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11 Mar 2008 : Column 243W—continued
The second, published in November 2007, under the auspices of the North Sea Basin Task Force, focused not just on the sinks, but also on the pipe work infrastructure needed to transport the CO2 from its source to its storage site. It is available at:
I have received no representations on this matter.
Estimates of costs for transporting carbon dioxide from Kingsnorth to any storage site would be a matter for the developer.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the likely effect on regeneration projects and housing developments of the construction of the proposed power station at Kingsnorth in Kent. [190321]
Malcolm Wicks: No representations or assessment have been received or made.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) what the timescale is for (a) demolition, (b) site remediation and (c) decommissioning of surplus operational areas in relation to the existing power station at Kingsnorth in Kent; [190322]
(2) what representations he has received, and from whom, on the (a) demolition, (b) site remediation and (c) decommissioning of surplus operational areas in relation to the existing power station at Kingsnorth in Kent. [190323]
Malcolm Wicks: The Department will require the existing station to be decommissioned as soon as practicable after the new station is commissioned should the Secretary of State be minded to grant consent. Representations have been made by various organisations and individuals regarding remediation and these comments will be taken into account before any decision on the application is taken.
Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment the Government has made of the likely effects of air pollution arising from the proposed Kingsnorth power station on (a) the local population and (b) protected habitats and species. [189926]
Malcolm Wicks: An assessment of atmospheric emissions is contained in the Environmental Statement which accompanied the application. It will be for the Environment Agency to set limits which will ensure that the risk to health and flora and fauna is as low as is reasonably practicable.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the effect of any change in storage needs for ash on the design and build process for the proposed coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth. [189684]
Malcolm Wicks: No assessment has been made as no ash is to be stored on site.
Coal Fired Power Stations: Parking
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what representations he has received from (a) industry groups, (b) trade unions and (c) environmental non-governmental organisations on the (i) layout and (ii) size of the parking area of the proposed coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth and its likely effect on local traffic patterns; and what discussions he has had on the matter with the Secretary of State for Transport. [189718]
Malcolm Wicks: No such representations have been received and no discussions on these matters have taken place with the Secretary of State for Transport.
Coal Fired Power Stations: Planning Permission
Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what factors he will take into account in considering the application for consent for a coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth; and what national policy considerations he considers relevant to the application. [189921]
Malcolm Wicks: The Secretary of State will take into account all matters, including national policy, that he considers relevant to his consideration of the application.
Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to which Government departments and agencies his Department has referred the application for consent for a coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth; and what comments and advice have been sought in each case. [189922]
Malcolm Wicks: Listed as follows are the Government Departments and Agencies which the Department consulted:
Department for Transport
Department for Food and Rural Affairs (Energy Markets)
Civil Aviation Authority
Ministry of Defence
Environment Agency (Kent area office)
Natural England (Kent team)
Government office for the south-east (planning casework)
London Thames Gateway Development Corporation
Health and Safety Executive—Hazardous Installations Directorate (east and south-east regional office)
All comments and advice received will be taken into account before any decision on the application is taken.
Coal Fired Power Stations: Pollution
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) what representations he has received from archaeological groups on investigations to determine the nature and extent of existing land or waterway contamination prior to the construction and operational phases of new coal power station development in the UK; [189630]
(2) what representations he has received from industry groups on investigations to determine the
nature and extent of existing land or waterway contamination prior to the construction and operational phases of new coal power station development in the UK; [189638]
(3) what representations he has received from industry groups on the creation of environmental mitigation areas during the construction and operational phases of any new coal power station development; [189643]
(4) what representations he has received from (a) environmental non-governmental organisations and (b) industry groups on mitigation measures designed to safeguard the presence of birds during the construction and operational phases of any proposed new coal power stations; [189645]
(5) what representations he has received from (a) industry groups and (b) environmental non-governmental organisations on mitigation measures designed to safeguard the presence of reptiles during the construction and operational phases of coal-fired power station development in the UK. [189673]
Malcolm Wicks: It is for those who wish to make such representations on any new coal-fired power station to do so when an application is submitted.
Coal Fired Power Stations: Public Participation
Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what opportunities he plans to provide for public participation in the consenting process for the proposed Kingsnorth coal-fired power station. [189877]
Malcolm Wicks: The application and accompanying Environmental Statement were published in accordance with the requirements of the Electricity (Applications for Consent) Regulations 1990 (SI 1990 No 455) and the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 200 (SI 2000 No 1927). The notices contained details of how anyone who wished to make representations could do so.
In addition, anyone who wishes to make representations is free to do so and any such representations will be taken into account before any decision on the application is taken. The Secretary of State will have to consider whether or not to use his discretion to call for a public inquiry to be held into the application.
Coal: Pollution Control
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent representations he has had from environmental non-governmental organisations on clean coal technologies. [189700]
Malcolm Wicks: Officials from my Department have regular discussions with representatives from environmental NGOs covering a range of energy policies, including clean coal technologies.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps he has taken to reduce his Department's carbon dioxide emissions in the next financial year. [191017]
Mr. Thomas: My Department has recently undertaken energy audits across its estate. Projects identified to reduce carbon emissions include using lighting controls more effectively and piloting the use of LED technology. Staff are encouraged to use video conferencing and to consider how they travel to meetings. Bike loans are also available to staff and environmental awareness campaigns are regularly conducted.
Direct Mail: Unsolicited Goods and Services
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the volume of unsolicited commercial advertising mail received by UK citizens from companies registered outside the UK; and what steps he plans to take to reduce such mailings. [191375]
Malcolm Wicks: The Government consider direct-mail advertising to be a legitimate method for marketing goods and services and have no plans to prohibit such mailings within the UK.
The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) runs schemes such as the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) that provide UK consumers with a choice to reduce the amount of unsolicited mail they receive, though the MPS does not cover mailings from overseas companies.
In 2007, the DMA received just over 500 complaints about unsolicited mailings from overseas companies. The majority of these complaints were in relation to perceived scams, which were referred to the Office of Fair Trading for investigation. In such cases, the OFT will investigate and where appropriate will have such mailings stopped.
Only 2 per cent. of these complaints were from consumers who had found that the MPS had not stopped an unsolicited approach from an overseas company. Such mailings are not covered by the MPS, as the company and product have no link with the UK. In such cases customers had found themselves on a mailing list as a result of past contact with the company, in which case they are advised to contact the respective company direct to ask for their details to be removed from the mailing list.
Electricity: Prices
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will take steps to prevent utility companies from doubling the charge for off-peak electricity used in night storage heaters. [191786]
Malcolm Wicks: The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) is responsible for regulating gas and electricity supply, including prices. Ofgem recently announced that it was launching an investigation into the operation of energy supply market. It will be open to Ofgem to decide whether additional regulatory action is required.
Energy: Coal
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will make a statement on the contribution of supercritical coal to the UK’s projected 2015 energy mix. [189697]
Malcolm Wicks: On current projections we anticipate that between 2,000 and 3,000 MW of new supercritical coal capacity will be built by 2015. There are significant uncertainties in such estimates.
Energy: Complaints
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will take steps to ensure that the new complaint handling standard for gas and electricity consumers reflects the views of consumers outlined by Ofgem in “Consumers Views on Complaint Handling” published in November 2007 on the accuracy and transparency of information provided by suppliers; and if he will make a statement. [191332]
Mr. Thomas: The Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 provides for Ofgem to set complaint handling standards for its regulated service providers. The report "Research on Consumers' Views on Complaint Handling" was commissioned by Ofgem specifically to feed into its decisions on prescribing complaint handling standards, as is made clear in the introduction to the report. Ofgem has also undertaken a public consultation on its proposals on this issue. It may be expected that these exercises will contribute to the formulation of the standards.
Fireworks: Noise
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will prohibit the use of noise category three fireworks. [191950]
Mr. Thomas: Category three fireworks are the only consumer fireworks that already have a maximum noise limit, set at 120 decibels.
As part of the implementation of the EU’s Pyrotechnics Directive all consumer fireworks will eventually have maximum noise limits, these limits are currently under consideration by the European Standardisation body CEN.
Fireworks: Sales
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what plans the Government has for future restrictions on the sale of fireworks; and if he will make a statement. [191877]
Mr. Thomas: We are currently considering how the implementation of the EU’s Pyrotechnic Directive in the UK will interact with and require amendment of our national regulations on fireworks.
Fuel Poverty: Greater London
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he plans to produce figures for levels of fuel poverty in London and London boroughs for (a) 2004, (b) 2005, (c) 2006 and (d) 2007. [190524]
Malcolm Wicks: Figures for number of households in fuel poverty in London for 2004 and 2005 are already available. The figures for 2005 are available in table 29 of the publication “Fuel Poverty 2005: Detailed Tables” (http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file42705.pdf), an annex to the latest strategy report. The following table shows the situation for 2004 and 2005.
| Estimated number of fuel poor households in London | |
| Number | |
Corresponding figures for 2006 will be published later this year, and those for 2007 will be published next year.
Sub-regional estimates of fuel poverty were most recently produced for 2003. In addition, fuel poverty features as an indicator within the new performance framework for local government. This requires local authorities to measure progress in tackling fuel poverty through the improved energy efficiency of households inhabited by people claiming income-based benefits. Results of this new indicator are likely to be available for the first time late in 2008.
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