| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
17 Dec 2007 : Column 1060W—continued
Students: Loans
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many students from Romford entering higher education have required loans from the Student Loans Company in each year since 1997. [168424]
Bill Rammell: I have been asked to reply.
Available data are shown in the table.
| Borrowers taking out student loans from the London borough of Havering( 1) , academic year loan taken out | |
| Academic year | Borrowers( 2) |
| (1) Borrowers whose local authority was Havering at the time of their loan application. Includes new entrants and those continuing in higher education. (2) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. (3) Includes fee loans from their introduction in 2006/07. Source: Student Loans Company. | |
This information is not available at constituency level.
Young People: Antisocial Behaviour
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent assessment he has made of the extent to which youth provision under the Respect Action Plan (a) meets demand from and (b) affects levels of antisocial behaviour among young people. [173852]
Beverley Hughes: The Respect Action Plan set out measures to expand and develop constructive and purposeful activities for all young people including those who are disadvantaged and at risk of antisocial behaviour. Commitments set out in the Action Plan have been implemented including the establishment of Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds which have been made available to all local authorities in England since April 2006.
The Respect Action Plan was only one element of our response for young people. Aiming High set out a ten year strategy to ensure that positive activities are available for all young people.
The Youth Taskforce was created from the Respect Taskforce in October 2007 to build on the Respect programme and support local delivery of our vision for young people.
The Taskforce are currently developing analysis and proposals and will publish an Action Plan in spring 2008 giving more detail on the areas where it will work with local partners to deliver for young people.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Broadband: Scotland
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the number of people without access to broadband services in Scotland, broken down by constituency; and if he will make a statement. [172849]
Mr. Timms: The Department has not compiled such estimates.
The Scottish Executive's research on broadband reach in Scotland, published in December 2006, estimates that between 7,000 and 25,000 homes cannot access DSL bandwidths in excess of 512 kilobytes. These are scattered throughout Scotland, but where local conditions affect a number of premises in the same way, there is some evidence of “clustering”, and the Scottish Executive are aware of around 50 such “clusters” (of 10 or more people).
Coal-Fired Power Stations
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the likely effect of the introduction of new coal power stations on achievement of the target of 20 per cent. of energy from renewable sources by 2020. [174686]
Malcolm Wicks: The Government intend to hold a consultation next year on options for a UK Renewable Energy Strategy to deliver our share of the EU 2020 renewables target, and then publish the strategy in spring 2009.
Our assessment of the various factors which will influence the deployment of renewable energy generation will be included in the consultation document.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many proposed coal-burning power plants are under consideration for approval by his Department; what account his Department takes of likely levels of carbon dioxide emissions from such plants in the approval process; and what estimate he has made of the likely percentage of UK carbon dioxide emissions which will come from such plants in 2020. [174692]
Malcolm Wicks: One. The Environmental Impact Assessment which accompanies any such application includes an assessment of atmospheric emissions and this is taken into account before any decision is taken.
Coal-Fired Power Stations: Kingsnorth
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the number of permanent new local jobs which would be created by the new coal power station at Kingsnorth. [174683]
Malcolm Wicks: E.ON currently employs over 160 staff with approximately another 90 on a contract basis at the existing Kingsnorth power station. E.ON estimates that a similar number of staff will be required for the proposed new coal-fired station.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what is the expected date for installation of carbon capture and storage at the proposed new coal power station at Kingsnorth. [174687]
Malcolm Wicks: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has yet to make a decision on whether to grant consent to construct a new coal-fired station at Kingsnorth. It would therefore be wrong for me to indicate a timing for the installation of carbon capture plant as that could be seen as pre-empting his decision.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the likely level of carbon dioxide emissions from the proposed coal power plant at Kingsnorth; and of the likely proportion of UK carbon dioxide emissions which will come from the plant in 2020. [174688]
Malcolm Wicks: It is estimated by the developer that, working at maximum output, the proposed station would produce 8.06 megatonnes of CO2, compared with 10.9 MTe CO2 from the existing coal-fired station. I have made no estimate of the likely proportion of emissions in 2020, nor has the Secretary of State taken a decision on the planning application.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether he plans to order a public inquiry into the proposed new coal power station at Kingsnorth. [174689]
Malcolm Wicks: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has yet to take a decision on the application, including whether to hold a public inquiry.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether the existing plant at Kingsnorth will operate alongside the proposed new coal power station at Kingsnorth between 2012 and 2015. [174697]
Malcolm Wicks: No. The developer intends that the existing coal fired station will be decommissioned if the new station is consented to and built.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment his Department made of alternative sources of energy which could be used in place of new coal build at Kingsnorth power station. [174698]
Malcolm Wicks: None. The energy sector is market led and companies decide what development applications to bring forward in the context of the Government’s energy policy framework.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will order a public inquiry on the proposal for a new, unabated coal plant at Kingsnorth in Kent. [175426]
Malcolm Wicks: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has yet to take a decision on the application, including whether to hold a public inquiry.
Corporate Hospitality
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many dinners were provided for his Department's Ministers and officials by external solicitors in each of the last seven years. [170554]
Malcolm Wicks: The records of formal business meetings between solicitors and officials from the Department are not held centrally.
With respect to the coal health compensation schemes, we are not aware of any Ministers for whom dinners were provided. Officials have had formal business with solicitors conducted through normal business meetings. I understand that there were occasions when officials involved in such meetings had dinner with some solicitors. However, we do not have comprehensive records of those occasions.
Electricity Generation: Finance
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much funding his Department has allocated to electricity generation projects using (a) tidal power, (b) wave power, (c) wind, (d) biomass, (e) hydro power, (f) gas and (g) coal. [173264]
Malcolm Wicks: The information requested is as follows.
Department expenditure on R and D on renewable energy technologies from 1996 is set out at table 1.
In addition, renewable electricity generation projects receive support under the Renewables Obligation (RO). However, this is not direct Government funding; instead, the RO places an obligation on licensed electricity suppliers to source a specific and annually increasing proportion of their sales from renewable sources.
The RO, along with exemption from the climate change levy, will be worth around £l billion per year in support for the renewables industry by 2010.
The Government are launching a competition to support the first commercial-scale Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project using post-combustion capture on a coal-fired power station in the world.
Key objectives of the demonstration competition in the UK are to deliver a successful demonstration of the full chain of CCS technologies on a power plant at a commercial scale and to demonstrate technology that is relevant and transferable to key global markets,particularly in emerging economies.
Funding outlines for this project will be available in due course.
There is no Government funding allocated to electricity generation projects using gas.
| Table 1: DTI renewable energy R and D expenditure | ||||||
| £ | ||||||
| 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | |
| £ | |||||
| 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004 -05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |