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1 Apr 2004 : Column 1596W—continued
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) pursuant to her answer of 11 March 2004, Official Report, column 1683W, on the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, when her officials have been actively seeking new spent nuclear fuel reprocessing contracts in the last 24 months; [164809]
- (2) pursuant to her answer of 11 March 2004, Official Report, column 1683W, on the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, whether the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority will be seeking new spent fuel reprocessing contracts. [164810]
Mr. Timms: My officials have taken no steps to actively seek new reprocessing contracts in the last 24 months. It will be matter for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to decide whether or not to seek new reprocessing contracts once it is established.
Before any new THORP contacts could be concluded or changes made to existing contracts that increased volume of spent fuel to be reprocessed at THORP, the approval of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry would be required. Before making any decision on any such future proposal, the Government would review it against the specific criteria that were set out in the July 2002 White Paper on Managing the Nuclear Legacy.
R and D (Crosby)
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many research and development grants have been given to businesses in Crosby from Business Link. [164367]
Nigel Griffiths: There have been two offers made and accepted of Smart grant (now Research and Development Grant) in the Crosby area since 1997 with a total value of £154,401.
The number of Research and Development Grant offered to Businesses in the whole of the Merseyside area since 2000, is 102 with value of claims paid to the sum of £3,704,694.
Regional Development Agencies
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the locations of the overseas (a) offices and (b) representations of each regional development agency; what the cost is of each of these representations; and how many staff were employed in each in the last financial year for which figures are available. [164608]
Jacqui Smith: I refer the hon. Member to my answers of 26 January 2004, Official Report, columns 73–76W and 5 February 2004, Official Report, columns 999–1000W.
Phoenix Fund
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been allocated to Crosby from the Phoenix Fund. [164411]
Nigel Griffiths: Seven CDFFs (Community Development Finance Institutions), which is covered by the Phoenix fund, are currently supported in the North West region of which one (Train 2000 Ltd.) is Merseyside based. Train 2000 have been awarded £516,757 (revenue support £109,257; capital support £407,500) and to-date have advanced 30 loans, one of which was to a woman entrepreneur within the Crosby constituency.
Train 2000's principal target group is female entrepreneurs unable to access business finance from conventional sources.
Train 2000 have been successful in receiving funding from the Phoenix Development Fund as well as from CDFI (Community Development Finance Institutions).
Total Support currently committed to NW CDFI's (Community Development Finance Institutions) is £4,844,932 (expected to rise to £6,934,889 after completion of the third process). To date 232 loans has been advanced within the North West region totalling £1,398,725.
There are no Phoenix Development Fund Projects that focus solely on Crosby, however Crosby will be covered by those projects listed as operating in the whole of Liverpool, Merseyside and the North West. The Phoenix Development Fund Projects, which fall within the North West are as follows.
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| Project | Phoenix Development Fund (to March 2004) | Phoenix Development fund Building on the Best April 2004-March 2006) | City growth Strategies (April 2004-March 2006) | City Growth Strategies (April 2004-March 2006) | Development Fund for Rural Renewal (to March 2004) | Area Covered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granby and Toxteth Development Trust | 26,988 | — | — | — | — | Granby and Toxteth |
| Dingle Opportunities | 778,783 | — | — | — | — | 11 Objective 1 PathwayAreas in Liverpool (nomention of Crosby |
| Train 2000 | 225,000 | 799,000 | — | — | — | Merseyside |
| Knowsley MBC | 17,483 | — | — | — | — | Knowsley |
| St. Helens Chamber | 471,463 | — | — | — | — | St. Helen's |
| St. Helens (via North West RDA) | — | — | 375,000 | — | — | St. Helen's |
| Womens Business Network North West | 242,520 | — | — | — | — | North West |
| Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts | 254,782 | 528,000 | — | — | — | North West |
| Cats Pyjamas | 371,000 | — | — | — | — | Liverpool |
| Liverpool (via North West RDA) | — | — | — | 250,000 | — | Liverpool |
| Manchester (via North West RDA) | — | — | — | 250,000 | — | Manchester |
| Other NW | 1,470,000 | — | — | — | 814,200 | NW outside Merseyside |
Included in the above is information about City Growth and Development Fund for Rural Renewal, which comes under the Phoenix fund.
Regeneration (Hampshire)
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what analysis underpinned the creation of a priority area for economic regeneration between Portsmouth and Southampton; what the objectives were of establishing this scheme; and to what extent these objectives have been achieved. [165316]
Jacqui Smith: The South Hampshire Priority Area for Economic Regeneration is broadly defined in Regional Planning Guidance for the South East (RPG9 2001). The area was originally proposed by SERPLAN (the South East Regional Planning Body in 2001) in their draft RPG, and was confirmed by the Panel following a Public Examination in 1999. The report of the panel provides further justification for the designation, but criteria included: above average unemployment levels, high levels of social deprivation, low skill levels, dependence on declining industries, derelict urban fabric, peripherally and insularity.
Within the South East Regional Planning Guidance the recommendation was that all the areas identified as Priority Areas for Economic Regeneration (PAERs) need tailored regeneration strategies backed up by appropriate resources to address their problems and maximise their contribution to the sustainable development of the region. Designation as a PAER signalled to regional partners, including the Regional Development Agency, that the needs of the area should be given high priority. As such, the South Hampshire Priority Area for Economic Regeneration is not a scheme. The objectives for the area are set out in RPG 9 (2001), in particular Policy RE7 and Chapter 12. The policy calls for local and regional partners to give particular attention to actively supporting economic regeneration and renewal, including inward investment.
In line with the signals given through designation of the area as a PAER, regional partners, including the South East England Regional Development Agency (SEEDA), have given the area a high priority.
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The Regional Assembly, in partnership with local authorities, is currently assessing whether a sub-regional strategy for the South Hampshire area should be prepared as part of the South East Plan.
Register of Interests
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the requirements are on officials in her Department to declare current interests; and what register of interests is kept for her departmental officials. [164699]
Ms Hewitt: All members of staff within the Department are required to inform their senior line managers if they have any private business interests which could possibly conflict with their position in the Department or one of its Agencies. Staff are required to carry out any instructions which the Department or Agency gives about the retention or disposal of those business interests.
Detailed general principles that must be observed in respect of business interests and outside occupations are set out in "The Guide" available to all staff.
There is no central register maintained of the interests of individual departmental officials.
Research Funding
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what financial assistance is available towards collaborative research projects involving business and universities in the field of digital archiving technologies; which projects she (a) has assisted since 2001 and (b) is supporting; and whether her policy is available on a website. [164450]
Jacqui Smith: Financial assistance for collaborative research to support such technologies will be available under DTIs Technology programme to be formally announced on 26 April 2004. Assistance up to 75 per cent. for basic, 50 per cent. for applied and 25 per cent. for nearer market research projects will be available for industry to academic collaborations and 50 per cent. 40 per cent. and 25 per cent. respectively for projects involving business to business collaborations. The support will be available for projects that address research into such aspects of digital archiving as: Meta-data, Semantics, Ontologies, Vocabularies and
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Lexicons. The Innovation Report, which introduces DTI Technology Programme is available from DTIs website www.dti.gov.uk/technologyprogramme. The details for applying to the Technology Programme and a description of the technology priorities covered will be placed on DTI website in early April.
Since 2001, the Department has provided £1.1 million within the e-Science Core programme to establish the Digital Curation Centre at the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bath and the Central Laboratories of the Research Councils. Details are available through www.nesc.ac.uk, and www.e-science.clrc.ac.uk/web/projects/Data Curation Centre.
A further £3 million of assistance has been provided to support nine projects in the information storage and display area within the LINK Information Storage and Displays programme.
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