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3 May 2007 : Column 1818W—continued

3 May 2007 : Column 1819W

Solar PV major demonstration programme—Stream 2
£
Month	Allocated	Disbursed
July 2002	1,154,030.59	—
August 2002	—	—
September 2002	—	—
October 2002	—	—
November 2002	1,040,293.72	—
December 2002	—	—
January 2003	—	—
February 2003	—	—
March 2003	1,340,262.52	—
April 2003	—	—
May 2003	—	—
June 2003	1,524,080.13	16,184.83
July 2003	—	—
August 2003	—	112,158.80
September 2003	1,647,697.01	—
October 2003	—	72,486.05
November 2003	—	—
December 2003	868,202.49	57,437.61
January 2004	—	228,297.20
February 2004	—	31,065.45
March 2004	1,049,318.60	576,082.95
April 2004	—	—
May 2004	—	89,022.00
June 2004	1,499,136.60	154,603.45
July 2004	—	611,032.85
August 2004	—	485,437.18
September 2004	—	282,884.42
October 2004	1,031,184.12	405,726.08
November 2004	—	470,839.46
December 2004	450,357.21	219,815.33
January 2005	—	304,409.88
February 2005	—	155,001.35
March 2005	—	710,599.81
April 2005	—	216,426.00
May 2005	968,480.15	369,907.18
June 2005	—	472,971.44
July 2005	—	129,278.85
August 2005	942,883.28	405,132.34
September 2005	—	296,292.77
October 2005		232,614.30
November 2005	487,567.09	466,613.53
December 2005	—	384,627.88
January 2006	—	219,758.74
February 2006	—	322,374.36
March 2006	794,455.85	617,075.10
April 2006	—	88,008.00
May 2006	736,337.97	261,168.17
June 2006	—	76,054.89
July 2006	—	242,590.67
August 2006	—	299,499.68
September 2006	—	435,757.28
October 2006	—	392,786.59
November 2006	—	287,832.82
December 2006	—	90,443.72
January 2007	—	531,801.50
February 2007	—	414,412.68
March 2007	—	1,701,912.28

Post Offices: Closures

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post offices closed in villages and towns with populations smaller than 10,000 inhabitants in 2006-07. [135242]

Jim Fitzpatrick: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd (POL). I understand from POL that the post office branches in settlements with populations smaller than 10,000 inhabitants are classified as rural branches. Also that for 2006-07 the net number of rural post office branch closures was 128.

3 May 2007 : Column 1820W

Renewable Energy

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what account he expects the forthcoming Energy White Paper to take of the Government’s binding commitments made at the European Union Summit on 9 March for renewable energy to supply 20 per cent. of overall EU energy consumption by 2020; and how he plans to meet these commitments. [135635]

Malcolm Wicks: The Energy White Paper will be published in May.

Sellafield: Accidents

Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects the terms of reference for the Sellafield historic autopsy inquiry to be published. [134775]

Malcolm Wicks: The terms of reference for the inquiry were published on 26 April 2007, Official Report, column 28WS.

Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the families of those affected by the Sellafield autopsy issue will be consulted on the terms of reference for the investigation to be led by Michael Redfern QC. [134776]

Malcolm Wicks: Although the families of those affected have not been consulted on the terms of reference for the inquiry, I know that Mr. Redfern is keen to talk to them at an early stage in the inquiry.

Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how long the Sellafield historic autopsy investigation is expected to continue; and whether an investigation team will be based at or in the communities around Sellafield. [134777]

Malcolm Wicks: I have asked Michael Redfern QC to report to me as soon as possible. I anticipate that some of the work of the inquiry team will take place in West Cumbria.

Solar Power

Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what account is taken in the proposed accreditation for solar PV installers of (a) the costs of entry into the marketplace for smaller companies and (b) the compliance costs on those existing small companies in the market. [132177]

Malcolm Wicks: The microgeneration certification scheme is a voluntary scheme covering product and installation standards and a code of practice. The scheme is an important market mechanism aimed at building consumer confidence in microgeneration technologies. The cost of compliance to companies is set at a level to ensure delivery of a robust United Kingdom Accreditation Services accredited scheme that will provide consumer protection.

3 May 2007 : Column 1821W

The DTI is subsidising compliance costs for industry, including new and existing small companies, over the first year of the scheme. This measure should help to support companies wishing to join the scheme in the short term. In the longer term, industry should benefit from increased consumer confidence, which should encourage investment in microgeneration at the domestic level, growing the market.

Wind Power: Grants

Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether all applications which have been made for Stream 1 grants for wind turbines which meet the criteria of the scheme have been approved. [134899]

Malcolm Wicks: The Low Carbon Buildings Programme supports grant applications for a range of microgeneration technologies including wind turbines. To date, we have received 1,849 Stream 1 grant applications for wind turbine projects, of which 1,669 met the scheme criteria and were awarded grants.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Afghanistan: Opium

Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what her estimate is of the number of hectares of land in Afghanistan which were (a) used to grow poppies and (b) destroyed as part of the eradication scheme in (i) 2005 and (ii) 2006. [135558]

Dr. Howells: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's 2005 Afghanistan Opium Survey reported that 109,103 hectares of land was used to cultivate opium poppy in 2005, of which 5,103 hectares was eradicated. Their 2006 Afghanistan Opium Survey reported that 180,300 hectares of land was used to cultivate opium poppy in 2006, of which 15,300 hectares was eradicated.

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