---

12 Sept 2005 : Column 2269W—continued

Opinion Surveys

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the (a) subject matter and (b) dates were of opinion survey research undertaken by the Department and its agencies in the last 12 months; if he will place copies of the results of each survey in the Library; which companies were used in conducting the research; and how much each was paid. [14806]

 
12 Sept 2005 : Column 2270W
 

Alan Johnson: The Department does not centrally collect the information sought at the required level of detail and to provide it would entail disproportionate cost.

Statistical surveys to businesses and local authorities conducted by the Department and its agencies are monitored centrally to facilitate control of compliance costs to business and departmental expenditure on survey activity. It is not possible, however, to determine with any degree of accuracy which surveys fall into the categories of market and opinion research, or which contain an element of these, or to identify separately the costs of that element. The answer would incur disproportionate cost because of the need to ask all directorates in DTI, plus agencies and associated non-departmental public bodies, to attempt to provide details of each survey and piece of research commissioned.

Race Relations (Amendment) Act

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many and what percentage of staff in his Department have received training on the general and specific duties of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, broken down by (a) ethnicity and (b) grade. [3545]

Barry Gardiner: All members of the SCS received training on the general and specific duties of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 that included a video tape prepared by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State reinforcing the importance of diversity awareness in policy making. Additional advice was also given to Directorates whose work was identified as having a high relevance to the race duty. Guidance on the duties is also included in the DTI intranet guide to better policy making.

Renewable Energy

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many initiatives to promote domestic installation of renewable energy initiatives his Department operates. [14900]

Malcolm Wicks: The DTI's It's only Natural Campaign" is a national campaign to promote renewable technologies across all regions. The objectives of the campaign are to:

raise awareness of renewable energy and its benefits among planners, councillors, investors and wider public audience;

inform and educate key audiences to enable them to make informed decisions.

The DTI also has two grant support mechanisms to encourage the installation of small-scale renewables: Clear Skies, which has a £12.5 million budget, and the
 
12 Sept 2005 : Column 2271W
 
PV Demonstration Programme, which has a budget of £31 million. Both programmes promote renewable technologies as well as providing grants.

Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures are being taken to encourage the use of renewable energy in Milton Keynes. [13996]

Malcolm Wicks: Recent trends in renewable energy development have been highly encouraging. More new capacity has been constructed in the last few years than in the previous decade, and a significant amount is currently in the pipeline. This covers a wide range of technologies including onshore and offshore wind, solar and biomass. This has been a result of the Government's Renewables Obligation Order 2002, which established a market-based mechanism for the support and development of this sector.

The Government are also spending £500 million over the 2002–08 period to support emerging renewable energy technologies, such as wave and tidal.

Within Milton Keynes itself, I understand that the National Energy Foundation produces electricity and heat from both biomass and solar/PV systems.

Royal Mail

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many permanent employees are employed by the Royal Mail. [13839]

Barry Gardiner: According to Royal Mail's Annual Report and Accounts—2004/05, which can be viewed on its website, the company directly employs 196,444.

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many temporary workers were employed by Royal Mail in Scotland in 2004. [14144]

Barry Gardiner: This is an operational matter for Royal Mail and the chief executive has been asked to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the Royal Mail's performance figures in respect of delivery of first class letters were in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [14429]

Barry Gardiner: According to Royal Mail's Annual Report and Accounts—2004–05 its Quality of Service performance in respect of delivery of first class letters for 2004–05 was 91.4 per cent.

Sellafield

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 20 June 2005, Official Report, column 720W, on radioactive leak (Thorp), on what date he was informed of the nuclear waste leakage at Sellafield; on what dates the (a) Euratom and (b) International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards authorities were informed of the discrepancy in the nuclear materials balance at Sellafield; what communications his safeguards department has had with these authorities in respect of the reportage of discrepancies in measured nuclear
 
12 Sept 2005 : Column 2272W
 
materials at Sellafield; and what calculation his Department has made of the costs incurred to date by this leakage. [14820]

Malcolm Wicks: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 20 June 2005, Official Report, column 721W.

My predecessor as Energy Minister, the hon. Member for North Warwickshire (Mr. O'Brien) was informed of the leak of radioactive material at the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) on 21 April 2005.

The special report (dated 10 May 2005) on this incident, as required under Article 14 of Commission Regulation 302/2005, was forwarded to the Commission's DG Transport and Energy Directorate H by the UK Safeguards Office on 13 May 2005. However, this official notification had been preceded by verbal notification to the Commission of accounting discrepancies in THORP during a routine inspection on 29 March 2005. When it became clear that the discrepancies were due to a leak, the Commission were informed on 21 April 2005. Further details were provided to Commission inspectors on the Sellafield site during the week beginning 25 April 2005. There is no formal requirement to notify the International Atomic Energy Agency, however the UK made a statement at the Board of Governors in Vienna during the week of 13 June 2005. The UK Safeguards Office has been kept informed of all related discussions between the British Nuclear Group Sellafield Limited, including participating in a meeting held at the DG TREN offices in Luxembourg on 16 June 2005.

At this stage in the investigation and analysis of the repair options it is difficult to give an accurate estimate of the costs incurred to date and the likely future costs of any future repairs.

Third World Imports

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will discuss the purchase and stocking of goods from third world countries with supermarkets; and if he will make a statement. [13357]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Supermarkets will be guided by commercial considerations such as price, availability, quality, and consumer demand. The Supermarket Code of Practice does not cover relationships with producers overseas. Competition issues arising in these countries are a matter for the relevant national authorities and not Ministers or the Office of Fair Trading in the United Kingdom.

Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Directive

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry who was invited to the meeting between his Department and retailers and producers to discuss the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Directive and the issue of the visible fee on 8 July; and who was invited at the request of producers. [12811]

Malcolm Wicks: The Government are adopting a voluntary approach to implementation of the provisions of the WEEE Directive on showing the costs of recycling household WEEE to consumers. As part of this, the Department has offered to facilitate a meeting between
 
12 Sept 2005 : Column 2273W
 
producers and retailers to discuss how best to operate this. Officials are finalising the invitation list in discussion with key stakeholders, including producers.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the UK implementation of the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Directive; and what the expected timetable is for its implementation. [12812]

Malcolm Wicks: The Government are currently working to finalise the implementing legislation and accompanying non-statutory Guidance for the EU Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and plans to make an announcement shortly on the implementation, including timetabling.

---