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EU Emissions Trading Scheme

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consultations she has conducted with (a) trade associations and (b) the British Ceramic Confederation on the national allocation plan of the Emissions Trading Scheme; and if she will make a statement. [160233]

Mr. Timms: As part of the Government's consultation, DTI and Defra officials have held a series of meetings with trade associations and other interested stakeholders to discuss the UK's draft National Allocation Plan for the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. This included a meeting with the British Ceramic Confederation on 27 February 2004.
 
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Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received from industry on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. [158848]

Mr. Timms: We have received numerous representations from companies, trade associations and other business organisations about the Government's proposals for implementing the EU Emissions Trading Scheme in the UK.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the principal guidelines were for the national allocation of emission allowances; and if she will make a statement on the overall transparency of the process. [158849]

Mr. Timms : I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment on 19 January 2004, Official Report,
 
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columns 53–54WS, about the publication of a consultation paper on a draft National Allocation Plan for the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) which sets out the Government's proposals for allocating allowances under the scheme.

The Government have conducted two consultations on the UK's draft National Allocation Plan and has involved businesses that will be covered by the EU ETS and other interested stakeholders at every stage of the preparations. Business and interested stakeholders will have a further opportunity to comment before the final allocation decision is taken in October 2004. Information on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme can be found on the DTI and Defra websites:

www.dti.gov.uk/energy/sepn/euets.shtml andwww.defra.gov.uk/enviromnent/climatechange/trading/eu/index.htm.

EU Match Funding

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much matched EU funding was made available by her Department in each year since 1997, broken down by nation of the United Kingdom. [160109]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 9 March 2004]: Details of funds distributed by DTI to match European Structural Funds are not recorded centrally, and could therefore be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Since the devolution arrangements for Scotland and Wales were established in 1999, with responsibility for the financing of European Structural Funds transferred to the devolved Administrations, DTI match funding has been restricted to England.

Internet (Child Pornography)

Ms Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures she has taken to encourage internet service providers to take action to contact child pornography websites. [158998]

Mr. Timms: The Government support the work of the Internet Watch Foundation, which was established by the internet industry in consultation with Government. The Internet Watch Foundation works in partnership with internet service providers, telecommunications companies, mobile operators, software providers, police and Government, to minimise the availability of illegal internet content, particularly child abuse images. Their Internet Hotline deals with reports of potentially illegal internet content, such as websites, newsgroups and online groups that contain: images of child abuse anywhere in the world; adult material that potentially breaches the Obscene Publications Act in the UK; and criminally racist material in the UK.

One measure of the success of this self-regulatory approach is that less than 2 per cent. of the illegal content reported to the IWF relates to material hosted in the UK.

Ofgem

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when Ofgem will publish the outcome of its consultation on transmission investment and renewable generation. [156618]

 
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Mr. Timms: I understand that Ofgem expects to publish the outcome of this consultation in April, together with a proposed timetable for taking work forward.

Post Office Closures

Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people in the Normanton constituency live within a mile of a post office following the Post Office closure programme by Post Office Ltd.; and if she will make a statement. [159604]

Mr. Timms: Post Office Ltd. is committed to ensuring that at the end of the urban reinvention programme nationally 95 per cent. of the urban population will still live within one mile of a post office and the majority within half a mile. This information is not collected, however, for each constituency.

In the case of Normanton constituency four offices are to close under Post Office Ltd.'s urban reinvention programme. All have alternative offices within 1 mile.

Procurement Policy

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in what ways environmentally sustainable procurement strategies within the Department have driven innovation in the design and supply of products. [159146]

Ms Hewitt: I refer to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment on 10 March 2004, Official Report, columns 1542–543W.

Within the framework of this overall approach, DTI is contributing towards encouraging environmental innovation through public procurement in a number of ways, including:

Participating in the development of the procurement aspects of the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. It is expected that the forthcoming procurement section will set Government-wide commitments for embedding sustainable development considerations in Departmental procurement strategies.

Taking forward the commitment in the Government's Innovation Report to ask its industry-led Innovation and Growth Teams (IGT) to identify where public procurement could better facilitate innovation and how this could be achieved, including setting up an Environmental Innovation Procurement Group (EIPG) to use procurement to drive innovation in the environmental industries.

Led by the Joint DTI/Defra Environmental Markets Unit (JEMU), the EIPG comprises business and other stakeholders and is working to tackle actual and perceived barriers, such as cost, risk, skills, information and inertia to the procurement of innovative environmental technologies, products and services by the public sector.

Radioactive Waste

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2004, Official Report, column 1180W, on radioactive waste, what her policy is on making Nirex independent of the industry. [160680]

 
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Mr. Timms: The review of Nirex announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 16 July 2003 is not yet complete. Government decisions on Nirex will be informed by the outcome of the review.

Renewable Energy

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the reasons underlying the percentage target for energy from renewable sources. [161006]

Mr. Timms: The Government's energy policy sets out four main goals:

In line with the royal Commission on Environmental Pollution's (RCEP's) recommendation, to work towards cutting emissions of carbon dioxide by some 60 per cent. by around 2050,

To maintain the reliability of energy supplies,

To promote competitive energy markets in the UK and beyond,

To ensure that every home is adequately and affordably heated.

Renewable forms of energy will play a key role in helping us to meet these goals. In January 2000, the Government announced their intention to set a target of 10 per cent. of UK electricity from renewables by 2010, subject to the costs being acceptable to the consumer. The target was set at a level considered to be challenging and yet achievable.

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