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13 Feb 2006 : Column 1651W—continued
Post Office Card Account
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with banks which do not have agreements with Post Office Ltd. on offering access to their current account customers through the Post Office branch network. [48719]
Barry Gardiner: None, Access to current accounts at post offices is a commercial matter between the Post office and individual banks.
Post Offices
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the average number of transactions in the last three years of trading at each (a) rural and (b) urban post office which has closed in each of the last five years; and what the average distance is that customers travel to the nearest post office following such closures. [50622]
Barry Gardiner: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). The chief executive has been asked to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Public Bodies
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many staff the (a) Business and Innovation Groups, (b) British National Space Centre and (c) Business Relations and Support Unit had in the last year for which figures are available; how much each spent on (i) salaries and (ii) accommodation in that year; and whether these costs are identifiable or non-identifiable for the purpose of public expenditure statistical analysis. [50032]
Alan Johnson: The number of staff in post, taken from DTIs headcount monitoring system, as of 1 April 2005, and the full pay cost (including superannuation and employers NI contributions) for the financial year 2004–05, in the requested directorates are as follows:
Staff | Full pay cost 2004–05 (£) | |
|---|---|---|
| Business and Innovation Groups | 718 | 43,385,531.90 |
| British National Space Centre | 30 | 1,376,384.95 |
| Business Relations and Support Unit | 373 | 17,408,241.79 |
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Specific data on the accommodation costs of separate directorates is not kept by the Department and this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
These costs are non-identifiable for the purpose of public expenditure statistical analysis.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many staff the (a) Regions Directorate, (b) Strategy Communications Unit and (c) Strategic Policy Analysis Unit of his Department had in the last year for which figures are available; how much each spent on (i) salaries and (ii) accommodation in that year for which figures are available; and whether these costs are identifiable or non-identifiable for the purpose of public expenditure statistical analysis. [50033]
Alan Johnson: The number of staff in post, taken from DTI's headcount monitoring system, as of 1 April 2005, and the full pay cost (including superannuation and employers NI contributions) for the financial year 2004–05, in the requested directorates are as follows:
Staff | Full pay cost 2004–05 (£) | |
|---|---|---|
| Regions Directorate | 63 | 2,918,048.22 |
| Strategy Communications Unit | 57 | n/a |
| Strategy Policy Analysis Unit | 54 | n/a |
n/a=Not available.
Pay costs are only available as a group total for Strategy Communications Unit and Strategy Policy Analysis Unit combined. Due to the distribution of cost centres the specific information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Specific data on the accommodation costs of separate directorates is not kept by the Department and this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
These costs are non-identifiable for the purpose of public expenditure statistical analysis.
Queen's Awards
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how judges are selected and appointed for the Queen's Awards; and who the judges will be for the Queen's Awards in 2006. [47413]
Alan Johnson:
The business Awards are made by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister. The most senior Queen's Award selection committee is the Prime Minister's Advisory Committee, chaired by the Cabinet Secretary. The Advisory Committee is the only committee where the entire membership is made public, and is served by three separate Panels of Judges, one for each business Award category. Each Panel is chaired by a Permanent Secretary or equivalent position: Department of Trade & Industry (Innovation), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Sustainable Development), and the chief executive of UK Trade & Investment (International Trade).
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The Queen's Awards for Enterprise Promotion (an Award to individuals) are made by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister, who is advised by an Enterprise Promotion Assessment Committee (EPAC). EPAC is chaired by the director-general of Business Group, Department of Trade & Industry, and includes representatives of Government Departments and Agencies including the Small Business Service, the Department for Education and Skills, DTI, as well as the Small Business Council.
Other than Government appointments, Queen's Award panel members are chosen on an ex-officio basis (i.e. it goes to a Chairman, president, or chief executive of a chosen organisation identified as a relevant body for a particular Award category. The PM's Advisory Committee has two independent members. Membership of junior panels is deliberately excluded from the public domain to avoid direct lobbying of panel members.
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Regional Development Agencies
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 7 November 2005, Official Report, column 45W, on regional development agencies, when he will write with the relevant information. [47553]
Alun Michael: I replied to the hon. Member on 4 February 2006. Copies of the letter and accompanying tables have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry where each Regional Development Agency office is located; and how much (a) inward investment and (b) trade each brought to its region in the last period for which figures are available. [49155]
Alun Michael: The location of each Regional Development Agency (RDA) and the number of inward investment successes and associated employment that each secured in 2004–05 is detailed in the following table:
(37) Inward Investment co-ordinated by East of England International based in Cambridge
(38) Inward Investment co-ordinated by Think London also based in London
UK Trade and Investment, not the RDAs, is tasked with developing international trade in the English regions, where it operates as the international trades arm" for RDAs.
Renewable Power
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Government supports co-firing biomass with coal in power stations as a method of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. [50780]
Malcolm Wicks: The Government identified co-firing of 5–10 per cent. biomass with coal as an option for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired generation in its Carbon Abatement Technology Strategy published in June 2005.
Co-firing of biomass is supported through the Renewables Obligation and contributes to the Government's renewable electricity and climate change targets.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what arrangements are in place to ensure joined-up cross-departmental working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on incentives to use bio-mass for electricity generation. [50782]
Malcolm Wicks: Cross-departmental working on sustainable energy is co-ordinated through the Sustainable Energy Policy Network.
In the biomass area, officials from DTI and Defra work closely together—particular issues on which we have worked together include the Energy White Paper, assessment of Bioenergy Capital Grants Scheme proposals, the Biomass Task Force, the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution's Biomass Report, the EU Biomass Action Plan, and the Renewables Obligation Review.
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