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3 Mar 2008 : Column 2224W—continued
Coal-Fired Power Stations: Kingsnorth
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) whether his Department has sought advice from the Department for Communities and Local Government on the application of criteria for calling in planning applications and referring such applications to a planning inspector to the application for consent for a coal fired power station at Kingsnorth, Kent; [189221]
(2) what criteria he plans to use in deciding whether to call a public inquiry before determining the application for a coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth, Kent; [189222]
(3) what response he has made to representations by Medway Council in connection with the proposed Kingsnorth power station on (a) a public inquiry, (b) combined heat and power capacity at the plant and (c) available land for future carbon capture and storage facility. [189316]
Malcolm Wicks:
My Department is aware of the criteria used for calling in planning applications. However, the Kingsnorth application falls to be
determined not under the normal planning regime, but under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989, and as such it is for the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to decide whether to use his discretion to call for a public inquiry in view of the representations he has received.
There are no criteria laid down for calling a discretionary inquiry.
We will address all the decision on Medway council’s representations in any decision that is taken, including whether or not to hold a public inquiry.
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will ask E.ON UK to provide a technical assessment of the feasibility and likely costs of retrofitting its proposed Kingsnorth coal-fired power station with carbon capture technology and of the availability of suitable storage sites and suitable transport sites. [189223]
Malcolm Wicks: In deciding whether to approve E.ON’s planning application for Kingsnorth power station under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 Ministers will be considering a range of possible conditions, including whether—and if so in what terms—there should be readiness for future carbon capture.
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) what assessment he has made of the impact of the effect of likely changes in sea-levels over the next 30 years on the proposed new coal power station at Kingsnorth, if built; [189313]
(2) what estimate he has made of the likely cost to the public purse of measures to manage the effect on the proposed Kingsnorth power station, if built, of likely changes in sea-levels over the next (a) 30 and (b) 40 years; [189314]
(3) what estimate he has made of the carbon cost of the expected volume of emissions from the proposed Kingsnorth power station, if built, between (a) 2012 and 2020 and (b) 2021 and 2050 based on the Government’s shadow cost of carbon. [189315]
Malcolm Wicks: The Department has made no such assessment or estimates.
Companies House WebCHeck Website
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will make a statement on the opening times of the Companies House WebCHeck website. [189302]
Mr. Thomas: Companies House’s WebCHeck service is available from Monday to Saturday 7 am to 12 midnight UK Time. It is planning to increase availability to include Sundays by December 2008.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many times Companies House’s WebCHeck website has experienced technical difficulties in each month of the last three years. [189303]
Mr. Thomas: A table detailing the number of technical difficulties each month in the last three years experienced by Companies House’s WebCHeck follows.
| Number of incidents | |
Defence Export Services Organisation
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many former Defence Export Services Organisation personnel are (a) seconded and (b) due to be seconded to his Department. [187762]
Mr. Thomas: There are currently around 83 staff on loan to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform from other Departments (loan being the term used to refer to secondment within the civil service). Information is not available on how many have previously worked in DESO.
Details of the number of staff to be transferred from the Ministry of Defence on 1 April as a consequence of the transfer of responsibility for defence export support will be finalised in the coming weeks.
Departmental Retirement
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many staff in his Department retired on grounds of stress-related illness in each of the last three years. [187501]
Mr. Thomas: No staff have retired from the Department on the grounds of stress-related illness within the last three years.
Departmental Sick Leave
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what percentage of working days lost by his Department’s staff was attributed to stress-related conditions in the most recent year for which figures are available. [187875]
Mr. Thomas: The percentage of working days lost by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly the Department of Trade and Industry), including UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and the Office of Manpower Economics (OME), attributed to stress-related conditions for the period January 2007 to December 2007 is 15 per cent. (2,367 days lost due to stress-related conditions out of a total of 15,676 sick days over the same period).
Stress-related conditions include the following: anxiety, stress, depression and other psychiatric illnesses.
Departmental Telephone Services
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform which (a) 0800, (b) 0845 and (c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public are used by (i) his Department and (ii) agencies which report to his Department. [186181]
Mr. Thomas: From the central records available, the “08” telephone services administered by the Department for public use are as follows:
| Department/Agency | |
The agencies which report to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform have been asked to provide separate written responses.
Departmental Translation Services
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what documents his Department, associated agencies and non-departmental public bodies translate for people in the UK who do not speak English. [187982]
Mr. Thomas: In accordance with the Department’s “Race Equality Scheme 2007-08”, available at
BERR documents may be made available in languages for people in the UK who do not speak English to support appropriate access to information, at the Department’s discretion and subject to demand. Examples of documents published or planned in other languages include employee rights information and leaflets on the digital television switchover.
A listing of BERR’s currently available publications can be found at:
Information on translation of documents by the Department’s agencies and non-departmental public bodies is held by the bodies themselves. It is not held centrally. I am asking agency chief executives to write direct to the hon. Member, and am arranging for a copy of the list of non-departmental public bodies to be placed in the Library of the House for the use of the hon. Member.
Devolution: Carbon Emissions
Dr. Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what discussions his Department has had with the devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to co-ordinate action on carbon emissions reduction. [187458]
Malcolm Wicks: DBERR worked with the devolved Administrations over the development of the 2007 Energy White Paper, which sets out the UK Government’s energy strategy. The role of the devolved Administrations in energy policy is set out in chapter 9 of that document. DBERR actively engages with the devolved Administrations on issues on which they have specific responsibilities or interests. In the last year, these have included discussions on the EU’s integrated climate change and energy policy, renewables, including the renewables obligation offshore wind policy and the offshore energy strategic environmental assessment, electricity grid issues, carbon capture and storage, the feasibility study for power generation in the Severn estuary (with the Welsh Assembly Government), the Heat Call for Evidence, the establishment of the Environmental Transformation Fund, and of course on the Energy Bill. Moreover, DBERR contributes to the work of bodies such as the Carbon Trust and the Energy Saving Trust which are charged with reducing emissions across the UK.
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