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27 Feb 2003 : Column 643W

Written Answers to Questions

Thursday 27 February 2003

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Departmental Appointments

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Minister for Women what guidance she gives to departments regarding the setting of departmental targets for the appointment of women; and if she will make a statement. [99039]

Ms Hewitt: This Government are committed to achieving an even balance of men and women on boards of public bodies. Responsibility for making these appointments lies with individual Ministers supported by their Departments. Each Department sets out its target for increasing diversity in public appointments in "Public Bodies: Opening up Public Appointments 2002–2005". The DTI is committed to between 45 and 55 per cent. of appointments made each year to be women.

The Cabinet Office has lead responsibility for public appointments. It is committed to helping Departments achieve the targets they have set, while upholding the principles of selection on merit.

EU Equality Advisory Committee

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Minister for Women if she will make a statement regarding conclusions reached at the EU Equality Advisory Committee meeting on 9 October 2002. [99049]

Ms Hewitt: The purpose of the meeting of the EU Advisory Committee on 9 October was to exchange information and experience. The minutes of the meeting are not yet available from the European Commission.

Public Appointments

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Minister for Women how many regional seminar series in each region were hosted by the Women and Equality Unit to attract women to public appointments in each of the last two years; and if she will make a statement. [99040]

Ms Hewitt: During 2002 the Women and Equality Unit hosted eight regional seminars. The seminars were held in the following places:


One national seminar was held in Leicester.

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The practical guide "Get A Public Life", published in December, enables others to run similar events.

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Minister for Women how much has been spent on regional seminars by the Women and Equality Unit on attracting women to public appointments; and if she will make a statement. [99041]

Ms Hewitt: The National Outreach Campaign consisted of eight regional seminars and five national seminars; the total cost of holding these seminars was £57,551.21 (excluding VAT).

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Embryo Research

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many embryos the Medical Research Council envisages requiring per year for its embryo stem cell bank; and what their planned budget is for the bank. [97989]

Ms Hewitt: The bank will store adult, foetal and embryonic stem cell lines derived by the research community in the UK and overseas. Such lines will be ethically sourced and quality controlled. Embryonic stem cells will be supplied to the bank from IVF embryos donated for research. The MRC does not know how many embryos will be so donated.

However, it is a condition of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority licence that all embryonic stem cell lines derived in the UK must be deposited in the bank. It will be a condition of MRC funding for stem cell research that adult, foetal and embryonic stem cell lines generated with such funding must be deposited in the bank. Other UK funders are likely to adopt the same terms and conditions. Deposition in, and access of lines from the UK bank will be overseen by the Steering Committee chaired by Lord Patel. Since the UK bank will provide standardised stem cell lines for research purposes, the need for individual research groups to derive their own stem cell lines will be reduced, thereby minimising the overall number of embryos used.

The UK stem cell bank is being funded at a level of £2.6 million over three years. MRC will contribute 75 per cent., and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council 25 per cent. of these costs.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the MRC has spent on research using human embryos in each the past 20 years. [97990]

Ms Hewitt: The majority of the research on embryos supported by the Medical Research Council involves material collected from animal models; only a small number of projects involve human embryos. Human embryonic tissue is currently used in the study of developmental biology and research on the treatment of disease. MRC does not keep historical figures for spend on such research, but estimates that in the last financial year (2001–02) it spent £0.6 million on research involving or related to human embryos.

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E-Mail Addresses

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry by what e-mail address members of the public may contact (a) her and (b) each of the Ministers in her Department; and for each e-mail address if she will state (i) the date it became active, and (ii) the number of e-mails received in each month since activation. [97458]

Ms Hewitt: The e-mail addresses are as follows:









(i) Each e-mail address became active upon the appointment of the Minister;

(ii) This information could not be obtained except at disproportionate cost.

Euratom Research

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which United Kingdom companies or organisations have benefited from the European Council Decision 668/2002/Euratom of 3 June 2002, which estimated a European funding area for the sixth framework programme for Euratom research and training activities. [98497]

Ms Hewitt: The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority's Culham Science Centre is the only organisation in the UK to receive funding for nuclear fusion research. Some of this funding is used for research by UK universities and the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory.

UK research contractors, regulators and industry will benefit from the fission programme by participating in FP6 research projects supported by Euratom. The first call for proposals for these research projects is currently underway and two further calls will follow during the course of FP6.

Renewable Energy Exporters

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 30 January 2003, Official Report, column 984W, on renewable energy exporters, if she will provide a breakdown of the renewable energy technologies represented by the three applications for support under the renewable energy initiative of the ECGD. [99333]

27 Feb 2003 : Column 646W

Ms Hewitt: ECGD has received applications that could be considered under this initiative in respect of the following renewable energy technologies:


The initiative comes into effect in April 2003 making ECGD cover available for at least £50 million of projects that meet the minimum risk standards.

TRANSPORT

Belfast City Airport

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the ability of runway facilities at Belfast City airport to accommodate an increased use by large passenger planes. [99417]

Mr. Jamieson: In licensing civil aerodromes in the UK, the Civil Aviation Authority does not specify the type or number of aircraft that can operate from a particular aerodrome. Instead, it ensures that national and international operating and safety standards are complied with. Provided that these standards are met it is a matter for aircraft operators and the aerodrome licensee to be satisfied that the facilities and manning levels match their requirements.

Stretch Limousines

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the environmental impact, with particular reference to (a) emissions and (b) fuel consumption of (i) a stretch limousine and (ii) other types of road vehicle. [99249]

Mr. Jamieson: No specific assessment has been made of the environmental impact of stretched limousines. However, indices for regulated pollutants (CO, HC, NOx and PM) and for C02 are given for various classes of road vehicles in Table 2.6. of the Departmental publication "Transport Statistics: Great Britain—2002 Edition".

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many stretch limousines have been registered for use on British roads in each year since 1992; and if he will estimate the average distance travelled by each of these vehicles in each of these years. [99224]

Mr. Jamieson: The information held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency on body types does not distinguish between different categories of limousine. No information is held on the distances travelled by these vehicles.

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