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Power Station (Plymouth)

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what estimate she has made of when construction of the power station at Langage, Plymouth will commence; [17382]

(2) what steps will be taken by his Department to supervise the construction of the power station at Langage, Plymouth. [17381]

Mr. Wilson: It is a commercial matter for the company when construction takes place. In carrying out that construction the company will have to comply with the planning conditions imposed on the development which are enforced by the relevant planning authorities. In this particular case the planning authorities are South Hams district council and Devon county council.

Nuclear Installations

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the remit of the Energy Review Group has been extended to include the consideration of security at nuclear power stations. [16796]

Mr. Wilson [holding answer 22 November 2001]: The energy review was not extended in this way because the PIU is not the competent body for reviewing the security of nuclear installations.

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The Office for Civil Nuclear Security, the security regulator at civil nuclear sites, sets stringent standards for security at nuclear sites. OCNS works closely with the Health and Safety Executive, the safety regulator, which provides advice on the safety implications of events, including external hazards such as plane crashes, at nuclear installations. Security and safety precautions at nuclear sites are kept under regular review. Both regulators are reviewing all relevant precautions in the light of the recent terrorist attacks in the USA.

The issue of energy infrastructure security in the face of terrorist activity has been raised at a general level in meetings and workshops held by the PIU after 11 September.

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations the Energy Review Group have received in relation to security at nuclear power stations following the events of 11 September. [16801]

Mr. Wilson [holding answer 22 November 2001]: The deadline for written submissions to the PIU Energy Review was before 11 September and so the majority of material received does not make reference to the tragic events in New York. The issue of energy infrastructure security in the face of terrorist activity has been raised at a general level in subsequent meetings and workshops held by the PIU and in the small number of late replies.

A list of the submissions received by the Energy Review and a summary of the key themes raised can be viewed at the PIU website at www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/ innovation. Section B7 of the summary outlines the various points made to the review concerning nuclear power.

Electricity Generation

Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of the UK's electricity was generated by nuclear power in (a) 1995, (b) 1996, (c) 1997, (d) 1998, (e) 1999 and (f) 2000. [17333]

Mr. Wilson: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Mr. Stunell) on 13 November 2001, Official Report, column 656W.

Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of Scotland's electricity was generated by nuclear power in (a) 1995, (b) 1996, (c) 1997, (d) 1998, (e) 1999 and (f) 2000. [17227]

Mr. Wilson [holding answer 22 November 2001]: Available information shows that in 1997 41 per cent. of the electricity generated in Scotland by major power producers was from nuclear stations. This rose to 44 per cent. in 1998, but then declined to 40 per cent. in 1999 and 34 per cent. in 2000. Figures for 1995 and 1996 are not readily available.

Medicine Licensing

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she will take to (a) extend the partial agreement on access to medicines for developing nations reached at Doha and (b) reach agreement on compulsory licensing in third countries. [16799]

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Ms Hewitt [holding answer 22 November 2001]: The UK whole-heartedly supports the Declaration on the TRIPS agreement and Public Health issued at the successful conclusion of the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the WTO at Doha, Qatar. This also commits member states, working through the TRIPS Council, to develop a solution before the end of 2002 as to how WTO Members with insufficient or no manufacturing capacities in the pharmaceutical sector might make effective use of compulsory licensing under the TRIPS Agreement.

The UK continues to work in a range of other ways both bilaterally and through for example, the Global Fund for Health to improve access to medicines in poor countries.

Overseas Workers

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received on introducing legislation to ensure that employees are informed of Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice by British companies seeking to send workers abroad; and if she will make a statement. [16961]

Alan Johnson [holding answer 22 November 2001]: I am not aware of any representations to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on this matter.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice is already readily accessible to employers as well as the general public by telephone [phone]) and the FCO website "www.fco.gov.uk".

Ilisu Dam

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the recent decision by Balfour Beatty to withdraw from the Ilisu Dam project. [17337]

Ms Hewitt: The decision taken by Balfour Beatty to withdraw from the Ilisu project was entirely a commercial decision and not a matter for Government.

White Goods

Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has for promoting improvement of energy standards of white goods in the European Union. [16749]

Mr. Meacher: I have been asked to reply.

The Department will continue to encourage improved energy standards for household appliances, including white goods, the European Union via a mixture of policy instruments including mandatory energy labelling, minimum energy performance standards and voluntary agreements.

We propose to work closely with stakeholders and other member states to reach agreement on the European Commission's proposals for a Framework Directive for Minimum Efficiency Requirements for End-Use Equipment (due to be published in early 2002); to complete

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the review of Council Directive 92/75/EEC (on the indication by labelling and standard product information of the consumption of energy and other resources by household appliances) and to negotiate new voluntary agreements with European manufacturers and service providers as necessary.

HEALTH

Dentists

Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was (a) the average annual income and (b) the average working week of dentists in (i) the NHS and (ii) private practice in the last 12 months. [9259]

Ms Blears: Information on the working hours of general dental service dentists is not routinely collected.

For dentists national health service income, the information regularly available is for payments by the Dental Practice Board for gross fees paid to dentists, but there is no corresponding data on hours worked. For private work, the available information is from the annual Inland Revenue survey of income and expenses. A survey carried out by the Office of Manpower Economics (OME) in March 2000, provides some limited data on this area. The survey reported:

The average number of hours worked for single handed dentists at 43.1 hours per week.


Full-time practitioners wholly committed to the GDS reported total gross fee earnings averaging £163,900 in the most recently completed financial year. These figures are affected by transfers of payments from associate dentists to practice owners.

We estimate that the average net income for all dentists wholly committed to the GDS for the period ending 30 September 2001 would be about £65,000 after allowing for an average of £2,600 for other payments to dentists, an average expenses to income ratio for all dental work of 54.1 per cent. subsequent fee increases and the introduction of the dentists commitment payments scheme. The OME survey did not report private earnings of dentists, but using information collected by the Inland Revenue it is estimated that the average income for single-handed dentists from both GDS work and private practice would be around £70,000.

Mental Health

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the results of the collaboration between the Mental Health Act Commission, the Sainsbury centre for mental health and the university of Lancashire on ethnic monitoring, racial harassment and training, announced on 24 October 2000. [9516]

Jacqui Smith: The report from the Mental Health Act Commission, the Sainsbury centre for mental health and the university of central Lancashire will inform the work currently being drawn up to develop a strategy to address the needs of black and minority ethnic service users. It is hoped that the strategy will go for consultation in spring 2002 and be published later that year.

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