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Departmental Catering Services

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the cost was of (a) the in-house canteen and (b) other catering services provided by the Department in 2002. [104252]

Ms Hewitt: The information is as follows:

(a) The Department's staff restaurant services are provided at zero cash subsidy by an outsourced contractor, Wilson Storey Halliday; and

(b) The Department spent approximately £940, 000 with its preferred hospitality contractor in calendar year 2002.

Regional Selective Assistance

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list projects awarded funding by the East of England Development Agency through the Regional Selective Assistance schemes, broken down by county; what level of financial assistance was awarded to these projects; and what assessment she has made of the effect of each RSA award on (a) jobs saved and created and (b) the benefits to the local economy. [104890]

Alan Johnson: This information is not held by my Department and has been supplied by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA).

For reasons of commercial confidentiality, under Exemption 13: Third Party Commercial Confidences of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information it is not possible to list individual projects but the aggregate of approved RSA offers since authority was delegated to EEDA from 2 April 2002 is as follows:

Bedfordshire—6 projects, RSA grant total: £2,503,402. Total expected safeguarded jobs: 564; total expected created jobs: 713.

Suffolk—1 project, RSA grant: £595,730. Expected safeguarded jobs: 168.

These projects will directly help tackle unemployment problems in these areas and make a valuable additional contribution to the economic development of the region.

ECGD-Supported Projects

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many projects supported by the

1 Apr 2003 : Column 627W

Export Credits Guarantee Department in the last 12 months have been won through a competitive tendering process. [105063]

Ms Hewitt: Since 1 April 2002 ECGD has asked applicants for cover to state the type of procedure that has been used by the buyer in awarding the contract (e.g. competitive tendering, negotiated contract). Of cases supported since April 2002, around two thirds of the contracts were won through competitive tendering.

Electricity and Gas Prepayment Meters

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many households in (a) England and Wales and (b) the Buckingham constituency have (i) electric and (ii) gas pre-payment meters. [106376]

Mr. Wilson: In England and Wales, in December 2002, 3,221,781 domestic electricity consumers and 1,808,145 domestic gas consumers had prepayment meters. Figures for prepayment meter use are not available on a constituency basis.

Employment, Social Policy, Health andConsumer Affairs Council

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the agenda of the European Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council meeting on 6 March 2003. [105931]

Alan Johnson: The agenda for the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council consisted of:

1. preparation of the Spring European Council;


2. proposal for a Council Decision establishing a Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment;


3. Employment Committee Work Programme 2003;


4. Social Protection Committee Work Programme 2003;


5. follow-up to the Commission action plan for skills and mobility;


6. amended proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on working conditions for temporary workers;


7. gender mainstreaming; and


8. European Year of People with Disabilities.

State Aid

Mr. Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will publish her Department's proposals for the reform of the state aid rules. [106234]

Alan Johnson: The European Commission's rules on state aid are under constant development. The Department consults other Government Departments, Devolved Administrations and other principally affected bodies as appropriate.

European Spallation Source Project

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action the Department has taken to support the development of the European Spallation Source project in (a) Selby and (b) Oxford University. [105288]

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Ms Hewitt: The European Spallation Source (ESS) is a potential project to build a new neutron source for European scientists. The UK has been involved in the discussions on ESS since a European Commission report in 1990 recommended a design study for a next generation neutron source. A Council was formed in 1993, including UK membership, and the initial design study was published in 1996. Further research and development was needed before a fair decision could be taken to build the ESS. Participating laboratories around Europe have been undertaking this R&D. The UK has been represented in the Council and has participated in the R&D via the Council for the Central Laboratories of the Research Councils (CCLRC), an NDPB Agency of the Department who operate the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford and the Daresbury Laboratory near Warrington. CCLRC have responsibility for ensuring that UK researchers have access to neutron facilities now and in the future. They also operate the UK's current neutron source.

Nuclear Industry

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on recruitment within the UK nuclear power industry. [105805]

Mr. Wilson: A report on nuclear skills published by my Department in December made a series of recommendations aimed at avoiding potential problems 10–15 years ahead but did not suggest that there are likely to be any significant problems in the short term. Copies of the report are in the Library. It can also be accessed via the DTI website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/ nuclear/skills/nsg.shtml.

I am currently involved in discussions about appropriate arrangements through a sector skills council.

Public Appointments

Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many women have been appointed as chairmen of Regional Development Agencies. [105955]

Alan Johnson: Juliet Williams, Chair of the South West of England Regional Development Agency is the only female Chair of an English Regional Development Agency. She was appointed in December 2002.

I have been responsible for appointments to the eight English Regional Development Agencies since June 2001. Appointments to the London Development Agency are made by the Mayor of London.

Radioactive Waste

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which prospective sites were chosen by Nirex in its earlier site search for suitable locations to dispose of radioactive waste. [106417]

Mr. Wilson: As the Secretary of State for the Environment informed the House on 21 March 1989, Nirex recommended to Government that detailed geological studies for a deep repository be carried out in the vicinity of Sellafield and Dounreay.

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Nirex has no current plans to investigate sites for radioactive waste disposal facilities.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Births

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many women from (a) the Republic of Ireland and (b) Great Britain have given birth at (i) the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital and (ii) other hospitals in Northern Ireland in the last five years for which figures are available. [105753]

Mr. Browne: The information requested is provided in the table. It covers the period from 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002.

Hospital	Births to ROI residents	Births to GB residents	Births to other non-residents in Northern Ireland
Royal Jubilee Maternity hospital	3	46	0
Other Northern Ireland hospitals	303	10	(6)3

⁽⁶⁾ Western Health and Social Services Board were unable to distinguish between births to GB residents and births to other non-Northern Ireland residents.

Chief Electoral Officer

Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what resources have been allocated to the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland in each year since 1997. [103252]

Mr. Browne: Financial resources allocated to the Chief Electoral Officer in each year from 1997 are as follows:

	£ million
1997–98	1.2
1998–99	4.9
1999–2000	1.2
2000–01	1.4
2001–02	2.5
2002–03	6.5

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