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  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reasons his Department will not be flying the Commonwealth Flag on Commonwealth Day; and by whom that decision was taken.

    Mr David Lidington

    In addition to flying the Union Flag at all times, it is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s policy to fly the flags of the nations of the United Kingdom on the appropriate national days, and the flags of the British Overseas Territories on the day that is most significant in each of their histories. The Foreign Secretary is responsible for FCO policy.

  • George Hollingbery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    George Hollingbery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Hollingbery on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which towns and cities in England and Wales have been most affected by flooding caused by urban surface run-off following heavy rain events in the last five years.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Environment Agency publishes maps of locations at risk of flooding from surface water. The maps can be interrogated by place name or postcode.

    The maps can be found at:

    http://watermaps.environment-agency.gov.uk/wiyby/wiyby.aspx?topic=ufmfsw#x=357865&y=355121&scale=1

    “

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department provides to its managers on how many days training should be made available to staff.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Department supports and actively promotes the ‘5 a year’ Civil Service Learning campaign to encourage individuals to take at least five days a year targeted learning and development, as set out in the Civil Service Reform plan. The campaign is promoted to both staff and managers using posters, the intranet and learning and development plans.

  • Joan Walley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Joan Walley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Walley on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to introduce biodiversity offsetting; and whether ancient woodland will be exempt.

    George Eustice

    The Government is not proposing any policy change regarding biodiversity offsetting at this point. As recommended by the Environmental Audit Committee and others, Defra waited for – and is considering – the report on the six offsetting pilots before making any further decisions.

    The Government has always been clear that any policy change regarding offsetting would not alter existing protections in the planning system such as those for ancient woodland.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average number of days training of full-time equivalent staff employed in her Department was in each of the last three financial years.

    Dan Rogerson

    The information to answer this question is not readily available and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department’s training budget was in each of the last three financial years.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Core Department does not budget at a level of detail that allows for the identification of annual training budgets. The information requested can therefore not be provided.

    The table below sets out details of spend on training within Core Defra in the last three complete financial years. This information can also be found in the Department’s published Annual Reports and Accounts.

    Financial Year

    Spend on Training (£000)

    2011-12

    1,191

    2012-13

    1,353

    2013-14

    1,105
  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department spent on training in each of the last three financial years.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Core Department does not budget at a level of detail that allows for the identification of annual training budgets. The information requested can therefore not be provided.

    The table below sets out details of spend on training within Core Defra in the last three complete financial years. This information can also be found in the Department’s published Annual Reports and Accounts.

    Financial Year

    Spend on Training (£000)

    2011-12

    1,191

    2012-13

    1,353

    2013-14

    1,105
  • George Hollingbery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    George Hollingbery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Hollingbery on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on how many occasions the Environment Agency has (a) issued warnings and (b) brought prosecutions as a result of dredging or channel maintenance activities in each of the last three years; on how many occasions referrals were made to the police following such activities; and which rivers were affected in each such case.

    Dan Rogerson

    The Environment Agency has a range of enforcement and sanction options that it can employ against those undertaking dredging or channel maintenance works incorrectly.

    Environment Agency officers do issue warnings and, where appropriate, make referrals to the police. However, the Environment Agency does not hold statistics on this centrally.

  • George Hollingbery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    George Hollingbery – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Hollingbery on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the (a) time taken and (b) cost of dredging operations undertaken by the Environment Agency was in the (i) 2012-13 and (ii) 2013-14 financial years in each operational area; and what the expected benefits of such operations were.

    Dan Rogerson

    Dredging is not identified as a separate category within the Environment Agency’s budget allocations or work recording systems, as it is often carried out at the same time as other channel activities. It is included within the broader category of ‘conveyance’ on which the Environment Agency spent around £45 million and £32 million in total in 2012/13 and 2013/14 respectively. The Environment Agency carries out conveyance work, including dredging, where it cost effectively reduces flood risk to people and property. The Environment Agency estimate that, on average, conveyance work provides about £7 of reduced flood damages for every pound spent. Dredging can provide other benefits, such as land drainage and navigation.

    The funding spent on conveyance in each operational Environment Agency area was:

    2012/13

    2013/14

    Environment Agency Area

    Total Allocated (£M)

    Total Allocated (£M)

    Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire

    1.03

    0.56

    Cumbria and Lancashire

    3.77

    1.75

    Derbyshire Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire

    2.31

    2.27

    Devon and Cornwall

    2.77

    1.31

    Essex Norfolk and Suffolk

    3.96

    1.07

    Greater Manchester Merseyside and Cheshire

    4.41

    4.47

    Hertfordshire and North London

    4.48

    3.40

    Kent and South London

    3.95

    3.12

    Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire

    3.26

    2.86

    Northumberland Durham and Tees

    1.11

    1.73

    Shropshire Herefordshire Worcestershire and Gloucestershire

    1.07

    1.39

    Solent and South Downs

    2.01

    2.10

    Staffordshire Warwickshire and West Midlands

    1.27

    1.42

    Wessex

    2.01

    1.38

    West Thames

    4.12

    1.60

    Yorkshire

    3.43

    1.82

    Grand Total

    44.95

    32.27

    We do not hold information on the time it took for each of the dredging operations to be undertaken.

  • Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much Nuclear Management Partners has received in executive staff costs in each year since it became the parent body organisation for Sellafield Ltd.

    Matthew Hancock

    The information requested is below:

    £k

    • 2008/09 3,211
    • 2009/10 8,463
    • 2010/11 9,068
    • 2011/12 11,066
    • 2012/13 8,629
    • 2013/14 6,658