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2 Nov 2006 : Column 558W—continued
Muslim Council of Britain
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much (a) financial support and (b) support in kind his Department and its agencies has given to the Muslim Council of Britain in each year since 1997. [96270]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Total payments made by the Department to the Muslim Council of Britain are as follows:
| £ | |
No payments were made before January 2004. Almost all the funding has been to support awareness raising within the Muslim community for the Employment Equality Regulations on sexual orientation and religion and belief.
Nuclear Power/Security
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consultations the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has held with the private sector on the storage of the UK’s energy waste. [98105]
Malcolm Wicks: There is no formal consultation process under way with the private sector on the storage of radioactive waste. Most contacts with the private sector have been by NDA’s Site Licensee Companies rather than the NDA itself.
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the adequacy of resources available to the Office for Civil Nuclear Security to regulate the security of radioactive wastes in (a) store and (b) transit. [98193]
Malcolm Wicks: The Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) is responsible for the regulation of the security of all radioactive material on licensed civil nuclear sites, and of nuclear material in transit.
OCNS assesses its own resource needs regularly and resources are provided through the Department of Trade and Industry.
Successive directors of Civil Nuclear Security have commented on these resource levels in their annual reports, documents which primarily provide assurance that security arrangements within the civil nuclear industry are stringent and comprehensive, and regulated by a competent security authority, independent of industry interests.
Oil Industry
Mr. Crabb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 20 October 2006, Official Report, column 1498W, on the oil
industry, what assumptions were made in producing the estimate that UK crude oil production will fall below 25 per cent. of refinery demand between 2010 and 2015. [99141]
Malcolm Wicks: The UK’s 25 per cent. derogation from its EU obligation to hold emergency stocks of oil is based on the extent to which UK consumption is supplied by UK production. Our projections are that UK consumption will remain fairly steady in the short to medium term. We expect, partly as a consequence of the new Buzzard field coming fully on-stream, that UK production will rise from current levels in 2007 and 2008, and will then fall, with the UK becoming a net importer of oil on a sustained annual basis by around 2010. A large and growing net import requirement is expected thereafter. It is not clear at what rate production will fall. But it is possible that it will fall fast enough for that proportion of refinery demand and through that of UK consumption which is met by UK production to fall below 25 per cent. We think it prudent to allow for this possibility in the context of our increasing oil stocking obligation, but are keeping the position under review.
Private Equity Companies
Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the European Commission Report of the Alternative Investment Group on Developing European Private Equity on private equity companies. [98535]
Ed Balls: I have been asked to reply.
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 31 October 2006, Official Report, column 312W.
Quadripartite Select Committee
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will respond to the Quadripartite Select Committee’s First Joint Report Strategic Export Controls: Annual Report for 2004, Quarterly Reports for 2005, Licensing Policy and Parliamentary Scrutiny, HC873. [98586]
Dr. Howells: I have been asked to reply.
The Government’s response to the Quadripartite Committee’s Report was laid before Parliament as a Command Paper (reference 6954) on 30 October.
Regional Development Agencies
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the expenditure per head of population of each regional development agency was in each year since 1999. [94197]
Margaret Hodge: The following table shows the regional development agency budget per head of population, in each of the nine regions since 1999-2000 to 2006-2007.
| (£) | ||||||||
| 1999-2000 | 2000-02 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
| Note: Population figures are taken from the 2001 UK Census | ||||||||
Skills Minister
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on appointing a skills Minister in each Department. [97689]
Margaret Hodge: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has appointed Lord Sainsbury as the DTI Minister with special responsibility for skills issues. Both he and the Secretary of State have regular contact with colleagues in other Government Departments on skills issues.
Solicitors (Complaints)
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what process is followed by officials in his Department in making a complaint to the Law Society about a named solicitor; and what ministerial approval is required for such a complaint to be lodged. [98901]
Malcolm Wicks: Anyone may make a complaint about solicitors to the Law Society, whose website provides contact details and explains the scope of their powers. When individual cases are referred to the Department they are considered and, if appropriate, passed to the Law Society. Ministerial approval is not required.
United Utilities
Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will investigate the decision of United Utilities not to provide an electricity supply to Mr and Mrs Johnson of Rakefoot Farmhouse, Holcombe Road, Helmshore, Rossendale. [99065]
Malcolm Wicks: Electricity distribution network operators, of which United Utilities is one, must offer terms to connect consumers. These are set out in their guaranteed standards of service. If consumers are not satisfied that their local electricity distribution network operator is meeting these standard terms and conditions they should discuss the matter with the statutory consumer body, energywatch. If energywatch believe the standards have not been met, they can refer the matter to the regulator, Ofgem, for investigation and action. It should also be noted that there is competition in connections so consumers do not have to use incumbent network operators to provide a connection to their property.
Transport
Age Discrimination
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if his Department will (a) carry out an age audit of its staff to establish an age profile of its work force, (b) negotiate an age management policy with trade unions and employees to eliminate age discrimination and retain older workers, (c) identify and support training needs and offer older staff flexible working to downshift towards retirement and (d) extend to over-fifties the right to request to work flexibly and the right to training with paid time off; and if he will make a statement. [96503]
Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport already uses age profiling/audits to help support work on a range of HR issues including performance, employee satisfaction, recruitment and retention levels and succession planning.
Prior to 1 October 2006, when the new age regulations came into force, the central Department and its Executive agencies reviewed its policies and procedures to ensure that they were not age discriminatory. The Department has taken the decision that all employees including those in and below the senior civil service should retire at age 65. Any changes in policies have been discussed with the departmental trade unions.
All employees are encouraged to up-grade their skills and knowledge, whatever their age. The Department provides older workers with the same opportunities for training and development as their younger counterparts.
Employee requests to work more flexibly are considered positively by the Department and all employees have access to flexible working, irrespective of their age.
Airport Policy
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what his policy is on one person using the ownership of several airports in one region (a) to cross-subsidise and (b) to concentrate activities at one airport at the disadvantage of another; [97903]
(2) what his policy is on one person owning several airports in one region. [97902]
Gillian Merron: Competition at UK airports is a matter for the Office of Fair Trading. In addition, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), as the independent regulator of UK airports, sets maximum prices at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester. The CAA’s current policy is to set maximum prices for each airport separately on the basis of its costs and revenue where several airports are owned by the same operator.
Cycling
Mr. Skinner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cycle routes have been established in the East Midlands since 1997. [98511]
Mr. Tom Harris:
Information on cycle tracks and cycle lanes is provided by local authorities on an annual basis as part of their Annual Performance Reports on the Local Transport Plans and has only
been collected since 2001-02. It is not verified by the Department and responsibility for the accuracy of the data rests with individual authorities.
Local highway authorities in the East Midlands have informed us through the Local Transport Planning process that they have built 337 cycle tracks and 267 cycle lanes during 2001-02 to 2005-06. This equates to 377.7 km of cycle tracks and 243.8 km of cycle lanes.
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