJ also has plans, annexed to ‘Putting the Frontline First’, to improve the efficiency of both its finance and human resources functions across its headquarters, agencies and non-departmental public bodies. These include moving all human resources and finance transaction processing into a single shared service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been (a) charged and (b) convicted of an offence of carrying a knife in each of the last five years. (312767)

The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences relating to carrying a knife, England and Wales 2003 to 2007 (latest available) is shown in the following table.

The Ministry of Justice do not collect charging data; proceeded against information has been provided in lieu.

Court proceedings data for 2008 are planned for publication on 28 January 2010.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average fine given to a person convicted of driving without insurance was in each justice administrative area in each year since 1997. (312817)

The number of average fines imposed at all courts in England and Wales for using a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks, by police force area, from 1997 to 2007 (latest available) is given in the table.

Court proceedings data for 2008 are planned for publication on 28 January 2010.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when an assessment will be made of the effectiveness of the changes introduced in April 2009 to arrangements for the media to attend family court hearings. (312933)

The Ministry of Justice published a study into the impact of the April 2009 rule changes on 21 January 2010. The study can be found on the Ministry of Justice website and copies have been laid in the House of Commons Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 7 January 2010, Official Report, column 546W, on legal advice and assistance, whether seasonal fluctuations in workload of new matter start allocations for providers of the Advice and Assistance Scheme (Legal Help) were taken into account when deciding upon the period 9 April to August 2009 to assess the annual run-rate. (312922)

Seasonal fluctuations were not taken into account when calculating the annual run-rate of firms, which predict the number of matter starts that might potentially be required by each provider to year end. However, any provider who had their allocation of matter starts reduced following the review can request a review by the Legal Services Commission and present evidence in support of a request to reinstate matter starts, including data regarding seasonal fluctuations. Seasonal fluctuations vary greatly from firm to firm and among categories of law and therefore it is not possible to apply a standard formula to take these into account.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the merits of proposals to set up separate operational arms in the National Offender Management Service. (312662)

As part of the restructure of the Ministry of Justice in 2008, a single NOMS delivery organisation has been created to join together and streamline headquarters, and deliver prison and probation services more effectively. This delivery arm is an executive agency. The expectations on prisons and probation are unchanged: to protect the public and reduce reoffending.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will take steps to increase the number of staff at the National Offender Management Service HQ who have a background in probation. (312663)

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) fully recognises the benefits of using the specialist skills of probation staff in appropriate posts. Where there is a business need for a particular post to be filled by someone with a probation service employment background, NOMS headquarters groups may second or advertise externally, in line with NOMS and civil service recruitment policy.

NOMS has recently obtained special permission from the Office of the Civil Service Commissioners for secondments from probation services to last for up to three years, rather than the two years normally allowed by the Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. Certain senior posts in the regional teams within NOMS headquarters are now reserved for probation service personnel on secondment. In addition, NOMS is developing a facility for vacant posts, where appropriate, to be simultaneously advertised internally to Ministry of Justice employees, and as secondment opportunities to probation service employees.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether probation staff (a) are permitted to apply for and (b) may be appointed to vacancies in the National Offender Management Service. (313008)

Probation service employees may apply for posts in the National Offender Management Service Agency that are advertised externally. They may also apply for internally advertised posts on secondment. Where appropriate, posts may also be reserved solely for secondment of personnel from probation areas or trusts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many hospital beds in each prison are being used to ease overcrowding elsewhere in the prison; (313202)

Places in in-patient health care centres may be added to the certified normal accommodation and/or operational capacity of a prison when routinely used to accommodate patients but not simply to provide additional accommodation to manage population pressures.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many escape list prisoners there are in each category of prison accommodation. (313201)

This information is not held centrally. To collate this information would involve contacting every closed establishment in order to identify how many prisoners are currently on each local escape list. This would incur a disproportionate cost.

All closed prisons are required to have in place a system to identify and manage prisoners who are placed on the escape list. A prisoner may be placed on the escape list if they pose a current and significant threat of escaping that cannot be addressed through normal security arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many prisoners were released before their agreed release date in the latest year for which figures are available; (312847)

As at 21 January 2010, 54 prisoners were recorded as released in error when an authority to retain them in custody was in place. This figure covers the period between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2009.

Most prisoners released in error are returned quickly to custody. Of those released in error during 2009 seven remain unaccounted for.

Figures relating to offences committed by those at large following a release in error are not available centrally. Releases in error are reported to the police who are responsible for apprehending prisoners. Information on further offences committed could only be collated by contacting each prison and police force across England and Wales which would incur disproportionate cost.

The number of releases in error is small, accounting for less than 0.05 per cent. of discharges from prison. All incidents are subject to investigation. There is no indication from the available information of any significant level of offending by prisoners who should have been in custody at the time.

These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

The number of releases in error reported for 2009 may change, should further incidents be reported.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offences were committed by prisoners released for Christmas 2009. (312903)

No offences were recorded against any offender released on temporary licence (ROTL) over the Christmas period. Every prisoner who submits a request for ROTL is seen by a board which consists of prison and probation staff. A stringent risk assessment is carried out before any decision is made to grant the application. Throughout the whole process public protection is paramount.

These figures have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

These figures may change should any further offences relating to this period be identified and reported to National Offender Management Service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) male and (b) female foreign national prisoners there are, broken down by (i) offence category and (ii) length of sentence. (313199)

The most recent data available relate to June 2009. The following tables give the numbers of (a) male and (b) female foreign national prisoners (FNPs) showing both (i) offence category and (ii) length of sentence.

In addition to the 7,502 sentenced prisoners, a further 3,848 were either untried, convicted unsentenced, a fine defaulter or non-criminals, giving a total of 11,350.

These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 11 January 2010, Official Report, columns 789-90W, on gender identity disorder: prisoners, from whom the draft guidance on the treatment of prisoners with gender dysphoria is available for (a) prisons and (b) prisoners. (312923)

As was indicated in the previous answer given to the House on 11 January 2010, Official Report column 789-90W, the responsibility for the production of the draft guidance on the treatment, care and management of transsexual prisoners is split between officials in the Department of Health and Ministry of Justice but in the majority of instances where prison staff have requested advice these have been directed to the latter and more specifically officials in Safer Custody and Offender Policy Group in the National Offender Management Service. As the document is still in draft form it is not readily available for wider distribution beyond policy officials and prison staff but where necessary the advice and information contained within is made available to prisoner(s) who require it.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent assessment his Department has made of the merits of (a) maintenance and (b) abstinence-based drug treatment programmes for prisoners. (312905)

Contracts are in place with two groups of researchers for evaluation of different aspects of the Integrated Drug Treatment System (IDTS). This will include the impact of methadone maintenance in particular. The contracts were let in 2008 and each group of researchers will submit a final report by April 2012.

All accredited drug treatment programmes available in prisons aim ultimately for abstinence and are based on good practice found in the community. Offenders in custody are subject to drug testing and usually receive a range of interventions and support aimed at reducing reoffending. It is practically difficult to pinpoint the precise effect of any one of these interventions on overall drug misuse or reoffending. Evaluations to date specifically of prison drug treatment programmes run in England and Wales are limited and have not always met the highest methodological standards. However, they suggest that accredited programmes can reduce reoffending (Ramsay, M. (ed) (2003), Prisoners' Drug Use and Treatment: Seven Research Studies. Home Office Research Study 267. London: Home Office). International evidence supports these findings.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were participating in (a) maintenance and (b) abstinence-based drug treatment programmes on the latest date for which figures are available. (312906)

In 2008-09, 64,767 prisoners received a clinical drug intervention. Of these 45,135 received detoxification and 19,632 received a maintenance prescription for opioid dependency.

The table shows the number of commencements on accredited drug treatment programmes for the last period for which data are available. Data are not collected centrally on the number of individual prisoners enrolled on such programmes at any one time.

Although all accredited drug treatment programmes run in prisons aim ultimately for abstinence, the short duration programme (SDP) has been designed to be appropriate for prisoners undergoing clinical maintenance as well as those that remain abstinent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many women prisoners have given birth since April 2009; (313206)

Information on the number of women who have given birth in prison or became pregnant while serving a prison sentence is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost, as in order to provide this information staff would need to look at each individual's record.

In addition, it would not be possible to guarantee the accuracy of the data about when women become pregnant as this would be reliant on information being provided by the prisoners themselves.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he plans to take to increase the level of contact time between probation staff and offenders. (312664)

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is taking a number of actions to increase the amount of contact time between probation staff and offenders. These include:

allocating resources to the assessment and management of offenders according to the level of risk;

as part of the Probation Trusts Programme all areas (including locally initiated mergers) have identified efficiencies through for example the reduction in management overheads, and development, of shared services, to the benefit of front line staffing levels;

a national programme of specifying probation work, and benchmarking performance, to support the effective deployment of front line staff;

identifying opportunities for reducing bureaucracy and other demands currently placed on front-line staff; and

expanding the use of video conferencing to reduce the time probation staff spend travelling to interview prisoners.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to respond to the Parliamentary Ombudsman's report entitled “Cold Comfort: the Administration of the 2005 Single Payment Scheme by the Rural Payments Agency”. (311216)

[holding answer 19 January 2010]: The Department's views were relayed to the Parliamentary Ombudsman at various stages during the course of her investigations and are referred to in the report itself. A formal response will be made to any subsequent report the Public Administration Select Committee decides to produce on the issue.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how cross-compliance regulations in respect of single payments and the Integrated Administration and Control System scheme apply to turbines and related infrastructure built on farmland; and if he will make a statement. (312565)

Any area of farm land occupied by a wind turbine, electricity pylon or other item of non-agricultural infrastructure would not form part of the agricultural area eligible to support claims under the single payment scheme. As such the standards of cross-compliance would not apply to these features.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will bring forward proposals to require the chemical industry to minimise the number of animals used in testing covered by the provisions of the EU Regulation on the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals. (312689)

The Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation contains strong provisions to minimise the amount of animal testing by EU-based companies when compiling their substance registration dossiers. These require that animal tests be the last resort, with the use of non-animal test methods instead wherever possible, and prohibit the repetition and duplication of animal tests. REACH also requires that when preparing registration dossiers, data derived from animal tests must be shared between all members of a Substance Information Exchange Forum (SIEF) in order to achieve this. Where further tests are necessary to complete registrations for substances on the market in quantities of 10 tonnes or more per year, then proposals must be submitted to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) for approval before any such tests are undertaken, so pre-emptive testing would be illegal. Part of this approval process involves a 45-day public consultation on the test proposals, so that third parties have the opportunity to provide information on the substance that would render the proposed animal tests unnecessary.

In order to help companies address the issue of using animal tests when preparing registration dossiers, a short guidance note has been published on the DEFRA website:

www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/chemicals/reach/index.htm

which draws attention to these legal requirements, and suggests a number of possible non-animal alternative test methods including chemical grouping and read-across approaches, use of (Quantitative) Structural Activity Relationships (QSARs), and in vitro tests. Information can also be provided by way of a weight of evidence assessment, and certain tests specified in REACH may also be waived where it can be shown that exposure of humans or the environment to a substance is insignificant or absent.

It is important that companies remember that they should not be undertaking animal testing for REACH registration before their test proposals are approved by ECHA as being necessary. Companies should actively look for alternatives to animal testing wherever possible, and refer to the REACH Test Methods Regulation for what is available for use. Other internationally-valid non-animal test methods that do not appear in the Test Methods Regulation may also be used. However, where animal tests are the last resort, then companies should use the most refined method possible to reduce the numbers of animals involved.

ECHA has published detailed guidance on data-sharing and information requirements for the REACH registration process on its website, and the UK REACH Competent Authority (provided by the Health and Safety Executive) is also shortly to publish a guidance leaflet for industry on animal testing and use of alternatives on its website. This will explain the REACH testing obligations, help with identifying the most appropriate test method, with information on the various available non-animal test methods.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what departmental assets are planned to be sold in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11; what the (i) description and (ii) book value is of each such asset; what the expected revenue is from each such sale; and by what date each asset is expected to have been sold. (310243)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable) on 11 January 2010, Official Report, column 676W.

The Government have stated their intention to realise £16 billion from asset and property sales over the period by 2013-14. On 7 December the Government published the “Operational Efficiency Programme: Asset Portfolio”, setting out the next steps for the delivery of the £16 billion by 2013-14.

DEFRA has approximately £6.9 million (book value £10.2 million) of surplus properties for disposal in 2009-10, arising from the sale of land, residential and office premises. Anticipated disposals from land and laboratory premises are expected to realise £9 million in 2010-11 (book value £8 million).

Not all future asset disposals have been finalised, and for reasons of commercial sensitivity it is not possible to identify publicly each asset to be disposed of, or to set out deadlines for sales as this can have a negative impact on values.

DEFRA’s latest published asset management strategy is available on its website at:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/about/how/busplan/spending-review/docs/asset-management-strategy.pdf

The strategy is currently being updated following the creation of the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the transfer of certain functions from DEFRA to DECC, and it is planned that the new version of the strategy will be published in the spring.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether (a) his Department and (b) its agencies plan to sign up to the 10:10 campaign to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in 2010. (313044)

DEFRA has a long-term commitment to reduce its carbon emissions. Performance in 2008-09 shows that DEFRA’s carbon emissions from offices has reduced by 18 per cent. on the 1999-2000 baseline, exceeding the 2010 Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate (SOGE) target by 6 per cent. Since 2006-07 the Department has delivered a reduction of 4 per cent. carbon emissions (year on year) from its estate through its Carbon Reduction Programme.

DEFRA’s achievements have been recognised through the award of the Carbon Trust Standard in May 2008, where the Department was one of the first 12 pathfinder organisations to receive the award. This built upon the earlier success of the Department achieving Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme (EEAS) status in July 2007. Both of these awards clearly demonstrate that DEFRA has an ongoing commitment to long-term, year on year carbon emissions reductions.

The Department is expecting to continue to deliver significant year on year savings, anticipated at as much as 6 per cent. year on year.

A strategic long-term investment plan allows the delivery of projects which provide long-term benefits through reducing energy demand and minimising the need to reinvest in the short to medium term. To disrupt these long-term plans in order to achieve 10:10 would impact negatively on DEFRA’s ability to achieve its long-term goals and would not deliver value for money. However, the combination of DEFRA’s long-term plans, a minimum 6 per cent. reduction in 2010 and a short- term call to action all constitute a credible contribution to tackling climate change.

In light of the above, achieving a 10 per cent. saving across the DEFRA Estate in a single year would require my Department to divert significant funds from its long-term delivery plan; therefore The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and its Executive Agencies have not signed up to the 10:10 campaign.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what pay band his Department’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) is employed; whether the CIO is employed on a fixed-term or permanent contract; and what the size is of the budget for which the CIO is responsible in the period 2009-10. (307566)

DEFRA’s chief information officer is employed as a senior civil servant (SCS-Contractor) on a fixed term contract basis. The size of the budget the CIO is responsible for is £76 million for 2009-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which websites his Department's staff are blocked from accessing on departmental networked computers. (310054)

The Department has blocked access to:

www.facebook.com

There are also a number of other websites that the Department blocks for reasons of IT security. The security policies informing these IT security decisions are in line with HMG Security Policy Framework (SPF)

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/spf.aspx

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been spent on (a) strategy and planning, (b) design and build, (c) hosting and infrastructure, (d) content provision and (e) testing and evaluation for his Department’s websites in each of the last three years; and what budget has been allocated for each such activity in 2009-10. (310212)

DEFRA website costs are as follows:

The costs shown for “Content Provision” are essentially the staff cost for the central team with responsibility for updating and maintaining DEFRA’s websites. An element of their work is “Strategy and Planning”, but the costs of such work cannot be easily separated.

This central team is also responsible for the DEFRA intranet, and the staff costs for the external DEFRA website alone cannot be readily disaggregated.

The costs shown in 2008-09 and 2009-10 under “Design and Build” and “Testing and Evaluation” are the costs for the project to redevelop the DEFRA website. The website was relaunched in September 2009, the first major website redesign since DEFRA came into being in 2001. The total cost of this work, spread over two years, was £181,378.

“Hosting and Infrastructure” of the DEFRA website—as well as a range of IT applications—are provided as part of DEFRA’s overall IT service provision, and the costs of this aspect of website maintenance cannot be readily disaggregated.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) year-end and (b) in-year bonuses were paid to officials in his Department in each of the last three years; and how much was paid in such bonuses in each such year. (307099)

An element of DEFRA’s overall pay award is allocated to non-consolidated variable pay related to performance. These payments are used to drive high performance and form part of the pay award for members of staff who demonstrate exceptional performance, for example by exceeding targets set or meeting challenging objectives.

Non-consolidated variable pay awards are funded from within existing pay bill controls, and have to be re-earned each year against pre-determined targets and, as such, do not add to future pay bill costs. The percentage of the pay bill set aside for performance-related awards for the SCS is based on recommendations from the independent Senior Salaries Review Body.

The following table details the number and the total amount of non-consolidated variable pay awards awarded under DEFRA’s standard pay and performance management process for the three most recent performance years for which the relevant payments have been published in the Department’s accounts.

For DEFRA, the data cover staff at grade 6 and below in core-DEFRA and those Executive agencies covered by the core-Department’s terms and conditions i.e. Animal Health, Veterinary Medicines Directorate and the Marine and Fisheries Agency. They also include senior civil servants in core-DEFRA and its Executive agencies (Animal Health, Veterinary Medicines Directorate, Marine and Fisheries Agency, Rural Payments Agency, Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Centre for the Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science and the Central Science Laboratory—which is now part of the Food and Environment Research Agency, which was created on 1 April 2009.

For those Executive agencies that operate delegated pay arrangements (Rural Payments Agency (RPA), Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), Centre for the Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) and the Central Science Laboratory (CSL), which is now part of the Food and Environment Research Agency, which was created on 1 April 2009, the data cover staff at grade 6 and below only.

CEFAS has relatively higher non-consolidated pay when compared as a percentage against the DEFRA network, because they have specifically worked to structure a total rewards package with a greater non consolidated pay element, that is directly performance based and must be re-earned each year. This places a greater link between performance and reward and while their percentage of non consolidated pay is larger than others this is more than offset by their consolidated pay (i.e. salaries) which is low relative to the DEFRA network and Whitehall.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many sessions of media training were organised for Ministers in his Department in each of the last three years. (310754)

Training is provided to Ministers on a range of issues including handling the media, as part of their induction and continuing development in order to carry out their duties effectively under the ministerial code.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of incidents of fly-tipping in (a) Ashford constituency and (b) Kent in each of the last five years. (313512)

The number of incidents of fly-tipping recorded on the Flycapture database by (a) Ashford borough council and (b) all local authorities in Kent in each of the last five years is as follows:

The number of incidents of fly-tipping recorded as having been dealt with by local authorities on the Flycapture database is published annually on the DEFRA website:

www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/local/flytipping/flycapture-data.htm

Incidents of fly-tipping cleared from private land by the landowner are not recorded.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what duties there are on the owner of a rental petrol forecourt site to decontaminate the site once its use as a petrol station has ceased; and if he will make a statement. (312671)

There are various measures which create duties to address contamination, depending on the circumstances of the case. Contaminated land legislation (Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990) makes persons liable for the cost of remediating a site if they caused or knowingly permitted it to become contaminated land. This allows direct action to be taken by regulators, and it creates an incentive for operators to avoid causing contamination in the first place, and to clean it up voluntarily if it occurs. For contamination caused after 1 March 2009, the Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2009 would also be applicable in similar circumstances and to achieve similar objectives to Part 2A of the 1990 Act.

Legislation also directly applies to prevent contamination during the operation of a petrol station. Under the Groundwater Regulations 2009 there is a code of practice to prevent hazardous substances from reaching groundwater from underground tanks, such as those at petrol stations. The Environment Agency can serve a notice on the operator if it is likely that the code of practice is not being complied with. The Agency also has powers under the Anti-pollution Works Notices Regulations 1999 to serve notices where there is a threat of pollution to controlled waters or to require clean up where pollution of controlled waters has occurred.

Where a petrol forecourt is operated under a rental agreement, there may be further duties on the operator to deal with contamination as an indirect result of legislation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the monetary value of bonuses awarded to officials of the Rural Payments Agency in each of the last five years. (310620)

The payments made for non-consolidated performance payments awarded to employees at the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) in the last five years is shown in the following table:

RPA performance payments are paid to RPA staff working on all aspects of the agency's work which includes managing and making payments for some 60 schemes, making payments on a further 30 schemes delivered by others, carrying out inspections and operating the British Cattle Movement Service under two reward schemes:

(a) Staff who have achieved the required performance assessment following the end of year individual performance review. This arrangement is negotiated each year with the trade union side; and

(b) A special recognition scheme was introduced in 2007 and exists to recognise instances of people making additional or outstanding contributions to RPA's work, giving an employee up to £500 for an outstanding performance.

These figures include non-consolidated performance payments paid to senior civil servants (SCS). The percentage of the pay bill set aside for performance-related awards for the SCS is based on recommendations from the independent senior salaries review body.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Environment Agency receives payment from money submitted as payment with wind farm planning applications to cover the cost of its contribution to the planning process; and if he will make a statement. (312564)

The Environment Agency does not receive any payment from money submitted as payment for wind farm planning applications, or from any other planning applications. The Environment Agency is a statutory consultee in the planning process, and this activity is funded by its grant funding from central Government.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what security checks will apply in respect of passengers who refuse to be scanned by an airport full body scanner. (313213)

The Government are not proposing to offer an alternative method of search for passengers refusing to use a body scanner.

Passengers who are selected for scanning, but decline to use the scanner, will not be permitted to fly.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether full body scanners will be used to scan children at airports. (313214)

We are confident that the introduction of these scanners is a proportionate and necessary next step in enhancing security of passengers, and that their use is consistent with the Protection of Children Act 1978. We will therefore be expecting children to use the scanners.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment he has made of the implications for human rights of the use of full body scanners at airports; and if he will make a statement. (313215)

The Department for Transport is working with the industry and other Government Departments to produce a code of practice for the operation of body scanners. This will include an assessment of the legal, health and privacy issues surrounding their deployment.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport for how long images obtained by airport full body scanners will be stored. (313216)

The equipment being deployed in airports does not have the capacity to save an image in any form. Images are viewed remotely from the machine, and are deleted immediately after analysis. Images cannot be recovered at a later date from the machines.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what modelling the Government has done on (a) changes in car sharing rates and (b) the effect such changes have on road congestion; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the outcomes of such modelling. (313001)

The Department for Transport has not modelled changes in car sharing rates. However, research was published by DFT in 2005 “Smarter Choice—Changing the way we travel” (Cairns S, Stoman L, Newson C, Anable J, Kirkbride A and Goodwin P; 2004). This research analysed the potential impact of car sharing on commuting vehicle trips and vehicle mileage. The report is available at:

http://dft.gov.uk/pgr/sustainable/smarterchoices/ctwwt/

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many industrial tribunals relating to his Department there have been in each of the last five years; and what the cost to his Department was of such tribunals in each year. (310750)

The total number of employment tribunal cases recorded in each of the last five years and the costs are broken down in the following table and also include figures to date for 2009-10:

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is unable to provide the cost element to this question as the information is not held centrally and to obtain it will incur disproportionate costs. For the same reason the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency is unable to provide costs for 2004-05.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport on what date the Secretary of State was first notified of the recent industrial action by drivers on the First Capital Connect Thameslink route. (312504)

The Secretary of State was first notified of the recent concerted action by drivers on the First Capital Connect Thameslink route on 26 October 2009.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether the recent industrial action by drivers on the First Capital Connect Thameslink route constitutes a force majeure event under the terms of the franchise agreement with First Capital Connect. (312505)

The Secretary of State was satisfied that in this instance the concerted action that was taken by the drivers on the First Capital Connect Thameslink route was industrial action for the purposes of schedule 10.4 of the franchise agreement, and therefore a force majeure event.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what meetings Ministers in his Department have had with the management of First Capital Connect to discuss industrial action by drivers on the First Capital Connect Thameslink route in the last three months. (312506)

The Secretary of State met with the managing director of First Capital Connect on 12 November 2009 to discuss the industrial action. Officials in the Department for Transport have also met with First Capital Connect on numerous occasions, within this period.

The Secretary of State has also spoken with the chief executive of First Group about First Capital Connect's performance.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what modelling the Government has done on the economic and environmental effects of a third runway at Heathrow; and if he will place a copy in the Library of the outcomes of such modelling. (313003)

The Department for Transport published its latest assessment of the economic and environmental effects of a third runway at Heathrow in “Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport—Impact Assessment” in January 2009. The publication coincided with the Secretary of State for Transport’s announcement of his policy decisions on the future development of Heathrow airport. Copies of the published documents, and earlier technical reports on the environmental modelling, have all been deposited in the Library.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many (a) cars, (b) vans, (c) lorries and (d) motorcycles of each make were (i) clamped and (ii) crushed in each of the last three years; in what circumstances and under what legislative authority such vehicles are (A) clamped and (B) crushed; and if he will make a statement. (313149)

We do not keep information on the number of vehicles clamped or crushed by vehicle type. However, the following table provides the total number of vehicles wheel clamped; disposed of by crushing or via auction and immobilised in each of the last three calendar years.

The Department for Transport employs the use of wheel clamping and immobilisation of unlicensed and un-roadworthy vehicles. The legislative authority is set out in the Vehicle Excise Duty (Immobilisation, Removal and Disposal of Vehicles) Regulations 1997, as amended and the Road Safety (Immobilisation, Removal and Disposal) Regulations 2009.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many cars have been impounded in (a) Southend West constituency, (b) Essex, (c) the Metropolitan Police area of London and (d) England and Wales in each year since 2005; and at what total cost in each case in each such year. (313277)

It is not possible to provide the number of cars impounded or information by geographical area. A contract is in place to provide a wheel-clamping service, which may lead to impounding, on vehicles in the United Kingdom. The contract is on a fixed price basis for the entire service. Neither costs of impounding individual vehicles, nor costs of the operation within geographical locations are available.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what discussions his Department has had with Southeastern Railway on recent disruptions to its service caused by snow and ice. (312667)

The Department for Transport communicated regularly with Southeastern and Network Rail during the recent service disruption caused by snow and ice. The Department was informed of the services that would be operating, taking into account the availability of infrastructure and trains, and challenged Southeastern to run as full a service as possible. The Department is now collecting information on the service that was offered to understand whether or not any improvements can be made to rail services during future adverse weather.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the estimated average cost is of processing a vehicle excise duty application (a) at a post office, (b) by post and (c) online. (313636)

The average cost for processing a vehicle excise duty application during 2009-10 is as follows:

(a) Post Office: £1.47

(b) Not available

(c) 95 pence.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps his Department has taken following the incident on 31 December 2009 in which six foxhounds belonging to the Duke of Beaufort's hunt were killed by a high-speed passenger train near Wootton Bassett; and if he will make a statement. (312748)

The day-to-day running of the railways, and their safety is a matter for rail operators and the Office of Rail Regulation as the independent rail safety regulator.

The incident was included in the daily performance log submitted to the Department by the train operator involved. Aside from this, the Department is not involved in operational incidents of this nature (animals on the line).

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what information his Department holds on the number of scheduled trains operated by each franchised train operating company serving Kent which (a) were cancelled and (b) arrived late in each of the last five years. (313428)

The information requested is held by Network Rail but is also given in the following table. The table gives the information for each of the last five complete financial years, in relation to Southeastern trains which operates franchised rail passenger services in Kent.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent discussions he has had on the establishment of a high speed rail link between the North West and London. (312425)

The Secretary of State has now received High Speed Two’s report which he is considering. Both the Secretary of State and his ministerial colleagues continue to meet regularly with key stakeholders to discuss a range of transport issues, including high speed rail.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many and what percentage of scheduled trains operated by each franchised train operating company in England (a) were cancelled and (b) arrived late in each of the last five years. (313430)

The information requested is held by Network Rail but is also given in the following tables. The tables give the information for each of the last five complete financial years.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many requests the Highways Agency has received from Royal Mail to clear the roads in (a) Ashford and (b) Kent in the last two years. (313511)

The Highways Agency is responsible for the Strategic Road Network. It has not received any requests from Royal Mail to clear local authority or strategic roads either in Ashford or Kent in the last two years.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport when he expects to announce the location of the facility to assemble the super express Agility train; what locations are under consideration; and how many such trains he expects to comprise the super express fleet. (313255)

The location of the manufacturing facility is a matter for Hitachi. The company has a number of locations under consideration, and I understand that it will make an announcement shortly. The super express fleet will comprise up to 1,400 rail vehicles.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport (1) what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the expansion of Southend airport on the local community in respect of (a) road traffic and (b) noise in the last three years; and if he will make a statement; (313145)

The Department for Transport has not consulted on the proposals to expand Southend airport, nor has it made any assessment of the effect of the proposed expansion on the local community in respect of road traffic or noise.

There have been no discussions between the Department for Transport and BAA on proposals for the expansion of Southend airport. Southend airport was purchased in December 2008 by Stobart Group Ltd. from Regional Airports Ltd.

“The Future of Air Transport” White Paper identified Southend airport as having a valuable role in meeting local demand and the potential to contribute to regional economic development. The White Paper supported further development in principle, subject to relevant environmental considerations. On 20 January Southend council made a decision to support the planning application for expansion proposals at Southend airport. The council’s recommendation has now been submitted to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for him to consider whether to call in the application for his own determination.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland at what speaking events (a) he and (b) his Under-Secretary of State has been represented by (i) a special adviser and (ii) another elected official from the Scotland Office since October 2007; for what reasons John McTernan withdrew from the Reform Scotland debate scheduled for 4 February 2010; on what date his Department informed Reform Scotland that he was unavailable to attend that debate; by what form of communication his Department informed Reform Scotland that John McTernan would take part in that debate; on what date this communication was sent; and on what date his Department informed Reform Scotland that the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State would attend the event. (313580)

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (PuSofS) and I have never been represented by a special adviser at a speaking event and the Scotland Office does not have elected officials.

The Scotland Office confirmed with Reform Scotland on 18 January 2010 that PuSofS would attend this debate if timing of parliamentary business allowed for this.