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Energy White Paper

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will publish the Energy White Paper. [74363]

Ms Hewitt: I plan to publish the Energy White Paper in the new year.

European Agency Workers Directive

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the cost to the (a) private and (b) public sectors of the proposed European Agency Workers Directive. [74519]

Ms Hewitt: The Government is currently consulting UK business, unions and others on the impact of the proposed directive. We remain concerned that, as currently drafted the proposed directive would impose disproportionate cost and administrative burdens on business, and would reduce routes into employment for many workers. Our initial estimate of the cost to user undertakings of the proposed Temporary [Agency] Workers Directive, as currently drafted, is in the range from #250 million to #402 million, as stated in the Regulatory Impact Assessment, which is available in the Libraries of the Houses. It is estimated that 21 per cent. of these costs would be borne by the public sector and 79 per cent. by the private sector. In addition, it is estimated that there are costs in the range of #80 million to #194 million which would be borne by private sector employment agencies.

Broadband Services

Mrs. Irene Adams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many households have access to broadband services in (a) Paisley, North and (b) the UK, expressed as a percentage of the population. [73676]

Mr. Timms: Almost all households in the UK can receive broadband through satellite technology. 63 per cent. currently have access via ADSL, with 43 per cent. having access via cable modem. Around 67 per cent. of the population has access via one or both of ADSL and/or cable modem.

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A map showing geographical availability of broadband services can be found in the UK Online Annual Report (http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/oee/oee.nsf/sections/reports-anrep2001-images/$file/fig01.pdf).

The Government does not compile figures for broadband connections broken down into individual constituencies.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of households have access to broadband services in Portsmouth, South; and if she will make a statement. [73873]

Mr. Timms: A map showing geographical availability of broadband services can be found in the UK Online Annual Report (http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/oee/oee.nsf/sections/reports-anrep2001-images/$file/fig01.pdf).

The Government does not compile figures for broadband connections broken down into individual constituencies.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) homes and (b) businesses in the United Kingdom have broadband Internet access by (i) cable modem and (ii) ADSL; and if she will make a statement. [74386]

Ms Hewitt: Oftel's figures of September 2002, available on their website, reported that there were over 885,000 end users of broadband in the United Kingdom, of which over 490,000 were served by cable modem and 390,000 by ADSL. Since then, they have announced on 8 October that there are now in excess of one million users.

Around 14 million homes can receive DSL services and 13.3 million can receive cable modem. No recent data for numbers of businesses with broadband access are readily available.

Correspondence

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she expects to reply to the letter of 25 July from the hon. Member for Nottingham North regarding Nottingham S.M.E.E. Ltd. of Annon Court, Nottingham. [74741]

Ms Hewitt: My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Science and Innovation, Lord Sainsbury replied on Friday 27 September 2002.

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 16 August from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. T. Walsh. [74570]

Ms Hewitt: I replied on 24 September.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how she determines whether a letter from (a) a member of the public and (b) an hon. Member receives a reply personally signed by (i) her, (ii) other ministers in her Department and (iii) her officials. [74592]

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Ms Hewitt: I aim to reply personally to as many letters as I can but it is not possible to do this for all letters because of the large volume of correspondence addressed to me.

Hon. Members receive replies from me, or other Ministers in my Department if the subject matter is one in which they have been closely involved.

From time to time, when I am out of London, I will authorise my Private Office to sign letters on my behalf and other Ministers will do the same in their offices.

Letters from members of the public are frequently delegated to an official to answer, in order to ensure that replies can be sent quickly.

Radioactive Material

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what account she has taken of the events of 11 September 2001 in formulating her policy on the number of movements of radioactive material. [73952]

Mr. Wilson: Overall policy responsibility for the transport of radioactive material lies with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport. Security for the transportation of nuclear material is regulated by the Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS), the security regulator. Security precautions for the transportation of nuclear material are kept under regular review. OCNS has reviewed all relevant precautions in the light of the terrorist attacks in the USA on 11 September 2001. It is not Government policy to disclose details of security measures taken in connection with nuclear material.

BNFL

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she takes to ensure that the conduct of BNFL and its subsidiaries is consistent with Government policy, with particular reference to employment practices. [73951]

Mr. Wilson: HMG sets the overall strategic direction for the company, but the day-to-day management is a matter for the Board. BNFL like all companies must comply with relevant employment laws. It is the job of BNFL management to ensure adherence to those laws.

Renewable Energy Sources

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the reasons underlying the change in the percentage of energy used derived from renewable sources in the last 12 months. [73949]

Mr. Wilson: Total electricity generation from renewables and wastes in 2001 amounted to 10,099 GWh, 38 per cent. of which was from large scale hydro generation. Large scale hydro generation was 21 per cent. lower than in 2000 because of a low level of precipitation in the catchment areas, especially in winter 2000–01. As a result, renewable sources provided 2.6 per cent. of the electricity generated in the United

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Kingdom, 0.2 percentage points lower than in 2000. Generation from renewable sources other than hydro in 2001 was 12 per cent. higher than in 2000.

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the UK will meet the target of 5 per cent. of electricity to be generated by renewable sources by 2003. [73810]

Mr. Wilson: As I explained in introducing the Renewables Obligation Order 2002 on 6 March, (Third Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation, column 4), prospects of achieving a level of 5 per cent. by the end of 2003—a date proposed in a 1999 DTI consultation document—have been heavily dependent on the pace of new commissioning of projects awarded contracts under the Non Fossil Fuel Obligation (NFFO) and the comparable arrangements for Scotland. In practice, even with the Government's action to allow locational flexibility for NFFO contracts, the pace of new commissioning has been somewhat slower than had been hoped. As I said in March, the indications are that the target of a 5 per cent. contribution from renewables to electricity supplies will be delivered late.

The Renewables Obligation, which came into effect from 1 April 2002, introduces new arrangements to ensure the long-term expansion of renewable energy in the UK. The Obligation is set to run for twenty-five years, and will provide an incentive for renewable energy expected to rise to some #1 billion per year by 2010–11. It is backed by #260 million direct Government support for renewables over the next three years. The Obligation is set at increasing levels for successive years, rising from 3 per cent. for 2002–3 to 10.4 per cent. for 2010–11. The level of the Renewables Obligation is 4.9 per cent. for 2004–5 and 5.5 per cent. for 2005–6.

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the progress with increasing the share of renewable energy sources in the UK's electricity production in the last 12 months. [73811]

Mr. Wilson: I refer the hon. Member to my reply earlier today to the hon. Member for Lewes.

The capacity to generate electricity from renewable sources increased by 2.9 per cent. in 2001 to stand at 2.52 MW at the end of December 2001. As a result of new projects coming fully on-line under NFFO during 2001, generation from landfill gas increased by 14½ per cent. and generation from other biofuels (especially straw and poultry litter) increased by 63 per cent.

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of electricity is derived from renewable sources. [73891]

Mr. Wilson: In 2001, renewable sources provided 2.6 per cent. of the electricity derived in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the progress of the Government towards meeting its target of acquiring 10 per cent. of power from renewable sources. [73766]

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Mr. Wilson: The Department collects regular statistical data on the output of different forms of energy including renewables.

The forthcoming Energy White Paper will assess in full our prospects for achieving the 10 per cent. target.

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