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22 May 2006 : Column 1460W—continued
Renewable Energy
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what grants are available to domestic households to install micro generation renewable energy equipment. [70333]
Malcolm Wicks: Grants for the installation of microgeneration technologies are available to householders through the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP). This programme takes over from the Clear Skies and Major photovoltaics programmes, which finished in March 2006. The LCBP initially had £30 million to allocate—£1.5 million was used to ease the transition from the previous programmes and the remaining £28.5 million is dedicated to projects proposed by householders, communities and businesses. Further information can be found at www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk.
The Chancellor announced a further £50 million for the LCBP in the Budget. This additional funding will be used for projects in the public sector.
Reviews (Agencies/Bodies)
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which (a) non-departmental public bodies and (b) executive agencies for which he is responsible have been subject to a peer review in 2005-06; what the (i) purpose, (ii) terms of reference and (iii) outcome was of each review; and what reference to the outcome of the review has been made when making funding decisions for those organisations. [64002]
Mr. Darling: The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) had a peer review in 2005-06. Its purpose was to ensure that the EOC is fit for purpose and able to carry
out agreed objectives during the period up to October 2007 when it is due to be merged into the Commission for Equality and Human Rights.
The terms of reference of the review were as follows:
Ensuring that the EOC is deploying the resources at its disposal most effectively for its purpose and able to deliver agreed objectives and priorities in the period leading up to the creation of the CEHR in 2007.
The operation of the management agreement and the financial memorandum agreed between the DTI and the EOC in November 2004 and the need for any revisions to reflect fully the interests of the Minister for Women.
Assessing competing priorities in terms of organisational capacity.
The review has now been successfully completed and the EOC is pursuing a number of recommendations.
There were no other peer reviews of DTI sponsored bodies or agencies in 2005-06.
Severn Barrage
Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the likely cost of a Severn barrage energy generation scheme. [71357]
Malcolm Wicks: Between 1978 and 1994 the Government supported the most comprehensive programme of research and development on tidal energy in the world at an overall cost in excess of£20 million. These studies considered schemes for tidal energy at a number of potential sites, the largest being in the Severn estuary.
The results of the Severn barrage study were reported in Energy Paper 57 (ISBN 0 11 412952 5). In an assessment of the Government Tidal Programme published in 1994 (ETSU R-82) the capital cost of the Severn scheme was estimated to be £11.2 billion.
The most recent study of the Severn scheme carried out by the Severn Tidal Power Group and publishedin 2003 (available at www.dti.gov.uk/files/file15363.pdf?pubpdfdload=02%2F644) estimated the cost to be in the range of £10.3 to £14 billion(2001 prices).
Sunday Trading
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations his Department has received from the lobby group Deregulate on further liberalisation of current Sunday trading laws. [71352]
Mr. McCartney: From 13 January to 14 April, we asked for views on all aspects of relaxing restrictions on Sunday shopping hours, saying that responses could be provided in confidence. Deregulate responded to our review, asking that their submission be kept confidential. We intend to publish a summary of all the views expressed on our website (www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/buying-selling/Sunday%20Shopping), within three months of the close of the consultation.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he has taken to ensure that employees understand their rights in relation to opting out of Sunday working. [72061]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Full information about the right of shop and betting workers to opt out of Sunday working is available in the employment section of the Directgov website (www.direct.gov.uk/Employment/Employees/WorkingHoursAndTimeOff/fs/en).
Employees who have questions about their employment rights can also call a free helpline to get advice run by ACAS 08457 474747.
Telephone Cold-calling
Jeremy Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to tackle telephone cold-calling from companies located outside the EU. [71631]
Margaret Hodge: The Department introduced the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) scheme in 1999, under the Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) Regulations, which were updated by Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. The TPS scheme provides protection to consumers from cold-calling if they have previously notified the caller that they do not wish to receive such calls or have been registered with the TPS for at least 28 days. Those making cold calls from within the UK or on behalf of UK companies from outside the European Union are legally required not to call a number that has registered on the TPS list. However, cold calls from non-UK companies marketing a service or product are not covered by the TSP scheme, as the companies and products have no link with the UK. The Information Commissioner has responsibility for the enforcement of the TPS scheme and considers complaints about breaches.
Trade Statistics
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the level of UK trade was with (a) European Monetary Union countries and (b) the rest of the world in each year since 1991. [69925]
Mr. McCartney: In response to part (a) the following table shows UK trade (exports and imports) in goods and services with economic monetary union countries since 1991.
| UK trade in goods and services with the EU12 | |||||||
| £ million | |||||||
| Country | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 |
| Country | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
| £ million | |||||||
| Country | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 |
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