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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 12 January 2005
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
CHP
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what projections she has made of the amount of electricity used on the Government Estate which is sourced from good quality combined heat and power; and whether she expects the 15 per cent. target for such electricity to be met in 2010. [205246]
Mr. Morley: 0.8 per cent. of electricity used on the Government Estate when the target was set, around 23 GWh/yr, was Good Quality CHP electricity. Departments are required to put in place strategies for delivering the CHP and other targets in accordance with the Energy chapter of the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. We project that this will amount to 350–400 GWh/yr for Good Quality CHP in 2010. This assumes the 2010 target of increasing energy efficiency by 15 per cent. is achieved.
Energy Consumption (Televisions)
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her most recent estimate is of the daily energy consumption resulting from the use of standby units on televisions; and if she will make a statement. [206025]
Mr. Morley: The Government's Market Transformation Programme estimates that the 60 million television sets in the UK consume approximately 3 million Kwh per day while they are in standby mode—approximately 8 per cent. of their total average daily energy consumption.
In order to try to reduce the overall energy consumed by televisions the Market Transformation Programme (www.mtprog.com) has been encouraging manufacturers to reduce both the "on" and the "standby" power consumption of televisions through the adoption of design improvements, an EU-wide voluntary code of conduct, and best practice guidelines and targets.
The EU-wide voluntary agreement on televisions has been particularly successful in reducing the average energy consumed by televisions in standby mode with the majority of new televisions sold in the UK soon to consume around 1 watt of power in standby mode rather than the 3–8 watts consumed by older models. We expect this agreement to be extended to cover additional consumer electronics shortly.
In addition, the Government"s initiative on sustainable procurement, announced last autumn, includes a requirement for Government Departments which purchase televisions to specify televisions with standby power requirements of less that 1 watt.
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Feral Animals
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to introduce a policy on the control of feral animals. [206627]
Mr. Morley: We have no plans to introduce a general policy to cover all feral animals. The management of wildlife, whether feral or not, is dealt with on a species by species basis, as and when control is required, with action being taken by a range of different bodies, and by individual landowners and occupiers.
One of the key recommendations arising from the Working Group report on the Review of Non-Native Species Policy (2003) was that policies should be established with respect to the management and control of invasive non-native species currently present or newly arrived in the wild. To this end research has been commissioned by English Nature to establish an environmental audit of non-native species within England (replicating a similar audit of species in Scotland by Scottish Natural Heritage), and by Defra to develop a standard methodology for carrying out risk assessments on species, pathways and receptor habitats. The results of this research will inform Government policy on the control of non-native species in the wild.
Waste Management
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much waste, by (a) tonnage and (b) percentage, has been disposed of by each county council by (i) landfill, (ii) recycling and (iii) incineration in each year since 1997. [200009]
Mr. Morley: The Department is currently preparing figures for publication on the management of municipal waste at waste disposal authority level. This information comes from the Defra Municipal Waste Management survey and has previously been published at regional level. The more detailed figures are expected to be published on the departmental website and a copy placed in the House Library in February 2005.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) tonnage and (b) percentage of waste has been disposed of by (i) landfill, (ii) recycling and (iii) incineration since 1997–98, (A) in total and (B) broken down by waste disposal authority. [202066]
Mr. Morley:
The Department is currently preparing figures for publication on the management of municipal waste at waste disposal authority level. This information comes from the Defra Municipal Waste Management survey and has previously been published at regional level. The more detailed figures are expected to be published on the departmental website and a copy placed in the House Library in February 2005.
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HEALTH
Autism
Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the ratio is of (a) consultants, (b) nurses and (c) general practitioners with a specialism in autism spectrum disorder to autistic children in England; and if he will make a statement. [206971]
Mr. Hutton: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Care Homes
Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) care homes and (b) care home beds there have been in England in each year since 1997. [207154]
Dr. Ladyman: Information on the number of care homes and places in England for adults aged 18 and over, at 31 March for the years 1997 to 2001 is shown in the following table.
I understand from the Chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) that figures for later years were collected by the National Care Standards Commission, and now CSCI, but that comparable details are not available.
(1) Includes residential homes, nursing homes, mental nursing homes, private hospitals and clinics.
Source:
RA and RH(N).
Chiropody
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much each (a) primary care trust and (b) strategic health authority spent on commissioning chiropody and podiatry services in 2003–04. [207625]
Dr. Ladyman: This information is not collected centrally.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what waiting time targets apply to NHS-funded chiropody and podiatry services; and what plans there are to change these. [207626]
Mr. Hutton: National waiting time targets do not apply to non-consultant led activity.
CPPIH
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the costs incurred in (a) establishing and (b) abolishing the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health. [206910]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
In 2002–03, around £2.5 million was spent establishing the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH). The costs of abolishing the CPPIH and the transitional costs associated with implementing the replacement
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arrangements will be met from within the CPPIH budget. The CPPIH budget for 2005–06 is being finalised.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many overseas trips, and at what total cost, have been made by his Department in each year since 1997; and what the costs of (a) flights, (b) internal travel, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence were of each trip. [206657]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information on the number of overseas trips and on internal travel within countries is not available.
Other information requested is shown in the tables.
| Cost of flights | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 325,515 |
| 1998–99 | 353,263 |
| 1999–2000 | 313,946 |
| 2000–01 | 320,406 |
| 2001–02 | 388,460 |
| 2002–03 | 391,313 |
| 2003–04 | 464,271 |
| Other overseas travel(2) | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 59,037 |
| 1998–99 | 61,564 |
| 1999–2000 | 46,361 |
| 2000–01 | 41,005 |
| 2001–02 | 37,120 |
| 2002–03 | 18,817 |
| 2003–04 | 39,080 |
(2) Rail and other travel.
| Costs of overseas subsistence(3) | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 183,366 |
| 1998–99 | 170,461 |
| 1999–2000 | 188,733 |
| 2000–01 | 183,248 |
| 2001–02 | 156,911 |
| 2002–03 | 159,108 |
| 2003–04 | 203,274 |
(3) Including hotel costs.
All travel complied with the requirements of the Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers and the Civil Service Management Code.
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