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14 Jan 2008 : Column 976W—continued
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2007, Official Report, column 1073W, on the political levy, according to records held by (a) his Department and (b) the Certification Officer, which unions (i) provide a reduced subscription fee for members who opt-out of the political fund and (ii) collect the political levy as a separate charge from the main union membership subscription. [177693]
Mr. McFadden: Neither the Department nor the Certification Officer holds the information requested.
Political Levy: Northern Ireland
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what guidance (a) his Department and (b) the Certification Officer for Great Britain has produced on whether revenue from a trade union’s political fund raised in Northern Ireland may be spent by the same trade union in another part of the UK for political purposes, where the trade union has branches in both Northern Ireland and other parts of the UK. [177600]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 10 January 2008]: Neither the Department nor the Certification Officer has produced guidance on this specific issue.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether revenue raised from trade union political levies in other parts of the UK may be spent in Northern Ireland, where a union has branches in both Northern Ireland and other parts of the UK. [177603]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 10 January 2008]: Revenue raised from the trade union political levies in other parts of the UK may be spent in Northern Ireland, where the union has branches in both Northern Ireland and other parts of the UK.
Post Offices: Closures
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on what date he or his ministerial colleagues informed the Post Office Ltd that it could not issue recommendations in the run up to the local elections in England due to the operation of purdah. [175661]
Mr. McFadden: Following discussion with Post Office Ltd over a number of months, the company was formally advised on 5 November of the particular application to the Network Change Programme of the principles set out in the Cabinet Office guidelines relating to public consultations in the period preceding local elections.
Postal Services: Iraq
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) how many packages were sent to UK armed forces personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan over the Christmas period; [177578]
(2) how many packages were sent to UK armed forces personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan in each two week period in 2007. [177579]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I have been asked to reply.
Packages are recorded by weight in kilograms and are not individually counted.
Over the Christmas period (November and December 2007), BFPO dispatched a total of 284,871 kg of mail to Operation Telic (Iraq) and Operation Herrick (Afghanistan).
The monthly total volumes (shown in kilos) of mail dispatched to Operation Telic and Operation Herrick are as follows:
| Telic | Herrick | Total | |
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) what the cost was of sending packages during the free post period to UK armed forces personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan in (a) 2007 and (b) each of the last three years; [177580]
(2) what estimate he has made of the cost of extending free post throughout the year to UK armed forces personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. [177581]
Mr. McFadden: This is an operational matter for Royal Mail. I have therefore asked Adam Crozier, chief executive of Royal Mail to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Public Telephones
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many public telephone boxes there (a) are and (b) were 12 months ago. [177738]
Mr. Timms: I understand from the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), that on UK streets there are 61,796 public telephone boxes as at the end of quarter three 2007-08. 12 months ago the number at the end of quarter three 2006-07 was 62,942. These numbers exclude managed payphones at public places like airports and railway stations.
Radioactive Wastes: Land
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether those operating nuclear power plants are liable for the identification and remediation of radioactive contaminated ground within the sites they operate. [177745]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 10 October 2008]: Under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965, nuclear site license holders are liable for the identification and remediation of radioactive contaminated land within the sites they operate. This is enforced by the Health and Safety Executive via the site licensed conditions.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the Government's total liability for remediation of radioactively contaminated land in the UK. [177746]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 10 January 2008]: Under the various Radioactive Contaminated Land Regulations 2007, covering England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, where civil liability for a nuclear incident is regulated by the Nuclear Installations Act 1965, the Government are liable, in certain circumstances, for the remediation of land outside a nuclear site contaminated above a certain threshold by nuclear matter.
We currently know of no such radioactively contaminated land which would trigger these regulations. The likelihood of an event of this nature arising in the future is sufficiently remote and its possible nature so variable, that no advance estimates or advance provisions for it can be made.
In addition, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has plans in place to decommission and clean-up the nuclear sites in its ownership. This will involve future remediation of areas of land that may be contaminated to much lower levels than the threshold of the above regulations. The NDA strategy for the decommissioning and clean up of the 20 civil public sector nuclear sites designated to the NDA is available to download from the NDA website (NDA Final Strategy 2006). Also available for download are the 2006-07 Lifetime Plan Site Summaries, which outline activities required to take the site from the present to the assumed or agreed site end state.
The information given relates to civil nuclear sites only. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence has responsibility for defence nuclear sites.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the total cost of contaminated land remediation following the planned decommissioning of existing nuclear power stations. [177807]
Malcolm Wicks:
Under the various Radioactive Contaminated Land Regulations 2007, covering England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland., where civil liability for a nuclear incident is regulated by the Nuclear Installations Act 1965, the Government
are liable, in certain circumstances, for the remediation of land outside a nuclear site contaminated above a certain threshold by nuclear matter.
We currently know of no such radioactively contaminated land which would trigger these regulations. The likelihood of an event of this nature arising in the future is sufficiently remote and its possible nature so variable, that no advance estimates or advance provisions for it can be made.
In addition, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has plans in place to decommission and clean-up the nuclear sites in its ownership. This will involve future remediation of areas of land that may be contaminated to much lower levels than the threshold of the above regulations. The NDA strategy for the decommissioning and clean up of the 20 civil public sector nuclear sites designated to the NDA is available to download from the NDA website (NDA Final Strategy 2006). Also available for download are the 2006-07 Lifetime Plan Site Summaries, which outline activities required to take the site from the present to the assumed or agreed site end state.
Renewable Energy
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what (a) fiscal and (b) other incentives are available to developers of (i) large-scale and (ii) small-scale renewable energy electricity generation projects. [175689]
Malcolm Wicks: There are a number of fiscal incentives to encourage renewable generation: renewable generators are exempt from the climate change levy; microgenerators are exempt from income tax on any renewable obligation certificates (ROCs) which they sell and electricity which they export; there is a reduced rate of VAT on microgeneration technologies; and homes meeting the zero carbon criteria are exempt from stamp duty up to £500,000.
In addition to these, the renewables obligation is the Government's key mechanism for encouraging new renewable generating capacity. The RO is a market-based mechanism, which requires electricity suppliers to source an increasing percentage of their electricity sales from eligible sources of renewable energy. Suppliers can meet their obligation by presenting renewables obligation certificates (ROCs) as evidence of renewable generation, by paying a penalty (the ‘buyout’ price), or a combination of the two. The price of a ROC is subject to the market and is affected by various other factors. The buyout price, which rises in line with inflation each year, caps the costs of the system to suppliers and thus ultimately electricity consumers. Generators of all sizes can claim ROCs for each megawatt of electricity they produce.
We recognise that additional help is needed to encourage small-scale renewable generation, and have a number of beneficial measures in place to provide support. For those wishing to install microgeneration technologies, we provide grants under the low carbon buildings programme, to contribute to the costs of installation.
We are taking steps to ensure that excess electricity generated by small operators can be sold to the grid for adequate reward; an important incentive for
microgenerators. The Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act gives powers to the Secretary of State to require that energy suppliers offer a tariff to their own customers for exported electricity from microgeneration units. We are working closely with the energy suppliers to encourage voluntary action, and all major suppliers are now committed to offering some form of export tariff. Some smaller companies too, like Good Energy, offer a rate for all renewable energy generated —9p/kWh—regardless of whether it is used on site or not. We will keep under review the need to exercise the power to require action.
We are committed to ensuring that generators are aware of the benefits that are available to them, and can access them readily. Ofgem are currently examining the prices paid to green homes when they sell electricity back to the grid. In considering this they will also be looking at how easy it is for green homes to access this information and determine the value of the excess electricity that they sell. We will consider the outcomes of this work and the need for further action. In other areas, a number of steps have been taken to make it easier for smaller generators to access ROCs and we have recently published a joint BERR/Ofgem consultation on a range of initial proposals to make it easier for smaller distributed generators to interact with the wider electricity system and realise the value of the electricity that they generate.
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what policy decisions have been taken on renewable energy as a result of recommendations made by the Renewables Advisory Board since November 2002. [177840]
Malcolm Wicks: The Renewables Advisory Board (RAB) was set up in 2002 in order to provide independent advice to Government on renewable electricity.
Governmental policy decisions are not based purely on the advice of the RAB, though they do contribute to consultations relating to renewable energy and have produced a number of reports advising Government on renewables policy. I would refer you to the RAB website for further details: http://www.renewables-advisory-board.org.uk/index.htm.
As I announced on 10 December 2007, the remit for RAB has also been expanded with specific reference to the delivery of the EU 2020 target of 20 per cent. renewable energy in the UK.
Renewables Obligation: Carbon Emissions
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of (a) the total quantity of emissions of carbon dioxide which have been avoided as a result of the renewables obligation to date and (b) the expected quantity of such emissions in each year between 2008 and 2020. [175696]
Malcolm Wicks: The information is as follows:
(a) Electricity generated from renewable sources, on a renewable obligation basis are given in chapter 7.5 of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2007. Assuming
that renewable electricity displaces gas generation, with a carbon factor of 95.7 MtC per GWh additional generation, estimated carbon saved is given in the following table.
Finalised figures for 2007 are not currently available.
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