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Business Rates
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is her estimate of the rates paid as a percentage of the turnover of retail business. [4069]
Mr. Murphy: The information is not available because there is no estimate for Northern Ireland retail turnover separate from that of the United Kingdom.
Electricity Prices
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland by how much the price of a unit of electric power has increased in cash and percentage terms in each of the last five years; and what factors have contributed to this increase, separately identifying those relating to the non-fossil fuels obligation. [4072]
Mr. Ingram: The prices charged under Northern Ireland's tariff in each of the last five years, and the year by year increases are given in the following table:
(18) Average unit cost based on sales.
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There were a number of factors which contributed to these increases, including the cost of coal and fuel oil on the international markets, the effects of general inflationary pressures and, to a less significant degree, the increase in the level of renewable energy production.
Mr. Ross:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much electrical power has been generated by (a) wind, (b) water and (c) other non-fossil fuel sources in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years for which figures are available; what was the price (i) per unit and (ii) in total paid by Northern Ireland Electricity for such energy from each source in each of these years; and how much of the electrical power generated by each source in each year was transmitted to customers via the electricity grid. [4070]
Mr. Ingram:
The amount of electrical power which has been generated by non-fossil fuel sources in Northern Ireland during the last five years and the price paid per unit by Northern Ireland Electricity is given in the following table.
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| Wind | Hydro | Other non-fossil fuel sources | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | GWh | p/Kwh(19) | GWh | p/kWh(19) | GWh | p/kWh(19) | Total GWh |
| 1992-93 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1993-94 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1994-95 | 13.496 | 6.507 | 0.139 | 7.098 | -- | -- | 13.635 |
| 1995-96 | 65.252 | 6.546 | 0.662 | 7.036 | -- | -- | 65.914 |
| 1996-97 | 80.815 | 6.553 | 2.322 | 6.851 | -- | -- | 83.137 |
(19) Average unit price.
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| Year | Wind £ | Hydro £ | Other non-fossil fuel sources | Total £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992-93 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1993-94 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1994-95 | 878,214 | 9,859 | -- | 880,073 |
| 1995-96 | 4,271,420 | 46,592 | -- | 4,318,012 |
| 1996-97 | 5,295,819 | 159,049 | -- | 5,454,868 |
All the electrical energy generated by the renewable energy sources shown above was transmitted to customers via the electricity grid.
Mr. Ross:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will publish the formula used to determine the price paid for electrical power under the non-fossil fuel obligation contracts awarded under each tranche of contracts indicating the figures used in the calculations. [4067]
Mr. Ingram:
Non-fossil fuel obligaton contracts are awarded to developers after an open competition on the basis of lowest priced bids within each renewable
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technology band. Bid prices are expected to reduce in each succeeding NFFO competition towards the prices prices paid to fossil fuel generators.
Mr. Moss:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans she has to keep under review the retail petrol industry in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement. [3840]
Mr. Nigel Griffiths:
The Director General of Fair Trading recently announced a review of the wholesale and retail petrol market in the United Kingdom. The review will cover Northern Ireland.
Mr. Colvin:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if she will implement the recommendation of the Social Security Committee in its third report, "Uprating of State Retirement Pensions Payable to People Resident Abroad" (HC 143, 1996-97) relating to the granting of a
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free vote to hon. Members on the payment of upratings to pensioners living in countries where uprating are not paid at present; and if she will make a statement. [604]
Mr. Denham:
We recognise the strong feelings regarding this long-standing policy among UK pensioners who live in those countries where pensions are not uprated.
However, there are competing demands and constraints on social security spending. In these circumstances, the Government believes that it would be wrong to raise expectations that an uprating of these pensions would be likely to attract priority.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment her Department has made of the report prepared by the European Commission's Eurostat secretariat on the comparative levels of poverty in EU member states. [863]
Mr. Keith Bradley:
The Government has considered the report. We are determined to tackle unjustifiable social and economic inequality through a range of initiatives.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if she will estimate the number and proportion of United Kingdom households living under the Council of Europe poverty threshold; and if she will publish this information monthly. [4404]
Mr. Bradley:
The Council of Europe decency threshold relates to individual earnings. It is therefore not meaningful to compare this with total disposable income of households. Information on the numbers and proportions of individuals, whose household income is below various levels, is published annually in the DSS statistical series "Households Below Average Income," a copy of which is in the Library. The estimates are drawn from household surveys, whose sample sizes would not allow any valid estimates to be made on a monthly basis.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many households to date are currently in receipt of below average income (a) nationally and (b) by regions. [866]
Mr. Keith Bradley:
Reforming the welfare state will be one of our key priorities. We will modernise the welfare system to reduce poverty and social division.
The DSS series "Households Below Average Income" reports the numbers of individuals in households below average income rather than the numbers of households.
The information in the table shows the numbers of individuals living in households with below national average income. Figures are provided both on income before housing costs are deducted (BHC) and on income after housing costs are deducted (AHC), in line with DSS conventions on income statistics.
The latest estimates for the United Kingdom are for 1993-94 and 1994-95 financial years combined--shown in the table as "1993-94"--and are based on data from the Family Expenditure Survey (FES). The FES sample is not sufficiently large to allow regional analysis but
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regional estimates are available from the Family Resources Survey (FRS) for 1994-95. The FRS has a very much larger sample but does not include Northern Ireland.
No allowance has been made for any regional variations in the cost of living.
| Numbers--BHC | Numbers--AHC | |
|---|---|---|
| 1993-94 | ||
| United Kingdom | 36.0 | 35.5 |
| Great Britain (FES) | 35.0 | 34.5 |
| 1994-95 | ||
| Great Britain (FRS) | 34.8 | 34.4 |
| England | 29.8 | 29.5 |
| Wales | 1.9 | 1.8 |
| Scotland | 3.1 | 3.0 |
| Government Office region | ||
| North-east | 1.9 | 1.9 |
| North-west | 3.9 | 3.7 |
| Merseyside | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 3.5 | 3.4 |
| East Midlands | 2.7 | 2.6 |
| West Midlands | 3.4 | 3.4 |
| Eastern | 3.0 | 3.1 |
| London | 3.8 | 3.9 |
| South-east | 3.8 | 3.9 |
| South-west | 3.0 | 3.0 |
Note:
Numbers may not add to national totals because of rounding.
Source:
DSS 'Households Below Average Income' (HBAI) datasets, from Family Expenditure Survey and Family Resources Survey.
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