Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
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 has paid to staff in overtime in each of the last 24 months.
Answered by George Eustice
The table below shows the amount of overtime paid to staff in core-Defra in each of the last 24 months.
Month | Amount | Month | Amount |
January 2016 | £33,554 | January 2015 | £35,948 |
December 2015 | £27,057 | December 2014 | £28,661 |
November 2015 | £22,909 | November 2014 | £16,501 |
October 2015 | £16,567 | October 2014 | £13,301 |
September 2015 | £15,046 | September 2014 | £17,162 |
August 2015 | £24,904 | August 2014 | £36,683 |
July 2015 | £20,092 | July 2014 | £22,531 |
June 2015 | £14,361 | June 2014 | £10,520 |
May 2015 | £7,956 | May 2014 | £18,307 |
April 2015 | £25,870 | April 2014 | £29,799 |
March 2015 | £18,566 | March 2014 | £45,721 |
February 2015 | £23,534 | February 2014 | £34,667 |
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many consultants' contracts were terminated early in each of the last six years for which figures are available; and what the cost of each such termination was in each of those years.
Answered by George Eustice
No consultants’ contracts were terminated early in each of the last six years.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
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 a special adviser in her Department accompanied a Minister on an overseas trip since May 2015.
Answered by George Eustice
Special Advisers have accompanied Ministers on two overseas trips since May 2015.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's advertising and communications expenditure was in each month since September 2014; and what that expenditure is forecast to be in March 2015.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The table below sets out the information requested in respect of the Core Department. It shows frontline expenditure by Defra’s Communications function. A comparatively small amount of expenditure on advertising (on items such as specialist recruitment) is also incurred by areas of the Core Department other than Communications, but to identify such expenditure would incur disproportionate cost.
Month | Expenditure (£) |
September 2014 | 2,023 |
October 2014 | 22,033 |
November 2014 | 0 |
December 2014 | 12,971 |
January 2015 | 2,700 |
February 2015 | 9,174 |
March 2015 (forecast) | 27,000 |
Total | 75,901 |
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which (a) individuals, (b) companies and (c) other organisations receive Christmas cards from her Department.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
This information is not recorded.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
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 has spent on take-away food for staff since May 2010.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
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 has spent on catering and hospitality since May 2010.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The total amount spent on catering and hospitality in Core Defra between May 2010 and 31 March 2014 (the latest date for which audited information is available) was £1.566m.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
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 has spent on transporting, installing and removing works of art from the Government Art Collection for the display of artwork in her Department since May 2010.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The Core Department has not incurred any costs when transporting, installing and removing works of art.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions her Department has had with EU institutions on the ban on the import of mangoes from India.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Lord de Mauley discussed the ban on the import of mangoes from India with Commissioner Borg in the margins of the Environment Council on 22 June. On 24 and 25 June, the Defra Deputy Director for Plant Health and Chief Plant Health Officer discussed the issue with senior Commission officials.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to help UK businesses adversely affected by the ban on the import of mangoes from India.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Since the ban was introduced, Defra officials and Lord de Mauley have had several discussions with UK trade representatives about the implications of the ban. The most recent meeting was on 22 July, when Lord de Mauley met with representatives of the National Asian Business Association, the Fresh Produce Consortium and other trade representatives together with the Indian High Commission. This focused on the importance of India demonstrating improvements in its phytosanitary export system to the European Union’s Food and Veterinary Office audit in September and what assistance could be provided to the Indian authorities.
The need for direct assistance to UK businesses has not been raised. However, the UK Government is making efforts to facilitate the resumption of trading in this highly valued product. For example, an Inspector from our Food and Environment Research Agency went to Mumbai to deliver a three day training event between 19 and 21 August. The training was aimed at exporters and government inspectors and was attended by nearly 200 delegates.