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Petrol Stations

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many petrol stations there were in (a) England and Wales, (b) Cumbria, (c) Westmorland and Lonsdale, (d) urban areas and (e) rural areas in each year since 1997. [88642]

Malcolm Wicks: The number of petrol station in England and Wales and in Cumbria is as follows:

Year end England and Wales Cumbria

1998

11,720

185

1999

11,513

184

2000

11,185

182

2001

10,437

170

2002

9,873

156

2003

9,139

151

2004

8,778

144

2005

8,226

129


The data was provided by Catalist Ltd. and was first collected in 1998. Data on numbers of rural and urban petrol stations, and Westmorland and Lonsdale, is not available.

Planning (Romney Marsh)

Mr. Howard: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish the correspondence between his Department and English Nature in respect of the application for permission for a wind farm at Little Cheyne Court, Romney Marsh. [87426]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 24 July 2006]: No. The correspondence between the Department and English Nature during the consideration of the application was placed on the planning register and is therefore already in the public domain.

Post Office

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consultation was undertaken with (a) Postwatch and (b) Postwatch East prior to the recent decision of his Department not to renew the Post Office Card Account contract. [45463]

Mr. Plaskitt: I have been asked to reply.

DWP officials have met Postwatch a number of times in the past to discuss the direct payment of benefits and pensions. Government funding for the Post Office card account will continue until March 2010 as always planned. This was provided for in the Post Office card account contract agreed by DWP and Post Office Limited in March 2002. An abridged version of the contract has been placed in the Library. The details of the contract were not discussed with Postwatch.


25 July 2006 : Column 1528W

My officials met with officials from the national Postwatch organisation on 27 January 2006 and had a constructive discussion about our future strategy for paying benefits and pensions, including our small-scale pilots. A summary report of the pilot findings has now been placed in the Library. My officials have been in regular contact with Postwatch since that meeting, including attending meetings at Postwatch's Counters Advisory Group.

Postal Services

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received regarding the awarding of Post Office franchises to WH Smith stores; and what discussions he has had with the Post Office on this matter. [88677]

Jim Fitzpatrick: We have received representations from the hon. Member for Swansea, East (Mrs. James).

I have also had a discussion with Alan Cook, Managing Director of Post Office Ltd., on this in an initial meeting held on 22 June, following the decision.

Decision on individuals Post Offices branches are operational matters for which the management of Post Office Ltd. (POL) have direct responsibility.

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) which companies bid for the Post Office franchises in addition to WH Smith; [88678]

(2) whether franchises for postal services awarded to WH Smith include a requirement for re-investment in postal services by that company. [88679]

Jim Fitzpatrick: Decisions on individual Post Office branches are operational matters for which the management of Post Office Ltd. (POL) have direct responsibility. I have, therefore, asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member on the issues he has raised concerning the franchising of services.

Public Payphones

Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many public payphones have been removed in (a) rural and (b) non-rural areas in each year since 1997; what steps the Government have taken to improve access to public payphones in rural areas; and if he will make a statement. [86076]

Margaret Hodge: The matter raised is the responsibility of the Regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) which is accountable to Parliament rather than Ministers. Accordingly, I have asked the Chief Executive of Ofcom to reply directly to the hon. Member. Copies of the Chief Executive’s letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Renewable Energy

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what publicly (a) funded and (b) administered support schemes for renewable energy research, development and generation have been
25 July 2006 : Column 1529W
available since 1995; and how much was allocated to each programme in each year. [85233]

Malcolm Wicks: It has not been possible to collate all public expenditure and other Government support since 1995 for energy technologies in the time available at proportionate cost.

Aside from the Renewables Obligation, which is the Governments main mechanism for delivering renewables generation, the Government are investing around £500 million, between 2002 and 2008, in capital grants and research and development to support Low Carbon Technologies. Money that has already been allocated includes £50 million for the Marine Renewables Deployment Fund, £60 million for bio-energy, £41 million (this includes £10 million for PV Field Trials) for photovoltaics, £12.5 million for community renewables and £117 million for offshore wind.

The Chancellor also recently announced in the Budget a further £50 million, on top of the £30 million
25 July 2006 : Column 1530W
that the Minister for Energy had previously announced, for the Low Carbon Building Programme, which encourages micro generation and energy efficiency in buildings.

In addition to this both DEFRA and the Scottish Executive provide funding to the Carbon Trust which conducts research into low carbon energy activities among other activities. DEFRA also funds research into combined heat and power, which is also detailed in the following tables.

The Government's support for clean, low carbon road vehicle and fuel technologies, including support for research, development and demonstration projects, was summarised in the 2002 Powering Future Vehicles Strategy, a copy of which is available via the Department for Transport's website at:

The following tables show the Governments direct spend per technology for 1995 to 2005.

DTI New and Renewable Energy Programme—External Spend for each technology area by financial year from 1990-91
Spend (rounded to nearest thousand)
Programme Area 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000

Bio Wastes

1,235,000

1,097,000

593,000

75,000

48,000

25,000

Biomass

2,350,000

2,313,000

1,937,000

1,317,000

1,076,000

1,585,000

Embedded Generation

908,000

835,000

647,000

586,000

530,000

596,000

Fuel Cells

915,000

1,172,000

914,000

900,000

1,197,000

1,168,000

Geothermal - Aquifers

0

0

0

0

0

0

Geothermal - Hot Dry Rocks

245,000

0

0

0

0

0

Hydro

148,000

79,000

142,000

57,000

80,000

138,000

Solar

2,067,000

1,878,000

1,874,000

1,660,000

983,000

1,278,000

Tidal

220,000

165,000

0

0

0

0

Wave

106,000

42,000

50,000

0

91,000

11,000

Wind

2,729,000

3,370,000

2,365,000

1,240,000

950,000

801,000


Programme Area 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05

Bio Wastes

56,000

13,000

42,000

259,000

(1)974,222

Biomass

1,267,000

1,333,000

1,595,000

1,346,000

(1)

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

(2)1,268,530

Wave

331,000

662,000

748,000

2,104,000

(2)

Wind

913,000

1,248,000

1,428,000

1,395,000

1,459,600

(1) A combined spend for the two areas.

DTI Capital Grant Programmes
2002-03 2003-04 2004-05

Biomass (DTI and Lottery spend)

10,000

1,913,000

Offshore Wind Capital Grants

0

15,000,000

Clear Skies Community Renewables

200,000

1,387,000

2,413,000

Major PV Demo Programme

960,000

2,880,000

6,450,000



25 July 2006 : Column 1531W

25 July 2006 : Column 1532W
DEFRA CHP Programme
£

1994-95

500,000

1995-96

500,000

1996-97

700,000

1997-98

1,000,000

1998-99

1,300,000

1999-2000

1,900,000

2000-01

2,500,000

2001-02

2,800,000

2002-03

1,600,000

2003-04

2,500,000

2004-05

2,000,000

Note:
Several indirect measures of state support for CHP were introduced in 2001-02. Of those that can be enumerated, climate change levy exemption on fuel inputs to Good Quality CHP

Research Councils Energy R&D Expenditure
£000
1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05

Biofuel

0

0

0

22

52

144

135

92

Biomass

447

871

736

601

701

783

1,043

1,158

CHP

4

36

63

77

267

357

226

71

CO2 sequestration

0

0

0

23

42

78

30

966

Fuel cells

888

1,012

703

899

1,145

1,468

1,193

917

Hydrogen and other Vectors

30

136

59

83

319

517

1,494

1,477

Solar

1,440

1,286

1,076

1,134

1,130

1,157

1,453

1,503

Photovoltaic

2,255

3,002

2,760

2,992

3,536

2,770

2,381

2,676

Wave and tidal

0

157

175

301

606

617

830

995

Wind

200

226

178

261

330

490

482

243

Waste

66

10

40

40

96

125

169

154

Geothermal

0

0

0

40

65

64

73

79

Storage

326

650

670

838

889

810

730

467

Networks

1,348

1,168

1,081

919

1,115

1,388

1,805

2,390

Other renewable

0

49

49

128

28

28

28

30



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