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20 Oct 2003 : Column 446W—continued

Liverpool John Lennon Airport

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she was consulted on Royal Mail's proposal to withdraw air freight operations from Liverpool John Lennon airport; and if she will make a statement. [131476]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 14 October 2003]: DTI Ministers and officials meet representatives from the Royal Mail on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of issues, including the company's transport review.

Decisions about the future structure of the company's air freight operations is a matter for the Royal Mail Board. I understand that while the company has proposed the closure of its operations at John Lennon airport, the Communication Workers Union has asked

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to put forward alternative proposals that could mean the retention of this site. Royal Mail has agreed to consider their proposals before any final decision is made.

National Grid

Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether (a) the continental gas interconnector, (b) the beach terminals, (c) the compressor stations, (d) the National Transmission System and (e) the national control centre in Hinckley rely on power from the National Grid to operate. [132436]

Mr. Timms: Yes, but all have back-up arrangements in place.

Post Office Closures

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consultations she has had with the Post Office about (a) the closures of Crown post offices and (b) the consequences of closing the Crown Post Office at Brondesbury. [132725]

Mr. Timms: Decisions on closures of individual post offices are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd., but all such proposals are subject to public consultation under the Code of Practice agreed between Post Office Ltd. and Postwatch. Post Office Ltd's decision to close Brondesbury Crown post office has been taken in the context of its programme to restructure the urban post office network and the need to address the substantial losses made by the Crown office part of the network. I understand from Post Office Ltd. that there are three alternative offices between half and three-quarters of a mile from Brondesbury.

Power Stations

Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many gas-fired power stations are classified as (a) shipper nominated interruptible, (b) Transco nominated interruptible and (c) network sensitive loads. [132435]

Mr. Timms: There are 19 interruptible Combined Cycle Gas Turbine stations (CCGTs) in England and Wales. Transco has rights of interruption over all of these CCGTs. The shippers' contractual arrangements are not fully known, but it is thought that in the great majority of cases, they do have interruption rights. Even if they do not, the stations may still be self-interrupted in order to arbitrage between the gas and electricity markets. One of these CCGTs is a Network Sensitive Load, which means that its position within one of the Transco Networks makes it more likely to be interrupted for reasons of local capacity constraints. Another CCGT is in a network sensitive position from an electricity perspective. Based on National Grid Transco's latest information and experience of this station switching fuels when interrupted in the past, there is a high degree of confidence in the station's alternative fuel capability.

Science Research Councils

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the members of each science research council. [132495]

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Ms Hewitt: The following are the names of all members of the seven Research Councils.

Members of the Seven Research Councils

BBSRC


CCLRC


EPSRC


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ESRC


MRC


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PPARC


Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the financial and commercial links with industry of each member of the Science Research Council. [132523]

Ms Hewitt: Details of Research Council members' financial and commercial links with industry are available from each Council's Register of Members' Interests available from their website: Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council, www.bbsrc.ac.uk; Council of

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the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils, www.cclrc.ac.uk; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, www.epsrc.ac.uk; Economic and Social Research Council, www.esrc.ac.uk; Natural Environment Research Council, www.nerc.ac.uk; Medical Research Council, www.mrc.ac.uk; Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, www.pparc.ac.uk. For the convenience of Members I am placing paper copies in the Libraries of the House. A full list of Research Council members was given in my answer to my right hon. Friends Question No. 132495.


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