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29 Jan 2007 : Column 113W—continued


In 2004-05, £100,000 was also disbursed to each of the English regions, mainly via Government offices, to support the development and delivery of strategic approaches to energy.

Departmental Hospitality

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his Department's expenditure was on hospitality and entertainment in (a) 1996-97 and (b) 2005-06. [114037]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information is as follows:

East Midlands Development Agency

Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the chief executive or senior
29 Jan 2007 : Column 114W
directors of the East Midlands Development Agency last received a request for an official meeting with Leicester city council. [111729]

Margaret Hodge: This is a matter for Jeff Moore, chief executive of the East Midlands Development Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.

Foreign Trade Fairs

Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the (a) date and (b) duration was of each foreign trade fair trip attended by representatives of each Regional Development Agency (RDA) in each year since their inception; how many attendees employed by each RDA attended; and what the cost was of each visit. [110721]

Margaret Hodge: This information is not held centrally and therefore can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to assist hydrogen fuel cell technology research and development; and if he will make a statement. [105823]

Malcolm Wicks: Hydrogen is an ‘energy carrier’ rather than a fuel source as, like electricity, it can only be produced using energy.

Hydrogen can be used in:

In 2004, the Department of Trade and Industry, commissioned analysis from the energy consultants E4Tech, Element Energy, and Eoin Lees. This analysis indicates that for the UK, the use of hydrogen as a transport fuel offers significant opportunities for cost-competitive CO2 reduction by 2030. Six different types of transport energy chain have this potential and also offer increased energy security. None is readily available today and each would require significant changes to the energy system. However, they are sufficiently promising to be worth pursuing as energy options for the UK. This analysis was published on the Department's website and can be found at:

On 15 June 2005, the Government responded to this analysis and published a “A Strategic Framework for Hydrogen Energy Activity in the UK” which included a funding package worth £15 million over four years for a UK wide hydrogen and fuel cell demonstration programme. The first call for proposals for the demonstration scheme has now closed and I anticipate that a second call for proposals will operate in 12-18 months time. Further information is available on the scheme's website:

Currently, the Department of Trade and Industry supports industrial collaborative research and development for fuel cell and hydrogen technologies through the Technology programme. Bids specifically for hydrogen technologies have been invited since April 2005. The
29 Jan 2007 : Column 115W
programme seeks to advance these technologies for both stationary power generation and transport applications, with a view to achieving the cost reductions and performance levels necessary for commercial deployment. This support currently amounts to approximately £2-3 million per annum.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), including through the SUPERGEN initiative, support basic research in universities on both fuel cells and hydrogen. SUPERGEN supports the UK Sustainable Hydrogen Energy Consortium (UK SHEC) which has received funding of £2.5 million. This programme is supporting projects on: hydrogen generation; hydrogen storage; and socio-economic implications for a hydrogen economy.

EPSRC also supports the separate Fuel Cell SUPERGEN consortia. This is a four-year programme which began on 1 September 2005. This consortium is supported with funding of £2.085 million.

In addition to SUPERGEN, EPSRC has awarded £1 million to investigate the potential role of formic acid as a chemical method for the storage of hydrogen. £500,000 has been granted to three projects on fundamental science and engineering relevant to hydrogen technologies. EPSRC also contributes to projects through the DTI’s Technology programme.

The Government have also provided funding of over £450,000 for the trial of three hydrogen-powered fuel cell buses in London as part of the EU CUTE (Clean Urban Transport in Europe) project. £6.5 million of funding has been provided for the fuel cell and low carbon vehicle technology centre of excellence (CENEX) based in Loughborough.

Insolvency

Mr. Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people claimed individual insolvency in each year (a) from 1994 until the coming into force of the Insolvency Act 2000 and (b) since the implementation of that Act. [112151]

Jim Fitzpatrick: Individual insolvencies are made up of bankruptcy orders and individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs). The various provisions of the Insolvency Act 2000 came into force on two separate dates, namely 1 April 2001 and 1 January 2003. The annual numbers of individual insolvencies in England and Wales can be seen in the following table.

Bankruptcy orders IVAs Total

1994

25,634

5,105

30,739

1995

21,933

4,386

26,319

1996

21,803

4,468

26,271

1997

19,892

4,549

24,441

1998

19,647

4,902

24,549

1999

21,611

7,195

28,806

2000

21,550

7,978

29,528

2001

23,477

6,298

29,775

2002

24,292

6,295

30,587

2003

28,021

7,583

35,604

2004

35,898

10,752

46,650

2005

47,291

20,293

67,584


29 Jan 2007 : Column 116W

Ofcom

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many investigations Ofcom completed into the unlicensed use of radio spectrum in the UK in (a) 2003, (b) 2004, (c) 2005 and (d) 2006; and if he will make a statement; [111325]

(2) how many infringements of spectrum use Ofcom policing of spectrum recorded in (a) 2003, (b) 2004, (c) 2005 and (d) 2006; and if he will make a statement; [111326]

(3) how much was spent on Ofcom’s policing of spectrum against unlicensed use in (a) 2003, (b) 2004, (c) 2005 and (d) 2006; and if he will make a statement; [111327]

(4) how many prosecutions of unlicensed spectrum use Ofcom brought in (a) 2003, (b) 2004, (c) 2005 and (d) 2006; how many of those were successful; what penalties were imposed on offenders; and if he will make a statement. [111328]

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.

Regional Development Initiatives

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of spending by each regional development agency in England in 2005-06 was on (a) region-wide initiatives and (b) initiatives targeted at specific areas within the region. [112084]

Margaret Hodge: The regional development agencies include information about their spend on various initiatives in their annual reports, but do not record the proportion of their spend in terms of initiatives which are region-wide or those specifically targeted within the region.

Regional Venture Funds

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the (a) budget and (b) expenditure was of regional venture funds in each regional development agency in each of the financial years since 2000-01. [110966]

Margaret Hodge: The Regional Development Agencies have a number of programmes aimed at improving the provision of venture capital to promote economic development within their regions. The following tables show the total budget and actual expenditure, for regional venture funds only, for each of the Regional Development Agencies funded from within their core funding from 2000-01 to the current financial year.


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29 Jan 2007 : Column 118W
£ million
2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04
RDA Budget Actual spend Budget Actual spend Budget Actual spend Budget Actual spend

Advantage West Midlands

0

0

0.2

0.2

2

2

4

4

East of England Development Agency

0

0

0

0

0.3

0.3

0.3

0.1

East Midlands Development Agency

0

0

0

0

0

0

3

3

London Development Agency

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

North West Development Agency

0

0

0.3

0.3

1

1

3

3

One North East

0.5

0.5

0

0

0

0

9

9

South East England Development Agency

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

South West Development Agency

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Yorkshire Forward

0

0

0

0

0

0

5

5


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