HC Deb 10 July 2003 vol 408 cc908-9W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many officials in the Department serve on EU committees or working parties. [116078]

Mr. Bradshaw

Membership of EU committees and working parties is not fixed and numbers will vary from meeting to meeting of the same committee depending on the subject matter and the need for particular expertise. This Department does not hold central records of the number of policy officials who attend EU committees and working parties. The information could be assembled only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list(a) the names, titles and grades of the officials who sit on the EU committee for the implementation of legislation on ambient air quality assessment and management, (b) the number of times, and the dates, on which it has met since January 2002, (c) the agenda items it has considered since January 2002, (d) the decisions it has made since January 2002 and (e) the means used to communicate the decisions to the House. [110297]

Alun Michael

The committee for the implementation of legislation on ambient air assessment and management does not have a fixed membership, but consists of representatives from each of the European member states. I understand that meetings of the committee are called by the commission as and when required and that there have been no meetings of the committee since Defra came into being in June 2001. The nature of the Committee's decisions will determine the means by which they are communicated to the House.