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29 Oct 2007 : Column 692W—continued
Departments: Disabled People
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform which buildings occupied by his Department (a) are and (b) are not fully accessible to disabled people; and if he will make a statement. [161171]
Mr. Thomas: The Department’s HQ estate is fully accessible to disabled people.
Departments: Flint Bishop
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether (a) his Department and its predecessor and (b) its agencies have made payments to Flint Bishop solicitors since 1997. [151375]
Mr. Thomas: A total of £19,944.30 has been paid to Flint Bishop & Barnett solicitors between 4 April 2000 and 1 September 2004 in respect of coal health claims.
Central records indicate that no other payments have been made.
I have asked the 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.
Departments: Official Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on how many occasions he has visited each region in an official capacity in the last 12 months. [158914]
Mr. Hutton: My predecessor and I, as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (until 28 June) and for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, have made the following visits on ministerial business in the last 12 months.
| Number | |
Departments: Performance Appraisal
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many staff in his Department did not achieve an acceptable mark in their annual report in 2006-07. [146925]
Mr. Thomas: The former Department of Trade and Industry is not able to provide the information about the numbers of staff who did not achieve an acceptable mark in their annual report in each of the last three years. In line with best practice, it is our policy not to allow the breakdown of groups to the extent where anonymity of individuals may be compromised (and we do therefore frequently summarise responses).
Where staff are given an unacceptable box marking under formal inefficiency proceedings this has to be addressed as soon as it occurs rather than waiting for the appraisal cycle to complete. Central records record cases of poor performance current at the end of the appraisal year. An unacceptable box marking is awarded where an individual consistently fails to achieve agreed work priorities and/or behaviours.
Departments: Public Expenditure
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in which financial years since 2001 his Department’s outturn for its capital budget at the end of the year was less than planned at the beginning of the year; and what the (a) value and (b) reason for the underspend was in each case. [160340]
Mr. Thomas: The National Audit Office measures spending performance against plans by comparing outturns against final provision following supplementary estimates—rather than against plans at the start of the year—as plans can change during the year for a number of reasons, such as machinery of government and classification changes.
The definitive figures for final provision and provisional outturn are published each year in the “Public Expenditure Outturns White Paper”. Changes to plans arising in-year are published in “Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses”, as are differences between provisional and final outturns.
Departments: Written Questions
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many and what percentage of questions tabled to his Department for answer on a named day received a substantive reply on the day named in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [161334]
Mr. Thomas: A total of 621 named day questions were received this Session, of which 216 received a substantive reply on the day specified—35 per cent.
Energy: Conservation
Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps his Department is taking to encourage the use of real time electricity display devices. [161300]
Malcolm Wicks: The Department is currently consulting on the metering and billing proposals that the Government made in the Energy White Paper. This consultation, which will end on 31 October, seeks views on the proposal that display devices should be provided by a supplier when it replaces or installs an electricity meter, and, for a two-year period, when a customer requests a device from his electricity supplier.
Export Credit Guarantees
Roger Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2007, Official Report, column 902W, on export credits guarantees, which company made each non-standard application in respect of which country in each case; and what type of product was involved in each such application. [159720]
Malcolm Wicks: The information requested is as follows:
| Company | Country | Product |
If ECGD receives an approach to cover transactions whose nature and structure is such that a standard application form would not be suitable or appropriate, ECGD produces a non-standard application form to meet the needs of such business. However, many of the features of the standard application form would still apply; for example, the anti-bribery and corruption requirements would be included as a matter of course.
Foreign Workers
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many overseas workers worked in the UK in 2006; what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the effect of those workers on the UK economy; and if he will make a statement. [160710]
Mr. McFadden: According to the Labour Force Survey in 2006, 11.3 per cent. of people employed in the UK were born overseas. The Government published their submission on “The Economic and Fiscal Impact of Immigration” to the House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs on 16 October, in which the Treasury estimated that migration had contributed around £6 billion to output growth in 2006.
Fuel Poverty
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many households in (a) Southend, (b) each borough in Essex, (c) each borough in Kent, (d) the Metropolitan Police area of London and (e) England and Wales are in fuel poverty; what steps he has (i) taken and (ii) plans to take to reduce these numbers; and if he will make a statement. [161085]
Malcolm Wicks: Official fuel poverty statistics are currently only available at Government Office Region level. Latest available figures for England are sourced from the 2004 English House Condition Survey, while Welsh figures are sourced from the Living in Wales survey. Official figures for fuel poverty at available geographies are given as follows.
| Area | Number of households in fuel poverty | Percentage of households in fuel poverty |
A fuel poverty indicator giving estimates of the level of fuel poverty in small areas of England was launched on 25 May 2007. These statistics correspond to 2003 at lower super output area, a geography that splits England into 32,482 areas. The methodology used in constructing the indicator is broadly equivalent to the official methodology, however some differences remain.
| Area: Essex | ||
| Borough | Number of households in fuel poverty | Percentage of households in fuel poverty |
| Area: Kent | ||
| Borough | Number of households in fuel poverty | Percentage of households in fuel poverty |
We have taken a number of steps to tackle fuel poverty. DEFRA leads on the Warm Front programme in England. The Warm Front scheme, and its equivalents in the Devolved Administrations, has resulted in improvements to the energy efficiency of the housing of those on a range of qualifying benefits. Winter fuel payments significantly help with fuel costs in coldest months.
Other measures that have had a positive impact include CLG’s Decent Homes Standard; local authority programmes; and the systematic approach adopted in a number of warm zone areas. The Energy Efficiency Commitment for 2005-08 requires electricity and gas suppliers to meet targets for the promotion of improvements in domestic energy efficiency to a priority group of low income consumers.
We have taken further steps to increase efforts to tackle fuel poverty in the Energy White Paper and we are currently taking forward the implementation of these actions, which include improved Government communications during winter, further encouragement of suppliers to direct assistance at their vulnerable customers, improvements to Government schemes and better use of information held by Government. Next steps will be set out in the Fifth Annual Fuel Poverty Progress Report.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what research has been (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated by his Department on the effect of the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000 in reducing fuel poverty; and if he will make a statement. [161086]
Malcolm Wicks: We actively monitor progress towards the targets set out in the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000. Progress towards and policies to achieve these goals are set out in the UK Fuel Poverty Strategy Annual Progress Reports.
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