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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 14 June 1999
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Electricity Trading Arrangements
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what changes in primary legislation will be required to implement the revised arrangements for wholesale electricity trading; [86880]
- (2) what has been the reason for the revised date for the planned completion of the Review of Electricity Trading Arrangements; [86881]
(3) what is the cost of the Review of Electricity Trading Arrangements; [86882]
(4) what estimate he has made of the additional costs which will arise in (a) establishing and (b) running a revised electricity wholesale trading market; and who will bear these costs. [86883]
Mr. Battle:
The Government are committed to introducing legislation to implement new wholesale electricity trading arrangements and will do so as soon
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as parliamentary time permits. Consequently the earliest feasible date that new trading arrangements could be introduced is October 2000. The purpose of legislation would be to provide the powers to introduce conditions into electricity licences necessary for the implementation of the new electricity trading arrangements.
Offer's 1999-2000 budget for the Review of Electricity Trading Arrangements programme is £11.2 million. Preliminary estimates of annual costs to implement new electricity trading arrangements for each of the first five years are £10-£20 million for the central set-up, £60 million for participants' set-up, and £30 million for participants' operating costs. These implementation costs will be met by market participants. Against this, the Government's overall programme of electricity market reforms is expected to lead to a reduction in wholesale electricity prices of at least 10 per cent. over the medium term.
Mr. Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the (a) amount and (b) percentage of energy consumed in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years that came from renewable sources. [86664]
Mr. Battle:
The amount and percentage of energy consumed in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years that came from renewable energy sources is given in the following table. The table also shows the amount and percentage of electricity generated from renewable sources:
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| 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total UK use of renewable sources of energy (thousand tonnes of oil equivalent) | 2,079 | 2,142 | 2,103 | 2,320 | 2,649 |
| UK use of renewable sources as a percentage of primary inland consumption of energy | 0.95% | 0.97% | 0.90% | 1.02% | 1.15% |
| Total UK generation of electricity from renewable sources (GWh) | 7,306 | 7,237 | 6,053 | 7,378 | 9,322 |
| UK generation of electricity from renewable sources as a percentage of total electricity generation | 2.25% | 2.17% | 1.74% | 2.14% | 2.62% |
Source:
Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics 1999 (to be published on 29 July 1999)
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As is said in the discussion paper "New and renewable energy, Prospects for the 21st century", we expect the proportion of electricity from renewable sources to rise to 5 per cent. by 2003. The Government are working towards a target of renewable energy providing 10 per cent. of UK electricity as soon as possible and hope to achieve this by 2010.
City Flyer Express
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to announce his decision in respect of the proposed acquisition of City Flyer Express Ltd. by British Airways; and if he will make a statement. [86869]
Dr. Howells:
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry will publish the Competition Commission's report on British Airways' proposed acquisition of City Flyer Express Ltd. as soon as is practicable.
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Mr. Luff:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make it his policy to publish his decisions on the Monopolies and Mergers Commission's report into the supply of milk before the end of June. [86875]
Mr. Tredinnick:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he plans to announce the date of the publication of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission's report on the supply of raw cows' milk in Great Britain. [86974]
Dr. Howells:
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry will publish the MMC's report as soon as is practicable. He has said in the House that he expects to be able to publish before the House rises for the summer recess.
Mr. McNamara:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the total amount of financial support for capital investment provided by (i) the United Kingdom Government and (ii) the European Union to
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(a) the manufacturing sector, (b) manufacturing companies established by inward investment and (c) the textiles and clothing sector in the last five years. [86861]
Mr. Battle:
Financial support for capital investment is provided in various forms, including through grants, guarantees, tax allowances and general industrial support. One of the main programmes is regional selective assistance which over the last five years in Great Britain has provided offers of grant of £1.6 billion to the manufacturing sector as a whole, of which £935 million was offered to foreign-owned companies and £51 million to the textiles and clothing sector.
Many other UK Government and EU programmes provide direct or indirect financial support for capital investment but information on the total is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Pollard:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many written or verbal complaints were received by his Department and the Office of Fair Trading in each year from 1996 to date about (i) unfair agreement terms being applied by oil companies to operators of retail petrol sites and (ii) the actions taken by the oil companies which did not conform to the agreement signed by the operators. [86710]
Dr. Howells:
My Department and the Office of Fair Trading have received a number of complaints about agreements between oil companies and petrol retailers during 1996-99. The cost of providing an accurate breakdown of these on a year-by-year basis would be disproportionate.
The Director General of Fair Trading is responsible for investigating complaints about anti-competitive behaviour. He does not however have a locus to intervene in contractual disputes unless these raise competition concerns.
Mr. Pollard:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the review of the petrol undertakings by the Office of Fair Trading will be completed; if he will publish the findings of the review; and if he will make a statement. [86767]
Dr. Howells:
The timing of the review is a matter for the Director General of Fair Trading. My right hon. Friend and I will receive advice from him when the review is complete. I will announce my decision in due course.
Mr. Pollard:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list by number and grade the officials employed full-time in monitoring the UK retail petrol market and the departments to which they belong. [86768]
Dr. Howells:
No officials in the Department of Trade and Industry or the Office of Fair Trading have responsibility for monitoring the UK retail petrol market on a permanent full-time basis.
Mr. Pollard:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reasons the Office of Fair Trading's inquiry into the retail petrol market, published in May 1998, did not include an examination of retail petrol stations located on motorway service areas. [86769]
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Dr. Howells:
The content of the report is a matter for the Director General of Fair Trading. The report, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House, examined the supply of petrol by all retail outlets. However, I understand that motorway service areas were not referred to specifically as they were not considered to be in a separate market.
Mr. Rendel:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (i) post offices and (ii) post offices run by sub-postmasters, there were at (a) at the latest available date, (b) in 1997, (c) in 1989 and (d) in 1979. [86930]
Mr. Ian McCartney:
I understand from the Post Office that the numbers of post offices in total and of sub-post offices at the dates requested were as follows:
| Total | Sub-post offices | |
|---|---|---|
| End April 1999 | 18,707 | 18,107 |
| End March 1997 | 19,251 | 18,645 |
| End March 1989 | 21,030 | 19,537 |
| End March 1979 | 22,793 | 21,213 |
Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the number of post offices, indicating separately those run by sub-postmasters, which operate in rural areas. [86931]
Mr. Ian McCartney: I understand from the Post Office that the total number of post offices at the end of April 1999 was 18,707, of which 8,842 were in rural areas and operated by sub-postmasters.
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