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30 Jan 2004 : Column 589W—continued
Investment
Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information she collates on the investment levels of small and medium enterprises of other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development states in Asian countries. [151805]
Nigel Griffiths: This information is not collected by HMG since this would involve tracking each individual company and therefore be a disproportionate cost to obtain the information.
National Business Angels Network
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the budget was of the National Business Angels Network for each year since its inception; and what the anticipated budget is for each year until 2006–07. [151434]
Nigel Griffiths [holding answer 27 January 2004]: The National Business Angels Network is a private company, which has received the following funding from the DTI:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 340,000 |
| 2001–02 | 250,000 |
| 2002–03 | 200,000 |
| 2003–04 | 200,000 |
| 2004–05 | (16)150,000 |
| 2005–06 | (16)150,000 |
(16) Subject to upward-only review up to a maximum of £200,000
National Power Provision
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what powers exist to penalise power companies whose service suffers from persistent power cut problems. [151196]
Mr. Timms: Both my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority have powers to penalise power companies whose service suffers from persistent power interruptions.
The DTI's Engineering Inspectorate has powers under Regulation 34 of The Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002, to impose actions on a company to improve its service. The Inspectorate may take action if there is evidence to suggest that repeated interruptions to supply are occurring and that no remedial measures have been taken.
The Gas and Electricity Markets Authority has powers under the Electricity Act 1989 to investigate whether a licence holder has breached the conditions of its licence, and if so, whether remedial action (such as a financial penalty) is appropriate. The Authority may impose a penalty upon a licence holder when it is satisfied that a licence holder is contravening or has contravened any relevant condition or requirement. No penalty imposed may exceed 10 per cent. of the turnover of the licence holder.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many power cuts there were in each of the last five years in (a) Howden, (b) Anlaby,
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(c) Willerby, (d) North Cave, (e) South Cave, (f) Kirk Ella, (g) Cottingham, (h) Eastrington, (i) Brough, (j) North Ferriby, (k) Swanland and (l) Holme Upon Spalding Moor. [151256]
Mr. Timms: It has not been possible for Yorkshire Electricity Distribution Limited (YEDL) to collate all the information sought within a short timescale.
I will respond to the right hon. Member in writing when I have received a full report from YEDL.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the power consumption of the United Kingdom was in each of the last 25 years. [151261]
Mr. Timms: Available data are shown in the following table.
| Total electricity consumption | |
|---|---|
| 1978 | 231.42 |
| 1979 | 242.00 |
| 1980 | 231.11 |
| 1981 | 227.21 |
| 1982 | 222.82 |
| 1983 | 226.09 |
| 1984 | 230.96 |
| 1985 | 241.85 |
| 1986(17) | 249.34 |
| 1986(17) | 259.82 |
| 1987 | 268.38 |
| 1988 | 274.50 |
| 1989 | 279.40 |
| 1990 | 284.42 |
| 1991 | 290.84 |
| 1992 | 291.45 |
| 1993 | 295.75 |
| 1994 | 292.83 |
| 1995 | 303.92 |
| 1996 | 319.78 |
| 1997 | 321.07 |
| 1998 | 325.35 |
| 1999 | 332.05 |
| 2000 | 340.30 |
| 2001 | 342.78 |
| 2002 | 343.83 |
(17) Prior to 1986 the consumption figures are based on electricity supplied from major power producers, transport undertakings and industrial hydro and nuclear stations only. From 1986 the consumption figures are based on electricity supplied from all generating companies.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much compensation for loss of power was paid by power companies to customers in each of the last five years, broken down by individual power company. [151262]
Mr. Timms: Payments made under Guaranteed Standards of Performance following loss of power were as follows.
30 Jan 2004 : Column 591W
| 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2002–03 storms compensation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aquila | 0 | 0 | 400 | 0 | 0 | 542,650 |
| EME | 150 | 30 | 100 | 0 | 350 | 44,820 |
| EPN | 390 | 85 | 1,150 | 0 | 0 | 1,155,800 |
| Hydro | 0 | 120 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LPN | 150 | 66,920 | 650 | 100 | 0 | |
| NEDL | 385,650 | 0 | 16,050 | 750 | 250 | |
| SP | 0 | 0 | 6,425 | 3,150 | 7,900 | |
| SPN | 0 | 12,660 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 3,725 |
| Southern | 0 | 60 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 |
| SP Manweb | 0 | 0 | 8,150 | 4,300 | 12,625 | 157,575 |
| UU | 628,520 | 240 | 6,250 | 2,800 | 100 | |
| WPD S. Wales | 0 | 30 | 400 | 0 | 0 | (18)1,300 |
| WPD S. West | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| YEDL | 180 | 0 | 4,075 | 2,450 | 0 |
(18) WPD S. Wales payment relates to total paid by WPD S Wales and WPD S. West. From April 2000 payment in respect of first payment due increased from £30 to £50 and period triggering payment reduced from 24 to 18 hours.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to ensure that power companies give adequate compensation to customers who suffer from power cuts. [151263]
Mr. Timms: This is a matter for the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem). As part of its distribution price control review, which is presently under way, Ofgem is reviewing the standards of performance under which compensation payments are made.
As the next price control is not implemented until April 2005, with two winter periods before then, Ofgem has recently introduced interim arrangements for compensation in severe weather conditions. The aim of these arrangements is to ensure that the basis for compensation is clear and that customers who have valid claims are paid out quickly after the event. Under the new arrangements, for all but the most extreme events, customers who make a valid claim for compensation will be entitled to £25 if they are off supply for more than 48 hours plus £25 for each additional 12 hour period up to a maximum payment of £200.
Under normal weather conditions, the Guaranteed Standards of Performance continue to apply and a payment of £50 is triggered at 18 hours with £25 for each additional 12 hour period.
Nigeria
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 25 June 2003, Official Report, column 798W, on the Export Credits Guarantee Department, if she will list the contracts for which Nigeria has incurred its total debt to the ECGD, stating the project type and the UK company concerned in each instance. [151539]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The current outstanding debt on Nigeria is £4.494 billion (this figure includes interest and arrears.) Due to the high number of transactions involved (over 26,000 dating back 20 years or more), it would not be possible to identify all projects individually without incurring disproportionate cost.
Nuclear Energy
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the confidentiality clauses at
30 Jan 2004 : Column 592W
pages 88 to 90, paragraph 38 of the Nuclear Liabilities Fund Agreement covering British Energy Generation Ltd. and Newcol dated 1 October 2003 will preclude providing hon. Members with details of British Energy contracts with British Nuclear Fuels plc. [147620]
Mr. Timms: Clause 38(4) of the Nuclear Liabilities Funding Agreement provides that the Secretary of State may disclose information to Parliament to the extent that she considers that it is appropriate to do so pursuant to her duty to Parliament but, where reasonably practicable, shall consult with Newcol (the proposed successor company to British Energy under the restructuring) prior to such disclosure. Any request to the Secretary of State for disclosure of the contracts would be considered in the light of information already made available by British Energy, and Exemption 13: Third Party's Commercial Confidences of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
Defence Facilities
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 12 January 2004, Official Report, columns 505–06W, whether any visits by safeguards inspectors have been made to military nuclear facilities; and what the (a) dates and (b) purposes were of the visits. [151867]
Mr. Timms: As indicated in the previous answer, there are and have been no safeguards inspections at UK defence nuclear facilities. Senior officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (the IAEA) did take up an invitation from the UK to visit such a facility in 1993 to discuss UK support for the use of sampling and measurement techniques which had the potential to help strengthen the IAEA safeguards regime as a whole.
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