---

28 Mar 2006 : Column 865W—continued

Post Office Card Account

Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people are using the Post Office card account to receive (a) pensions and (b) other
 
28 Mar 2006 : Column 866W
 
benefits in (i) Lancaster and Wyre and (ii) Lancashire; and how many transactions there were in relation to such payments in each of the last two years. [61321]

Mr. Plaskitt: I have been asked to reply.

Information showing the number of DWP benefit and pension payment accounts paid by direct payment into a Post Office card account for each parliamentary constituency has been placed in the Library.

The information on the actual number of transactions for payments made into a Post Office card account broken down for (i) Lancaster and Wyre and (ii)Lancashire is not available within DWP.

Renewable Energy

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much his Department has allocated to renewable energy in the last five years. [61247]

Malcolm Wicks: The DTI spend on renewable technologies for the five years from 2000–01 to 2004–05 is set out in the following table.
DTI new and renewable energy programme—external spend for each technology area by financial year from 1990–91 Rounded to nearest thousand

	Spend
Programme area	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05
Bio Wastes	56,000	13,000	42,000	259,000	—
Biomass	1,267,000	1,333,000	1,595,000	1,346,000	974,222
Embedded Generation	589,000	776,000	1,424,000	725,000	1,105,640
Fuel Cells	1,410,000	1,249,000	1,200,000	1,701,000	4,907,430
Geothermal—Aquifers	0	0	0	0	0
Geothermal—Hot Dry Rocks	0	0	0	0	0
Hydro	60,000	130,000	200,000	85,000	0
Solar	1,264,000	1,522,000	4,485,000	3,131,000	1,970,340
Tidal	27,000	305,000	1,996,000	2,914,000	1,268,530
Wave	331,000	662,000	748,000	2,104,000	—
Wind	913,000	1,248,000	1,428,000	1,395,000	1,459,600
Total	5,917,000	7,238,000	13,118,000	13,660,000	11,685,762

Notes:
1.From 2000–01, figures do not include spend on contracts placed direct by DTI.
2.For 2004–05, figures in italic show a combined spend for the two areas.
3.It has not been possible to collate expenditure on oil and gas research in the time available.





£

DTI capital grant programmes	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05	Total
Biomass (DTI and Lottery spend)	—	10,000	1,913,000	1,923,000
Offshore Wind Capital Grants	—	0	15,000,000	15,000,000
Clear Skies Community Renewables	200,000	1,387,000	2,413,000	3,800,000
Major PV Demo Programme	960,000	2,880,000	6,450,000	9,330,000
Grand total	1,160,000	4,277,000	25,776,000	30,053,000

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

EU Hazardous Substances Directive

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on exempting (a) repair of organs and (b) construction of new organs from the implementation of the EU Directive on restrictions on hazardous substances. [61018]

Mr. Lammy: None. However, my officials are keeping in close touch with the Department of Trade and Industry officials who are leading on these issues.

Schools Olympics

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will ensure that one of the annual Schools Olympics is held in Wales. [61670]

Mr. Caborn: The UK School Games will form an annual part of the preparations leading up to the Olympic Games in 2012, with the first event being staged in September 2006 in Glasgow.

It is our intention that future events are held in each of the home nations and we will announce further plans once they have been finalised.
 
28 Mar 2006 : Column 867W
 

Tote

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) whether it is her intention to sell the Tote to a horse racing trust or similar horse racing body; [61776]

(2) what steps she is taking to ensure that the horseracing industry will continue to benefit from profits made by the Tote when she sells that organisation; [61777]

(3) what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer about the sale of the Tote. [61778]

Mr. Caborn: The Government remain committed to selling the Tote to a racing trust. I believe that this is the best way of ensuring that horseracing continues to receive benefit from the Tote.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State regularly discusses a range of issues with colleagues in other departments.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Corruption

Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of aid from the UK that has been lost to corruption in each of the last three financial years (a) under the overall budget, (b) in sub-Saharan Africa and (c) in budget support. [57223]

Hilary Benn: I refer my hon. Friend to the response I gave to the hon. Member for St. Albans (Anne Main) on 16 March 2006, Official Report, columns 2425–26W.

DFID reports annually to the Treasury all cases of fraud or theft by staff or contractors. DFID does not otherwise estimate the loss of aid funds to corruption but the Department has recently established a Fraud Response Unit to ensure that all cases of reported fraud and corruption are investigated and appropriate action taken to recover any losses.

DFID requires robust approval, procurement, risk management and reporting arrangements to ensure aid is spent only for the purpose intended, whether funds are managed by DFID or other development partners. We are working with many partner governments to improve their own systems to combat corruption. All aid is subject to independent audit and the National Audit Office has consistently given an unqualified opinion on DFID's accounts.

Diamorphine

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the availability of diamorphine for medicinal purposes in developing countries. [60838]

Mr. Thomas: The International Narcotics Control Board consider that the global supply of medicinal opiates, including diamorphine (heroin) is at levels well in excess of use. There are, however, constraints to demand which are related to countries' own policy restrictions in the use of such drugs. At present
 
28 Mar 2006 : Column 868W
 
diamorphine is subject to tight restrictions on supply and use due to widespread abuse and the capacity to induce dependency. It is not on the WHO Essential Drug list although alternative drugs such as morphine, which are as effective, are included in the list and meet the need for a drug for alleviation of severe pain, particularly in palliative care. This does not preclude counties from procuring and using the drug.

Countries look to the World Health Organization for guidance on the use of such drugs. A number of WHO expert groups will meet in coming months to address issues around improving palliative care, dealing with drug dependency and to revise the essential drug list. The outcome of their deliberations may influence the availability and use of diamorphine for medicinal purposes in developing countries.

DFID normally supports health programmes in developing countries through contributions to the health budget and decisions on which medicines to procure are the responsibility of the Ministry of Health.

EU Agricultural Policies

Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the impact of EU agricultural policies on people in developing countries; and if he will make a statement. [62088]

Mr. Thomas: I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave to the hon. Member for Windsor (Adam Afriyie) on 1 February 2006, Official Report, column 484W.

---