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9 Dec 2002 : Column 72W—continued
Small Firm Loan Scheme
Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the number of firms in (a) Roxburgh and Berwickshire, and (b) the Scottish Borders that are eligible for the small firm loan scheme (i) now and (ii) following widening of the scheme's eligibility. [85703]
Nigel Griffiths: Eligibility for the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme is based on the business having a viable business proposal but lacking the collateral to obtain conventional finance. It is not possible, therefore, to estimate the number of businesses eligible now and following the recently announced changes on the basis requested.
Detailed information is available at county level. During Financial Year 2001–02 the scheme guaranteed 16 loans for businesses in the Scottish Borders at a value of #710,000. It is estimated that overall the changes will result in a 25 per cent. increase in the number of applications received.
Solar PV Projects
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many bids for funding solar PV projects were received in the first two rounds of stream 2 of her Department's solar PV Major Demonstration Programme; how many were successful; what was the total value of (a) bids received and (b) projects approved; and what the total size, measured by kWp, was of bids received. [86174]
Mr. Wilson: In the first two rounds of stream 2 of my Department's solar PV Major Demonstration Programme, 59 bids were received. Of these 27 were successful.
The total value of grants requested was just under #9 million and the total value of projects approved was just over #3.5 million.
The total size of bids received, for both rounds was just over 2100kWp.
Thompsons Solicitors
David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been paid to Thompsons Solicitors with regard to the processing of respiratory disease claims. [85668]
Mr. Wilson: As of 30 November 2002, a total of #18.6 million (inclusive of VAT and disbursements) had been paid to Thompson's Solicitors in costs with regards to the processing of respiratory disease claims.
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I would like to take this opportunity to correct erroneous information inadvertently relayed in reply to PQ No. 60802 tabled by my hon. Friend on 1 June 2002. My hon. Friend asked for a separate breakdown for the legal costs paid to the top 100 companies handling respiratory disease and Vibration White Finger claims. The figure given for Thompson's solicitors was #19.2 million. The correct figure should have been #12.4 million. I have written to my hon. Friend about this.
Wind Generators
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many wind generators are working in the United Kingdom; and how many are planned to be built in the next five years. [86402]
Mr. Wilson: There are at present, 75 wind power schemes working in the UK, comprising of 974 turbines. (British Wind Energy Association information).
It is for developers to bring forward proposals for wind farms. The Government does not keep a register of such proposals, most of which are assessed by local authorities under the normal planning process. Only applications for consent to construct and operate wind farms with a capacity greater than 50 megawatts on-shore, and greater than one megawatt off-shore, are required to be referred to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989.
For onshore wind farm development, my Department is considering one application in England and Wales and the Scottish Executive are considering seven applications in Scotland.
Out of 20 potential offshore sites offered by the Crown Estate in April 2001, the DTI and Scottish Executive are currently considering proposals in respect of 11 sites and a further two have now been granted construction consent under section 36 of the Electricity Act.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Departmental Initiatives
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the schemes and initiatives sponsored by her Department and its agencies which are not the subject of national roll out showing (a) the authorities or areas covered by the scheme and (b) the budget of the scheme in the last year for which information is available. [86741]
Dr. Howells: The following schemes and initiatives are sponsored by my Department in partnership with other funding bodies.
Space for Sports and Arts Programme (SSA)
Space for Sports and Arts Programme (SSA) is a partnership between traditional public expenditure of #75 million from the Capital Modernisation Fund and #55 million from the three lottery distributors: New Opportunities Fund (#25 million), Sport England (#25 million) and Arts Council of England (#5 million).
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The SSA programme is being rolled out in 65 local authorities in deprived areas. The budget for the programme is #130 million from the beginning of 2000 to March 2004, which is the life of the programme. Approximately 297 projects are planned in the 65 local authorities. The Local Education Authorities (LEAs) invited to bid were:
Barking and Dagenham, Barnsley, Bedfordshire, Birmingham, Blackburn with Darwen, Bradford, Brent, Brighton & Hove, Bristol, City of Nottingham, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derby City, Derbyshire, Doncaster, Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gateshead, Greenwich, Hackney, Hartlepool, Islington, Kent, Kingston-upon-Hull, Knowsley, Lambeth, Lancashire, Leeds, Leicester City, Lewisham, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Newham, Norfolk, North Somerset, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Redcar and Cleveland, Rochdale, Rotherham, Salford, Sandwell, Sheffield, Slough, Somerset, South Tyneside, Southwark, St. Helens, Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland, Tower Hamlets, Trafford, Walsall, Wirral, Wolverhampton.
The Portable Antiquities Scheme was established in 1997 to encourage members of the public to report all finds of archaeological objects. Since autumn 1997 DCMS has been funding six pilot schemes to promote voluntary reporting of all archaeological finds. These pilots were established in Kent, Norfolk, North Lincolnshire, North West (Cheshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cumbria), West Midlands and Yorks. A further six pilots have been funded for three years by Heritage lottery fund since spring 1999. These pilots were established in Dorset & Somerset, Hampshire, Northamptonshire, Suffolk, Wales, and in London.
A bid for a three-year funding for a national network of 41 posts at a cost of #1.5 million a year from April 2003 was approved by the Heritage lottery fund in May. This bid has 63 national and local partners, each of whom is contributing 10 per cent. towards the cost. In 2002–03 the Department is providing #411,000 to support the current pilot schemes until the new funding comes on line. The following schemes and initiatives are by public bodies sponsored by DCMS. These are not the subject of national roll out.
This was a joint DCMS/Youth Justice Board programme of summer activities targeted on those 9–17 year olds identified as most at risk of offending in the areas covered across Government. A list of those areas has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. Resourced by the New Opportunities Fund and providing almost 300 estate-based schemes across England, Splash Extra established a menu of high quality sports, arts and personal development activities.
The budget was #8.5 million for the last financial year.
This initiative is to develop long-term partnerships between schools, cultural and creative organisations and artists. The partnerships will help children develop their own creativity, which should bring benefits in
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terms of educational attainment. The partnerships are being developed in 16 areas (listed below) across the country.
The Arts Council of England is delivering the initiative and the budget for 2002–03 is #15 million.
List of Creative Partnerships areas
2. Merseyside (Liverpool, Knowsley, St Helens, Wirral, Sefton)
3. Tees Valley (Redcar & Cleveland, Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Stockton)
6. South Yorkshire Coalfields (Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster)
8. Black Country (Sandwell, Wolverhampton, Walsall)
15. Inner London East (Hackney, Islington, Newham, Tower Hamlets)
16. Inner London South (Southwark, Lewisham, Lambeth, Greenwich).
Sportsearch is being piloted in three local authorities (Southampton City Council, Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council and the London Borough of Lambeth). The budget for the pilot is #200,000 in 2002/03 and 31 schools in the three authorities are involved.
Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI), Sport England have made a one-off grant of #1 million to the English Federation of Disability Sport to develop and deliver the Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI) scheme. There are currently 27 IFI sites around the country (eventually there will be 30). They are in Leeds city council, Oxford city council, Bolton MBC, LB Lewisham, Kerrier DC, Bury MBC, Cannock Chase DC, Plymouth city council, Coventry city council, Kirklees MBC, Bromsgrove DC, Dacorum BC, Borough of Pool, Slough MBC, Mansfield DC, Ipswich BC, Amber Valley BC, North Tyneside council, Leicester city council, Berwick upon Tweed, Spelthorne BC, Chichester council, Copeland BC and South Gloucestershire council. There are no current plans to roll out these initiatives nationally.
Grants to Grade II Buildings at Risk in London
Under the Local Government Act 1985, English Heritage is able to offer grants for the repairs of Grade II listed buildings within the Greater London area. The scheme is concentrated on those buildings included on the English Heritage Register of Buildings at Risk, and projects which make a strategic contribution to the conservation of historic buildings, areas, gardens, landscapes or archaeology within Greater London. In 2001/02 English Heritage offered a total of #175,000 under the scheme.
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Access Radio
The Radio Authority is currently running a pilot study of 15 access radio projects across the UK. These are in Glasgow, Belfast, Banbridge, Bradford, Manchester, Stoke on Trent, Nottingham, Leicester, Birmingham, Forest of Dean, Pontypridd, Havant, Southall (London), Hackney (London), South Bank (London). The projects will be subject to an independent evaluation which will assist the Government in deciding whether to introduce access radio on a national basis. The full extent of coverage will depend on a number of factors such as local spectrum availability and the local radio ecology. None of these pilots have received funding from either the Department or the Radio Authority.
This information is accurate as of 7 November 2002.
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