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Post Office Closures

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post offices have been closed in Scotland as part of the urban reinvention programme. [170051]

Mr. Timms: Post Office Ltd. produces statistics on post office closures on a quarterly basis. The latest data on net closures by region currently available is to the end of December 2003. Data for the quarter to end March 2004 is expected shortly.

There have been 35 post office closures in Scotland under the urban reinvention programme to end of December 2003.

Renewable Energy

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the effects of recent trends in investment in renewable energy and upon the residents of Heywood and Middleton. [168434]

Mr. Timms: Recent trends in renewable energy investment have been highly encouraging. More new capacity has been constructed in the last few years than in the previous decade, and a significant amount is currently in the pipeline. This covers a wide range of technologies including onshore and offshore wind, solar and biomass.

While this investment has not translated into capacity within Heywood and Middleton itself, Renewables Northwest, a joint venture between the Regional Development Agency and United Utilities, has been working with local businesses on identifying opportunities in the renewable energy area.

Solar Heating

Sir Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to promote greater use of solar heating panels in the UK. [169368]

Mr. Timms: The Clear Skies initiative was launched in January 2003 in order to promote the uptake of a number of renewable technologies including solar heating panels. Grants are available to both individual householders and community groups in order to install solar heating panels. The initiative also has a list of registered installers and has developed a mentoring scheme in order to train future installers and increase the amount of companies able to install these technologies.

Further details of the initiative, including grant levels, can be found on the website at www.clear-skies.org.

The Scottish Executive has its own parallel scheme, The Scottish Community and Household Renewables Initiative, which also offers grants for the installation of solar heating panels. Further details can be found on the website www.est.co.uk/schri.

Sir Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many households in the UK she estimates use solar heating panels; and what her estimate is of use in five years' time. [169369]

 
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Mr. Timms: The DTI does not keep a record of solar heating installations but according to figures from the Building Research Establishment it is estimated that there are approximately 60,000 solar heating systems installed in the UK.

At current installation rates of approximately 5,000 per year, there could potentially be a further 25,000 installations in five years time, assuming none of the current installations are removed.

Telephone Billing

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many disputes regarding telephone billing costs between customer and service providers were referred to Ofcom and its predecessors in each of the last five years; and how many of these were upheld in favour of (a) the customer and (b) the service provider. [169375]

Mr. Timms: The matter raised is the responsibility of the Office of Communications (Ofcom) as independent regulator. Accordingly, my officials have asked the Chief Executive of Ofcom to respond directly to the hon. Member. Copies of the Chief Executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

HEALTH

Asperger's Syndrome

Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if his Department will set up an inquiry into the number of (a) adolescents and (b) adults with an Asperger's Syndrome diagnosis; and if he will make a statement. [168602]

Dr. Ladyman: The Department has no plans to set up an inquiry of this type. The Medical Research Council (MRC) published a comprehensive review of autism research in December 2001, which provides an authoritative overview of the current state of knowledge on the prevalence, incidence and causes of autism and Asperger's syndrome. The report was commissioned by the Department. It is available on the MRC website at http://www.mrc.ac.uk/pdf-autism-report.pdf

The MRC report notes that according to recent reviews, there appears fairly consistent agreement that autism spectrum disorders affect approximately 60, and more narrowly defined autism 10–30, per 10,000 children under eight years old. The prevalence of autism and Asperger's syndrome among adult and adolescent populations is not known.

The Department allocated a further £2.5 million in February 2002 to the MRC to help take forward the recommendations of their report.

The MRC held a series of four seminars to encourage the development of good quality applications for autism research funding between December 2002 and July 2003. On 11 July 2003, the MRC held the first of its annual forums for autism research, "Breaking barriers, building bridges", in conjunction with the National Autistic Society, to bring together ideas stimulated by the four seminars, one of which had addressed "Autism in Populations".
 
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The MRC will be taking decisions on the allocation of research project funding for further autism studies in May 2004.

Competent Authorities (EU Accession States)

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for   Health whether the European Commission has provided a list of competent authorities operating in the accession states in respect of the health and social care profession to his Department. [165902]

Mr. Hutton: No. The European Commission hopes to provide this information shortly.

Correspondence

Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Spelthorne of 4 February, PO 1043915, regarding continuing care criteria. [165065]

Dr. Ladyman [holding answer 1 April 2004]: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 27 April 2004.

European Health Training Standards

Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, (1) whether his Department has asked the European Commission to introduce transitional arrangements for health professionals from the new member states who do not meet the minimum training standards specified in the European Community directives on medicine, nursing, midwifery and dentistry by 1 May; [165222]

(2) when the European Commission will make a statement on the readiness of the 10 new member states to meet the minimum training standards specified in the European Community directives on medicine, nursing, midwifery and dentistry by 1 May; [165223]

(3) what powers the UK health regulators will have in relation to the assessment of individuals whose training may not meet minimum EU training requirements as specified in the European Community directives on medicine, nursing, midwifery and dentistry; [165224]

(4) what action the European Commission will take against those accession states that do not meet the minimum training standards specified in the European Community directives on medicine, nursing, midwifery and dentistry by 1 May; [165225]

(5) what efforts his Department has made to secure information from the European Commission as to which of the 10 new member states will have met the minimum training standards specified in the European Community directives on medicine, nursing, midwifery and dentistry by 1 May; and what work his Department has done in co-operation with other member states to secure that information. [165226]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 1 April 2004]: We are in regular contact with the European Commission and the other member states on this issue. The Commission's assessment is that training in all the acceding countries will meet minimum requirements after 1 May. It is for the Commission to determine what action to take in relation to any acceding countries that do not meet these requirements. Where the qualifications awarded by the acceding countries do not meet minimum requirements,
 
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the regulatory bodies are entitled to require proof of recent and substantial practice experience as a condition of recognition. Where such proof is not available, they are entitles to assess applicants on a case-by-case basis.

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