Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what policy evaluations have been carried out by external organisations for her Department and its agencies in each financial year since 2010-11; whether the output of those evaluations was published; which organisation carried out each such evaluation; and what the value of each contract to provide that evaluation was.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra’s ‘Science and Research Projects’ website contains information on Defra-funded research projects, including Defra policy evaluations. This data includes the year the project took place; the organisation that carried out the research; the value of the contract; and any published reports. The database can be accessed at: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs/about/research.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of factors contributing to decline of the honeybee population; and what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the National Pollinator Strategy.
Answered by George Eustice
UK honey bees and other pollinators play an essential role in ensuring our food security and sustaining the health of the natural environment. To help inform Defra’s National Pollinator Strategy (NPS), published in November 2014, the department commissioned a report on the ‘Status and Value of Pollinators and Pollination Services’. The report reviewed evidence on threats to pollinators, including the honey bee, and highlighted the many pressures pollinators face. These include aspects of land-use intensification (landscape alteration, cultivation in monocultures and agrochemical use) as well as urbanisation, invasive alien species, the spread of diseases and parasites, and climate change.
The NPS forms a framework for collective action to help manage and raise awareness of the pressures facing pollinators. The strategy seeks to address key gaps in our understanding about the status of pollinators, identifies specific policy and evidence actions for the Government and others, and identifies actions that everyone can take to help expand food, shelter and nest sites; increasing forage will have definite benefits for honey bees. The pressures honey bees face may have been offset by a recorded increase in beekeeping activity since 2008.
The National Pollinator Strategy is a 10 year plan which was launched less than a year ago. It is therefore too soon to be assessing its effectiveness. The Implementation Plan which will set out how the National Pollinator Strategy is to be delivered is to be published soon.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on how many occasions in each of the last five years there were cases of animals in travelling circuses not being licensed under the Welfare of Wild Animals in Travelling Circuses (England) Regulations 2012; and what animals were involved in each such case.
Answered by George Eustice
Since January 2013, when the Welfare of Wild Animals in Travelling Circuses (England) Regulations 2012 came into force, there have been no cases of wild animals being used in a travelling circus without the licence required by the Regulations.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that the welfare of non-wild animals in circuses is protected and licensed; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The welfare of domesticated animals in circuses is protected by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925. We have no plans to bring forward a licensing scheme for domesticated animals in circuses.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what amount her Department and its agencies spent on research and development in each year since 2010-11; and what proportion such spending was of total departmental spending.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The Department’s Annual Report and Accounts set out details of spend on research and development by the Core Department and its agencies, and total Departmental spend each year. The table below shows the information requested in each financial year from 2010-11 to 2013-14 (the last financial year for which a set of accounts has been published).
Financial Year | Spend on Research and Development (£000) | Proportion of Total Departmental Spending |
2010-11 | 106,232 | 4.6% |
2011-12 | 108,998 | 4.5% |
2012-13 | 101,623 | 4.4% |
2013-14 | 92,304 | 4.3% |
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of suppliers to her Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies paid subcontractors within 30 days in the last period for which figures are available.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
This table sets out the proportion (%) of undisputed invoices paid within five days in Core Defra, its executive agencies and its Non-Departmental Public Bodies in the period April to December 2014.
Organisation | % |
Core Defra | 98% |
Executive Agencies: | |
Animal and Plant Health Agency | 97% |
Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science | 100% |
Food and Environment Research Agency | 74% |
Rural Payments Agency | 87% |
Veterinary Medicines Directorate | 98% |
Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies: | |
Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (see Note) | 0% |
Consumer Council for Water | 94% |
Environment Agency | 95% |
Joint Nature Conservation Committee | 54% |
Marine Management Organisation | 99% |
National Forest Company | 64% |
Natural England | 99% |
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew | 71% |
Sea Fish Industry Authority | 52% |
Note: The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board does not attempt to make payments within 5 days, but rather pays within agreed terms, which are 30 days as standard.
Neither the Core Department nor its executive agencies or Non-Departmental Public Bodies routinely capture or monitor whether their suppliers are signatories to the Prompt Payment Code.
Neither the Core Department nor its executive agencies or Non-Departmental Public Bodies routinely capture or monitor whether their suppliers pay their subcontractors within 30 days, where such subcontractors are employed.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of suppliers to her Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are signatories to the Prompt Payment Code.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
This table sets out the proportion (%) of undisputed invoices paid within five days in Core Defra, its executive agencies and its Non-Departmental Public Bodies in the period April to December 2014.
Organisation | % |
Core Defra | 98% |
Executive Agencies: | |
Animal and Plant Health Agency | 97% |
Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science | 100% |
Food and Environment Research Agency | 74% |
Rural Payments Agency | 87% |
Veterinary Medicines Directorate | 98% |
Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies: | |
Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (see Note) | 0% |
Consumer Council for Water | 94% |
Environment Agency | 95% |
Joint Nature Conservation Committee | 54% |
Marine Management Organisation | 99% |
National Forest Company | 64% |
Natural England | 99% |
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew | 71% |
Sea Fish Industry Authority | 52% |
Note: The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board does not attempt to make payments within 5 days, but rather pays within agreed terms, which are 30 days as standard.
Neither the Core Department nor its executive agencies or Non-Departmental Public Bodies routinely capture or monitor whether their suppliers are signatories to the Prompt Payment Code.
Neither the Core Department nor its executive agencies or Non-Departmental Public Bodies routinely capture or monitor whether their suppliers pay their subcontractors within 30 days, where such subcontractors are employed.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of undisputed invoices her Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies paid within five days in the last period for which figures are available.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
This table sets out the proportion (%) of undisputed invoices paid within five days in Core Defra, its executive agencies and its Non-Departmental Public Bodies in the period April to December 2014.
Organisation | % |
Core Defra | 98% |
Executive Agencies: | |
Animal and Plant Health Agency | 97% |
Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science | 100% |
Food and Environment Research Agency | 74% |
Rural Payments Agency | 87% |
Veterinary Medicines Directorate | 98% |
Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies: | |
Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (see Note) | 0% |
Consumer Council for Water | 94% |
Environment Agency | 95% |
Joint Nature Conservation Committee | 54% |
Marine Management Organisation | 99% |
National Forest Company | 64% |
Natural England | 99% |
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew | 71% |
Sea Fish Industry Authority | 52% |
Note: The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board does not attempt to make payments within 5 days, but rather pays within agreed terms, which are 30 days as standard.
Neither the Core Department nor its executive agencies or Non-Departmental Public Bodies routinely capture or monitor whether their suppliers are signatories to the Prompt Payment Code.
Neither the Core Department nor its executive agencies or Non-Departmental Public Bodies routinely capture or monitor whether their suppliers pay their subcontractors within 30 days, where such subcontractors are employed.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what requirements her Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies place on suppliers in respect of their payment terms to subcontractors as part of their standard terms and conditions.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Many procurements are done through central frameworks using the associated contractual terms and conditions. For other procurements, almost all Defra network bodies, including core Defra, require 30 day payment terms to be passed on to subcontractors for all their contracts above the OJEU threshold (£111,676 for non-works contracts). Several of those bodies, where their work is likely to be sub-contracted, also put this requirement into contracts below that value and where this is not currently the case the position will be reviewed. The exceptions are the Food and Environment Research Agency and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of the amount (a) her Department and (b) its agencies and non-departmental public bodies spent on procurement was paid to small and medium-sized enterprises (i) directly and (ii) through the supply chain in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
On 25 February 2015, the Government published the latest spend data relating to central government spend with SMEs for 2013/14. This sets out procurement spend data for all Whitehall Departments including Defra, and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies. The information can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/central-government-spend-with-smes-2013-to-2014