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7 Feb 2008 : Column 1437W—continued
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Coal
Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the average cost was of all imported coal in (a) 1982, (b) 1992 and (c) 2007. [183726]
Malcolm Wicks: The price of all imported coal in £/tonne is as follows:
| £/tonne | |
| All imported coal | |
| Source: BERR. Data in current terms | |
Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the average cost was of (a) a barrel and (b) a tonne of coal equivalent of North Sea oil in (i) 1982, (ii) 1992 and (iii) 2007. [183727]
Malcolm Wicks: The price of North Sea Oil in £ per barrel and coal in £/tonne is as follows:
| North Sea oil £/barrel | Coal £/tonne | |
| Source: Oil—BP Statistical Review; coal—BERR Quarterly Energy Prices Table 3.1.3. Data in current terms. | ||
Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the average cost was of (a) a barrel and (b) a tonne of coal equivalent of imported oil in (i) 1982, (ii) 1992 and (iii) 2007. [183728]
Malcolm Wicks: The price of imported oil in £/barrel and coal in £/tonne is as follows:
| Imported oil £/barrel | Coal £/tonne | |
| Source: BERR, Quarterly Energy Prices Table 3.1.3. Data in current terms. | ||
Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the average cost was of a tonne of coal equivalent of North Sea oil in (a) 1982, (b) 1992 and (c) 2007. [183729]
Malcolm Wicks: The price of North Sea gas in p/kWh and coal in £/tonne is as follows:
| North Sea gas coal | ||
| p/kWh | £/tonne | |
| Source: Gas—BP Statistical Review, coal—BERR Quarterly Energy Prices Table 3.1.3. Data in current terms. | ||
Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the average cost was of a tonne of coal equivalent of imported gas in (a) 1982, (b) 1992 and (c) 2007. [183730]
Malcolm Wicks: The price for gas at the NBP (UK delivery) balancing point in p/kWh and for coal in £/tonne is as follows:
| NBP gas p/kWh | Coal £/tonne | |
| Note: Although gas was imported into the UK from Norway in 1982 and 1992, it was under long term contracts, the details of which are not public. Some imported gas is supplied under long-terms contracts that may or may not be related to the NBP price. Source: gas - Heren; coal - BERR Quarterly Energy Prices Table 3.1.3. Data in current terms. | ||
Coal Fired Power Stations: Kingsnorth
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what representations he has received on the proposed new coal power station at Kingsnorth. [174690]
Malcolm Wicks: I received 25 objections direct during the statutory period, including objections from Greenpeace and Scottish Power. A website campaign has led to more than 9,000 objections to the local planning authority and over 1,000 objections to the Prime Minister. The local planning authority, Medway council, decided not to object to the proposed development and notified me of their view at the beginning of the new year.
Coal: Power Stations
Bill Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the average cost of imported coal per tonne for use in power stations and coking plants in (a) 1982, (b) 1992 and (c) 2007. [183725]
Malcolm Wicks: Data for coal used in power generation, and for imported coal used in power generation for 2006, are as follows:
| £/tonne | ||
| Coal for power generation | Imported coal for power generation | |
| Source: BERR, Quarterly Energy Prices Table 3.2.1 | ||
Departmental Equality
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much has been spent by his Department (a) in total and (b) on staff costs on promoting equality and diversity in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and how many people are employed by his Department for this purpose. [173836]
Mr. Thomas: The Department is committed to equality of opportunity and fair treatment for all staff and to ensuring that diversity considerations are actively built into all the services we provide to the public and the business community.
Specifically, the Department’s Diversity Strategy includes diversity activities and training, budgeted at a cost of £480,000 in total for the current financial year. In addition there are four members of staff within Human Resources and our Policy Advice team involved specifically but not exclusively in the promotion of diversity and equality. The average staff cost relating to these staff over the past year is £98,520.
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many (a) press and (b) communications officers his Department employed in each year since establishment. [182528]
Mr. Thomas: The number of press officers employed by the Department of Trade and Industry since 1997 are as follows:
| Press officers | |
The DTI was reorganised in July 2007. The number of press officers employed by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform since 2007 are as follows:
| Press officers | |
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much his Department paid in bonuses to press and communication officers in each of the last 10 years; and what the (a) highest and (b) lowest such bonus was in each of those years. [182712]
Mr. Thomas: -Bonuses and non pay rewards (including tax and NI for non-pay rewards) paid to press officers in the DTI were:
| £ | |||
The Department does not hold financial records for bonuses prior to 2003.
Departmental Whistleblowers
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many allegations of victimisation for whistleblowing have been reported to his Department by departmental staff since 6th June 2006. [162451]
Mr. Thomas: There have been no allegations of victimisation for whistleblowing reported under the Department's whistleblowing procedures by departmental staff since 6 June 2006.
Departmental Telephone Services
Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many 0845 or similar cost telephone numbers are used by (a) his Department and (b) related departmental bodies for public access to services. [179010]
Mr. Thomas: My Department administers one 0870 telephone number and seven 0845 telephone numbers for public use.
I have asked the chief executives of the Insolvency Service and Companies House to reply directly to the hon. Member. Copies of their letters will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Letter from Stephen S peed, dated 7 February 2008:
The Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has asked me to reply to you directly on behalf of The Insolvency Service in respect of your question (2007/948) asking how many 0845 or similar cost telephone numbers are used by (a) his Department and (b) related departmental bodies for public access to services.
The Insolvency Service has three 0845 lines. These are: the Insolvency Service Enquiry Line, the Redundancy Payments Helpline and the Enforcement Hotline.
Letter from Gareth Jones, dated 7 February 2008:
I am responding on behalf of Companies House to your recently tabled Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Companies House’s Contact Centre telephone number is 0870 3333636.
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