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Canadian Engine Manufacturers

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the compatiblity with WTO rules of the level of Governmental support to Canadian engine manufacturers in the context of the competition to provide engines for the A400M; and if he will make a statement. [83954]

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Alan Johnson [holding answer 28 November 2002]: The airframe manufacturer is currently assessing the merits of the competing bids for the A400M engine contract. The Department has not been provided with any evidence that the Canadian bid is incompatible with WTO rules. In any case, competence for taking action against other governments that may be in contravention of their WTO commitments lies with the European Commission.

Counterfeit Goods

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions she has had with (a) the music industry, (b) local authorities and (c) other individuals and bodies regarding the sale of illegal and counterfeit music albums. [85310]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The music industry was represented at the meeting I had earlier this year with the industry umbrella group, the Alliance Against Counterfeiting and Piracy, to discuss concerns about intellectual property (IP) crime. The interests of local authorities inthis area are covered by LACORS, the Local Authorities Coordinators of RegulatoryServices, which is one of the bodies participating in the Counterfeiting and PiracyForum. The Forum brings together representatives from both the public and privatesectors to explore collaborative approaches to fighting IP crime. IP crime, which affects many different sectors as well as music, is a topic that comes up in discussions we have with a range of individuals and bodies, and some of these are specifically concerned about counterfeit music recordings.

Departmental Targets

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the extent to which her Department achieved its targets in each year since 1997. [84117]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 28 November 2002]: The Department publishes information on progress against a wide range of targets in its annual Expenditure Plans Report. This includes information on Public Service Agreements (PSA) targets as well as on Agency and other operational targets. Copies of these reports are available in the Libraries of the House.

Electricity Generation

Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what contingency plans are in place to ensure continuation of electricity supply in the event of a generating company or power station falling into administration and becoming unable to continue supply to the National Grid. [82899]

Mr. Wilson: NGC has various statutory duties to help ensure security of supply. However, were the output of a specific station to be essential for security of supply, NGC can seek if necessary to contract with a power station/administrator to maintain supply.

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Energy Policy

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the UK's total installed electricity generating capacity is; what the maximum daily peak demand for electricity is; and what proportion of this is met by (a) nuclear power generation and (b) energy from renewable sources. [85106]

Mr. Wilson: Figures published in the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics, 2002 and on the DTI Energy Statistics website show that at the end of December 2001 total UK generating capacity in declared net capacity terms (DNC) was 79,553 MW, of which 73,219 MW was owned by major power producers and 6,334 MW by other generators. The simultaneous maximum load met by major power producers in the UK in the winter of 2001–02 was 58,589 MW in January 2002. An analysis of which plant were in use at the time of this maximum demand is not available. However, of the 79,553 MW of UK generating capacity, 16 per cent. was nuclear, 2 per cent. was natural flow hydro and 1 per cent. was renewables other than hydro.

Innovating Businesses

Mr. Yeo: : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made towards the target set in 2000 for achievement in 2001–04, to achieve a significant rise in the proportion of innovating businesses. [83689]

Ms Hewitt: [holding answer 26 November 2002]: The full wording of Public Service Agreement target six was:

Increase the level of exploitation of technological knowledge derived from the science and engineering base, as demonstrated by a significant rise in the proportion of innovating businesses citing such success.

This target is measured through a business innovation survey that takes place four yearly, so that achievement of the target will be assessed in 2005. The benchmark for 2000, that we will seek to better is that the share of innovating businesses citing any Science and Engineering Base source is 38 per cent.

The science and engineering base for this purpose includes universities, government research labs, other public research labs and private research institutes. The citation levels for these individual sources are:

	Percentages
Universities	23
Government Laboratories	16
Other Public Sector	25
Private Public Sector	25
Private Research Institutes	16

Note:

Individual businesses may cite more than one source.

Miners' Compensation

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many claims for compensation for respiratory disease were made by ex-miners in (a) 1999, (b) 2000 and (c) 2001; how many claimants died before receiving final payments, in each year; and how many claims for compensation for respiratory diseases there are. [84313]

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Mr. Wilson [holding answer 3 December 2002]: The information is as follows:

	1999	2000	2001
Number of respiratory claims registered each year (live and deceased)	29,447	36,886	44,317
Number of claimants who died during this year before receiving full and final settlement (incl. denied and withdrawn claims)	2,684	2,743	2,230

As of 24 November there are 210,446 claims registered for respiratory disease (inclusive of both live and deceased claims).

Ministerial Visits

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many times she has visited east Lancashire in her official capacity; and what the purpose was of each visit. [82402]

Ms Hewitt: I had planned a visit to the Ribble area of Lancashire on Wednesday 4 December, but, owing to ill health my visit had to be cancelled. I hope to reinstate a similar visit in the near future.

Net Metering Arrangements

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the number of homes operating on net metering; and if she will take steps to increase this number. [84729]

Mr Wilson [holding answer 3 December 2002]: No definitive information is available on the number of homes with a net metering arrangement though it is known that a small number of companies have offered net metering tariffs to domestic consumers. It is believed that more than 200 customers may have taken these offers up.

Metering arrangements are a matter for energy suppliers and their customers. The Government, through the Distributed Generation Coordination Group, is working with the industry to encourage the development of suitable metering arrangements for customers with domestic scale generation.

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much electricity was returned to the national grid last year as a result of net metering arrangements. [84731]

Mr. Wilson [holding answer 3 December 2002]: No information is available but the amount returned to the grid is likely to have been very small since it is believed that only a small number of households had a net metering tariff.

Norwich Airport

Dr. Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans the Competition Commission has to investigate the sale of Norwich Airport. [85450]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Under the Fair Trading Act 1973 a merger qualifies for investigation if it creates or enhances a 25 per cent. share of supply in the UK or a

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substantial part of the UK, or if the gross value of the world-wide assets being taken over is more than 70 million.

In the first instance it is for the Director General of Fair Trading to advise Ministers on whether or not a qualifying merger should be referred to the Competition Commission.

Photovoltaic Major Demonstration Programme

Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the Government intends to make a decision on funding for phase 2 of the Photovoltaic Major Demonstration Programme; and if she will make a statement. [84759]

Mr. Wilson: Funding for further phases of the Photovoltaic Major Demonstration Programme is dependent on the emerging success of the first phase. The Government's Energy White Paper, to be published in the New Year, will be looking at the role of renewables, including PV, as a contributor to meeting the UK's and international carbon reduction targets, now and in the longer terms.

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