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12 Dec 2005 : Column 1657W—continued
Bio-energy Capital Grants Scheme
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many grants have been awarded for projects to construct large scale electricity generators of greater than 20 MWe under the Bio-energy Capital Grants scheme; how much each grant was; to which company each was awarded; and if he will make a statement. [33981]
Malcolm Wicks: The capital grants are as follows.
| Company | Project | MW | Grant (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|
| E.on (Powergen) | Lockerbie | 43 | (11)18 |
| Sembcorp/Wilton 10 | Teesside | 31.5 | (11)11.9 |
| Peninsula Power | WINBEG | 23 | (12)11.5 |
(11)Accepted.
(12)Grant undertaking of.
Biomass Energy Generator (Winkleigh)
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with interested parties on the proposal for a biomass energy generator at Winkleigh in Devon; and what assistance his Department has given to the project. [33977]
Malcolm Wicks:
I have had no direct discussions with any of the parties involved.
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The developer company Peninsula Power is presently in receipt of a grant undertaking of £11.5 million from DTI under its Bio-energy Capital Grants scheme and my officials have met routinely with the applicant company as required by the grant process. They have also dealt with a considerable correspondence from Winkleigh residents regarding the proposed project.
Broadband
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which post code areas in Westmorland andLonsdale do not have access to broadband; and on what date broadband will be available in each of those areas. [34128]
Alun Michael [holding answer 2 December 2005]: The information is not available in the form requested.
Great progress has been made towards providing broadband access everywhere and 99.6 per cent. of the population is now covered. This is considerable progress against the 2003 (80 per cent.) and 2004 (93 per cent.) figures.
BT considers that it is not financially viable to enablethe remaining exchanges. Regional development agencies are working to address the gaps in broadband access at a local level.
Business Start-ups
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new business start-ups there were in (a) the East of England, (b) Suffolk and (c) the constituency of Bury St. Edmunds in each of the last five years. [35466]
Alun Michael: The information is as follows:
Business Start Ups in the East of England, Suffolk and St.Edmundsbury
It is difficult to give absolutely firm figures of business start-ups. One measure is the number of registrations for VAT but VAT registrations do not capture all start-up activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if theyfall below the compulsory VAT threshold. Only 1.8 million out of 4.3 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2004.
Information for VAT registrations is not available at a constituency level. Figures for St. Edmundsbury local authority district are therefore provided.
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new business start-ups there were in (a) England, (b) Northamptonshire and (c) Kettering constituency in each year since 1997. [36145]
Alun Michael:
It is difficult to give absolutely firm figures of business start-ups. One measure is the number of registrations for VAT but VAT registrations do not capture all start-up activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT
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threshold. Only 1.8 million out of 4.3 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2004.
According to Barclays bank's latest survey of business creation, which includes non-VAT registered firms, there were 428,200 business start-ups in England in 2003 and a further 425,100 in 2004.
Barclays data show that there were 5,300 business start-ups in Northamptonshire in 2003 and a further 5,100 in 2004. Data for counties are not available before 2003. Data for Kettering constituency are not provided, since Barclays do not produce sub-county level data at present. Data for 2005 will be available in spring 2006.
DTI figures based solely on VAT registrations for England, Northamptonshire county and Kettering constituency are shown as follows for 1997 to 2004. Data for 2005 will be available in autumn 2006.
Source:
Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994 to 2004, Small Business Service, available at http://www.sbs.gov.uk/vats
Carbon Emissions
Mr. David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much Government funding will be available in the next 10 years to UK electricity generators who wish to make use of carbon capture equipment to reduce emissions. [35036]
Malcolm Wicks: The Government have made available £35 million for demonstration projects in carbon abatement technologies and this includes the £10 million announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer during his pre-Budget speech. These technologies will involve the use of carbon capture equipment.
Also, the climate change programme review is considering the possibility of incentives for carbon reduction from fossil fuel use.
Clean Coal
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research the Department is funding into clean coal; and if he will make a statement. [34636]
Malcolm Wicks:
Since 1999 the Department provided £13 million to the Cleaner Coal Technology Programme and an additional £3.5 million for collaborative Cleaner Coal Technology projects with the USA. The Department's Carbon Abatement Technology Programme has also provided £4 million for new
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Carbon Abatement Technologies including Cleaner Coal Technologies under its first call for project proposals during 2005–06.
The Government has also made available £35 million. This includes the £10 million announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his pre-Budget speech, for demonstration projects in Carbon Abatement Technologies which will involve carbon capture and storage.
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Tradeand Industry if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on the use of clean coal technology. [34799]
Malcolm Wicks: The Carbon Abatement Technologies Strategy which I announced on 14 June this year sets out the Government's policy and views for the future support for cleaner coal technologies. Copies of the Strategy are available in the Libraries of the House and at http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/coal/cfft/cct/pub/catreportlinked.pdf
Clear Skies/Photovoltaics Programmes
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the expenditure on the Clear Skies and Major Photovoltaics Demonstration Programme was in each year since 2002. [35434]
Malcolm Wicks: The information is as follows.
For Clear Skies the details are as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2003 | 200,722 |
| 2004 | 1,386,556 |
| 2005 | 1,977,599 |
For the Major Photovoltaics Programme the details are as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 966,176 |
| 2003–04 | 2,885,094 |
| 2004–05 | 6,792,174 |
| 2005–06 | 4,207,354 |
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