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3 July 2007 : Column 1010W—continued

IVF

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women have been denied IVF treatment on the grounds of the ‘need of that child for a father’ in accordance with 13 (5) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 in each year since 1990. [147178]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 2 July 2007]: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Liverpool City Council (Prohibition of Smoking in Places of Work) Bill

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects of the introduction of the Liverpool City Council (Prohibition of Smoking in Places of Work) Bill on Government policy and legislation to ban smoking in enclosed public places in England. [146566]


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Dawn Primarolo: The Government recognise the significant contributions and efforts that Liverpool city council and its partners have made in providing protection from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.

Meat: Standards

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with trading standards representatives on the regulation of businesses which insert water and protein into meat. [146619]

Dawn Primarolo: The Food Standards Agency has been working closely with trading standards officers to ensure that consumers are not misled about the chicken they buy.

Enforcement officers are encouraged to take action where food business operators are found to be selling chicken that does not comply with food safety and labelling legislation.

Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus: Meat

Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what systems are in place for testing imported meat for MRSA contamination. [146481]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 29 June 2007]: All meat produced in the EU is prepared in accordance with hygiene regulations and in such a manner as to reduce bacterial load. There are no systems in place in the United Kingdom to test meat for MRSA from approved establishments.

Following advice on appropriate cleaning and the handling, storage and cooking of meat is important in preparing food safely and preventing/minimising the risk of contamination by micro-organisms.

Smoking: Elderly

Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people over the age of 55 years he expects to give up smoking as a result of the public smoking ban. [146453]

Dawn Primarolo: The costs and benefits of the new smokefree law are set out in the final regulatory impact assessment published by the Department in December 2006 and is available in the Library and at:

The primary aim of smokefree legislation is to provide protection from secondhand smoke within enclosed public places and workplaces. No specific assessment has been made regarding the number of people over the age of 55 years who are anticipated to give up smoking as a result of the implementation of the legislation.

Smoking: Television

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether accommodation used in reality television programmes are enclosed public places for the purposes of the forthcoming smoking ban; and if he will make a statement. [146904]


3 July 2007 : Column 1012W

Dawn Primarolo: An assessment would need to be made on the particular circumstances of the premises. Such premises would be smokefree if they are a public place or workplace under the provisions in Section 2 of the Health Act 2006 (c.28). Premises that are open to the public or are a workplace will need to be smokefree within enclosed or substantially enclosed parts, as defined in the Smoke-free (Premises and Enforcement) Regulations 2006.

vCJD

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2007, Official Report, column 1008W, on vCJD, what the name is of each prototype vCJD assay that is being evaluated; which body is carrying out each evaluation; what the purpose is of each evaluation; on what date each evaluation began; on what date his Department expects each evaluation to be completed; and if he will make a statement. [147424]

Dawn Primarolo: The prototype assays under evaluation are not named and are for research use only.

The evaluation is part of collaborative work between NHS Blood and Transplant, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control. This evaluation is to determine whether available prototype assays for the detection of abnormal prions in blood perform with the sensitivity and specificity that is required for their use in a large-scale study of the prevalence of abnormal prions in the British population.

The notice of the HPA’s tender for prototype assays for evaluation was issued (in the Official Journal of the European Union) on 2 February 2007. The evaluation is expected to be completed by the end of 2007.

Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

Electricity: Meters

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how frequently real time electricity displays will communicate data to customers under his proposals to extend smart-metering; whether the electricity displays will offer different tariffs depending on the time of day; and if he will make a statement. [146839]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 2 July 2007]: Self-standing real-time display devices will provide real-time information to customers about electricity consumption and cost. Smart meters, in conjunction with display devices designed to work with them, could support a range of time-of-day tariffs.

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether he expects the smart-meters proposed in his Energy White Paper will be fully broadband enabled; and what contribution he expects that the use of such technology will make in reducing (a) losses in the network and (b) the need for peak power. [146840]


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Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 2 July 2007]: Energy suppliers are 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, including but not limited to broadband, that underpin smart meters. Smart meters can offer benefits such as peak-load shifting and maintaining of the network on the basis of a variety of communication technology. The Government will be considering these issues as part of their forthcoming consultation on billing and metering.

Energy: EU Action

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what discussions he has had with the EU on a common energy policy. [147003]

Malcolm Wicks: The former Minister for Energy and officials have been in regular contact with the Commission and their counterparts in other member states to discuss the proposals in the Commission's Strategic Energy Review of January. These proposals have widespread support across the EU and have been endorsed by the European Council. We now look forward to the Commission producing proposals for legislation.

We fully support the Commission's proposals, which will promote the further development of a competitive, sustainable and secure European energy market to the benefit of consumers.

Low Carbon Buildings Programme

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, how many civil servants, and of what pay grade, worked on restructuring the low carbon buildings programme. [142454]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 12 June 2007]: In making a decision on restructuring the low carbon buildings programme Phase 1 household stream, Ministers were primarily advised by the microgeneration team.

At the time, the microgeneration team consisted of five civil servants (two range 10s and three range 8s). More senior civil servants were involved as necessary.


3 July 2007 : Column 1014W

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry why his Department has cut the maximum limit for grants offered to householders through the Low Carbon Buildings Programme; and if he will make a statement. [145238]

Malcolm Wicks: The Low Carbon Buildings Programme has proved successful in demonstrating the suitability of microgeneration at the domestic level. Another key objective of the programme is to see the cost of technologies fall. We took the opportunity of the additional £6 million announced for the household stream in Budget 2007 to restructure the scheme, following a wide consultation. We removed the monthly cap and lowered the £2,500 grant cap per household as this provides a simple and fair way of allocating funds to installations across all technologies, helping to ensure we use the limited funds available to support as many household microgeneration installations as possible.

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the budget is for the Low Carbon Buildings Programme in (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06 and (c) 2006-07; and what the forecast budget is for 2007-08. [145498]

Malcolm Wicks: The Low Carbon Buildings Programme has an £86 million budget over three years. The programme was launched in April 2006, with no formal budgets for specific years.

Phase 1 is a £36 million programme, which allocated £10,598,504 in financial year ending 30 March 2007. The remainder is forecast to be allocated in financial year 2007-08, less programme management fees.

Phase 2 is a £50 million programme. We forecast a budget of £20,000,000 in financial year 2007-08.

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much was spent under phase one of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (a) in total and (b) in each region in the UK in each month since the scheme began; and if he will make a statement. [145539]

Malcolm Wicks: At 27 June 2007, only one payment under Stream 2 of Phase 1 of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme has been paid. That was for £9,362 in the East of England, paid in November 2006. The following tables provide the data for the Communities (now closed to new applicants) and Householders streams.


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3 July 2007 : Column 1016W
Communities, by region Date Paid (£)

South West

February 2006

18,921

South East

November 2006

2,050

South West

March 2007

11,650

Wales

March 2007

1,772

London

May 2007

19,005

South East

May 2007

4,670

East of England

June 2007

12,754

Yorks and Humber

June 2007

11,026

East Midlands

0

Eastern

0

North East

0

North West

0

Northern Ireland

0

Scotland

0

West Midlands

0

Grand total

81,848


Householders
Date East Midlands East of England London North East North West Northern Ireland

250,149

562,206

380,883

85,983

233,164

94,944

2006

April

May

June

400

July

400

August

2,800

3,200

800

800

1,200

5,000

September

5,600

13,430

15,650

400

2,000

October

7,070

32,940

19,350

2,400

6,281

November

15,256

27,675

36,751

4,000

13,694

3,720

December

13,280

38,944

16,055

400

8,113

2007

January

16,010

44,117

26,405

6,200

31,425

46,600

February

19,036

65,814

57,607

14,456

24,428

16,600

March

39,062

76,211

58,416

25,156

24,820

12,547

April

46,110

63,008

34,981

12,600

23,606

1,500

May

70,172

146,440

71,209

13,571

66,474

2,697

June

15,754

50,027

43,262

8,400

35,004


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