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29 Mar 2006 : Column 997W—continued
India
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) Ministers, (b) regional development agencies and (c) trade delegations fromthe UK have visited India in each of the last three years. [59884]
Ian Pearson: The following Table sets out the number of visits to India by Ministers, RDAs and the number of outward trade missions from the UK for the period 2003–05. In addition to the visits listed, HRH Prince Charles visited India in 2003, and my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister visited India in 2005.
The figure for the number of visits made by RDAs includes all of those visits of which we are aware. However, we do not hold a comprehensive list of visits by RDAs, as they are not obliged to supply this information.
| Ministerial visits | Visits by RDAs | Outward trade missions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 4 | 12 | 32 |
| 2004 | 7 | 13 | 38 |
| 2005 | 5 | 12 | 30 |
Low Carbon Buildings Programme
Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the budget will be for domestic installations under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme in (a) 2006–07, (b) 2007–08 and (c) 2008–09; and on what date the Low Carbon Buildings Programme will be launched. [61676]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 28 March 2006]: Under the original £30 million budget allocation and following an informal consultation with industry the amounts that will be available for domestic household installations are:
On 23 March The Budget 2006 announced an additional £50 million for the Programme. The Department will be considering urgently with Treasury colleagues how this money should be allocated.
The new Programme will be launched on 3 April 2006. Information will be available at:
Natural Environment Research Council
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what the original Natural Environment Research Council capital budget was for the Environment Centre built at Lancaster university; and whether this changed during its construction; [60030]
(2) what the original budget for the Natural Environment Research Council's share of the annual running costs for the Lancaster Environment Centre was; and what its share has been in each year since its opening; [60031]
(3) what the capital value is of the Natural Environment Research Council Merlewood site; and whether there are plans for it to be sold; [60032]
(4) what the running costs for the Merlewood Centre for Ecology and Hydrology site were in each of the last three years; [60033]
(5) what estimate he has made of the cost of operating the Merlewood Centre for Ecology and Hydrology site over the next five years. [60034]
Barry Gardiner: The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) is wholly owned by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). NERC's science budget allocation has doubled since 1997 to £334 million for this year. Following consultation on proposals to put CEH on a sustainable scientific and financial footing for the future, NERC Council announced on 13 March that it will proceed with the restructuring with various modifications reflecting issues raised in stakeholders' input.
I have asked the chief executive of NERC to write to the hon. Member about his specific requests for information on budgets and costs related to Lancaster Environment Centre and Merlewood.
Office for Civil Nuclear Security
Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many of the current complement of staff at the Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) have a first degree or further qualification in (a) nuclear physics and (b) nuclear engineering; and what qualifications the OCNS (i) Director and (ii) Deputy Director holds. [52429]
Barry Gardiner:
The current complement of staff at the Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) is 42, including the administrative and security vetting teams. None of them holds first degrees or further qualifications in nuclear physics or nuclear engineering. The release of the information requested in respect of the qualifications of the Director and Deputy Director of OCNS would or would be likely to contravene the first Data Protection Principle.
29 Mar 2006 : Column 999W
As a security organisation, OCNS requires its staff to have a wide range of knowledge and expertise in all areas of security, including physical, information and personnel security. Knowledge of nuclear physics and nuclear engineering is desirable, but not essential. Where such knowledge is necessary, the advice of the relevant agencies is sought, in particular from the Nuclear Industries Inspectorate of the Health and Safety Executive, with whom OCNS maintain a close working relationship at all levels.
Operating and Financial Reviews
Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions his Department held with other departments regarding the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 28 November 2005 of the decision not to proceed with a mandatory requirement for operating and financial reviews. [60909]
Alun Michael: Discussions took place between my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and the Chancellor in order to determine the best way forward and there was agreement by relevant departments on the decision announced by the Chancellor on 28 November 2006.
Post Offices
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post offices and sub post offices there were in Haltemprice and Howden constituency in each year between 1997 and 2006. [62146]
Barry Gardiner: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd (POL). Alan Cook, the Managing Director, has been asked to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Andrew Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish the accounts of the Crown Post Office in Marvina Drive, Ellesmere Port for the last five years. [61724]
Barry Gardiner: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. Alan Cook, the Managing Director has been asked to reply directly to the hon. Member.
Postal Market Liberalisation
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the timetable for full liberalisation of the postal market. [61584]
Barry Gardiner: [holding answer 28 March 2006]: The timetable for market liberalisation is a matter for Postcomm the postal regulator. Their decision was to fully open the UK postal market in January 2006. Further information can be found on their website http://www.psc.gov.uk/
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry with which other European Union member states he has discussed the liberalisation of postal markets across the European Union; and if he will make a statement. [61585]
Barry Gardiner
[holding answer 28 March 2006]: DTI Ministers and their officials maintain ongoing dialogue with both the institutions of the European Union and the other member states.
29 Mar 2006 : Column 1000W
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Direct Consultancy Support
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what criteria will be used to assess the suitability of local authority applications for direct consultancy support in the next two financial years. [60707]
Mr. Bradshaw: The focus of this year's programme of DCS is specialist support in waste planning; strategy; procurement; and waste composition analysis.
Support for projects will be based on the following criteria:
Whether the authority facing performance issues that would benefit from direct support and whether they can demonstrate the added value of such support.
Whether the project assist the authority in overcoming the particular barriers and deliver demonstrable change. Evidence for this would be percentage increase in BVPIs or tonnage diversion from landfill.
Whether the authority is providing some matching resources. Defra is keen to derive the maximum value from support funding, but it is essential that authorities identify they have the resources to project manage a proposal.
This year it is a requirement that county and all its constituent district councils submit proposals as one. Defra is keen to support projects that encourage joint working. Defra will hope to disseminate any project results to a wider audience and supported authorities will be encouraged to positively promote their solutions to neighbouring authorities.
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many local authorities have applied for direct consultancy support in (a) 2006–07 and (b) 2007–08; and what the type of authority is in each case. [60711]
Mr. Bradshaw: The initial deadline for applications to the Direct Consultancy Support Programme is 31 March for projects that need to get off the ground immediately, and the final deadline for projects in 2006–07 is October 31 2006. Some of these proposals may extend into both the 2006–07 and 2007–08 financial years.
At present we have received 11 (as yet unprocessed) proposals but given that it is usual for applications to arrive towards the end of the application window this is not of concern. Six proposals are led by Unitaries, four by Waste Disposal Authorities (on behalf of their county) and one by a Waste Collection Authority (on behalf of the rest of its county).
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