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25 Jan 2006 : Column 2176W—continued
Housing (Aylesbury Vale)
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the Deputy Prime Minister on (a) the scale and (b) the cost of electricity requirements arising from planned expansion of housing in Aylesbury Vale. [45341]
Malcolm Wicks: None. This is a commercial matter.
Interconnector
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on progress with negotiations for new interconnector with third countries to increase levels of energy supplies to the UK. [44053]
Malcolm Wicks: There are a number of projects planned which will increase the supply of gas into the country. The Langeled pipeline will enable us to increase imports from the Norwegian sector of the North Sea significantly—potentially meeting about the quarter of GB demand—when it is commissioned next year. The BBL pipeline being built between The Netherlands and Bacton will reinforce our connection to the European gas market when it commissions next year, with the potential to supply about 10 per cent. of our daily average winter gas demand.
In addition three new liquefied natural gas terminals have been authorised—one on the Isle of Grain in the Thames estuary and two in Milford Haven. Imports to the Isle of Grain have already begun, with the other two terminals expected to commission in 2007–08. Together these LNG projects could in due course meet up to 30 per cent. of UK daily average winter gas demand.
Inter-ministerial Meetings (Scottish Executive)
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many inter-ministerial meetings his Department has held with the Scottish Executive since May 1999; and what the (a) Scottish Executive department concerned, (b) subject and (c) date was in each case. [39778]
Alan Johnson:
My predecessor met the First Minister and Deputy First Minister on 12 July and 6 December 2004. I met the Deputy First Minister on 17 May 2005.
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These meetings were to discuss departmental business as it affected Scotland.
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My ministerial colleagues met as follows:
Maternity Rights
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations the Department has received in the last 12 months from (a) individuals and (b) groups regarding the situation of women who return to work immediately after giving birth and receive neither full-time salary nor full time maternity pay; and if he will make a statement. [44312]
Meg Munn: The Department is not aware of any representations of the kind described in the question.
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many visits abroad Ministers in his Department have made in relation to policy on maternity and paternity pay and arrangements since 2001; and if he will list those visits. [45213]
Mr. Sutcliffe: No visits have been made by Ministers.
National Debtline
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many calls received by the National Debtline in each quarter of the last two years (a) received an engaged tone, (b) were answered by an adviser, (c) were abandoned by the caller and (d) were abandoned by the system; [45497]
(2) how many staff are employed to staff the National Debtline; and how many were so employed 12 months ago. [45499]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Calls received by National Debtline (NDL) over the past two years:
The number of calls that received an engaged tone is not recorded by NDL. Data before Ql/04 has been deleted from the computer system due to age.
Because not all calls are answered first time, clients do redial i.e. NDL answered 5,763 calls out of 11,648 calls received last month (50 per cent.), but an analysis of unique caller phone numbers showed that NDL eventually helped 76 per cent. of those who tried to get through to the helpline.
Staff employed by NDL, full-time equivalents:
Nuclear Power (Wales)
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the Government have spent on decommissioning Welsh nuclear power plants in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [43327]
Malcolm Wicks: The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) assumed responsibility for the decommissioning and clean up of the UK's civil nuclear legacy on I April 2005. There are two Magnox nuclear power stations in Wales for which the NDA have responsibility. They are Trawsfynydd in Gwynedd, and Wylfa in Anglesey. Trawsfynydd ceased electricity generation in 1991 whilst Wylfa is still operational-in its draft Strategy the NDA have proposed that Wylfa ceases generation in 2010. The total decommissioning costs in respect of Trawsfynydd are given in the draft Strategy as £1.1 billion until final site clearance in 2096. The draft Strategy is available through the NDA website at: nda.gov.uk.
Nuclear Waste
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much and what proportion of spent nuclear fuel which has been imported into the UK is stored in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) England; and if he will make a statement. [45283]
Malcolm Wicks
[holding answer 24 January 2006]: I am advised by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority that with regard to overseas fuel stored in the UK, there is currently no inventory in Wales, less than one tonne in Scotland and around 760 tonnes in England, mostly stored at Sellafield.
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Since 1976, all contracts for reprocessing of overseas spent fuel in the UK contain a clause stating that the materials, including waste, resulting from the reprocessing will be returned to the country of origin.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much spent nuclear fuel is stored in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) England; and if he will make a statement. [45284]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 24 January 2006]: I am advised by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority that of the spent nuclear fuel stored in the UK there are currently around 400 tonnes in Wales, around 225 tonnes in Scotland and around 5500 tonnes in England. These figures cover spent fuel stored following discharge from reactors and consists of fuel from Magnox and AGR reactors and overseas fuel received into the UK for storage pending reprocessing.
Since 1976, all contracts for reprocessing of overseas spent fuel in the UK contain a clause stating that the materials, including waste, resulting from the reprocessing will be returned to the country of origin.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the Government have spent on storing spent nuclear fuel in Wales produced from nuclear power plants located in the United Kingdom but not in Wales in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [43328]
Malcolm Wicks: I am advised that no spent fuel from the rest of the United Kingdom is stored in Wales.
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