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10 Feb 2005 : Column 1783W—continued
Winter Fuel Payment
Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in each electoral ward in Dartford constituency claimed the winter fuel allowance in 2003–04; and how many claimed the allowance in 2004–05. [214974]
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Malcolm Wicks:
The number of people in each electoral ward in the Dartford constituency who received a winter fuel payment in winter 2003–04 is in the following table. Figures are not yet available for winter 2004–05 but we expect the numbers to be similar.
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Notes:
1.All wards based on Census Wards—those current as at April 2003.
2.The wards of Farningham, Norton Kirby and South Darenth, Fawkham and West Kingsdown and Hartley and Hodsall Street are included as they are partially in the Dartford parliamentary constituency.
3.WFP Data is the latest currently available, winter 2003–04.
4.All benefit counts at ward level are rounded to a multiple of 5.
Source:
IAD Information Centre
Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people received the winter fuel allowance in the Easington constituency in 2004. [214930]
Malcolm Wicks: Information on the number of people in the Easington constituency who received a winter fuel payment in winter 2003–04 is in the Library. Information on winter 2004–05 is not yet available but we expect the number to be similar.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are in receipt of the winter fuel allowance in Warrington, North; and how much has been spent on this allowance in the constituency. [214967]
Malcolm Wicks: Information about the number of payments at each rate to people in the Warrington, North constituency is in the Library.
Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners have received the winter fuel allowance in North Durham since its inception. [214680]
Malcolm Wicks:
Information on the number of pensioners in North Durham who have benefited from winter fuel payments in each year for which figures are available is in the Library.
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Workstep Scheme
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many sheltered workshops approved under the Workstep programme are operating in each of the counties and metropolitan districts in the northern region. [212125]
Maria Eagle: Sheltered workshops are now referredto as supported factories/businesses. There are 11 Workstep supported factories/businesses operating in the Jobcentre Plus north east region. The north east region was formerly known as the as the Jobcentre Plus northern region and includes the Berwick-upon- Tweed constituency.
Remploy has eight supported factory sites in the north east: Ashington (Northumberland); Gateshead (Tyne and Wear); Hartlepool (County Durham); Jarrow (Tyneand Wear); Newcastle-upon-Tyne (Newcastle); Spennymoor (County Durham); Stockton (Cleveland) and Sunderland (Sunderland).
This is in addition to Palantine Beds in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (operated by Newcastle city council); Shaw Print in Northumberland (operated by Shaw Project) and Ayresome Industries in Middlesbrough (operated by Shaw Trust).
Shaw Project also has a number of small businesses that operate as part of the factory element of Workstep, including a garden centre and landscape business. Shaw Project is a voluntary organisation covering the whole of the north east region and does not fall within any city/county council remit.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Arms Sales (Indonesia)
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on what date the Export Credits Guarantee Department was informed of the decision by Alvis to use (a) PT Truba, (b) PTSK and (c) Global Select as agents in connection with the sale of Scorpion and Stormer vehicles to Indonesia. [214151]
Mr. Alexander [holding answer 4 February 2005]: Although ECGD was aware that Alvis had employed at least one agent in relation to the sale of Scorpion and Stormer vehicles to Indonesia, the exporter was not obliged under the application procedure to disclose anything in relation to any agency arrangement other than the value of the commissions payable.
Biomass Power Plants
Mr. Page: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many working biomass power plants have been built since 1997. [215516]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
Working biomass power plants commissioned in the UK since 1997 are as follows.
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Note:
This listing does not include co-firing installations, but those plants marked * have an element of co-firing.
Business Start-ups (Warrington)
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new business start-ups there have been in Warrington in each year since 1997. [214964]
Nigel Griffiths: Barclays data show that there were 1,700 business start-ups in Warrington Unitary Authority in 2003 and a further 1,500 in the first nine months of 2004. This represents a 15 per cent. increase on the first nine months of 2003. Business start-up data for unitary authorities are not available for before 2003.
Barclays Bank's latest survey of business creation includes non-VAT registered firms and shows that there were business 445,000 (revised) start-ups in England and Wales in 2003, a 16 per cent. increase on the year before. A further 396,000 businesses started up in England and Wales in the first nine months of 2004. This represents an increase of 14 per cent. on the first nine months of 2003.
DTI figures based solely on VAT registrations and de-registrations for Warrington unitary authority are shown as follows for 1997 and 2003. Data for 2004 will be available in autumn 2005.
| VAT registrations | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 565 |
| 1998 | 590 |
| 1999 | 480 |
| 2000 | 515 |
| 2001 | 585 |
| 2002 | 575 |
| 2003 | 600 |
Source:
Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2003, Small Business Service, available from the Library of the House and also at: http://www.sbs.gov.uk/analytical/statistics/vatstats.php
VAT registrations do not capture all start-up activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1997. Only 1.8 million out of 4 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2003.
Charities (Employment Tribunals)
Mr. Stephen O'Brien:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many volunteers have claimed (a) unfair dismissal, (b) sex discrimination, (c) race discrimination and (d) disability discrimination against
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charities at employment tribunals in the last 12 months; and what the average cost awarded in each category was. [214215]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Employment Tribunals Service does not keep statistics on particular types of claimants and respondents. However, volunteers are not currently protected as employees and would be able to bring a claim before the Employment Tribunal only if they could show that they were in or applying for employment.
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