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14 Mar 2007 : Column 351W—continued
Electricity: Meters
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps Ofgem are taking to ensure consistent consumer protection is afforded to electricity token meter users; and if he will make a statement. [126891]
Malcolm Wicks: Ofgem, which is responsible for regulating gas and electricity supply, has been in detailed discussion with suppliers about the recalibration of certain prepayment meters. Following these discussions, suppliers gave a series of commitments to improve their performance. Details of these commitments were published in Ofgem’s recent statement of good practice on token prepayment meters and debt (available from Ofgem’s website www.ofgem.gov.uk.) Ofgem will monitor suppliers’ progress and will consider if further consumer protection is required.
Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps Ofgem have taken to ensure that the token prepayment meter users of all electricity suppliers receive equivalent protection from the practice of backcharging; and if he will make a statement. [127242]
Malcolm Wicks: Ofgem, which is responsible for regulating gas and electricity supply, has been in detailed discussion with suppliers about the recalibration of certain prepayment meters. Following these discussions, suppliers gave a series of commitments to improve their performance. The commitments vary from each supplier, depending on current practice and performance. Details of these commitments were published in Ofgem’s recent statement of good practice on token prepayment meters and debt (available from Ofgem’s website www.ofgem.gov.uk). Ofgem will monitor suppliers’ progress and will consider whether further consumer protection is required.
Electronic Equipment: Waste Disposal
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the proportion of goods subject to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations which are labelled as required by the regulations; and what he estimates to be the cost to producers of meeting such requirements. [127106]
Malcolm Wicks: The marking requirements of Regulation 15 and 16 of the WEEE Regulations do not come into force until 1 April 2007. Information on the costs of marking electrical and electronic equipment is contained in the final Regulatory Impact Assessment which accompanied the WEEE Regulations, when they were laid before the House on 12 December 2006.
Energy: Fees and Charges
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with Oftel on the introduction of charges for customers who do not pay their bills by direct debit; and if he will make a statement. [121578]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 19 February 2007]: 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.
Hazardous Substances: EC Law
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many companies manufacturing optoelectronic components responded to the consultation on the exemption of substances from the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive; and if he will make a statement. [127084]
Malcolm Wicks: In response to the European Commission’s most recent consultation (closed 10 January 2007), I understand that two companies which manufacture opto-electronic components have responded to the request to exempt “Cadmium in opto-electronic components” from the requirements of the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive.
The European Commission has not yet put forward proposals to member states as to whether this exemption request will be granted or not.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total value is of optoelectronic equipment containing cadmium manufactured in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [127085]
Malcolm Wicks: This question cannot be answered as the DTI does not hold this information.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consideration he has given to exempting equipment used for live performances from the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive; and if he will make a statement. [127086]
Malcolm Wicks:
Any manufacturer or producer of electrical and electronic equipment that cannot comply with the requirements of the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive due to technical or scientific barriers, or where the benefits of RoHS compliant alternatives are likely to be outweighed by a greater
negative impact on the environment, health and/or consumer safety, can submit an application for exemption to the European Commission for consideration.
Under Article 5(1) of the Directive, a Technical Adaptation Committee (comprised of all EU member states and chaired by the European Commission), can approve such exemptions requests if they are found to be justified.
As far as I am aware, the European Commission has not received such a broad request exempting the general use of equipment for live performances.
Natural Gas: Imports
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what changes in capacity for importing gas he expects to come onstream in 2007. [126820]
Malcolm Wicks: Until this winter Great Britain was able to import gas by pipe-line from Norway and Belgium, and as liquefied natural gas (LNG) through the Isle of Grain LNG import terminal. During the first half of this winter our gas import capacity increased by approximately 131 million cubic metres per day (mcm/d) through a combination of a new interconnector with the Netherlands (Balgzand Bacton Line (BBL)), an expansion of the Belgian interconnector (IUK) and a major new pipeline from Norway (Langeled). The Teesside GasPort LNG import facility, with a capacity of 11 mcm/d, commissioned last month.
Further gas import projects under development include two LNG terminals at Milford Haven. These are expected to commission in late 2007 or early 2008, and will initially have a combined maximum import capacity of 57mcm/d.
Use of gas import facilities will depend on commercial conditions, including the level of wholesale gas prices in Great Britain compared with prices in alternative markets.
Post Office Card Account
Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what meetings he and his Department’s officials have had with the banking sector on a successor to the Post Office Card Account. [127233]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Ministers have not met with the banking sector to discuss the replacement card account. The tendering and contractual process for the replacement product are matters for DWP.
Renewable Energy
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what (a) proportion and (b) wattage of total electricity production in the UK was produced from (i) hydropower, (ii) wind, (iii) biomass, (iv) solar and (v) geothermal in (A) 1996, (B) 2001 and (C) 2006; and what his estimate is of the likely production from each of those sources in 2011. [124639]
Malcolm Wicks: The latest available information is shown in the following table. Data for 2006 will not be available until the summer of 2007. There is no significant generation using geothermal sources. The contribution of the individual technologies to the projected total generation from renewables is for the market to determine.
| 1996 | 2001 | 2005 | 2010 projection | |||||
| GWh | Percentage | GWh | Percentage | GWh | Percentage | GWh | Percentage | |
| (1) Excludes electricity from pumped storage stations. (2) In 2005 includes electricity from shoreline wave but this amounts to less than 0.05 GWh. (3) Biofuel sources include landfill gas, sewage sludge digestion, the biodegradable part of municipal solid waste, biomass co-fired with fossil fuels, farm waste digestion, poultry litter combustion, meat and bone combustion, straw and energy crops. Sources: Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics 2006, Table 7.4, and Joint Energy Security of Supply Working Group (JESS) Seventh Report, December 2006 | ||||||||
Constitutional Affairs
Criminal Proceedings
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the benefits of allowing relatives of victims to make statements at criminal trials following the recent pilot schemes. [127191]
Ms Harman: The Victims' Advocates is being piloted in five crown courts and provides bereaved families in murder and manslaughter cases with the choice to tell the court about the impact of the crime on them. The pilot is being independently evaluated with the final report due in the autumn.
Dr. Kumar:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made
of the effect of relatives of victims making statements at criminal trials on juries and their ability to determine the facts of cases. [127192]
Ms Harman: The Victims' Advocates pilot scheme provides bereaved relatives of murder and manslaughter victims with the choice to make a statement about the effect of the crime on their family. The statement is delivered to the court after conviction but before sentence and therefore does not impact on the role and decisions of the jury.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when she will reply to the letter of 25 January from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Miss V. Howell. [127280]
Ms Harman: My Right hon. Friend the Lord Chancellor responded to the right hon. Member's letter on 12 March. I apologise for the delay.
Powers of Attorney
Susan Kramer: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs on how many occasions the Court of Protection intervened to suspend an individual's power of attorney over another in the most recent year for which figures are available. [127312]
Ms Harman: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 23 February 2007, Official Report, column 969W.
Voting Rights
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs under what circumstances a Commonwealth citizen is eligible to vote in the UK. [127032]
Bridget Prentice: Under the Representation of the People Act 1983, qualifying Commonwealth citizens are eligible to vote in UK elections. This means that Commonwealth citizens who have the right of abode or leave to enter or remain in the UK, and are otherwise eligible to vote, may register to vote.
Duchy of Lancaster
Training: Treasury
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which training courses her Department or its agencies have offered to Treasury Ministers in the last 12 months; and how many such training courses were attended by Treasury Ministers. [127213]
Hilary Armstrong:
The Government take the issue of ministerial training very seriously. I and other ministerial colleagues are working closely with the National School of Government (NSG) to further develop ministerial training. The NSG is a non-ministerial department and is the centre of excellence
for learning and development in support of the strategic business priorities of government. I have asked the National School’s Principal and Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member giving further details on this issue. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Library for the reference of Members.
Northern Ireland
Police: Community Support
6. Mr. Mackay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in ensuring that people from all communities in Northern Ireland support the police. [126340]
Mr. Hain: Unprecedented progress has been made following Sinn Fein's historic decision to support policing, the courts, the rule of law and their subsequent steps to deliver this.
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