Environment Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 3 February 2005.
Alan Simpson
Labour, Nottingham South
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the people working within her Department on secondment from the private sector, broken down by (a) the organisation or industry they came from and (b) the policy responsibilities they have been given.
Alun Michael
Minister of State (Rural Affairs), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The following annex details the secondees from the private sector currently working in this Department, the organisation they came from and the policy responsibilities they have been given.
The term secondee" refers to a person borrowed" from an organisation outside the civil service for a period of between three months and three years (exceptionally five years), without affecting employment status. During the secondment period the secondee remains an employee of the parent organisation but is expected to abide by the Defra Staff Handbook and the Official Secrets Act. Secondees are expected to undertake the full range of duties attached to the post. At the end of the secondment the secondee normally returns to the parent organisation.
| Name | Parent organisation | Defra unit/Division | Policy responsibilities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sarah Perry | FUTERRA Sustainability Communications Ltd. | Sustainable Development | Building Sustainable Development Capacity |
| Fay Blair | Global to Local | Sustainable Development | None |
| Sue Nowak | Water UK | Better Regulation | Implementing the 54 recommendations from Defra's Regulation Task Force report |
| Richard Chalk | Royal Bank Of Scotland Group | Improvement and Delivery Group—Corporate Development Team | None |
| Nick Starkey | National Farmers Union | OFIC Crops for Industry | Development of sustainable non food uses of crops other than energy |
| Alison Pridmore | Capita Symonds | Sustainable Development | None |
| Bill Senior | BP | GAS | Climate Change activity |
| John Enright | London Remade | WS Waste Implementation Programme | None |
| Steven Marshall | Scottish Power | Sustainable Energy—SEP3 International | Energy Efficiency Innovation Review and REEEP Initiative |
| Paul Turner | Northumbrian Water | Water Supply and Regulation | None |
| Kate Hampton | Climate Change Capital | Global Atmosphere | Future International action to prevent climate change |
| Phil Cutts | SERCO Group plc | Rural Development Service | None |
| Nader Bahri | Powergen | Sustainable Energy | Combined Heat and Power |
Yes1 person thinks so
No1 person thinks not
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The House of Commons votes by dividing. Those voting Aye (yes) to any proposition walk through the division lobby to the right of the Speaker and those voting no through the lobby to the left. In each of the lobbies there are desks occupied by Clerks who tick Members' names off division lists as they pass through. Then at the exit doors the Members are counted by two Members acting as tellers. The Speaker calls for a vote by announcing "Clear the Lobbies". In the House of Lords "Clear the Bar" is called. Division Bells ring throughout the building and the police direct all Strangers to leave the vicinity of the Members’ Lobby. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the Division Lobby before the doors are closed. Members make their way to the Chamber, where Whips are on hand to remind the uncertain which way, if any, their party is voting. Meanwhile the Clerks who will take the names of those voting have taken their place at the high tables with the alphabetical lists of MPs' names on which ticks are made to record the vote. When the tellers are ready the counting process begins - the recording of names by the Clerk and the counting of heads by the tellers. When both lobbies have been counted and the figures entered on a card this is given to the Speaker who reads the figures and announces "So the Ayes [or Noes] have it". In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the Lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby. Unlike many other legislatures, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adopted a mechanical or electronic means of voting. This was considered in 1998 but rejected. Divisions rarely take less than ten minutes and those where most Members are voting usually take about fifteen. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P9 at the UK Parliament site.
