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Namibia
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to promote trade with Namibia; and what the value of UK exports to Namibia was in (a) 2004 and (b) 2003. [41374]
Ian Pearson: UK Trade and Investment is the lead UK Government organisation that supports UK companies trading internationally and overseas companies seeking to locate in the UK. UK companies can access the UKTI website for information and contact the Southern Africa Desk for general advice on exporting to Namibia. There is no UKTI commercial representation in Namibia itself. However, our high commissioner in Windhoek can provide lobbying support for UK companies pursuing major contacts in Namibia. UK exports to Namibia totalled £10.1 million in 2003 and increased to £17.4 million in 2004.
Nuclear Industry
Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received from the nuclear power industry on pre-licensing agreements. [42127]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 16 January 2006]: In the course of the Department's normal work, I regularly meet with companies with interests in the nuclear power industry, where we discuss a wide-range of issues relating to energy policy. I have not had any specific representations on pre-licensing arrangements from the nuclear power industry.
QDF Castings Ltd.
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations his Department has received about the (a) acquisition, (b) administration, (c) closure and (d) liquidation of QDF Castings Limited of Derby. [42285]
Mr. Sutcliffe: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not received any representations about the acquisition of this company's assets.
The company went into administration on 1 August 2005 and I have dealt with correspondence concerning the subsequent effect on the employees of this company. The administrators have a duty to provide a report to creditors within eight weeks of the company going into administration and further reports covering periods of six months, from the date of the administration, are also provided to creditors; the Secretary of State does not receive such reports. The administrators are required to report to the Secretary of State on the conduct of the directors but the report is confidential and is not yet due.
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The legislation provides that the administration should be concluded within a year unless either the court or the creditors consent to an extension of that time limit. Upon conclusion of the administration a company may not necessarily go into liquidation. If there are no assets left to distribute to creditors it may be dissolved.
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Abandoned Vehicles
Dr. Stoate:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many
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abandoned vehicles were removed and destroyed in eachlocal authority area in Kent in each of the last five years. [42199]
Mr. Bradshaw: Estimates for abandoned vehicles removed and destroyed in England have been compiled in the Defra municipal waste management survey since 2001. The figures for the last five years for local authorities in Kent are shown in the table. The figures from 2004–05 are collated through waste dataflow survey. At present we do not have a full return for 2004–05 but have received the figures for Kent, which are included in the table with the exception of Medway for which 2004–05 data is not yet available.
Air Quality
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what studies her Department has (a) conducted and (b) funded into air quality in the UK since 2001. [42563]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department funds an extensive programme of research into the causes, effects and control of air pollution and air quality. Since 2001, the Department has operated between 50 (in 2000–01) and 65 (in 2003–04 and 2004–05) individual research and non-research contracts. These are spread across five research programmes—strategic policy analysis; eutrophication and acidification; photochemical pollution; toxic air pollutants; and ambient air—with a total value of around £10 million per year. Details of the individual contracts, including total value, lead contractor and final reports (where applicable), can be accessed via the UK National Air Quality Information Archive: http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/contracts/index.php; the majority of contracts span between three and five years.
In 2005, Defra developed a draft Evidence and Innovation strategy, in order to ensure that research programme continued to support and inform departmental priorities. The Department has undertaken a consultation process on its draft strategy, which closed on 12 January. The consultation document can be accessed via the internet (http://defraweb/science/how/strategy.htm). The strategy splits also the air pollution research programme into five categories:
quantifying the exposure of human populations and/or ecosystems to pollutants through measurement and modelling
assessing the relative contributions to these exposures from source sectors both in the UK and elsewhere
effective strategies and communication to positively impact on behaviour in order to improve air quality.
The following table lists all of the contracts currently in operation, broken down by Evidence and Innovation category and research need. The total budget for these contracts for 2005–06 is £9.7 million.
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