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24 July 2007 : Column 1062W—continued
Energy Supply: Meters
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) what consideration will be made in the forthcoming consultation on smart meters of the potential introduction of meters with internal communications and displays instead of pure real time displays; and what assessment he has made of the effect such an introduction would have on the UK's implementation of the Energy Services Directive; [150878]
(2) whether gas supplies will be considered as part of the forthcoming consultation on smart meters; [150879]
(3) if he will meet industry representatives to discuss the forthcoming consultation on smart meters. [150880]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 19 July 2007]: The Government will shortly issue a consultation on its approach to billing, smart metering and display devices. This consultation will cover electricity, gas and heat. My Department, as part of that consultation process, will continue to have further discussions with interested parties, including energy suppliers, meter manufacturers, and consumer and environmental groups. Information from the consultation and other work being undertaken by the Government, Ofgem and energy suppliers will inform the Government's approach on smart meters as a whole, including implementation of article 13 of the energy service directive.
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how the roll-out of smart meters in the UK is planned to be funded. [151171]
Malcolm Wicks: The Government will shortly issue a consultation document on metering and billing, including smart metering. Information from the consultation and other work being undertaken by the Government, Ofgem and energy suppliers will inform the Government’s approach on smart meters.
Energy Supply: Russia
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the net value of traded energy stocks was between Russia and the UK in the latest year for which figures are available. [151548]
Malcolm Wicks: Estimates of the quantities and value of British trade specifically with Russia of coal and oil during 2005 are available electronically in Annex G of the current “Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics” http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/statistics/source/trade/page18526.html and are reported as follows.
| Crude oil | Steam coal | |||
| Imports | Exports | Imports | Exports | |
| (1) Based on average import value per tonne. | ||||
It is not possible to ascertain what share of gas or electricity imports passing through third countries may have originated in Russia.
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what percentage of energy used in the UK is imported from Russia; and what types of energy are imported from that country. [151550]
Malcolm Wicks: Based on data published in Annex G of the “Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics” http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/statistics/source/trade/page18526.html, direct energy imports from Russia during 2005 consisted of coal (11.5 Mtoe) and crude oil (7.0 Mtoe), which in total represented approximately 7.5 per cent. of primary energy demand in the UK. It is not possible to ascertain how much gas or electricity passing through third countries may have originated in Russia.
It should be noted that, as a result of commercial decisions, around two-thirds of the UK’s crude oil production is exported annually such that UK “net” imports of crude oil in 2005 were only 0.9 million tonnes.
Industrial Diseases: Compensation
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much has been refunded by firms of solicitors who abused the terms of payment in respect of the Miners' Compensation Scheme, broken down by firm. [151757]
Malcolm Wicks: The Department meets the costs of claimants' legal representatives under the terms of both the Vibration White Finger and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease schemes. However, we would not be privy to any additional agreement reached between claimants and their solicitors.
Despite this, the Department understands that solicitors have repaid well over £2.5 million to date as a result of actions taken by the Department to draw attention to these issues as well as actions taken by the Legal Complaints Service and Solicitors Regulation Authority. The Department is unable to provide a breakdown of this figure by firms of solicitors.
Industrial Disputes: Arbitration
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate his Department has made of the cost to (a) the Government, (b) businesses and (c) employees of making mediation a compulsory step in employment disputes. [151289]
Mr. McFadden: The Department has made no estimate of these costs. The arguments for and against compulsory mediation were assessed by Michael Gibbons in his independent review “A review of Employment Dispute Resolution in Great Britain”, published in March 2007. The review concluded that
“the Government should adopt a voluntary approach to encourage and enable more use of alternative dispute resolution techniques in order to settle disputes early”.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what representations his Department has received from trade unions on mediation in employment disputes. [151291]
Mr. McFadden: The Department has received a number of representations in response to its consultation, “Resolving disputes in the workplace”, which closed on 20 June. These include representations from trades unions. We are currently assessing all responses to the consultation and the Government will publish its plans for the way forward in due course. Responses will be made available in the public domain.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether his Department holds figures on the proportion of employees which work for the same company following the resolution of an employment dispute (a) through mediation and (b) through other forms of resolution. [151296]
Mr. McFadden: The information is as follows:
(a) The Government do not hold records on the outcome of private mediation, which is a confidential process between the parties concerned.
(b) Statistics on disputes which Acas helps to resolve through providing conciliation services are included in the Acas annual report. Statistics on disputes resolved through employment tribunals may be found in the employment tribunal service annual report. This includes figures for the number of orders of reinstatement made by tribunals. There is no system for tracking the employment history of claimants to tribunals after the end of the tribunal process and so the Government have no figures for the proportion of employees who remain with the same employer following the resolution at tribunal of their dispute.
Industrial Disputes: Small Businesses
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment his Department has made of the costs and benefits of compulsory mediation in employment disputes involving small firms. [151294]
Mr. McFadden: The arguments for and against compulsory mediation were assessed by Michael Gibbons in his independent review "A review of Employment Dispute Resolution in Great Britain", published in March 2007. The review concluded that:
"the Government should adopt a voluntary approach to encourage and enable more use of alternative dispute resolution techniques in order to settle disputes early".
Post Office Card Account
Julia Goldsworthy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many
adults without access to a bank account have a Post Office Card Account. [150170]
Mr. Plaskitt [holding answer 17 July 2007]: As Minister in DWP with responsibility for the Post Office card account I have been asked to reply.
There are just over four million customers currently using Post Office card accounts. Research for the Financial Inclusion Taskforce(1) showed that around 73 per cent. of people with a Post Office card account also had access to a bank account. This suggests that around one million Post Office card account customers do not have access to a bank account.
(1) "Access to Financial Services by those on the Margins of Banking", published in November 2006.
Regional Development Agencies: Flint Bishop
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether each regional development agency has made payments to Flint Bishop solicitors since 1997. [151379]
Mr. Timms: I am informed that the Regional Development Agencies have made no payments to Flint Bishop Solicitors.
Severn Barrage
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether primary legislation will be required to implement any proposal to build a Severn tidal barrage. [151705]
Malcolm Wicks: There is a distinct possibility that primary legislation will be required. This will be dependent on the nature of the proposal.
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