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12 Jun 2006 : Column 869W—continued
Solicitec Ltd
National Westminster Bank Plc
Field Fisher Waterhouse
Elan Computing Ltd
Staple Inn Recruitment Ltd
Opus Personnel (City) Ltd
Badenoch & Clark
National Westminster Bank PLC
Adecco UK Ltd
Lexisnexis Europe/UK Ltd
Elan Computing Ltd.
Opus Personnel (City) Ltd
Staple Inn Recruitment Ltd
Field Fisher Waterhouse
Amtec Consulting Ltd
Turner & Townsend
Herman Miller Ltd
Badenoch & Clark
Adecco UK Ltd
Lexisnexis Europe/UK Ltd
Amtec Consulting Ltd
National Westminster Bank PLC
Elan Computing Limited
Dell Computer Corporation Ltd
Angela Mortimer Plc
Staple Inn Recruitment Ltd
Mapeley
Fujitsu
Kroll Ontrack Legal Technologies Ltd
Mr. Philip Singer QC
Mr. Peter Clarke QC
Sir Derek Spencer QC
Oliver Sells QC
Mr. Mukul Chawla QC
Mr. Michael Brompton QC
Mr. Nigel Ingram
(1) RCPO only came into existence on 18 April 2005
Trade and Industry
Air Industry
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Defence and (b) others on the impact of proposals in the Defence Industrial Strategy on the air industry sector. [74782]
Margaret Hodge: My right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, as Chair of the Cabinet Committee on Restructuring of the European Aerospace and Defence Industry, held meetings in October 2005 and December 2005 with the Defence Secretary, Chief Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Minister for Defence Procurement and Minister for Industry and the Regions, which included discussion on the impact of proposals in the Defence Industrial Strategy on the UK's Defence Aerospace Industrial Sector.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State also regularly meets senior industrialists of aerospace and defence companies and has discussed aspects of the Defence Industrial Strategy with them.
The Department of Trade and Industry regards the Defence Industrial Strategy as vital to the future of the UK's defence industrial base. It establishes a long-run strategy to promote a sustainable base in the UK of those industrial capabilities needed to ensure appropriate sovereignty and to provide companies with greater clarity of future equipment needs which allows them to plan UK investment effectively.
Biomass
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received on promoting biomass in his energy review. [76153]
Malcolm Wicks: The Energy Review Team is analysing the 5,300 consultation responses—a number of which included reference to biomass—and has met representatives of the biomass industry.
Biomass has been reviewed by the independent Biomass Task Force and the Carbon Trust, both of whom published their reports in October 2005. The Government published their response to the Biomass Task Force in April 2006.
The Energy Review will report in the summer.
Coal
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what projections his Department has made of the potential difference between the sale price of domestic deep-mined coal and the international Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp coal price over the next (a) five and (b) 10 years. [74710]
Malcolm Wicks: International coal price assumptions are set out in Tables 5 and 6 of “The UK Energy and CO2 Emissions Projections”, published by the DTI in February 2006. These are presented in the following table.
Projections for the market price of UK deep-mined coal are not available.
| US$/GigaJoule | ||||
| Central scenario (favouring gas) | Central scenario (favouring coal) | High energy price scenario | Low energy price scenario | |
| Source: DTI. | ||||
(1)http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file26363.pdf
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his Department's most recent estimate is of the difference between the sale price of domestic deep-mined coal and the international Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp coal price. [74711]
Malcolm Wicks: The available data relate to steam coal (the coal suitable for use in steam boilers, e.g. a coal-fired power station). About 50 per cent. of UK domestic production of steam coal is deep-mined.
In Q4 2005, the domestic steam coal price paid by UK generators (who account for some 80 per cent. of total coal usage) was approximately £1.3/tonne higher than the international coal price(1), although in the past it has been up to £12.2/tonne lower.
The following table shows the evolution of the UK steam coal and international prices since 2000. As can be seen, the domestic price has been relatively more stable over the period.
(1) “Commodity Insurance Freight” price for coal with sulphur content less than 1 per cent. imported in north-west Europe; also referred to as Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) coal price (25GJ/tonne gross calorific value).
| ARA price (£/tonne) | Prices received by UK coal producers for sales to generators | ||
| Source: DTI. | |||
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the capacity of the existing rail network to transport an increased supply of imported coal in the future. [74709]
Derek Twigg: I have been asked to reply.
Network Rail is currently undertaking Route Utilisation Strategies (RUS). The Freight RUS will be based on forecasts by the rail freight industry. All RUSs seek to balance capacity, passenger and freight demand, operational performance and cost. The RUSs will form the basis for the development and delivery of timetables, infrastructure and renewals of the network. Network Rail expects the draft Freight RUS to be published for consultation in September this year.
Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will reply to the hon. Member for West Worcestershire’s letter of 6 April. [73893]
Mr. Darling [holding answer 5 June 2006]: The hon. Member’s letter was transferred to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 20 April for reply.
Departmental Credit Cards
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what facility is available for senior civil servants in his Department to use credit cards supplied by the Department. [72905]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department makes available to appropriate staff a Government Procurement card (GPC), operated under the OGC buying solutions pre-tendered National Framework for the Government, in line with best practice.
In addition, a separate facility is available to staff who can demonstrate a need for booking hotels and associated costs.
Each of these facilities is available to senior civil servants and other staff according to need.
Departmental Staff
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people in his Department have been (a) disciplined and (b) dismissed for (i) inappropriate use of the internet while at work and (ii) using work telephones to access premium rate telephone numbers in each of the last five years. [67997]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information relating to inappropriate use of the internet while at work is contained in the following table.
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