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British Nuclear Fuels

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions (a) she, (b) other departmental ministers and (c) departmental officials have had with the European Commission on the proposed restructuring of British Nuclear Fuels plc; and what the state aid implications are. [187605]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department has not specifically discussed the re-organisation of BNFL with the European Commission. The re-organisation will result in aid to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. The Government notified this aid to the European Commission in December 2003. The notification included details of the proposed re-organisation.

Carbon Sequestration

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what investment is being made in carbon sequestration technologies. [188477]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Since 2001 we have either provided, or have committed to, some £518,000 of funding in support in of a variety of projects and studies investigating carbon sequestration. Additionally, we are developing a Carbon Abatement Technology Strategy of which carbon sequestration technologies are expected to be a major component. It is planned to publish this Strategy around the turn of the year.

Civil Service (Job Losses)

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which services within her Department will
 
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be (a) affected by and (b) subject to job losses consequent on the cuts in the civil service announced in the Spending Review. [189642]

Ms Hewitt: As the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has already explained, full details of the workforce changes announced in the Spending Review are being worked through and we are consulting all stakeholders including unions and staff. Departments will come forward in due course with details of workforce changes once plans are finalised.

Electricity

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on her policy towards locational pricing structures for electricity transmission. [188681]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Government, with Ofgem, consulted on the criteria that should govern the transmission charging methodology under the British Electricity Trading and Transmission Arrangements (BETTA) due to come into affect in April 2005. http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/consultations/transcharging doc:pdf

It is now for the National Grid Company as GB System Operator to devise a suitable charging methodology in consultation with the industry that facilitates effective competition and, as far as practicable, is reflective of costs. It is then for the industry regulator, Ofgem, to approve this methodology.

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry under what regulations Welsh Water is barred from generating electricity. [188941]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: There is nothing in the Electricity Act 1989, as amended, which would bar Welsh Water from generating electricity. Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 details what consents are required to construct, operate or extend a generating station. Generating electricity is a licensable activity and standard licence conditions have to be met, unless exempt under the Electricity (Class Exemptions from the requirement for a licence) Order 2001. It is the regulator's office, the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) which grants licences.

Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what impact the recent increase in the wholesale price of gas has had on predictions for the costs of various forms of electricity generation as laid out in the energy White Paper. [189043]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The recent increase in the wholesale price of gas, if sustained, will impact on the cost of gas-fired generation as against other forms of generation. Some of these other forms of generation, including low carbon options, would look relatively more attractive compared with gas-fired generation

Employer Training

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) employers and (b) staff in each Tyne and Wear district have been assisted by the Tyne and Wear Employer Training Pilot since it began. [188710]

Jacqui Smith: The information is as follows.
 
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(a) The total number of employers in Tyne and Wear assisted by the Employer Training Pilot since it began is 911.

The total number of employers by each Tyne and Wear district are as follows:

	Number of employers
Newcastle	302
North Tyneside	109
South Tyneside	88
Gateshead	204
Sunderland	208

(b) The total number of employees in Tyne and Wear assisted by the Employer Training Pilot since it began is 7,170.

The total number of employees by each Tyne and Wear district are as follows:

	Number of employers
Newcastle	2,374
North Tyneside	645
South Tyneside	624
Gateshead	1,789
Sunderland	1,738

EU Nuclear Regulation

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the revised proposed legislative texts produced by the European Commission on the safety of nuclear installations and radioactive waste management, released on 8 September 2004; what evaluation has been made of the differences between the new texts and those in the proposed council directives Cmd. 2003/32, released in January 2003; and what comments on these proposals were made by the United Kingdom to the Commission. [189102]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: On 8 September 2004, the College of Commissioners agreed to adopt the European Commission's revised proposals dealing with nuclear installation safety and radioactive waste management and these were formally circulated to Member States on 14 September 2004. A full evaluation is being made readiness for discussions in the relevant Council Working Group. However, the texts do not differ greatly from those considered by the Council under the Irish Presidency. The UK has made it clear to the Commission on several occasions that it would prefer any Community initiative in these fields to be developed on the basis of non-legally binding instruments.

End-of-Life Vehicles Directive

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made in implementing the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive; and if she will make a statement. [188725]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The End-of-Life Vehicles Regulations 2003 (S.L2003/2635) came into effect in England and Wales on 3 November 2003, and
 
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equivalent legislation was introduced shortly after in Scotland and Northern Ireland. These Regulations implement a number of provisions in the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive. Consultation on draft Regulations to implement the remaining provisions of the Directive, which take effect from 2006, was carried out earlier this year. It is the Government's intention to present the End-of-Life Vehicles (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2004 to the House shortly.

European State Aids

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total value is of applications to the European Commission to allow state aids that have been (a) approved, (b) approved with modifications, (c) declined and (d) considered but deemed not to fall within state aid rules, broken down by member state, for the last five years. [189519]

Mr. Alexander: Comprehensive information on spending on state aids is published by the European Commission and is available on the Commission's website at http://europa.eu.int/comm/competitio/state aid/scoreboard/.

The latest report includes information on the value of state aid spending in 2002, trends in spending between 1998 and 2002, and the percentage and numbers of cases approved or rejected by the Commission between 2001 and 2003, all broken down by member state. The report does not include full statistics on the number of applications approved with modifications, or considered but found not to fall within state aid rules, or a breakdown of their value, however, and we do not have independent estimates of these across EU member states.

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