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11 Oct 2004 : Column 114W—continued
Business Advisory Bodies (Funding)
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what identifiable results have been achieved as a result of funding from her Department for (a) the Manufacturing Advisory Service and (b) Corporate Venturing UK. [186346]
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Jacqui Smith: The information is as follows:
(a) The Manufacturing Advisory Service has consistently met or exceeded its original performance targets and by the end of June 2004 the value added to companies through its interventions had reached £66.8 million. Almost 8,000 diagnostic visits had been made, followed by more than 1,800 in-depth assignments, while average productivity improvements are running at 30 per cent.
(b) The Corporate Venturing UK (CVUK) provides customer access to a confidential web based "shop window" that companies looking for corporate venturing opportunities can access to locate partners matching their requirements. Registered users promote opportunities and post details of the attributes they can offer and what they seek in a partner. CVUK has made good progress in promoting the concept of corporate venturing—through, among other things, conferences and setting up a marketplace for potential corporate venturing partners.
British Nuclear Fuels
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether her Department has made available resources to British Nuclear Fuels to provide loan guarantees to the company's Westinghouse subsidiary to work on new reactor designs in the United States. [187603]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department has not made available resources to BNFL's subsidiary Westinghouse to provide loan guarantees for reactor design work in the US.
Citizens Advice Bureau
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what projections her Department has made for funding Citizens Advice Bureau in the UK. [189158]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 16 September 2004]: None. The DTI does not fund individual Citizens Advice Bureau anywhere in the UK. It funds the umbrella organisations for England, Wales and Scotland, but not Northern Ireland.
These charitable bodies set standards for advice giving, provide training, support and co-ordinate social policy work on behalf of the individual bureaux. Individual bureaux are each independent charities that raise funds from a number of sources including local authorities.
Civil Service Relocation
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many of the reductions in core civil service posts in her Department by 2007–08 proposed in Sir Peter Gershon's review of public sector efficiency will be relocated to sponsored agencies in the regions. [189808]
Ms Hewitt:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 21 July 2004, Official Report, columns 290–91W.
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Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the hon. Member for West Worcestershire will receive a reply to his letters to the Minister for Employment Relations, Competition and Consumers, of 17 June. [188012]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department of Trade and Industry has no record of having received the letter of 17 June 2004. The Department received a copy of this letter on 22 September 2004 and will respond within 15 days of that date.
Council of Ministers
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if she will provide a Written Ministerial Statement outlining the key points on the agenda for each of the Council of Ministers' meetings at which her Department is represented in advance of each meeting; [188204]
(2) if she will provide a Written Ministerial Statement outlining for each meeting of the Council of Ministers at which her Department is represented as soon as is practicable following that meeting (a) the key items of discussion, (b) the positions of the Government on those items, (c) the key positions taken by other member states that Ministers consider should be noted by hon. Members and (d) any preliminary discussion on the timing and the agenda of the following meeting. [188205]
Mr. Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her question by my right hon. Friend, the Foreign Secretary, on 13 September 2004, Official Report, column 1451W.
Departmental Staff Survey
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will place in the Library a copy of the Department's Staff Survey 2003. [189807]
Ms Hewitt: I have today placed copies in the Libraries of the House.
Development Funding (Lancashire)
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how much Government funding has been allocated for the Luneside East development in Lancaster; [189509]
(2) if she will breakdown funding for the Lancaster District Economic Development Zone by location; [189510]
(3) how much funding has been allocated to the Luneside East Economic Development Zone by (a) English Partnerships and (b) the North West Regional Development Agency; [189512]
(4) what progress has been made regarding the Luneside East Economic Development Zone; and if she will make a statement. [189513]
Jacqui Smith:
The regeneration of Luneside East is being part funded through the £8 million European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) resources available to the Lancaster Economic Development
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Zone. In addition to the £2.315 million ERDF, Luneside East has been allocated £4.56 million from English Partnerships and £3.01 million from the North West Development Agency.
Lancaster City Council is the key delivery organisation for Luneside East, and is currently in the process of engaging a lead developer to take this scheme forward.
Projects approved by the Lancaster Economic Development Zone partnership to date include:
| ERDF (£) | |
|---|---|
| Heysham Industrial Access Improvements | 460,000 |
| Port of Heysham | 350,000 |
| 4/5 Dalton Square, Lancaster | 1,048,000 |
| Luneside East, Lancaster | 2,315,000 |
| Storey Institute (Phase 1), Lancaster | 65,000 |
A further £861,000 ERDF has been invested in a series of public transport and employment access activities across the EDZ area.
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment the North West Regional Development Agency has made of economic development at the Lancaster West site in Heysham. [189511]
Jacqui Smith: The Northwest Regional Development Agency is aware of the Lancaster West site in Heysham, which has recently changed ownership. The RDA has invited the Lancaster Vision Board to submit proposals for economic development activities within its area and, if the Lancaster West site is nominated by the Vision Board, the RDA will undertake an assessment of its potential.
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the preferred route is of the North West Regional Development Agency for the proposed Heysham Port/M6 Link. [189514]
Jacqui Smith: The Agency recognises that both the Heysham-M6 route options offer economic benefits to the region in that they will improve access to the strategic Port of Heysham, will help in the regeneration of Morecambe and will have measurable benefits on traffic levels in Lancaster city centre. The Agency is currently reviewing the recommendations of a number of economic and environmental studies on the two route options and will reach an informed view on the preferred option shortly, taking this work into account.
The selection of a preferred route for the proposed scheme is a matter for Lancashire county council.
Dinorwic Power Station
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much (a) energy and (b) carbon credit the operation at Dinorwic has saved in each of the last three years. [188943]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The last study to look into this was commissioned in 1999. The operation of Dinorwic pumped storage scheme has not changed since then.
From 1330 GHh per annum to 1590 GHh per annum—as reserve generation
From 534 GHh per annum to 668 GHh per annum—as TV pick-up
From -3811 GHh per annum to -1773 GHh per annum—as Peak Lopping
In the reserve generation role, Dinorwic can remove 140,000 tons of CO 2 per year
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