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21 Oct 2004 : Column 881W—continued
R and D Clusters
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many research and development clusters or techiums were established in each of the last 10 years, broken down by type; and how many are proposed for the next three years, broken down by type. [190834]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: We do not classify clusters in this way so do not hold this information. Research and development activities to support a strong innovation base, are just one element of a successful cluster.
Microgeneration
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what practical support the Government gives to the microgeneration of energy; and if she will make a statement. [189925]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Government are committed to publishing a strategy for the promotion of microgeneration by April 2006 under the Energy Act 2004. We will be working closely with interested parties to develop a suitable strategy before putting it to a full public consultation.
The Government already helps the microgeneration industry in a variety of different ways:
£25 million of grants provided under the Major PV demonstration programme with a further £10 million provided to support large scale and domestic field trials. The Major PV demonstration programme is to be extended for another year with the provision of an additional £6 million worth of funding.
£10 million of support given to support household and community renewables under the Clear Skies initiative, with an extra £2.5 million recently announced to fund a one-year extension of the scheme.
In budget 2004 the Chancellor committed to a reduction in VAT on microCHP generators to 5 per cent., provided that field trials being carried out by the Carbon Trust are successful. The same budget introduced a reduced VAT rate of 5 per cent. for ground source heat pumps.
The DTI's New and Renewable Energy R&D programme has an annual budget of £19 million that helps to support the development of a variety of technologies Government and industry are working together under the auspices of the Distributed
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Generation Co-ordination Group to look at removing institutional and regulatory barriers to the introduction of microgeneration in Great Britain.
Warrington
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been spent by her Department and its agencies in Warrington since 1997. [193060]
Ms Hewitt: The Department does not collect expenditure information at this level and such data could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PES A) published each year by HM Treasury presents public expenditure outturn by country and region. The latest PESA (Cm6201) was published in April 2004 and includes data for 2002–03, including an analysis of the Department's spend by region. Similar data for 2003/04 should be available in 2005.
Women Workers
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures her Department is taking in conjunction with other Departments to encourage more women to return to work, with particular reference to those over 50 years old; and if she will make a statement. [192019]
Jacqui Smith: We recognise the barriers women face in returning to work and consequently we have introduced a raft of measures to help ease this transition. These include New Deal for Partners, Lone Parents and 50+, new rights for working parents, a national childcare strategy and tax credits and financial support as part of the Lifelong Learning programme.
Women returners will be helped by reforms in the government's Skills Strategy, including the new learner entitlement for those without qualifications, better learner support, and better Information Advice and Guidance. Steps have already been taken to improve services for adults such as the University for Industry (Ufi)/learndirect national advice service. DTI is also taking forward a strategy to improve women's representation in science, engineering and technology, including a resource centre with a specific women returners project.
The Government are keen to ensure that everybody can access learning and qualifications and this is why the Access to Learning funds prioritise groups of students, like mature students who may have existing financial commitments, when allocating the funding. Other forms of financial support available are Career Development Loans.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Tomlinson Report
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the implications of the Tomlinson Report for Northern Ireland. [193343]
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Mr. Gardiner: The Tomlinson Report applies only to England. However, the proposals touch on a range of issues that are already being addressed in Northern Ireland through the revised curriculum and the new post-primary arrangements.
The Department of Education, and the Department for Education and Learning, will be working very closely with the Northern Ireland Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) to assess, in due course, the implications of the Tomlinson Report and what actions may be appropriate in local circumstances.
Equi Save
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information his Department has received about the EU's Interreg Equi Save Atlantic Area Project; and if he will make a statement. [190926]
Mr. Pearson: The Department of Finance and Personnel in Northern Ireland has received the following information on the Equi Save Atlantic Area project from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
The project was successful in securing ERDF support at the Interreg IIIB Atlantic Area Programme Steering Committee held on 14 and 15 October 2004. The project's lead partner is a French public sector body (Les Haras Nationnaux). There are no UK partners with a financial input to this project.
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will institute discussions with his opposite number in the Irish Republic on possible benefits to breeders in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic of the Kerry Bug Pony, and other rare breeds of horses, of attracting funds under the EU's Interreg Equi Save Atlantic Area Project; and if he will make a statement. [190928]
Mr. Pearson: The Equi Save Atlantic Area project received approval for ERDF support under the Interreg IIIB Atlantic Area Community Initiative, at the Atlantic Area Programme Steering Committee held on 14 and 15 October 2004. One of the project partners is from the Republic of Ireland and therefore the Republic of Ireland will benefit financially from this Programme. However, Northern Ireland is not involved in the project at partner level and as a result, project funds will not be made available to Northern Ireland. As a result, I do not intend initiating contact with my Irish counterpart on the subject of this project.
TREASURY
Teenage Pregnancy
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the rate of pregnancies per thousand population in girls aged (a) 14, (b) 15 and (c) 16 years was in the last period for which figures are available. [192769]
Mr. Timms:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply
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Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Frank Field, dated 21 October 2004
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the rate of pregnancies per thousand population in girls aged (a) 14 (b) 15 and (c) 16 years is in the last period for which figures are available. (192769)
The most recent year for which conception statistics for individual years of age are available is 2001.
Figures requested are given in the table below.
| Age | Number | Rate(15) |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1,890 | 5.8 |
| 15 | 5,613 | 17.4 |
| 16 | 13,103 | 40.4 |
(15) Rates per 1,000 female population of the same age.
EU Committees
Angus Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times during the Greek presidency of the EU the Economic Policy Committee: working party on reduced compositions met; when and where these meetings took place; which UK Government expert was present at each meeting; what (a) technical and (b) financial issues were raised by the UK Government expert at each meeting; what recommendations the Committee produced during that period; what actions were (i) proposed and (ii) taken by (A) the EU and (B) the UK Government as a result of the Committee's recommendations; and if he will make a statement. [193023]
Mr. Timms: The Economic Policy Committee (EPC) met formally six times in Brussels during the Greek Presidency of the EU and discussed a wide range of economic and structural reform issues, including, inter alia, setting the new Broad Economic Policy Guidelines to provide the overarching framework for economic policy coordination in the EU for 2003–05; the key structural challenges facing the then acceding countries. The UK Government were represented on each occasion by a Treasury official.
The above mentioned and other reports adopted by the EPC are available on the Committee's website at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy finance/epc/epc en.htm.
In addition, where relevant, the results of the Committee's work in preparing the ECOFIN Council are reported in the Council's Conclusions and press releases.
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