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20 Mar 2008 : Column 1296W—continued
| ONE( 3) | SEEDA | SWRDA | YF( 3) | |||||
| Staff | £000 | Staff | £000 | Staff | £000 | Staff | £000 | |
| (1) EEDA contribute to the East of England partnership office in Jiangsu Province, China. Collaboration with Essex county council and China British Business Council. No staff employed by EEDA. (2) AWM and EMDA jointly fund inward investment activity in USA, Japan, India, Australia, and Sweden as ‘British Midlands’. Individual financial contributions are shown. Staff figures shown are the total number in that office. (3 )NWDA, ONE, and YF jointly fund inward investment activity in USA, Japan (from 2004-05), and Australia. Individual financial contributions are shown. Staff figures shown are the total number in that office. (4 )Where consultancy services are used, rather than staff paid for by the RDA. | ||||||||
Post Offices
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) how many of the Crown Post Offices currently operated by Post Office Ltd. that are not listed in the Post Office Network Consultation document as proposed for closure are franchised; [195666]
(2) whether new franchisees taking over Crown Post Offices have a legal obligation to maintain a post office function in the building in which they maintain a franchise; [195667]
(3) for what length of time the Post Office franchisees taking over Crown Post Offices have a legal obligation to maintain a post office function before renewal; [195668]
(4) how many of the Crown Post Offices operated by Post Office Ltd. were franchised in each year since 2002, broken down by local authority area. [195669]
Mr. McFadden: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Post Offices: Rural Areas
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform which local authorities have expressed an interest in participating in a strategy to retain post offices in rural areas. [194884]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 18 March 2008]: Local authorities interested in retaining post office service provision in their areas are contacting Post Office Ltd about this. I have therefore asked Alan Cook, its Managing Director, to reply direct to the hon. Member listing the local authorities which have expressed a serious interest in maintaining post office service provision at specific offices by means of local government funding.
Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Postal Workers: Dogs
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many cases of dogs attacking postmen have been reported in each of the last three years. [195330]
Mr. McFadden: This is an operational matter for Royal Mail. I have therefore asked Adam Crozier, Chief Executive of Royal Mail to reply direct to my hon. Friend.
Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Regeneration: Coastal Areas
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps his Department is taking to encourage economic regeneration in coastal resorts. [194258]
Mr. McFadden: The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) is the lead Government Department for the Regional Economic Performance Public Service Agreement. It also leads on sponsorship of the nine English Regional Development Agencies (RDAs).
The RDAs have an important role to play, with other partners, in helping coastal areas in their regions to achieve their full economic potential, as part of wider regional strategies to deliver sustainable growth. The South East of England Development Agency (SEEDA) is setting up an RDA-led Coastal Areas Network, which will include local authorities and other regeneration practitioners from the public and private sector. BERR is working closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) in supporting the Network. The Network is expected to hold its first meeting in June.
The work of the Network will feed into the economic development strategies which several RDAs are preparing for their own coastal areas to unlock their economic potential.
Last year, BERR held a policy seminar on coastal towns and is a member of the cross-Whitehall Coastal Towns Working Group.
Road Traffic: East of England
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2008, Question 193055, whether the East of England Regional Development Agency has consulted Essex County Council on the proposed study into the case of congestion in the East of England; and when the agency plans to make the details of the proposed study available to (a) Essex County Council and (b) other stakeholders. [195044]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 18 March 2008]: Essex county council has been consulted on the proposed study, firstly through its membership and participation at meetings of the Regional Transport Forum and the East of England Directors of Environment and Transport (EEDET) Strategic Transport Sub-Group, and secondly through a study workshop for local authorities, at which an Essex county council representative was present.
Details of the study are already available to Essex county council and other stakeholders, and will continue to be so until the study completion in June 2008, at which point the final study report will be available to Essex county council and other stakeholders.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Wastes
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to restrict the periods during which slurry may be spread. [193736]
Mr. Woolas: We are currently considering responses to the recent consultation on how to implement the Nitrates Directive in England before making recommendations on how to proceed. A report presenting a summary of the consultation results will be published on the DEFRA website in spring 2008.
Birds: Game
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what arrangements are in place to regulate the practice of shooting birds for sport. [195248]
Joan Ruddock: Section 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (the 1981 Act) sets out the hunting seasons for species listed on schedule 2, part 1. Section 5 of the 1981 Act prohibits certain methods of killing or taking wild birds. Hunting seasons for game birds are contained in section 3 of the Game Act 1831.
Natural England can grant licences under section 16 of the 1981 Act to enable the hunting of species not listed on schedule 2, part 1. These are usually issued to enable falconers to hunt certain species.
Anyone shooting birds for sport must be in possession of a valid shotgun licence or firearms certificate.
Brabners Chaffee and Street: Brofiscin Quarry
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reason Brabners Chaffee and Street, Solicitors have been engaged by the Environment Agency in respect of Brofiscin Quarry. [195340]
Mr. Paul Murphy: I have been asked to reply.
The Environment Agency instructed Brabners Chaffe Street LLP, a firm of external solicitors, to act on its behalf in respect of statements made by Mr. Douglas Gowan regarding an employee of the Environment Agency.
Eaga
Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the value was of the contracts between his Department and Eaga in the latest period for which figures are available. [194307]
Mr. Woolas: Between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008, DEFRA has allocated approximately £350 million to the Warm Front Scheme managed by Eaga plc.
Endangered Species: Birds
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what arrangements are in place to protect endangered birds in the United Kingdom. [195250]
Joan Ruddock: All wild birds are protected in the UK under the EC directive on the conservation of wild birds (“the Birds directive”), which is implemented in Great Britain by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Habitats Regulations 1994. Similar provisions are in place in Northern Ireland.
Species that are at risk from their international trade are also subject to controls under EU regulations that implement the convention on the international trade in endangered species (CITES). In accordance with Council Regulation 338/97, such species, notably birds of prey, require the issuance of permits or certificates before they can be commercially traded internationally. Such permits or certificates are issued dependent on a non-detriment finding assessment.
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