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7 Nov 2005 : Column 39W—continued
Clear Skies and Solar Photovoltaics
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the impact on (a) jobs and (b) investment in the UK micro-renewables sector of the decision to end the Clear Skies and Solar Photovoltaics Major Demonstration Programme; and if he will make a statement. [22425]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 27 October 2005]: The Clear Skies and Solar PV Programme have contributed to the development of the micro-generation industry in the UK, including an installer base. The new Low Carbon Buildings Programme will continue to fund the installation of micro-generation technologies in household, community and large-scale projects. The micro-generation strategy will look at removing some of the wider barriers currently hindering market development.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to minimise the gap between the end of the Clear Skies and Solar
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Photovoltaics Major Demonstration Programme and the start of funding allocations under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme. [22426]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 27 October 2005]: £1.5 million has been brought forward from the £30 million for the Low Carbon Buildings Programme to minimise any potential funding gap between the existing and new programme.
Correspondence
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what steps he is taking to improve the Department's performance in replying to hon. Members' correspondence; [21885]
(2) what steps he is taking to improve the Department's performance in replying to correspondence from members of the public. [21907]
Alan Johnson: Every effort is made to handle all correspondence effectively and efficiently.
All correspondence from hon. Members and Peers is handled in accordance with the principles set out in 'Handling Correspondence from Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, MEPs and Members of Devolved Assemblies: Guidance for Departments'. The same principles apply when handling correspondence from members of the public.
Information relating to the performance of departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence is published on an annual basis. The Report for 2004 was published on 6 April 2005, Official Report, columns 137–40WS.
My Department has recently centralised correspondence and inquiry handling within a new DTI Response Centre. I believe that this will deliver a better performance in responding to Members' correspondence.
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will reply to the letters of 26 May 2005 and 25 July 2005 from the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells on regulation. [24617]
Alan Johnson: My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Competitiveness, responded to these letters on 23 September.
Departmental Energy Consumption
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much energy has been consumed by his Department in each of the last five years; and how much was spent on energy in each year. [22456]
Alan Johnson: During the period April 2000 to March 2005 the Department consumed gas and electricity as is shown in the table.
| Electricity Mwh | Electricity Cost (£000) | Gas Mwh | Gas Cost (£000) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004–05 | 17,190 | 1,050 | 6,755 | 120 |
| 2003–04 | 18,010 | 957 | 6,961 | 137 |
| 2002–03 | 17,087 | 942 | 7,924 | 103 |
| 2001–02 | 17,776 | 855 | 7,802 | 121 |
| 2000–01 | 18,532 | 929 | 8,422 | 115 |
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Departmental Land
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what (a) land and (b) property his Department owns in Kettering constituency. [24363]
Alan Johnson: The DTI administrative estate does not include any land or property in the Kettering constituency.
Departmental Spending
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much his Department spent on items of art in 2004–05. [23464]
Alan Johnson: My Department has not incurred any expenditure in 2004–05 on items of art.
Departmental Staff Secondment
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many departmental staff are attached or seconded to small businesses as part of their career development; and which sectors they work in. [1087]
Alan Johnson: There are currently two staff on secondment from the Department of Trade and Industry to small businesses as part of their career development; one to the financial services sector and one to the retail and wholesale sector.
Small companies have shown limited interest in taking secondees from the Department. This may be due to cost implications as the Department seeks full salary reimbursement for all outward secondments.
However, the Department also operates a scheme under which all senior civil servants are required to spend at least one week in a business per year as part of their career development; these businesses often include small businesses across all sectors.
Diesel
David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with EU colleagues on strategies to bulk purchase diesel; and what assessment he has made of the likely impact of bulk purchasing on cross-European diesel prices. [23565]
Malcolm Wicks: There have been no such discussions. Recent changes in European diesel prices reflect developments in the international oil market rather than changes in purchasing strategies. International oil prices have been high due to general tightness in the oil market caused by strong global demand growth.
Member states of the European Union and the International Energy Agency (IEA) hold emergency oil stocks for release in the event of an international oil supply disruption. The recent co-ordinated response by the UK and other IEA countries made extra supplies available to the market to help it respond more effectively to the disruption caused by Hurricane Katrina.
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Displaced Workers (Coventry)
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to expand skills retraining services for displaced workers in Coventry. [24028]
Alun Michael [holding answer 3 November 2005]: The Learning and Skills Council and Job Centre Plus work together to ensure there are a range of opportunities available to support individuals being displaced as a result of redundancies. In conjunction with FE colleges and training providers they ensure that training opportunities are available for those who wish to retrain.
A number of specific measures have been put in place to ensure that Coventry workers displaced as a result of large scale redundancies such as MG Rover, Peugeot and Marconi have access to skills retraining services. This includes securing additional funds as appropriate for example through Rapid Response, European Funding and Advantage West Midlands (RDA) to provide support that cannot be funded through mainstream funds.
E-mail Scams
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the amount of money fraudulently obtained from UK consumers through e-mail scams in each of the past 10 years. [24531]
Alun Michael: The Office of Fair Trading estimates that the UK consumers lose up to £1 billion per year to a variety of scams, but is unable to provide a reliable estimate of how much was obtained specifically from e-mail scams.
India
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the value was of (a) imports from India to the UK and (b) exports to India from the UK in each of the last five years. [24623]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 3 November 2005]: The value of (a) imports from India to the UK and (b) exports to India from the UK in each of the last five years is set out in the table:
| UK Imports | UK Exports | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,712 | 2,056 |
| 2001 | 1,884 | 1,781 |
| 2002 | 1,870 | 1,768 |
| 2003 | 2,147 | 2,293 |
| 2004 | 2,340 | 2,243 |
For the period January to July 2005, the value of Imports from India to the UK, in millions, was 1,629; an increase of 23 per cent. based on the corresponding period for 2004. For the same period, the value of exports to India from the UK was 1,643; an increase of 26 per cent. based on the corresponding period for 2004.
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Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many of his Department's trade missions involving representatives from companies there have been to India in each of the last five years. [24625]
Ian Pearson
[holding answer 3 November 2005]: The total number of outward trade missions from the UK to India during the last five years is 173 1 . The total number of companies that accompanied these missions is 1,148 2 .
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A breakdown of the number of missions to each post during each of the last five years is set out in the table. The table also includes the total number of companies accompanying these missions.
1 There are no records available of the number of missions that visited New Delhi and Kolkata in 2000.This may affect slightly the total number of Missions to India during the last five years.
2 There are no records available of the number of companies that accompanied missions to New Delhi and Kom to India during the last five years.
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