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Water (Millennium Development Goal 7)

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps are being taken to ensure that (a) Millennium Development Goal 7 is met in East Africa and (b) targets to increase sustainable access to drinking water are met. [58493]

Hilary Benn: DFID is undertaking work in East Africa on Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7, which aims to ensure environmental sustainability.
 
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DFID has provided assistance in the preparation of poverty reduction strategies for Uganda and Tanzania so that relevant environmental issues are more appropriately reflected. Similarly, DFID Kenya, through the Poverty Environment Initiative (PEI), is supporting more effective integration of environmental issues into national and district planning and policy processes to implement the Economic Recovery Strategy for Employment and Wealth Creation.

At a regional level, we are supporting the Nile Basin Initiative. This promotes greater co-operation and more sustainable management and use of the river Nile resources among riparian states, including East African countries.

In line with G8 commitments on climate change, we are also contributing to international efforts to strengthen existing climate institutions in Africa, including in East Africa, through the regional implementation plans of the Global Climate Observation System.

The MDG target of halving the proportion of people without access to safe water by 2015 is on track to be met globally, but not in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. Provision of clean and affordable water and sanitation is central to DFID discussions with developing country Governments. Our approach is to help developing country Governments to implement their own plans, both by direct financing and providing technical know-how. We are also taking steps to make the international system, particularly the UN, more effective, through our support to UN-Water, and to the Joint Monitoring Programme that measures global progress towards access to safe water and basic sanitation.

DFID is committed to doubling spending on water in Africa to £95 million by 2008. We are now actively involved in seven African countries (Ethiopia, DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia), up from only two countries, two years ago; and through our funding of other agencies' programmes, we reach many other countries. For example, the EU plans to provide 10 million people with access to water and a further five million to sanitation by 2010 through projects it has recently approved through the Water Facility.

For more information see DFID's Water Action plan, published in March 2004 (http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/dfid-water-action-plan.pdf), and the regular updates of progress against the plan, the next being due at the end of March 2006.

Water Fund Programme

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much the Government has given to the Water Fund Programme in each of the last five years. [57454]

Mr. Thomas: DFID has not funded and is not aware of the Water Fund Programme.
 
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TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Distraction Crime

Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will bring forward proposals to tackle distraction crime associated with cold calling. [59191]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Distraction crime is a mater for the Home Office. The DTI is currently working on how to implement the Unfair Commercial Practice Directive.

Energy Review

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to his answer of 13 February 2006, Official Report, column 1644W, on the Energy Review, when the latest projections will be published; and if he will place a copy in the Library. [58663]

Malcolm Wicks: Our latest energy and emissions projections were published on 16 February 2006. They can be found on the DTI website at:

http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/sepn/uep_feb2006.pdf. A hard copy is also available in the Libraries of the House, in the statistics section under the title UK Energy and CO ₂ Emissions Projections: Updated Projections to 2020".

European Energy Grid

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the Government's policy is on a single European energy grid. [57171]

Malcolm Wicks: Greater integration of energy networks across the EU is needed to support the development of the internal market and to ensure security of supply. Achieving such integration requires an increase in cross-border trading and infrastructure to allow energy to flow to meet demand. The Government have strongly supported the development of thinking on this subject and will be pressing for action at both the Energy and Spring European Councils.

Fusion Research

Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the Government have spent on fusion research at Culham (a) directly and (b) through its contribution to EU programmes in the last 10 years. [58299]

Barry Gardiner: The information is as follows:

(a) UK Government expenditure on fusion research at Culham in the last 10 years is given in the table. This covers funding for the UK's own national research programme and for the UK's contributions to the operation of the Joint European Torus (JET).

	£ million
1995–96	15.7
1996–97	12.1
1997–98	16.6
1998–99	12.6
1999–00	14.3
2000–01	17.0
2001–02	14.4
2002–03	14.6
2003–04	15.6
2004–05	19.5

 
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(b) Fusion research at Culham has also benefited from funding from EURATOM and from contributions from other European fusion programmes. Funding has been received for both the UK's own programme of research and for the operation of JET. Until the end of 1999, the JET Joint Undertaking was responsible for the operation of JET at Culham, and its income in million ECUs from EURATOM and from other European fusion programmes was approximately as follows:

	ECU million
1995	74
1996	67
1997	69
1998	68
1999	69

EURATOM's funding of the UK's own programme of research from 1995–96 to 1998–99 was as follows:

	£ million
1995–96	2.8
1996–97	3.9
1997–98	3.8
1998–99	3.8

Since January 2000, UKAEA has assumed responsibility for the operation of JET as a facility for fusion scientists from around Europe (including the UK). Funding received by UKAEA from EURATOM for both the operation of JET and the UK programme of fusion research at Culham since 2000 is shown in the table. (Note, however, that these totals include some funding for JET from other European fusion programmes. They also include the UK's host contribution to JET, also in the figures in part (a), which varies from year to year but is typically around £6 million.)

	£ million
1999–00	10.1
2000–01	36.4
2001–02	39.6
2002–03	36.4
2003–04	42.8
2004–05	47.2

The UK contributes to EURATOM fusion budget through its share of the funding of the European Union. The latter varies year-on-year and is typically in the region of 13 per cent.

Futures and Options Association

Sir Robert Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made on implementing the outcomes resulting from his Department's participation in the Futures and Options Association's power trading forum round table on 6 November 2005. [58337]

 
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Malcolm Wicks: Following the Future and Options Association's (FOA) Roundtables on gas and power, held on 1 November and 24 November 2005 respectively, the FOA, working closely with my Department and Ofgem, are taking forward work on a number of priority actions including:

To establish a Steering Group to assess the viability of and, as appropriate, take forward the establishment of an auction market for the trading of UK power;

To respond to the recent Government announcement for reviewing its energy policy, particularly in the context of appropriate market mechanisms, and to brief MPs on energy issues (FOA organised a roundtable under the auspices of the Associate Parliamentary Group on Wholesale Financial Markets and Services on 6 March);

To hold a further roundtable for brokerage houses and investment banks to ascertain their views on the state of the energy market;

To meet with users and groups of users (e.g. CBI) to explain the changing regulatory position to them, ascertain their concerns over the state of the energy market, and to help develop an appropriate introductory training programme for industrial and commercial users on the basic principles of risk management.

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