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7 Jun 2007 : Column 693W—continued

Post Office Closures

18. Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to announce decisions on which post offices will close. [140942]

Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given earlier to the hon. Member for Blaby (Mr. Robathan).

Vibration White Finger: Compensation

19. Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what authority his Department has granted to Capita to interview under caution claimants for compensation for vibration white finger. [140943]

Malcolm Wicks: It is a sad fact of life that a very small percentage of claims appear to be fraudulent. It is entirely appropriate that Capita, on behalf of the Department, should investigate where fraud or any other criminal offence is suspected. They do so through agreed procedures which protect the legal positions of both the interviewee and the Department.

Where appropriate, interviews are conducted under caution in accordance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and with the full authority of the Department.

Community Trade Union: Communitas Development for the Future

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much funding was given to (a) Community Trade Union and (b) Communitas Development for the Future in each of the last 10 years. [140840]


7 Jun 2007 : Column 694W

Jim Fitzpatrick: For 1997 the information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

From 1998 onwards there have been no payments by DTI to either Community or Communitas Development for the Future.

Departments: Epilepsy

Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people with epilepsy are employed by his Department; and if he will make a statement. [139114]

Jim Fitzpatrick: In line with commitments on confidentiality given to staff, the Department does not maintain central records of the detail of an individual’s disability or long-term health condition. Currently approximately 8 per cent. of all staff within the Department have recorded a disability or long term health condition.

All staff with disabilities or long term health conditions, including epilepsy and related conditions, are encouraged to discuss with their line managers any impact on their work and reasonable adjustments that may help within the work place. Reasonable adjustments to assist staff with epilepsy could include additional time off for medical appointments, awareness training for team members, adjustments to work objectives or targets, adjustments to lighting, seating or IT equipment, advice from our Occupational Health Service and flexible working.

Departments: Legal Costs

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much was spent by his Department on legal fees in each of the last five years. [139387]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department has spent the following on legal fees:

£

2004-2005

4,427,415

2005-2006

1,927,871

2006-2007

4,576,382


Due to a change in the accounting system, figures for 2002-03 and 2003-04 can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departments: Recruitment

Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much his Department and its agencies paid to recruitment consultants in each year since 1997. [140042]

Jim Fitzpatrick: Central records indicate that the following payments in total have been made to recruitment consultants.


7 Jun 2007 : Column 695W
Core DTI
£

2003-2004

1,269,335

2004-2005

1,779,732

2005-2006

2,431,175

2006-2007

1,388,192


UK Trade and Investment (UKTI)
£

2003-2004

4064

2004-2005

20,984

2005-2006

147,284

2006-2007

5,897


Employment Tribunals Service (ETS) (transferred to Department for Constitutional Affairs on 1 April 2006)
£

2003-2004

13,885

2004-2005

10,411

2005-2006

16,585


I have asked Chief Executives of the Executive Agencies to respond directly to the hon. Member.

Further information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Electricity

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to increase the intelligence capability of the electricity distribution network through broadband enabled smart meters. [140457]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 4 June 2007]: The Government have set out their position on metering and billing in the Energy White Paper, which includes an ambition to see a universal roll out of domestic smart meters within 10 years. We will consider how to take this forward in consultation with stakeholders, including issues related to technology and communications. Energy suppliers are separately undertaking a programme of work, overseen by Ofgem, to address the issue of inter-operability of smart meters. This work includes an examination of the communications systems that underpin smart meters.

Employment: Equality

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 26 April 2007, Official Report, column 1212W, on employment equality, what assessment he has made of the effect of the implementation of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 on company benefits other than pensions available to retired employees; and if he will make a statement. [140654]

Jim Fitzpatrick: It is still too early to assess the effect in practice of these regulations on company benefits other than pensions. Such benefits available to retired employees may be covered by the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 where the former employee can show that any age discrimination is closely linked to the former employment relationship.


7 Jun 2007 : Column 696W

Galileo Project

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the financial implications of the UK's involvement with the Galileo project. [139734]

Dr. Ladyman I have been asked to reply and will answer this question shortly.

Substantive answer from Dr. Ladyman to Nigel Evans:

The European Union (EU) and member states of the European Space Agency (ESA) jointly fund the design and development programme for Galileo. To date the UK’s subscription to the ESA element of the programme has been €142 million.

The EU’s contribution to the design and development programme is made from the EC budget and is estimated by the Commission to be €790 million. The UK’s contribution to the EC budget is around 17 per cent. of the total, before the UK receives any abatement. The United Kingdom makes its contributions to the EC Budget as a whole and not to individual spending programmes within it. There is not an identified United Kingdom contribution to the design and development programme via the EU budget.

Low Carbon Buildings Programme

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) when his Department informed solar photovoltaics installers of the decision to reduce the maximum household grant under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme by 83 per cent; [140458]

(2) when his Department informed micro wind installers of the decision to reduce the maximum household grant under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme by 50 per cent. [140459]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer s 4 June 2007]: Further to the announcement in the Budget 2007 that an additional £6 million would be made available for the household stream, we suspended the scheme to allow us to discuss with industry representatives how to re-structure the scheme to make best use of the monies available in order to meet the programmes objectives.

We announced on 9 May a number of changes to the programme, including the introduction of a £2,500 cap per household. By introducing this measure among others, we will be able to use the limited funds available to support an increased number of microgeneration installations across all technologies.

The scheme re-opened to applicants on 29 May.

Minimum Wage: Enforcement

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time enforcement officers monitor non-compliance with the minimum wage. [139480]

Mr. Timms: I have been asked to reply.

There are currently 71 full-time NMW Compliance Officers and nine part-time Compliance Officers, located in 16 HMRC NMW Compliance Teams. Each team is managed by a Higher Officer Team Leader.


7 Jun 2007 : Column 697W

Post Offices: Cheltenham

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post offices were open in the Cheltenham district in May of (a) 1987 and (b) 1997; and how many are now open. [140493]

Jim Fitzpatrick: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. Alan Cook, the managing director, has been asked to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Post Offices: Cornwall

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which post offices in Cornwall closed in each year since 1979, broken down by Parliamentary constituency. [140773]

Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 5 June 2007]: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. Alan Cook the managing director has been asked to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Postal Services: EC Law

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what (a) obligations and (b) restrictions are imposed by the EU Services Directive on (i) Post Office Limited and (ii) the Royal Mail. [140843]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The EU Services Directive does not impose requirements on Post Office Ltd. or Royal Mail. The services directive is intended to deliver a competitive market in services and eliminate certain
7 Jun 2007 : Column 698W
barriers to the provision of services. Legislative and administrative requirements imposed on service providers will need to be assessed for compliance with the directive. In the cases of Post Office Ltd. and Royal Mail, the relevant requirements fall largely under the regulatory regime established pursuant to the Postal Services Act. If those requirements do not comply with the directive, they will need to be amended or abolished.

Solar Power

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the Government's estimate is of the lifetime carbon saving from (a) a 2.5kWp domestic solar photovoltaics system and (b) a 4m2 domestic solar hot water system. [138082]

Malcolm Wicks: As part of the EEC3 (Energy Efficiency Commitment) programme, the carbon savings for domestic solar PV and solar hot water systems have been calculated using the carbon factor from the DEFRA ‘Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Reporting’:

Taking this into account, for a lifetime of 25 years, a typical domestic PV installation would save 6.21 tC.

The energy savings of solar thermal panels depend upon the water heating system displaced. The following table lists the values assumed for a 4m2 domestic hot water installation in the EEC3 Illustrative Mix:

Energy saved per year (kWh) Annual carbon saving (kgC/yr) Lifetime carbon saving( tC) Lifetime CO 2 saving tC0 2 Comments

Gas CH

1,577

81.7

2.04

7.49

Electric storage heating

1,240

145.7

3.64

13.36

Oil central heating

1,500

102.0

2.55

9.35

Solid fuel central heating

2,050

167.5

4.19

15.35

Gas non-CH

1,230

145.0

3.63

13.29

Water is heated by electricity

Electric non-CH

1,230

145.0

3.63

13.29

Water is heated by electricity

Solid fuel non-CH

1,230

145.0

3.63

13.29

Water is heated by electricity

Weighted average over all heating types

1,548

88.9

2.22

8.15


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