Asked by: Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of her Department were in each of the last five years.
Answered by George Eustice
The table below provides details of the average hourly earnings of each group of employees in the core-Department as at 30th June 2015 in each of the last five years.
Year | Female | Male | Full-time | Part-time |
2015 | £19.79 | £21.31 | £20.51 | £20.84 |
2014 | £19.36 | £21.43 | £20.32 | £20.80 |
2013 | £18.62 | £20.88 | £19.76 | £19.44 |
2012 | £18.23 | £20.94 | £19.64 | £19.04 |
2011 | £18.69 | £21.20 | £19.80 | £20.92 |
The difference in hourly rate of pay for male and female staff can be explained by a greater proportion of male staff at the higher grades.
A recent equal pay review, analysing pay by grade, found that there were no significant equal pay differences based on gender.
Asked by: Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much support from EU agricultural funding has been awarded to UK organic food producers in each of the last five years.
Answered by George Eustice
In England between 2010 and 2014, support for organic farmers was provided under the Organic Entry Level Stewardship scheme (OELS) and Organic Higher Level Stewardship scheme (OHLS), which were set up under the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). The following table provides details of the annual funding provided during this period. Organic farmers were also eligible for payments under the Single Payment Scheme.
OELS and OHLS funding in England 2010-2014:
Year | Annual funding for OELS: | Annual funding for OHLS: |
2010 | £1,986,129 | £17,454,578 |
2011 | £4,285,822 | £21,059,841 |
2012 | £6,088,660 | £24,443,405 |
2013 | £7,503,473 | £27,495,231 |
2014 | £8,665,682 | £29,486,762 |
Total Funding: | £28,529,766 | £119,939,817 |
Footnote 1: Because agriculture is a devolved matter, separate schemes operate in other UK countries. Data on other funding provided is available from devolved administrations.
Footnote 2: These data include payments to organic farmers under conventional land management options in combined organic and conventional agreements and include payments for existing and new agreements each year.
Footnote 3: RDPE funding comprises EU funding allocated under the CAP for England and relevant Exchequer match funding.
Asked by: Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to ensure that organic food producers are subsidised under the Common Agricultural Policy.
Answered by George Eustice
Organic farmers in England are eligible to claim Common Agricultural Policy support under the Basic Payments Scheme and are also eligible to apply for funding under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme.
Asked by: Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department spent on tackling the illegal wildlife trade in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Over the past five years, the total amount of funding committed by Defra to tackling the illegal wildlife trade is as follows:
Financial Year | Total committed |
2010/11 | £224,535 |
2011/12 | £226,000 |
2012/13 | £162,000 |
2013/14 | £2,089,773 |
2014/15 | £5,278,744 |
In December 2013, Defra and DFID announced that £10m of funding would be made available over the period 2014/15 – 2017/18 to help developing countries tackle the illegal wildlife trade, to be administered by Defra. In March 2015, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development announced that an additional £3m would be made available for this purpose.
The DFID funding is largely distributed through the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, for which I announced the opening of a second round of applications in August 2015. In addition, Defra has supported projects which will help tackle the illegal wildlife trade through the Darwin Initiative and through direct awards to organisations such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). We also supported the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in February 2014 and the Kasane Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in March this year.