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Arthur Andersen
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which partners or senior employees of (a) Andersen, (b) Arthur Andersen, (c) Andersen Consulting and (d) Accenture have been appointed to (i) informal roles giving advice to the Treasury, (ii) task forces reporting to the Treasury, (iii) ad hoc advisory groups reporting to the Treasury and (iv) other formal roles reporting to Treasury Ministers since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [32917]
Ruth Kelly: Information about task forces and ad hoc advisory groups are set out in annual reports, published by the Cabinet Office. Copies of the annual report on task forces and similar bodies have been placed in the Library of the House and the annual report is available on the Cabinet Office's website.
Information about informal advisory roles are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
WALES
Refurbishment
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what his estimate is of the cost of buildings refurbishment carried out by his Department in each of the last four years. [27960]
Mr. Paul Murphy: Since its creation in July 1999, Wales Office spending on refurbishment/minor works was £217,000 in 1999–2000; and £281,000 in 2000–01. In the current year to date some £21,000 has been spent.
Contracts
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many contracts were let by his Department and agencies for which he is responsible to (a) PWC Consulting or PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Ernst and Young, (c) Deloitte and Touche, (d) KPMG and (e) Andersen for consultancy services for the financial years (i) 1997–98, (ii) 1998–99, (iii) 1999–2000, (iv) 2000–01 and (v) 2001 to the latest date for which figures are available, indicating the remuneration in each case. [33841]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office has not let any consultancy contracts to these firms since it came into being on 1 July 1999 and has no NDPBs or agencies. Under the former Welsh Office, £52,000 was paid to PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1997–98 and £4,000 in 1998–99; £20,000 to Deloitte and Touche in 1997–98 and £16,000 in 1998–99; £4,000 to KPMG in 1997–98 and £21,000 in 1998–99.
Secondments
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff were seconded between (a) PWC Consulting and PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Ernst and Young, (c) Deloitte and Touche, (d) KPMG and (e) Andersen and his Department in (i) 1999–2000, (ii) 2000–01 and (iii) April 2001 to the latest date for which figures are available. [33875]
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Mr. Paul Murphy: There have been no such secondments with the Wales Office since its creation in July 1999. Prior to that date there were in 1999–2000 the following secondments with the former Welsh Office: (a) nil (b) nil (c) one (d) two (e) nil.
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many staff were seconded between (a) BP, (b) Shell, (c) Enron, (d) Exxon-Mobil, (e) Conoco, (f) Texaco and (g) TotalFinaElf and his Department in (i) 1999–2000, (ii) 2000–01 and (iii) April 2001 to the latest date for which figures are available. [33209]
Market Research
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what expenditure has been incurred by his (a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each of the last four years on (i) opinion polling, (ii) focus groups and (iii) other forms of market research; and if he will list the surveys commissioned and the purpose of each. [27948]
Mr. Paul Murphy: I refer to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Hertsmere (Mr. Clappison) on 24 January 2001, Official Report, column 590W.
Departmental Retirement Ages
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the retirement ages that apply to the employees of his Department and its agencies, including how many and which categories of employees are affected by each; and if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on flexible retirement. [32828]
Mr. Paul Murphy: I refer to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale, West (Mr. Brady) on 25 October 2001, Official Report, Column 351W.
Information Provision
Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the provision of Government information and publicity in Wales. [30897]
Mr. Paul Murphy: My Department has run no television, newspaper, radio advertising or any other kind of promotional campaign since its creation in July 1999. It has no agencies or departmental public bodies within its responsibilities. We are not responsible for campaigns that may be run by the National Assembly or other Government Departments in Wales.
Private Medical Insurance
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many employees in (a) his Department and (b) his Department's agencies and non-departmental public bodies have had private medical insurance provided for them in each year since 1997–98; what the total cost is; and if he will make a statement. [32326]
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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Departmental Salary Costs
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of the departmental expenditure limit in 2001–02 will be accounted for by salary costs and pension contributions. [32014]
Ms Hewitt: The Department of Trade and Industry has a departmental expenditure limit of £4,766 million following the 2001–02 Winter Supplementary Estimate. Of this £795 million is capital budget and £3,971 million is resource budget. Of the £3,971 million resource budget, 4.2 per cent. (excluding ACAS) is planned to be accounted for by salary costs and pension contributions.
Departmental Payments
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the instances in which her Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies failed to pay valid invoices within 30 days or after the agreed credit period in the financial year 2000–01. [32038]
Ms Hewitt: Information on the instances where by Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies failed to meet the payment target can be collected only at disproportionate cost. However, I can say that the percentage of bills which were paid by my Department and its agencies within 30 days of receipt of a valid invoice was 98 per cent. for the financial year 2000–01. The average percentage of bills paid by my Department's executive non-departmental public bodies over the same period was 89 per cent.
Fossil Fuel Power Projects
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total carbon emissions are that have been omitted from all Export Credits Guarantee Department supported fossil fuel power generation projects since 1997. [31837]
Ms Hewitt: Since ECGD does not have readily available information on the completion dates and operating schedules of all the power projects that the Department has supported, it is not possible to easily calculate actual total carbon emissions since 1997.
However, for the power projects for which a guarantee has been issued since 1997 it is estimated that upon completion of these projects total annual carbon emission will be of the order of 13.3 million tonnes. This is based on the following assumptions.
| Fuel type | ECGD(12) | CO2(13) | Carbon(13) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coal | 11,260 | 40.6 | 11.1 |
| Oil | 492 | 1.1 | 0.3 |
| Gas | 4,367 | 7.1 | 1.9 |
| Total | 16,139 | 48.8 | 13.3 |
(12) Estimated capacity (MW)
(13) Tonnes per year (million)
It has been assumed the plants operate for 60 per cent. of the time (5,256 hours per year). CO 2 emissions are calculated using the following conversion factors—Coal: 0687 tonnes of CO 2 per MW per hour, Oil 0.417, Gas: 0.309. These are taken from The Greenhouse Gas Protocol
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website www.ghgprotocol.org and are the 1999 average values for power plants in "Economies in Transition". These are the markets where ECGD most commonly provide guarantees.Carbon emissions are calculated by assuming that carbon makes up 27.3 per cent. of the atomic mass of CO 2 .
It should be noted that for most large power projects ECGD is only one of several finance providers. Scaling the carbon emissions by the proportion of finance guaranteed by ECGD would give a figure of less than six million tonnes per year of carbon that is directly attributable to ECGDs participation.
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much finance has been made available by the ECGD to support UK businesses involved in fossil fuel power projects since 1997. [31836]
Ms Hewitt: The total value of guarantees and insurance provided by ECGD in respect of fossil fuel power projects since 1997 is £1.754 million.
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