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23 Jun 2005 : Column 1169W—continued
ECGD
Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2005, Official Report, column 79W, on Export Credits Guarantee Department, when he expects to reach a settlement with the plaintiffs. [6183]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 21 June 2005]: Given that the parties are at the early stages of the detailed costs assessment process, ECGD is not currently in a position to forecast with certainty when settlement is likely to be reached.
Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2005, Official Report, column 78W, on Export Credits Guarantee Department, when he expects the ECGD Pilot Trading Fund to be undertaken. [6184]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 21 June 2005]: ECGD will undertake a process of continual review of the operation of the pilot trading fund. This will feed into my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's consideration and a final decision is expected in the second year of the pilot period, towards the end of 2006 or early 2007.
European Space Policy
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures have been agreed in June 2005 to develop a European Space Policy. [5212]
Malcolm Wicks: The European Space Policy (ESP) is being developed jointly by the EU and the European Space Agency (ESA) as the framework for managing space activities. The legal basis is Article 8 of the EC—ESA Framework Agreement. On 7 June the second of three EU/ESA Ministerial Space Councils approved an Orientations Paper on priorities. The UK Government has instilled a user/applications focus in it. Funding decisions will follow from the normal EU and ESA budgetary processes.
Gas Turbines
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what capacity of combined cycle gas turbines has been contracted for the period 2004–05 to 2010–11; and what percentage he estimates will be commissioned by 2012. [4963]
Malcolm Wicks:
Details of contracted generation, under various scenarios, can be found in National Grid's 2005 Seven Year Statement, and in particular Tables 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3, depending on the scenario utilised: http://
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www.nationalgrid.com/uk/library/documents/sys05/default.asp?action=mnch5_2.htm&Node=SYS& Snode=5_2&Exp=Y#Plant_Margins_On_Different_ Generation_Backgrounds
Loan Sharks
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to protect vulnerable people from loan sharks. [6524]
Mr. Sutcliffe: We are funding pilot projects in Birmingham and Glasgow to tackle loan sharks. This will enable Trading Standards to investigate and prosecute illegal lenders in these areas. It will also help gain a clearer understanding of the scope, extent and impact of illegal money lending. The project is already showing results with prosecutions in progress in both areas.
Miners' Compensation
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many cases have been submitted under the Union of Democratic Mineworkers and Vendside agreement for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and vibration white finger in each year since 1999. [6122]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 21 June 2005]: The number of cases received under the Union of Democratic Mineworkers/Vendside agreement are as follows:
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseasel | Vibration white finger | |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 2,841 | 4,595 |
| 2000 | 6,418 | 10,422 |
| 2001 | 4,740 | 5,137 |
| 2002 | 4,123 | 5,747 |
| 2003 | 5,648 | 451 |
| 2004 | 3,916 | 24 |
| 2005 | 0 | 1 |
| Total claims | 27,686 | 26,377 |
l Claim receipts are those claims that are fully registered, i.e. excludes pool of claims accepted with minimum data, awaiting further information to permit cross referencing and duplicate checks prior to full registration.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when his Department expects to agree compensation for miners who were engaged in salvage work at Firbeck colliery for less than six weeks in 1968. [6727]
Malcolm Wicks: Salvage work is not an occupation on the list contained in the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Claims Handling Agreement (CHA) as agreed between the Department and the claimants' representatives.
As a non-CHA occupation the dust exposure and relevant job factor for salvage workers have been assessed by the jointly appointed Dust Reference Panel. Salvage workers who were employed prior to the closure of collieries were incorporated into the dust model calculator in December 2003. For salvage workers who worked in collieries post closure, the model was amended earlier this year and is currently being tested.
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Ministerial Visits
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which Ministers from his Department will be attending the Defence Systems and Equipment International Exhibition in September. [3943]
Malcolm Wicks: No DTI Ministers have as yet been invited to attend the 2005 Defence Systems and Equipment International Exhibition.
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Classroom Behaviour
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assistance her Department is giving to schools in Coventry South constituency to promote good behaviour in the classroom. [6132]
Jacqui Smith: Our secondary strategy gives all secondary schools in Coventry access to high-quality behaviour management training materials and support from a DfES-funded behaviour management consultant. Our primary strategy is giving all primary schools access to high-quality training and curriculum materials to improve children's social, emotional and behavioural skills.
Our Excellence in Cities programme provides Coventry with extra funding (£3.2 million this year), about half of which can be used to fund Learning Mentors and Learning Support Units to support pupils with challenging behaviour and their schools. Seven of the current EiC schools are in Coventry South. All the secondary schools in the constituency will benefit from EiC funding from this September.
Our Behaviour Improvement Programme provides Coventry with further additional funding (£1.5 million this year) to support selected schools facing the greatest behaviour challenges. Three of these schools are in the Coventry South constituency.
Connexions Service
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations she has received on the winding up of the Connexions Service; and what her responses to those representations have been. [5943]
Maria Eagle: Following speculation in the press about the future of the Connexions Service, my Department have received a number of letters in support of Connexions from young people, Connexions personal advisers, Connexions chief executives and board members, MPs and many other professionals. Some of these letters have resulted in discussions with a Minister or senior officials.
My Department's response have been to acknowledge the success of Connexions, while recognising that a report by the National Audit Office published in March 2004 found that it was not clear what the roles of schools and Connexions were in providing careers advice and guidance to young people. We have also recognised that there are multiple and overlapping initiatives for young people at risk which can be confusing for young people and their parents.
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Our proposals for improving support to young people, particularly those who are at risk, will be set out in a Youth Green Paper which will be published in due course. We have encouraged all those who have made representations to take the opportunity to respond to the Green Paper once it is published.
Consultants
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much the Department spent on consultants in (a) the last 12 months, (b) 2003–04 and (c) 2004–05. [6347]
Maria Eagle: The Department for Education and Skills spent the following sums from administration costs for the periods in question (a) £3.8 million in the last 12 months; (b) £4.7 million in 2003–04 and (c) £3.9 million in 2004–05. The total cost of consultants charged to programmes from November to March 2004–05 was £4.4 million. The cost charged to programmes before November 2004 is not recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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