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22 Jan 2007 : Column 1568W—continued
Regional Funding
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the South East England Development Agency spent in each local authority area in the most recent year for which figures are available. [116750]
Margaret Hodge: The table shows the South East England Development Agency’s (SEEDA) annual spend for 2005-06, broken down to a sub-regional level.
SEEDA does not provide expenditure breakdowns on the basis of all counties and unitary authorities within the region. Much of SEEDA’s spend is allocated
across administrative boundaries, and this cannot be disaggregated to local authority boundary levels.
| Sub-region | Spend 2005-06 (£) |
Rubber Bands: Post Office
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans the Post Office has to recycle rubber bands; and what his estimate is of the number used each year. [117137]
Jim Fitzpatrick: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
S-band Spectrum
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how he plans to optimise the use of the S-band spectrum which is now available for public safety; [115368]
(2) what steps he has taken to ensure that the S-band spectrum available for public safety in the UK will be used by entities capable of fully exploiting its value to the public; [115369]
(3) if he will make a statement on legacy claims on parts of the S-band spectrum. [115370]
Margaret Hodge: The matter raised is the responsibility of the independent 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.
Smart Metering
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will take steps to promote the installation of smart electricity meters in private homes. [116819]
Malcolm Wicks: Metering in both the domestic and business gas and electricity markets, including smart metering, is currently the subject of public consultation as part of the Energy Review. The Government will take any further decisions in this area following their consideration of the responses to this consultation and further discussion with a range of interested parties.
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions officials in his Department have had with suppliers about the minimum level of functionality of smart metering systems. [116303]
Malcolm Wicks: Gas and electricity suppliers are currently discussing the inter-operability of smart metering systems, including levels of functionality. In light of this work, and similar discussions by other industry groups, the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), which is responsible for gas and electricity regulation, has established a Metering Inter-operability Steering Group to oversee the development of inter-operability arrangements to promote and support the introduction of smart metering. This group gives the industry as a whole the opportunity to manage the process and reach collective, consistent decisions.
Solar Panels
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much his Department has made available for the installation of solar panels in the West Country in the last three years; what provision the Government will be making in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement. [116784]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 18 January 2007]: The Government have provided financial support for the installation of solar panels through the Solar PV Major Demonstration and Low-Carbon Buildings programmes. Details of grant payments made in the south-west region over the past three years are as follows.
| Grants paid (£) | |
| (1 )Scheme closure 31 March 2007. | |
The Low-Carbon Buildings programme is a national programme, and as a result, does not make grant provision for a specific region going forward.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what grants were made available by his Department for the installation of solar panels in each of the last three years; and how many solar panels were installed in each region in the UK where Government grants were available. [116785]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 18 January 2007]: The Government have provided financial support for the installation of solar panels through the Solar PV Major Demonstration and Low-Carbon Buildings Programmes. Details of grant payments made in each of the past three financial years are shown in the following tables.
| Solar PV Major Demonstration Programme | |||
| £ | |||
| Region | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 |
| Low-Carbon Buildings Programme | |
| Region | 2006-07 (£) |
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to encourage the installation of solar panels in the West Country. [116786]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 18 January 2007]: The Low-Carbon Buildings Programme was launched in April 2006, and has a budget of £80 million to be allocated over three years. The scheme supports the installation of microgeneration technologies across the UK, including solar panels.
The Government published the Microgeneration Strategy in March 2006. This includes a number of policy commitments to encourage deployment of microgeneration technologies. Further information can be found at:
http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/sources/sustainable/microgeneration/strategy/page27594.html
Spectrum Packages Auction
Andrew Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how radio microphone users in (a) schools, (b) education establishments and (c) places of worship and their analogue equipment will be facilitated following the auction of the spectrum packages (i) before the 2012 Olympics and (ii) post 2012; what estimate he has made of the additional
costs which will be incurred by these users; and if he will make a statement; [114443]
(2) how radio microphone users in the (a) conference and meetings and (b) light entertainment industries and their analogue equipment will be facilitated following the auction of the spectrum packages (i) before the 2012 Olympics and (ii) post 2012; what estimate he has made of additional costs which will be incurred by these users; and if he will make a statement; [114444]
(3) how radio microphone users of analogue equipment who are (a) in opera and musical shows, (b) bands and (c) singers and other musicians will be facilitated following the auction of the spectrum packages (i) before the 2012 Olympics and (ii) post 2012; what estimate he has made of the additional costs that will be incurred by these groups, including (A) costs of licences and (B) replacement of analogue equipment; and if he will make a statement. [114512]
Margaret Hodge: The matters raised are 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 my hon. Friend. Copies of the Chief Executive’s letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Start-up Businesses
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many high-growth start-up businesses there were in each region and county in each year between 1994 and 2001; and what percentage of all businesses they represented. [116686]
Margaret Hodge: The following table shows the number of high-growth start-ups in the UK that registered for value added tax (VAT) in each year from 1994 to 2001, the total number of VAT registrations in each year (both rounded to the nearest 100) and the percentage of all VAT registrations that were high- growth start-ups. VAT registrations are the best official guide to the pattern of business start-ups.
VAT registration and de-registration data do not capture all business activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if their turnover falls below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1997. Similarly, businesses that de-register will not necessarily have closed. Only 1.8 million out of 4.3 million businesses (42 per cent.) were registered for VAT at the start of 2005.
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