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8 Feb 2007 : Column 1183W—continued
Data for 2006 will be published on 2 March 2007
Current prices series is the price prevailing in the relevant year.
Constant (2000) prices series show the change in construction after the effects of inflation have been removed. This information is published in the Construction Statistics Annual 2006, a copy of which is available in the Libraries of the House.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Newmark: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the expenditure by his Department on buying, operating and supporting (a) all commercial software products and (b) software products produced by Microsoft was in each of the last three years. [112591]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Owing to a change in the Department’s accounting system during 2003-04 and the devolved nature of the ICT (Information Community Technology) until April 2006, consistent information to answer the PQ fully cannot be obtained without disproportionate cost.
Departmental Fixed Assets
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which fixed assets his Department sold for more than £10,000 in (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005-06; and what the (i) sale value, (ii) purchaser and (iii) date of sale was of each asset. [110791]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Trade and Industry did not sell any assets for more than £10,000 during the financial years, 2004-05 and 2005-06.
Departments: Equal Opportunities
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to implement the gender equality duty due to come into force on 6 April 2007. [120643]
Jim Fitzpatrick: DTI has, as required by the legislation, produced Race Equality Schemes to outline the ways in which the Race Equality Duty is being implemented into the Department. DTI’s first scheme ran from 2002-05, and our second scheme, published in June 2006, will run until 2008. DTI is also committed to making regular progress reports on the action plan contained in our scheme, and this will be contained in our annual departmental report.
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department has taken to implement the Race Equality Duty since 2000. [120644]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Trade and Industry is working on its Equality Scheme covering the gender duty with a view to publication before the 30 April deadline. This scheme will provide the framework by which DTI will seek to implement the duty into all its functions.
Electricity Generation
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research he has commissioned into the significance of location in determining the optimum amount of electricity produced. [119141]
Malcolm Wicks:
The amount of electricity produced in general, and the location and despatch of electricity generating capacity in particular, is a matter for electricity generating companies in response to market
signals. Locational differences in the Transmission Network Use of System (TNUoS) charges levied by national grid reflect the implications for investment in the transmission network given the distribution of demand and generation across the system. This means that locational variations in the balance between demand and generating capacity are included in the market signals influencing decisions over where to add new capacity.
Employment
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to promote effective relations between employers and employees. [118412]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 6 February 2007]: Employers and employees both have a stake in creating good workplaces and it is the Department’s aim to encourage effective two-way communication which facilitates the achievement of high performance workplaces.
The Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations
Employees in larger organisations have the right to be informed and consulted on changes in the place for which they work. The Department is committed to championing such arrangements and in 2006, it contacted 12,000 companies to highlight the benefits of ongoing, two-way communication between employers and employees. Efforts to date include regional road-show events, interviews, articles, briefing and speeches, guidance, and the creation of a dedicated website to deliver Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) training workshops and company visits to share best practice on how to draw up effective arrangements with their employees.
A further awareness campaign is planned by end February 2007 to raise awareness when these rights are extended to the employees of approximately 8,000 medium-sized companies in April 2007. The Department’s efforts are co-ordinated with those of the ACAS, Business Link to ensure that practical advice is available to businesses, and Direct.Gov for employees.
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service
The Department funds the regionally based ACAS whose aim is to improve organisations and working life through better employment relations. ACAS provides services that include information provision, advice and training, and individual and collective dispute resolution on employment issues.
In 2006-07 its National helpline is expected to have dealt with about 900,000 employment-related calls, conciliated in about 1,000 collective disputes and 160,000 individual actual or potential tribunal claims, delivered about 3,000 training sessions on employment issues, and trained more than 200 delegates to operate their own mediation service. Their website is expected to have received about 2.5 million visits for information from employers and employees and HR and legal professionals among others. In addition ACAS are expected to have delivered over 200 workplace projects during the year to improve employment relations and practices.
The Department has supported over 250 projects under the Partnership/Strategic Partnership Fund. The fund has supported the development of industrial relations by encouraging employers and employees to work together effectively.
Projects supported under the fund include workplace partnership projects within individual organisations, and strategic projects, which reach out beyond single company projects to address sectoral and regional issues.
The Union Modernisation Fund provides financial assistance to independent trade unions and their federations in support of projects which speed unions’ adaptation to a changing labour market and new ways of working. This will enhance unions’ ability to make a full and effective contribution to constructive employment relations and to the economy as a whole.
Flexible Working
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to encourage industry to offer flexible working schemes to employees. [119582]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government encourage all types of flexible working across the work force by providing detailed guidance, promoting the benefits and encouraging the sharing of best practice. In addition Business Link provides practical support and advice for employers on starting, maintaining and growing a business. Employers and employees can also access advice from the Acas website and telephone helpline.
The right to request flexible working has been a great success since its introduction in April 2003 for parents of young children: some 5.4 million employees now work through some form of flexible working arrangement, and employers accept four out of five requests to work flexibly.
We are working with stakeholders to ensure high levels of awareness of new family-friendly measures being introduced under the Work and Families Act 2006, including an extension of the right to request flexible working to carers of adults. This will confer the right on a further 2.65 million employees.
Insolvency: Suffolk
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people were declared insolvent in Suffolk in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006. [119592]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Regional insolvency statistics are only available on the basis of the locations of Official Receivers offices, each of which cover a group of county courts where the cases are heard and the courts having jurisdiction over these. It is not possible to provide bankruptcy statistics by constituency, county or Government office region.
The following table provides the bankruptcy order statistics considered to be closest to those of interest, but they should not be treated as reliable estimates for the administrative geographies requested.
| Bankruptcy order statistics | ||
| Ipswich OR’s office( 1) | Anglia region (OR-based) | |
| (1) Ipswich's OR’s office covers the following county courts: Sudbury, St. Osyth, Ipswich, Colchester and Clacton, Braintee. | ||
Liquid Natural Gas
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what discussions he has held with colleagues in other Departments regarding the possible development of a liquid natural gas importation facility on Canvey Island; and if he will make a statement; [111817]
(2) what discussions he has had with the consortium of companies seeking to develop a facility to import liquid natural gas on Canvey Island regarding a possible appeal; and if he will make a statement. [111819]
Malcolm Wicks: I have had no such discussions.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will meet the hon. Member for Castle Point at the earliest possible time in the event of an appeal being submitted in respect of an application to import liquid natural gas via Canvey Island. [111818]
Malcolm Wicks: Any appeal would be determined by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. I regret that a meeting on this issue with the hon. Member could not add significantly to the ground that we covered during the debate in this House on 20 November 2006, Official Report, columns 383-90, and in the circumstances, would not be appropriate.
Low Carbon Building Programme
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 30 January 2007, Official Report, column 181W, on the Low Carbon Building Programme, what the evidential basis is for the statement that the non-grant measures will be effective in sustaining demand for microgeneration after June 2008. [119362]
Malcolm Wicks: The Energy Saving Trust carried out a study (Potential for Microgeneration: Study and Analysis) on behalf of the DTI into the potential of microgeneration. The study examines the impact of non-grant measures such as the Renewables Obligation, reward for export, the Energy Efficiency Commitment and Building Regulations. The conclusions clearly show that these non-grant measures do stimulate uptake over the longer term.
We are also starting to see evidence of the impact that the introduction of planning policies requiring onsite renewables is having on demand for microgeneration. For example, by September 2006, Croydon council had approved 111 renewable energy projects since the introduction of a requirement for all new developments over a certain size to provide at least 10 per cent. of predicted energy needs through onsite renewables.
The Department intends to undertake further research to build on the EST study in terms of quantifying the impact of various policy measures on the uptake of microgeneration.
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what criteria he will use to determine whether householder grants are no longer necessary to promote microgeneration. [119366]
Malcolm Wicks: The Energy Saving Trust carried out a study (Potential for Microgeneration: Study and Analysis) on behalf of the DTI into the potential of microgeneration. The study examines the impact of non-grant measures such as the Renewables Obligation, reward for export, the Energy Efficiency Commitment and Building Regulations. The conclusions clearly show that these non-grant measures do stimulate uptake over the longer term.
We are also starting to see evidence of the impact that the introduction of planning policies requiring onsite renewables is having on demand for microgeneration. For example, by September 2006, Croydon council had approved 111 renewable energy projects since the introduction of a requirement for all new developments over a certain size to provide at least 10 per cent. of predicted energy needs through onsite renewables.
The Department intends to undertake further research to build on the EST study in terms of quantifying the impact of various policy measures on the uptake of microgeneration.
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry why his Department has removed community projects from Phase One of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme; and if he will make a statement. [119475]
Malcolm Wicks: We have seen significant interest for domestic projects over the first six months of the Low Carbon Buildings programme Phase 1. In response to representations from industry we have therefore reallocated the £28.5 million budget to provide a further £6.2 million to support household projects. In order to facilitate this reallocation we have closed the Communities stream in Phase 1, along with other measures. We believe that these changes should allow support for householders to continue until June 2008.
It is important to note that going forward some community projects can continue to apply for support under stream 2 of Phase I, which is a competitive process primarily catering for larger projects and open to the private sector. However, the majority of community projects will receive support under Phase 2 of the Low Carbon Buildings programme, where we have a budget of £50 million.
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to increase grant funding for household projects under Phase One of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme. [119476]
Malcolm Wicks:
We currently have a total pot of £12.7 million, including management fees, for the Low
Carbon Buildings programme Phase 1 household stream, which on projected demand levels should allow householder funding to continue until June 2008. By this time, some of the wider measures to promote micro-generation should be taking hold, and we believe the sector may have matured to a point where householder grants are no longer necessary. There are no plans to increase funding.
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what will replace the small grants for community projects in phase 1 of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme. [119609]
Malcolm Wicks: The Communities Stream of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme Phase 1 closed on 1 February 2007. Going forward some community projects can continue to apply for support under the stream 2 of the Low Carbon Buildings programme Phase 1, which is a competitive process primarily catering for larger projects and open to the private sector. However, the majority of community projects will receive support under Phase 2 of the Low Carbon Buildings programme, where we have a budget of £50 million.
North West Regional Development Agency
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the North West Regional Development Agency allocated to each constituency in the North West in each of the last five years. [118026]
Margaret Hodge: The North West Regional Development Agency does not allocate funds to individual parliamentary constituencies. However, for the past three financial years the North West Regional Development Agency has provided analysis of actual expenditure in the constituencies of all North West MPs. The North West Regional Development Agency plans to do this for financial year 2006-07 once its accounts have been audited. The information for 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 is detailed in the following table.
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