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8 Jan 2003 : Column 244W—continued
Crown Copyright
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry who sits on the HMSO's Crown Copyright User Group from (a) her Department and (b) industry; and if she will make a statement. [88815]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 7 January 2003]: The Crown Copyright User Group, has industry members from:
- Barbour Index plc;
Rouse & Co International Ltd;
The Stationery Office Ltd;
Thomson Professional Information UK;
The Publishers' Association;
Reuters Ltd;
Technical Indexes;
Electronic Publishing Services Ltd, also representing the Information and
Communication Industries Association.
Dounreay (Decommissioning)
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what implications costs arising from the decommissioning of Dounreay have for the estimated cost of decommissioning other publicly held nuclear liabilities; and if she will make a statement. [88051]
Mr. Wilson [holding answer 19 December 2002]: The programme for decommissioning nuclear licensed sites is a matter for the nuclear site license holders and their regulators, taking into account Government policy on nuclear decommissioning. The programme at Dounreay has no special implications for the cost of dealing with other publicly held nuclear liabilities.
Electricity Prices
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the change in (a) the wholesale price of electricity and (b) the price of electricity charged to retail customers since 1998. [88049]
Mr. Wilson [holding answer 19 December 2002]: Since 1998 the month ahead baseload prices for electricity supplied by generators to energy suppliers have fallen by 40 per cent. in real terms up to March 2002.
The average price of electricity charged to domestic customers has fallen by 11 per cent. in real terms between Q3 1998 and Q3 2002, while that for industrial customers (excluding the Climate Change Levy) has fallen by 23 per cent. in real terms between Q2 1998 and Q2 2002. Domestic customers who switch electricity supplier can save more. At the end of March 2002 over one third of domestic customers were with suppliers other than their traditional home supplier, saving on
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average around #23 (9 per cent.) on an annual electricity bill in 2002 compared to customers remaining with their traditional home supplier.
Fireworks
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the restrictions are on the times of year when fireworks can be sold; what assessment she has made of the adequacy of these restrictions in tackling misuse of fireworks; and what plans she has to make all parts of the 1976 Firework Package Deal legally binding. [86951]
Miss Melanie Johnson: There are no legal restrictions on the times of year when fireworks can be sold. However, the voluntary sales agreement, introduced in 1976, limits the sales of fireworks to three weeks before November 5, and for a few days afterwards. This plays a role in containing the period when fireworks are available for sale, and hence, limiting misuse. To make the voluntary sales period mandatory would require primary legislation.
Gas Supply (Winter)
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she had made of the capability of the gas pipeline infrastructure to meet peak winter demand; what contingency plans are in place if the infrastructure fails; and if she will make a statement. [88044]
Mr. Wilson [holding answer 19 December 2002]: The design and investment in the gas pipeline infrastructure is a matter for Transco. Their operating licence obligates them to maintain the network to withstand peak demand and conditions in the sort of severe winter we would face once in a 20 year period. Historic weather patterns dating back to 1928 are used in assessing the risks.
Copies of Transco's emergency plans are already in the Libraries of the House. I have now also placed copies of the recently updated Gas Industry Emergency Committee plans in the Library. These show how the Government and the wider gas community would work with Transco in handling an emergency affecting the gas transmission system. The plans were last tested in September 2002.
Insolvency Service
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the progress of the annual pay negotiations for the Insolvency Service. [88498]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Pay negotiations commenced on 13 December. Both parties are working to reach a settlement as soon as possible.
Kyoto Targets
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list her Department's policies that have as one of their objectives helping Britain meet its Kyoto carbon dioxide emission targets. [87733]
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Mr. Wilson [holding answer 19 December 2002]: The UK Climate Change Programme, which the Government published in November 2000 sets out the Government's integrated package of policies and measures to deliver the UK's commitment to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases under the Kyoto Protocol.
DTI leads on energy policy, where it has encouraged the growth of renewable energy, which will have an important role in meeting our Kyoto targets. In particular, under the Renewables Obligation, electricity suppliers will be obliged to provide a specific proportion of their power supplies from renewable sources.
The Government is currently carrying out a review of energy policy with a view to issuing a White Paper in the New Year. The White Paper will set out the Government's future energy policies including those relating to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions both globally and nationally in the 21st century.
The DTI has worked with other Departments to develop and implement policies and measures in the Climate Change Programme, in particular those affecting business. In this context, it has worked with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and HM Treasury on the climate change levy and emissions trading, the establishment of the Carbon Trust and the implementation of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control regulatory regime.
Miners (Industrial Diseases)
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average delay between a current or former miner agreeing to a final settlement payment for industrial disease and receiving it was in the last 12 months (a) in the UK, (b) in the East Midlands and (c) in Bassetlaw. [88976]
Mr. Wilson: The figures in the table are the number of days between the Department's claim handler's, IRISC, receiving the acceptance letter and the final payment being made.
I understand my hon. Friend has indicated to the Department that he no longer requires these figures for the East Midlands.
| COPD | VWF | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Expedited Payment | Full and Final Offer | Full and Final Offer | |
| UK | 8 Days | 9 Days | 4 Days |
| Bassetlaw | 6 Days | 7 Days | 4 Days |
Nuclear Plant Security
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to deploy (a) anti-aircraft and (b) ground-to-air missile batteries around nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel cycle facilities in response to the terrorist threat. [87565]
Mr. Wilson: None. Security at civil nuclear sites is ensured in a number of ways, all of which are kept under review.
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Nuclear Power
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the excess of generating capacity over consumption if all electricity from UK nuclear power stations were to cease. [89087]
Mr. Wilson: UK generation capacity currently exceeds peak demand by more than 20 per cent. Nuclear currently makes up around 15 per cent. of UK capacity. Reflecting overall excess capacity wholesale electricity prices are low and some capacity has been mothballed. The impact on capacity margins of a cessation of electricity from nuclear power stations will therefore depend on the timescale over which nuclear output were to decline. Mothballed plant could return to operation. In the longer term new plant would be built.
Output from nuclear power stations is forecast to decline from its current level of around 20 per cent. of total generation to around 7 per cent. by 2020 as existing stations close, unless the regulatory authorities approve extensions to the life of these stations or new capacity is introduced.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what sum has been identified as representing the maximum cost to public spending over the next 10 years of supporting the nuclear industry. [89090]
Mr. Wilson: On current projections, the clean up of nuclear liabilities at BNFL and UK Atomic Energy Authority sites is expected to cost some #1.3 billion per year over the next 10 to 15 years. In addition, the cost of the Government's contribution to British Energy's historic nuclear fuel liabilities is expected to average #150 million to #200 million per year for the next 10 years and fall thereafter.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her policy is on the time a discontinued nuclear power station should remain untouched before dismantling begins. [89091]
Mr. Wilson: Decommissioning of a nuclear power station, including details of timing, is a matter for the operator, taking into account the requirements of the regulatory authorities.
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