Asked by: Jake Berry (Conservative - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what type of heating system is the primary source of heating in each building occupied by his Department and its agencies; and what fuel is used by those heating systems.
Answered by Victoria Prentis
Identifying opportunities to decarbonise the department’s heating systems is already underway and the following breakdown of fuel sources has already been identified.
On the 93 sites that the Department provides heating:
A number of Defra’s buildings will become part of the Government Property Agency’s (GPA) Government property model and GPA is leading net zero plans to decarbonise these buildings. Defra will support these plans where required.
The buildings that remain under Defra group Property’s remit will be decarbonised as much as possible by the department’s Spending Review plans and by bidding for funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. These plans include the deployment of air or ground source heat pumps to support or replace existing heating systems, a move towards electrical heating and a better use of building management systems to achieve zonal heating to avoid heating unoccupied parts of a building.
There is also some exploratory work underway to look at the viability of hydrogen fuel heating and power generation which could help significantly with the decarbonisation of the laboratory sites.
The department will not rely on carbon offsets as a means to decarbonise buildings, instead making the reduction of direct emissions the primary aim.
Asked by: Jake Berry (Conservative - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to tackle dog attacks on livestock.
Answered by Victoria Prentis
New measures to crack down on livestock worrying are to be introduced in England and Wales through the Kept Animals Bill introduced to Parliament on 8 June.
We will enhance enforcement mechanisms available to the police and expand the scope of livestock species and locations covered by the law. Improved powers will enable the police to respond to livestock worrying incidents more effectively – making it easier for them to collect evidence and, in the most serious cases, seize and detain dogs to reduce the risk of further incidents.
The scope of livestock species covered by the legislation will be extended to include animals such as llamas, emus, enclosed deer and donkeys. New locations will include roads and paths, as long as the livestock have not strayed into a road.
Asked by: Jake Berry (Conservative - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to protect (a) Areas Of Outstanding Natural Beauty, (b) the West Pennine Moors and other moorland areas and (c) National Parks from fires caused by the use of disposable barbecues.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
We are clear that everyone should follow the Countryside Code. A key part of Government strategy is to get clear and consistent messages to the media which highlight the problem and promote better behaviour in the countryside and encourage a partnership response.
There are existing powers in legislation which can be used by authorities to regulate and prohibit the lighting of fires on Access Land in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) and National Parks. Current ‘Byelaw’ legislation allows for local authorities to restrict and enforce the use of disposable barbecues in parks and public spaces. Government has no plans for additional legislative proposals to introduce a seasonal ban on the use of disposable barbecues.
Government is working with AONBs, National Park Authorities; and other Government departments to promote a series of guidance videos to educate users about travelling to and spending time outdoors safely in the wider countryside. This includes an updated Countryside Code which advises not to have barbeques or fires. This guidance is available at the following links:
Green space access: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-on-accessing-green-spaces-safely
The Countryside Code: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-countryside-code/the-countryside-code
Asked by: Jake Berry (Conservative - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals for a seasonal ban on the use of disposable barbecues away from the home in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, moorland areas and National Parks to help prevent fires after prolonged periods of dry weather.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
We are clear that everyone should follow the Countryside Code. A key part of Government strategy is to get clear and consistent messages to the media which highlight the problem and promote better behaviour in the countryside and encourage a partnership response.
There are existing powers in legislation which can be used by authorities to regulate and prohibit the lighting of fires on Access Land in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) and National Parks. Current ‘Byelaw’ legislation allows for local authorities to restrict and enforce the use of disposable barbecues in parks and public spaces. Government has no plans for additional legislative proposals to introduce a seasonal ban on the use of disposable barbecues.
Government is working with AONBs, National Park Authorities; and other Government departments to promote a series of guidance videos to educate users about travelling to and spending time outdoors safely in the wider countryside. This includes an updated Countryside Code which advises not to have barbeques or fires. This guidance is available at the following links:
Green space access: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-on-accessing-green-spaces-safely
The Countryside Code: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-countryside-code/the-countryside-code
Asked by: Jake Berry (Conservative - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to include worker representation on its departmental board.
Answered by George Eustice
I refer the hon. Member to the oral statement on the Corporate Governance Green Paper of 29 November 2016, Official Report, Column 1408.
Asked by: Jake Berry (Conservative - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the percentage gap in earnings is between the highest-paid and lowest-paid full-time employee in her Department.
Answered by George Eustice
Government departments do not publish details of the salary of their highest to lowest paid employees.
The Office for National Statistics do, however, publish the salary ratio of highest to median earners for each Civil Service organisation. These ratios are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics and can be found on the Office for National Statistics website:
Asked by: Jake Berry (Conservative - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to publish information on the gender pay gap among its employees.
Answered by George Eustice
Our Department has reported mean and median gender pay gap data since 2008 as part of the annual release of Civil Service Statistics by the Office for National Statistics.
The latest gender pay gap data (published in October earlier this year) can be found on the Office for National Statistics website:
In October 2015, the Prime Minister announced that new gender pay gap reporting measures being introduced across the private and voluntary sector from April 2017 would be extended to also apply across the public sector. We are actively working to ensure the gender pay gap data we report in future fully mirrors these new requirements.
Asked by: Jake Berry (Conservative - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the percentage gap in earnings is between the pay of full-time staff in the highest pay grade in her Department and average full-time pay in that Department.
Answered by George Eustice
The Office for National Statistics publish the salary ratio of highest to median earners for each Civil Service organisation. These ratios are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics and can be found on the Office for National Statistics website:
Asked by: Jake Berry (Conservative - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) full-time staff, (b) part-time staff, (c) agency staff and (d) apprentices the Rural Payments Agency employs to process Basic Payment Scheme applications.
Answered by George Eustice
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) uses a flexible resourcing approach, moving people onto different activities according to business need. Whilst the number of people deployed to processing Basic Payment Scheme applications will change depending on the activities being carried out, current numbers (as at 10 July) are as follows: (a) approximately 200 full time RPA employees (b) approximately 100 part time RPA employees (c) approximately 20 agency temps, and (d) approximately 50 apprentices from the cross-government Operational Delivery Profession.
Asked by: Jake Berry (Conservative - Rossendale and Darwen)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many requests for assistance with applications to the Basic Payment Scheme are outstanding.
Answered by George Eustice
There are no outstanding requests for assistance with applications. During the application window the Rural Payments Agency offered an unprecedented level of support to farmers and landowners to ensure that they were able to submit their applications.