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18 May 2006 : Column 1134W—continued
Tax Credits
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much financial assistance was provided by HM Revenue and Customs to voluntary organisations in the West Midlands region to assist the public on tax credit issues in each year in which such assistance has been provided. [71277]
Dawn Primarolo: Most financial support provided by HMRC has been targeted at national organisations. Although no funds have been specifically provided to voluntary organisations in the West Midlands, national campaigns have included support for the West Midlands.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will resolve the tax credit case of Mrs. Charlotte Rosetti of Brixham following communication with his Department between 15 March 2004 and 30 March 2006; what the reasons are for the continued delay in resolving the case; and if he will make a statement. [71655]
Dawn Primarolo: HMRC replied to the hon. Gentleman's most recent letter on 16 May.
Communities and Local Government
Council House Sales
Mr. Love: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the likely total income in capital receipts from the sale of council housing under the right-to-buy scheme in 2005-06. [58667]
Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on15 May 2006, Official Report, columns 815-18W tomy hon. Friend the Member for Great Grimsby(Mr. Mitchell).
Coventry (Local Government)
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funds were distributed to Coventry to increase efficiency in local government in each of the last three years. [70955]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 17 May 2006]: Funding to support efficiency in local authorities is distributed to nine Regional Centres of Excellence (RCEs). Each RCE has its own local governance arrangements for supporting authorities across the region.
Funding for individual projects, many of which operate across local authority boundaries, is decided by the RCE Board. Since 2004-05, funding made available to the West Midlands RCE in relation to taking forward the Efficiency Agenda is as follows:
| Grant payable (£ million) | 2005-06 | |||
| Receiving authority | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | Additional core funding (£) | Work stream specific efficiency support (£) |
For 2005-06, the West Midlands Improvement Partnership was awarded a Capacity Building grant of £5.95 million from which Coventry will be able to access support. Capacity building funds are granted to support local authorities in their improvement activities and performance. The West Midlands RCE has joined the West Midlands Improvement Partnership to form the Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership. Local authorities in the region can access both RCE and CBF funds through the partnership.
Departmental Responsibilities
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the responsibilities of her Department are. [70581]
Angela E. Smith: The Department for Communities and Local Government has responsibility for local government, housing and planning, social exclusion, neighbourhood renewal, communities, race, faith and equalities.
Fire Service
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make a statement on the regionalisation of the fire service; and what the timetable is for the process. [70572]
Angela E. Smith: We have no plans to regionalise the Fire and Rescue Service. As set out in the National Framework for the Fire and Rescue Service we believe in a regional approach where fire and rescue authorities work collaboratively in a way that will deliver the best possible service to the public. This approach is based on the National Framework for the Fire and Rescue Service which requires fire and rescue authorities to collaborate in six key areas of work through the regional management boards. Outside London, the regional management boards (RMBs) are responsible for delivering improvements in procurement, training, human resources, specialist services, regional control centres and resilience, through regional collaboration. Individual fire and rescue authorities (FRAs) in each region continue to be accountable for the day-to-day operation of their local fire and rescue service in line with their Integrated Risk Management Plan; and are accountable to their local electorates.
Social Housing
Mr. Laws: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the number of people on the register for social housing in England in each year from 1979-80 to 2005-06; and if he will make a statement. [59346]
Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
Information on the number of people on housing waiting lists in England is not collected centrally. The number of households on councils’ housing waiting lists in England has been collected centrally only from 1986 onwards. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 17 May 2006, Official Report, columns 991-92W to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Lynne Jones).
There are wide variations in how often local authorities update their waiting lists, including how quickly they remove people from the list who no longer want social housing.
Local authority waiting lists are only a broad indicator of housing need and not everyone on the list will necessarily be in urgent housing need.
Sports Trusts
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will take steps to ensure that sports trusts operating services and facilities on behalf of local authorities are subject to the same rules in respect of public access to information as local authority leisure services departments. [67668]
Mr. Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
We have no plans to extend the provisions relating to public access to local authority information to information held by non-local authority bodies.
Where services are operated on behalf of local authorities, information relating to the body operating those services may be open to inspection and inquiry by those authorities’ overview and scrutiny committees, to whose meetings and documents public access is provided for under the Local Government Act 1972. In addition, many sports trusts have charitable status and will be subject to legislation relevant to charities, which includes provision for examination of accounts.
Trade and Industry
Atomic Energy Authority
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what financial value is used by the Atomic Energy Authority for a human life lost or saved in cost-benefit analysis of a proposed subject; and if he will make a statement. [71122]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 15 May 2006]: UKAEA bases any cost benefit analysis on guidelines issued by the Health and Safety Executive (and its Nuclear Installations Inspectorate). These use a similar baseline figure to that recommended in the Treasury Green Book for the ‘Value of a Prevented Fatality or Prevented Injury’, of around £1.2 million. However, UKAEA also applies the ALARP (As Low As Reasonably Practicable) principle in setting dose levels for its employees. ALARP introduces a further factor of safety, and subject to the circumstances, this financial limit may be increased by a factor of between two to 10 if the proposed solution is judged by safety authorities to be reasonably practicable.
Carbon Dioxide
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the amount of carbon dioxide created from (a) the mining of uranium, (b) ore milling, (c) uranium hexafluoride conversion, (d) fuel enrichment, (e) the making of fuel rods and (f) the treatment, transportation and deposition of nuclear waste. [70254]
Malcolm Wicks: In the context of the Energy Review, the DTI is considering a range of assessments covering the life cycle carbon emissions of generating electricity from nuclear power plants, including the recent analysis by the Sustainable Development Commission—“The role of nuclear power in a low carbon economy”. We are aware of various external studies in this area, of which we are taking account.
Global Monitoring for Environment and Security
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what support his Department is giving to the European Commission and the EU Space Agency Respond Programme within the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security Initiative; and if he will make a statement. [71041]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has the policy lead in this area.
The DTI has taken a close interest in the RESPOND project within the European Space Agency (ESA) Earth Watch programme, Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) Service Element (GSE) and contributed 12mEuro in 2002 towards this element of the GMES programme. We will closely monitor the progress of RESPOND as the project develops.
Miners' Pensions
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much funding was transferred from the Guarantee’s Fund into the miners’ pension schemes and British Coal Special Superannuation Scheme in (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05 and (c) 2005-06. [71409]
Malcolm Wicks: Following completion of the September 2002 actuarial valuation of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme (MPS) £355 million was transferred from the Scheme’s Investment Reserve within the scheme's funds to make good a deficit in the Guaranteed Fund, from which members’ guaranteed pensions are paid. Similarly, following completion of the March 2003 actuarial valuation of the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS) £220 million was transferred from the Investment Reserve to the Guaranteed Fund within that scheme. There have been no other such transfers since.
National Concessionary Fuel Scheme
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will consider linking cash in lieu arrangements under the National Concessionary Fuel Arrangements directly to the price of electricity and gas; [70941]
(2) whether he plans to review the arrangements for paying cash in lieu to former miners under the National Concessionary Fuel Arrangements to take account of recent increases in fuel costs. [70940]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answers 15 May 2006]: There is a long standing agreement within the National Concessionary Fuel Scheme whereby former miners (and their widows) who receive cash in lieu of concessionary fuel will have their benefit increased every October in line with any increase in the Heating and Lighting element of the retail prices index for the 12 month period ending in the July of that year.
John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he plans to meet officials of the National Union of Mineworkers to discuss his proposed changes to the concessionary fuel entitlement received by recipients under the present scheme. [69422]
Malcolm Wicks: I have recently written to the General Secretary of the Union agreeing to meet to discuss concessionary fuel issues.
Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2006, Official Report, column 54W, on the Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation Fund, if he will summarise the legal argument which led him to agree with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in October 2004, that funds in the Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation Fund were hereditary revenues of the Crown. [70309]
Malcolm Wicks: Legal advice from the Treasury is that the funds representing the element of the NFFO surplus referred to in my answer of 8 May are hereditary revenues and so are required by law to be paid into the Consolidated Fund. As indicated in my answer of 8 May 2006, Official Report, column 54W, the legal advice in question is confidential and subject to legal professional privilege. It would therefore not be appropriate to provide details of the legal advice.
Pipe Organs
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) when his Department first became aware of the possible implications that the proposed EU Directives on Restriction of Hazardous Substances and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment might have for organ building in the United Kingdom; [70975]
(2) when his Department first received representations on the concerns of organ builders about the implementation of the proposed EU Directives on Restriction of Hazardous Substances and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment; [70976]
(3) what discussions with representatives of organ builders in the United Kingdom his Department initiated on the implications of the proposed EU Directives on Restriction of Hazardous Substances and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment for organ building in the United Kingdom; and when the first discussions took place; [70977]
(4) what discussions he has had with his (a) Danish and (b) German counterparts on the implications of the proposed EU Directives on Restriction of Hazardous Substances and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment for organ builders; [70978]
(5) on what date his Department first raised with the European Commission concerns of United Kingdom organ builders regarding the proposed EU Directives on Restriction of Hazardous Substances and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment. [70979]
Malcolm Wicks: The Department has been working with the pipe organ industry for some time and will continue to do so in order to secure a favourable outcome on this issue.
The UK Government do not consider that pipe organs fall within the scope of this Directive, a view widely accepted across Europe. The DTI is working closely with the European Commission and other EU member states to obtain agreement at a European level. Our aim is to reach a successful conclusion before the Directive comes into force on the 1 July.
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will place in the Library copies of the correspondence between his Department and (a) the European Commission and (b) representatives of organ builders on the effects on organ building in the United Kingdom of the proposed EU Directives on Restriction of Hazardous Substances and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment. [70980]
Malcolm Wicks: Yes. As requested, I have made arrangement to place copies of the relevant correspondence since the Institute of British Organ Building’s campaign on this issue was initiated.
Joint Energy Security of Supply
Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) when he expects the sixth report of the energy security of supply working Group to be published; and if he will make a statement; [68085]
(2) whether he expects the energy security of supply working group to continue to report on a twice yearly basis; [68086]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 3 May 2006]: The sixth report of the Joint Energy Security of Supply (JESS) working group was published on Tuesday 16 May.
As of last year the Secretary of State’s report to Parliament on security of gas and electricity supply as provided for under section 172 of the Energy Act 2003 replaced one of the two bi-annual JESS reports. The Department will be laying before the House the Secretary of State’s second Annual Report to Parliament later in the year.
The JESS working group will be looking this year at how best to take forward its reporting responsibilities in the light of feedback from users of its reports and the introduction of the Secretary of State's Annual Report.
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