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8 Nov 2005 : Column 297W—continued
Nuclear Waste
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with the Canadian Nuclear Waste Management Organisation. [24398]
Malcolm Wicks: I have had no direct recent discussions with the Canadian Nuclear Waste Management Organisation (NWMO), however, officials of NWMO were invited to the UK recently by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee and took the opportunity to visit during the week beginning 23 October.
During the visit they held talks with members of the Lords Committee, the independent Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM), and met with relevant officials from Defra and the DTI.
Options for the long-term management of higher activity wastes in the UK are currently the subject of consideration and evaluation by CoRWM, who are due to make their final recommendations to the Government in 2006. The long-term management policy for these higher activity wastes will then be decided by the UK Government and the devolved administrations in the light of CoRWM's recommendations.
Renewable Energy
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the capital grant funding required to deliver the Government's Energy White Paper commitment to a 10 year solar PV demonstration programme; and if he will make a statement. [21396]
Malcolm Wicks:
Since 2002 the Government have committed £41 million to the Major PV Demonstration programme and PV field trials. A further £30 million over three years has just been announced for the Low Carbon Buildings Programme, which will support
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renewables technologies including solar PV. In addition, the Government are developing a mirocgeneration strategy to tackle those barriers hindering the development of a sustainable market for microgeneration products.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the deadline is for grant applications to (a) stream two of his Department's Solar PV Major Demonstration programmes and (b) the community stream of his Department's Clear Skies programme. [21667]
Malcolm Wicks: The Solar PV Major Demonstration programme will hold a final call for applications under stream two in February 2006 and the community stream of the Clear Skies will hold a final call for applications on 4 November 2005.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the deadline is for final householder applications for stream one of his Department's (a) Clear Skies and (b) Solar PV Demonstration programmes. [21668]
Malcolm Wicks: There is no set deadline for householder (stream one) applications under Clear Skies and the Solar PV Demonstration programmes. Grants will be offered up until March 2006 unless forecasting shows that funding will run out sooner, in which case a month's notice will be given.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much time will elapse between the end of stream two funding allocations under the Solar PV Demonstration programme and the Clear Skies Capital Grant programme and the start of stream two allocations under the Low Carbon Buildings programme. [21669]
Malcolm Wicks: Plans to bring forward £1.5 million from the new £30 million budget for the Low Carbon Buildings programme should address concerns about a potential funding gap between the existing and new programmes.
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of (a) biomass, (b) tidal, (c) wind, (d) solar and (e) hydro-electric power in producing electricity; and what proportion of UK electricity production he expects each to contribute by 2010. [26119]
Malcolm Wicks: The Renewables Innovation Review was published in 2004 and considered which are the key renewable technologies for the delivery of the UK targets and aspirations for renewables, the UK's wider carbon reduction aspirations and for the creation of UK economic benefit. A copy of the review can be found on the DTI website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/renewables/renew_2.1.4.htm.
The Renewables Obligation is the Government's key mechanism for encouraging renewable generation. It is market based and does not prescribe the level of contribution from different renewable technologies. However, it is expected that wind will make the major contribution towards the Government's 2010 target of 10 per cent. renewables with a smaller contribution from other technologies.
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Self-employed
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what statutory help is available to the self-employed in connection with (a) maternity (i) pay and (ii) leave and (b) paternity leave. [25950]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The self-employed have no employer, so it is not possible for any statutory scheme of leave to apply to them.
Maternity allowance (MA) is payable for 26 weeks to self-employed women who meet the qualifying conditions. Eligible women receive £106 per week, or 90 percent. of their average weekly earnings if that is less.
Solar Energy
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the likely impact on business planning for solar photovoltaic of the changes in funding mechanisms operated by the Department. [24446]
Malcolm Wicks: Business planning in the solar PV industry will need to take account of the recent announcement of a £30 million budget over three years for the low carbon buildings programme together with plans to develop a microgeneration strategy to tackle barriers to a sustainable market for microgeneration products.
Telecommunications
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what assessment he has made of the reasons why the target set by the telecoms adjudicator for 250,000 lines in the local loop network to be unbundled by June was not met; and if he will make a statement on his assessment of the impact of the failure to meet that target upon the Government's digital strategy; [18501]
(2) what steps he is taking to ensure that the target set by the telecoms adjudicator for one million lines to be unbundled from the local loop network by June 2006 is met; and if he will make a statement. [18502]
Alun Michael: The telecommunications adjudicator scheme was initiated by Ofcom, the independent regulator of the communications sector to facilitate scale processes for the unbundling of local loops to meet market demand. Membership of this industry scheme is voluntary by BT Group plc and the LLU operators. Any targets set by the independent adjudicator are a matter for him on the basis of the best information then available.
The pace at which local loops are unbundled is a product of the regulatory framework set by Ofcom; the development of scale processes which is for BT, the industry and the adjudicator within that regulatory framework; and investment decisions by current and prospective LLU operators. I understand that lines are currently being unbundled at the rate of 4,000 a week; a rate that is expected by the adjudicator to rise substantially in the near term as existing broadband operators bulk migrate their customer base to LLU and as significant new operators invest in the market.
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The digital strategy is multi-faceted, involving coordination of activities across Government to gain concerted action to deliver the benefits of a digitally enabled UK. Success will require effective partnership between private, public, community and voluntary interests utilising a range of delivery mechanisms, including the internet, mobile and broadcasting technologies. Progress toward implementation is being made across the digital strategy, for example by the DfES on transforming learning with ICT, the Home Office multi agency child internet safety centre and the publication on 1 November, of the strategy for transformational Government enabled by technology, which set out the vision for Government in the twenty-first century.
Uranium
Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry from which countries uranium is supplied to UK nuclear power stations. [25484]
Malcolm Wicks: Currently the majority of uranium for the UK's civilian nuclear power reactors is sourced from Australia and Canada.
Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the remaining unmined supplies of uranium across the world; and how many years' supply of uranium for nuclear power stations this represents should power generation continue at present levels. [25485]
Malcolm Wicks: The Department of Trade and Industry has made no estimate of the global supply of uranium or of the number of years that uranium could be supplied.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency has published a report examining uranium production. The report, Uranium 2003: Resources, Production and Demand"(2004) edition can be viewed at the OECD Bookshop website under Statistics Publications:
Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent estimate he has made of the carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the (a) mining, (b) processing, (c) transportation and (d) utilisation of uranium used in the production of nuclear energy in the UK; and what that figure represents in terms of emissions per kilowatt hour of energy produced. [25506]
Malcolm Wicks: The Department has undertaken no assessment of the lifecycle carbon emissions of a nuclear fission plant.
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