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24 Apr 2007 : Column 1071W—continued
Low Carbon Buildings Programme
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to increase funds for the Low Carbon Buildings Programme for (a) households and (b) (i) public, (ii) not for profit, and (iii) commercial organisations. [125423]
Malcolm Wicks: In October 2006, we reallocated funds from within the Low Carbon Buildings Programme to increase funds available to householders from £6.5 million to £12.7 million. In the Budget 2007, a further £6 million was made available for the household stream, taking the total available for householders to more than £18 million.
In addition to this, £15.8 million has been made available for public, not for profit, and commercial organisations.
The Low Carbon Buildings Programme phase 2 has set aside £50 million for public and not for profit organisations.
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to raise the level of funding caps for applications to the Low Carbon Buildings Programme for (a) households and (b) public, not for profit, and commercial organisations. [125424]
Malcolm Wicks: In the Budget 2007, it was announced that a further £6 million will be made available for the household stream of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme, taking the total available for householders to more than £18 million.
In addition to this, £15.8 million has been made available for public, not for profit and commercial organisations.
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to establish a waiting list for applications for grants from the Low Carbon Buildings Programme; and if he will make a statement. [125425]
Malcolm Wicks: In the Budget 2007, it was announced that an additional £6 million will be made available to the household stream of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme, taking the total available for householders to more than £18 million.
Before deciding how to make best use of the extra funding, the household stream will be suspended for the monthly allocation in April so that it can be reshaped. Proposals will be brought forward in May.
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment his Department has made of the likely demand for household grants under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08. [126901]
Malcolm Wicks: Since the Low Carbon Buildings Programme was launched in April 2006, we have allocated £7.2 million to 4,550 household applicants.
In the Budget 2007, it was announced that a further £6 million will be made available to the household
stream of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme, taking the total available for householders to more than £18 million.
We aim to continue funding until June 2008, by which time some of our wider measures to promote microgeneration should be taking hold.
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many households were allocated grants under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme on 1 March 2007; and what advice he is giving households who were unsuccessful in their applications to the programme. [126902]
Malcolm Wicks: We allocated Low Carbon Buildings Programme grants to 189 household applicants in March 2007.
In the Budget 2007, it was announced that a further £6 million will be made available to the household stream of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme, taking the total available for householders to more than £18 million.
We aim to continue funding until June 2008, by which time some of our wider measures to promote microgeneration should be taking hold.
Manufacturing Industries
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what incentives his Department provides to businesses seeking industrial premises for manufacturing; [131813]
(2) what assistance his Department makes available to regional development agencies and local authorities to provide adequate land and accommodation for small business start-ups in the manufacturing sector; [131814]
Margaret Hodge: This Department, along with five other Government Departments, provides funding to the regional development agencies through the single- pot funding mechanism. This allows the agencies to tailor their support according to regional needs as determined by their economic strategies. Some of this is spent on land and accommodation and some on small business start-ups.
In addition, European funding is available to the English regions, including local authorities, through the European regional development fund and this can be used to provide support to manufacturing.
This Department does not provide any funding to local authorities.
Natural Gas: Planning Permission
Mr. Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to reduce the length of time taken to commission the construction of gas infrastructure projects following initial planning application prior to the implementation of the measures expected in the planning White Paper. [133474]
Malcolm Wicks: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Preseli, Pembrokeshire (Mr. Crabb) on 26 February 2007, Official Report, column 1057W.
In addition, I should say that the time taken to commission gas infrastructure projects can be affected by a range of commercial or technical factors, or delays in the determination of planning applications. Commercial and technical issues are for developers themselves to resolve, although the DTI works to ensure that no unnecessary regulatory barriers to development delay the timely construction of facilities.
In order to avoid any unnecessary delays in determining planning applications, the DTI has held information seminars, in conjunction with the Health and Safety Executive and British Geological Survey for local councillors and planning officers in relevant regions. They have covered the general context for such projects, as well as safety aspects and the factors that can influence the siting of developments.
Packaging
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with manufacturers of consumer goods including food in respect of the levels of packaging provided. [133516]
Malcolm Wicks: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 23 April 2007, Official R eport, column 949W.
Post Offices
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made with his Department’s consultation on the future of the post office network. [133919]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department received over 2,500 responses to the public consultation which formally closed on 8 March. We are giving full consideration to the comments submitted and hope to be in a position to announce final decisions in May.
Radioactive Wastes
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to consult on new radioactive waste arisings should the approval be given for new build of nuclear power plants. [132442]
Malcolm Wicks: The Department plans to launch a consultation in May on the future role of nuclear power. This will include consideration of a full range of issues around potential new build including the impact of new build on waste management and decommissioning.
The Government plan to launch a further consultation in the summer as part of the managing radioactive waste safely programme, which will consider all the issues relevant to implementation of geological disposal. This consultation will discuss the potential changes to the current waste inventory that would arise as a result of any new build.
Small Business Service
Alan Duncan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Small Business Service has taken to place more emphasis on cross-governmental
working since the Government’s cross-cutting review of Government services for small business in 2002. [117364]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 22 January 2007]: The Small Business Service works across Government to support small businesses and encourage enterprise. Following the cross-cutting review of Government services for small business the Small Business Service:
established senior-level cross-Whitehall officials’ groups dealing with a range of priority areas e.g.: business support simplification, regulation, frontline and on-line small businesses services;
identified Ministers to act as champions in every Government Department. So for instance, this month I have written to colleagues seeking their support in promoting November’s enterprise week.
Telecommunications: Consumers
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what steps Ofcom has taken since March 2005 to prevent telecommunications companies transferring customers from one provider to another without their knowledge; [133839]
(2) how many complaints about telecommunications companies transferring customers from one provider to another without their knowledge were received by Ofcom in 2006; [133840]
(3) what steps the Government is taking to prevent telecommunications companies from transferring customers from one provider to another without their knowledge. [133842]
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 both Houses.
Transport
A358
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent estimate he has made of the number of vehicles (a) the new A358 dualled northbound exit junction from the M5 will carry and (b) the existing A358 between the M5 and A303 carries each day (i) on average and (ii) at peak times of the year. [133206]
Dr. Ladyman: The information is as follows:
(a) The estimate of the average daily traffic flow in the design year (2032) used for assessment purposes in the current option study on the northbound link from the M5 to the A358 is 4,000 vehicles (low growth forecast) and 5,900 vehicles (high growth forecast).
(b) (i)(ii) The observed average daily two-way traffic flow on the A358 was 27,750 vehicles at Henlade and 22,050 at Capland in 2004 with average flows at peak times of the year of 28,300 and 23,000 vehicles respectively. This is the latest year for which full data is currently available.
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the impact of building at the site of the new A358 dualled northbound exit junction from the M5 on (a) (i) the level of noise and (ii) the level of pollution experienced by local residents and (b) local house prices. [133207]
Dr. Ladyman: A stage 2 environmental assessment of the A303/A358 South Petherton to M5 Taunton improvement has been undertaken. This includes consideration of noise and air pollution impacts in the vicinity of the proposed northbound exit junction from the M5.
(a ) (i) A number of properties at Blackbrook are predicted to experience an increase in noise of between 1 and 2 dB(A). The average increase in noise levels at Blackbrook is predicted to be approximately 1 dB(A) which is not considered to be significant as it cannot be noticed by the human ear.
(a ) (ii) In the scheme opening year, assumed for assessment purposes to be 2017, all pollutant concentrations are predicted to be well below their respective air quality objectives and lower than the 2004 base year levels due to newer, less polluting vehicles on the roads and lower background pollution concentrations from road transport and energy generation.
(b) An assessment of the impact on house prices has not yet been undertaken.
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the budget is for the new A358 dualled northbound exit junction from the M5, including the construction of a bridge; and what percentage of that budget has been allocated. [133208]
Dr. Ladyman: The Highways Agency is currently investigating options for the dualling of the A358 between the A303 and the M5 at Taunton. A budget has not been approved for the implementation of the scheme.
The A358/A303 is designated as a route of regional importance and is therefore subject to the regional funding allocation process.
Aircraft
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what average cabin floor space is allocated to (a) first, (b) business and (c) economy class aircraft passengers. [132132]
Gillian Merron: This is a matter for individual airlines. Generally, first class and business class cabin configurations provide passengers with a greater amount of seat space than economy class cabins. Scheduled economy seats may afford more legroom than charter flights. For economy/charter passengers additional seat space is usually only available at seat rows leading to emergency exits.
The Department has no information about averages across airlines. There are non-government websites which aim to collate this information for passengers.
Departments: Official Hospitality
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures are in place to limit the amount of money spent on alcohol for hospitality purposes by his Department. [132192]
Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport’s expenditure on hospitality is conducted in accordance with the principals of “Government Accounting” and the Treasury handbook on “Regularity and Propriety”.
Departments: Oral Questions
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many questions tabled by hon. and right hon. Members to his Department for oral answer have been transferred to other Departments since May 2005. [133807]
Departments: Voluntary Organisations
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which voluntary organisations his Department consulted in 2006; and how many times they were consulted. [133675]
Gillian Merron: The Department consulted voluntary organisations routinely in 2006, both through numerous public consultations and through targeted direct approaches to specific or groups of organisations, including those in the voluntary sector. It is not possible to quantify the scale or number of those engagements across the breadth of the Department’s remit.
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