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26 Nov 2007 : Column 118W—continued
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 a change in fuel prices on (i) food prices and (ii) the cost of living; and if he will make a statement. [167291]
Malcolm Wicks: The Department actively monitors the effect of changes in fuel prices on the Government’s energy policy goals, including those relating to fuel poverty, and also the impact on the UK economy. However, the Department has not commissioned any research looking specifically at the effect of changes in fuel prices on the cost of living and food prices.
Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he expects the Buncefield oil depot to re-open; and if he will make a statement. [164564]
Malcolm Wicks: It is not yet known when the Buncefield oil terminal complex will reopen.
The Buncefield complex is of strategic importance for the supply of jet fuel to Heathrow and Gatwick airports. I understand that Dacorum borough council (DBC) are currently in discussion with the oil companies, concerning a proposal to commence jet fuel storage and
supply only at this stage. The oil companies propose to delay recommencement of petrol and diesel storage and distribution until the findings of the Major Incident Investigation Board and the recommendations of the Buncefield Standards Task Group on standards and best practice have been fully considered and further discussions held with DBC and other stakeholders.
A number of planning applications have been submitted to DBC and St. Albans district council by the oil companies and their agencies having facilities within the complex. These cover works required to repair and improve the sites to new safety and environmental standards. The determination of these applications is a matter for the councils concerned.
Industrial Disputes: Royal Mail
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the financial effect on Royal Mail of the industrial action in September 2007; and if he will make a statement. [167087]
Mr. McFadden: The Department has not assessed the financial effects of the industrial action on Royal Mail. This is an operational matter for the company. It is clear, however, that the strikes will have had some impact on the business although mitigating action was taken to advise customers to post mail on non-strike days. There is also the possibility that the industrial action may result in users of postal services moving to other means of communication.
Industry: Robots
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what funding his Department provides to encourage investment in industrial robots in the UK. [166520]
Mr. Timms: The Government support and encourage investment through a range of measures including tax incentives (e.g. capital allowances) and through business support schemes such as Selective Finance for Investment in England and its equivalent in the devolved administrations. In addition the Technology Strategy Board supports innovation and collaborative research and development into leading edge technologies including robotics and automation. The most recent competition under the Technology Programme announced on 8 November by John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, seeks proposals to develop new high value manufacturing techniques to secure the nation’s future manufacturing base with research on the next generation of production techniques. We are also aware that the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council is currently supporting 19 robotics assembly and automated handling projects with funding of over £10.5 million.
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what his Department’s policy is on appropriate levels of expenditure on industrial robots in UK manufacturing. [166521]
Mr. Timms: My Department has no policy on the appropriate levels of company expenditure on industrial robots. Government encourages and supports business investment through a range of policy measures but company investment decisions of this nature are a commercial matter for individual companies.
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what information his Department holds on the ratio of industrial robots to members of the workforce used in manufacturing in (a) the UK, (b) France, (c) Germany, (d) the USA and (e) China. [166534]
Mr. Timms: My Department does not hold official statistics on the ratio of industrial robots to workforce. We are aware that the International Federation of Robotics provides statistical information of this type.
Internet: Fraud
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what discussions he has had with the UK banking industry about combating fraudulent phishing e-mails which appear to originate from individual banks and financial service providers. [162305]
Mr. Timms: My Department has no direct remit for monitoring the banking sector. Informal contacts between officials take place from time to time in the wider context of work on information security. The Home Office works with the banking industry to help combat the problems of spam and phishing.
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what discussions he has had with internet service providers on reducing the quantity of fraudulent and unsolicited email sent to UK email addresses. [162312]
Mr. Timms: Many ISPs are taking active steps to prevent bad traffic reaching their customers and many have spam email boxes which enable their customers to complain about specific emails. Both Government and Ofcom are talking to the ISPs about how we might improve standards across the sector and how those improvements might be made more visible to end users. These discussions now need to reflect the recently published proposals from the European Commission regarding the review of the telecoms regulatory framework and which include recommendations designed to reduce the impact of spam.
Internet: Taxation
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on content on his Department's website which promotes the UK's favourable tax treatment of businesses. [165565]
Mr. Thomas: My Department's website carries a range of information of interest to business, including aspects of taxation. I have had no discussions with the Chancellor in respect of the BERR website.
National Grid: Electricity
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the distribution losses of electricity over the national grid in each of the last five years. [165812]
Malcolm Wicks: Losses between 2002 and 2006 (the last year for which data are available) are summarised as follows.
| Losses (GWh) | |
| Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2007 | |
Electricity is lost from both the National Grid's high voltage transmission system, and the distribution networks. In each of the years shown, losses from the transmission system were equivalent to approximately 1.5 per cent. of total electricity available, and approximately 6 per cent. of electricity available was lost via the distribution network. In addition, around 0.5 per cent. is accounted for by theft or meter fraud and accounting differences making about 8 per cent. losses in total.
North West Development Agency: Grants
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many (a) research and (b) development grants were awarded by the North West Development Agency in each of the last five financial years. [163002]
Mr. Timms: The research and development grants awarded by the North West Development Agency in each of the last five financial years are detailed in the following.
| Research | Development | |||
| Awards | Offers (£) | Awards | Offers (£) | |
Nuclear Power Stations
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the capability of the (a) Health and Safety Executive and (b) Nuclear Installations Inspectorate to undertake the process of generic design assessment for new nuclear power stations. [167859]
Malcolm Wicks:
Regulators, including the Health and Safety Executive and its Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, have developed resource plans to allow
them to implement generic design assessment. Industry will, as now, meet the cost of licensing any nuclear plant.
Before generic design assessments began, we carried out a prioritisation process to ensure that the regulators could focus their resources on those designs that have the greatest chance of being built. If the nuclear consultation concludes that the private sector ought to be able to choose to invest in nuclear, it is likely that there will be a further prioritisation process to reduce the number of designs being assessed from four to three.
We continue to work closely with the regulators to ensure they have sufficient resource to carry out pre-licensing assessments within the 3 to 3.5 year timeframe.
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether he expects the (a) Health and Safety Executive and (b) Nuclear Installations Inspectorate to hire external consultants to carry out the process of generic design assessment for new nuclear power stations. [167860]
Malcolm Wicks: The Health and Safety Executive and its Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, along with the other regulators, have developed resource plans to allow them to carry out the Generic Design Assessment work. The regulators will recover their costs from industry, as is currently the case for licensing of nuclear plants.
The regulators will use suitably qualified staff to carry out the assessments. How the regulators organise themselves internally, including whether to use external consultants, is a matter for them.
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what progress has been made by the Environment Agency on the process of pre-authorisation for new nuclear power stations; and if he will make a statement. [167861]
Malcolm Wicks: The consultation document “The Future of Nuclear Power”, published on 23 May 2007 invited vendors of nuclear reactor designs who are interested in having their designs assessed through the Generic Design Assessment process to write to the regulators’ Joint Programme Office by 22 June 2007.
By this date, the regulators had received four applications for Generic Design Assessment.
Following assessment of the applications by the Government, all four were found to have met the criteria set down in the consultation document and as a result, the regulators (the Health and Safety Executive and the Environment Agency) agreed to assess all four designs in the initial stage of the generic design assessment process. A press notice setting out the outcome of the Government’s assessment of applications was released on 5 July 2007. This, along with the letters of application sent by the vendors, and their letters of endorsement from operators, can be found on the BERR website.
Following this step, the Environment Agency, along with the other regulators, have begun work on the generic design assessment process on a contingent basis, pending the outcome of the nuclear consultation.
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the capability of the Environment Agency to undertake the process of pre-authorisation for new nuclear power stations. [167862]
Malcolm Wicks: The regulators, including the Environment Agency, have developed resource plans to allow them to implement generic design assessment. Industry will, as now, meet the cost of licensing any nuclear plant.
Before generic design assessments began, we carried out a prioritisation process to ensure that the regulators could focus their resources on those designs that have the greatest chance of being built. If the nuclear consultation concludes that the private sector ought to be able to choose to invest in nuclear, it is likely that there will be a further prioritisation process to reduce the number of designs being assessed from four to three.
We continue to work closely with the regulators to ensure they have sufficient resource to carry out pre-licensing assessments within the three to three and a half year timeframe.
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether he expects the Environment Agency to hire external consultants to carry out the process of pre-authorisation for new nuclear power stations. [167863]
Malcolm Wicks: The Environment Agency, along with the other regulators, have developed resource plans to allow them to carry out the Generic Design Assessment work. The regulators will recover their costs from industry, as is currently the case for licensing of nuclear plants. The regulators will use suitably qualified staff to carry out the assessments. How the regulators organise themselves internally, including whether to use external consultants, is a matter for them.
Nuclear Power Stations: Sellafield
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has made any request, or otherwise indicated, that it wishes to extend the operating life of the B205 reprocessing plant at Sellafield beyond its current planned closure date of 2012. [163672]
Malcolm Wicks: The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has indicated, in its recently published three-year Business Plan, that logistical issues at Sellafield mean that it will not be possible to complete reprocessing of spent fuel from Magnox reactors within the original planned time scales. Consequently, it is likely that the reprocessing of Magnox spent fuel, which was due to be completed by around 2012, will not be completed until 2016 or later.
The NDA is committed to consulting widely on the implications of any changes to the currently approved Magnox Operating Plan version 7.
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