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21 Apr 2008 : Column 1753W—continued
VisitBritain: Property
Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the average cost per square metre of (a) stand alone VisitBritain offices outside the UK and (b) VisitBritain offices incorporated in other Government offices abroad was in the latest period for which figures are available. [184311]
Margaret Hodge: As part of the strategic review of tourism support, VisitBritain is leading a discussion across the public and private sectors about the best use of the British Government's overseas offices and infrastructure in promoting the tourism industry. The review will include a full consideration of best value in the use of these assets, to that end.
In advance of the review's findings, VisitBritain has advised DCMS that the costs of its stand-alone offices outside the UK are on average £17.63 per square foot; and that the average costs in the 11 locations where VisitBritain rents office space at embassy, high commission, or British Council premises are £30.71 per square foot. However the average cost figures do not reflect the particular circumstances of particular locations and it is therefore difficult to make accurate cost comparisons.
Furthermore additional charges for administration and offices services are made in respect of British Council, high commission, and embassy locations, and these are not included in the above average figures.
World Heritage Review
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when his Department plans to publish the World Heritage Review; and what the cost of the review is expected to be. [198393]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 2 April 2008]: My Department will publish a public consultation on the World Heritage Review shortly. The public consultation will include a paper by PricewaterhouseCooper on the costs and benefits on World Heritage Site status; the cost of this work was £94,734.38 (including VAT). Additional staff costs have fallen to my Department but these are included in overall running costs and are not separately recorded.
Zurich Financial Services
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department paid to Zurich Financial Services in each year since 1997; and what the purpose of the payment was in each case. [199605]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department's records show there were no payments made to Zurich Financial Services in any year since 1997.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Advertising Standards Authority: Complaints
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many complaints were made against the Advertising Standards Authority in relation to the Mail Preference Service in each year since 2000. [191369]
Mr. McFadden: No complaints have been made against the Advertising Standards Authority in relation to the Mail Preference Service.
Biofuels
Ms Hewitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what plans he has to promote the use of (a) bio-diesel and (b) other non-fossil fuels in the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [198686]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.
The Government introduced the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) on 15 April 2008. The RTFO requires a proportion of the road fuel supplied in the UK to comprise renewable fuels such as biofuels. The level of the obligation is 2.5 per cent. in 2008-09 and the eligible biofuels under the obligation includes biodiesel, bioethanol and biogas.
Biofuels: Carbon Emissions
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what (a) evidence he has evaluated and (b) what research he has commissioned, on the whole life carbon emission consequences of the replacement of fossil fuels with biofuels for power generation; and if he will make a statement. [200068]
Malcolm Wicks:
There has been significant research in this area. DTI/BERR commissioned work up to
2003 from both Sheffield Hallam University and Imperial College. This aimed to produce a set of baseline energy and carbon balances for a range of electricity, heat and transport fuel production systems based on biomass feedstocks. The latest report is “Carbon and Energy Balances for a range of Biofuels Options” (URN 03/836) and can be viewed on the BERR website at:
From 2003, this work was taken forward by the Environment Agency, where the Biomass Environmental Assessment Tool (BEAT) was developed three years ago to provide lifecycle emissions data for a variety of biomass feedstocks and plant, compared to fossil alternatives. In response to the recommendations of the Biomass Task Force, DEFRA and the Environment Agency jointly updated the BEAT to make it widely available and BEAT2 is now almost ready for release. Meantime present information can be seen at:
http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&;Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=14484&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=nf0434&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10#Description
This analysis also underpinned the development of the Biomass Strategy in 2007 ref. Working Paper 1—Economic analysis of biomass energy (URN 07/950) on the BERR website:
Elsewhere, the International Energy Agency under their Bioenergy Task 38 are investigating greenhouse gas balances of biomass fuelled systems:
and the UK Energy Research Centre has carried out life-cycle analysis of renewable energy systems:
The University of Aberdeen has also carried out work in this field:
and the Carbon Trust are presently looking at embodied emissions associated with per unit of energy from biomass, contrasting that to fossil fuel emissions:
This is an area that will continue to be studied as the Government develop their Renewable Energy Strategy.
Carbon Emissions
Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the contribution to the Government’s target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by between 26 per cent. and 32 per cent. by 2020 to be made by the development of new nuclear power stations. [199466]
Malcolm Wicks: New nuclear power stations may not begin generating or contributing to our carbon reduction targets much more before 2020. We see new nuclear power stations as having a significant role to play from around 2020 onwards, in particular in reaching our goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by at least 60 per cent. by 2050.
Cars: Industry
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the likely future performance of the UK car industry; and if he will make a statement. [196768]
Malcolm Wicks: 2007 was a very successful year for the UK automotive industry with vehicle output up 6 per cent. on 2006. Over 1.75 million vehicles and around three million engines were manufactured in 2007, with 77 per cent. of cars and 61 per cent. of commercial vehicles being exported. Nissan’s Sunderland plant, Honda manufacturing facility at Swindon, and MINI at Oxford produced record number of cars in 2007. At Solihull and Halewood, Land Rover achieved another record, with almost 235,000 vehicles manufactured. On 26 March 2008, Ford announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell Jaguar Land Rover to Tata Motors, providing the assurances needed to deliver the best results for the Jaguar Land Rover businesses going forward.
These activities provide a solid foundation for the fixture. BERR will continue to work closely with the UK automotive industry to ensure its sustainability and success.
Government are engaged on a number of initiatives aimed at building on its success and improving its performance. For example, in Budget 2008, Government announced a new £40 million research programme to support the development of low-carbon vehicle technology in response to the King Review of Low Carbon Cars.
Certification Officer: Labour Turnover
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many people have (a) resigned and (b) retired from the Office of the Certification Officer in each year since it was established. [198495]
Mr. McFadden: Since the establishment of the Office of the Certification Officer in 1976 there have been five Certification Officers (COs), including the present incumbent. The first four COs left office on retirement.
Certification Officer: Manpower
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many people have been employed by the Office of the Certification Officer in each year since it was established. [198494]
Mr. McFadden: The following table shows the number of people employed by the Office of the Certification Officer in each year since it was established. The Certification Officer holds no records for 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1981.
| Number of Staff | |
| (1) Reporting year for Certification Officer changed from calendar to financial year in 1999-2000 (2) No records available. | |
Construction: Manpower
Mr. Hepburn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) what estimate he has made of the number of construction operatives who have the employment status of (a)
workers, (b) employees and (c) genuine self-employed; [199084]
(3) what estimate he has made of the number of construction operatives (a) in direct employment and (b) registered as self-employed. [199088]
Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
HM Revenue and Customs believes that there could be up to 200,000 workers in the construction industry who are incorrectly being treated by their engagers as self-employed. We estimate that the consequent Exchequer loss currently is around £350 million per annum. No estimates of the Exchequer loss for earlier years have been made.
Information from the Office for National Statistics(1) for the 4(th) quarter of 2007 estimates that there are around 1,450,000 employees and around 850,000 self-employed working in the construction industry.
(1) From the Labour Force Survey
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, collects no specific data on workers within the construction industry.
Energy: Fees and Charges
Albert Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent comparisons his Department has made between the cost to domestic energy users of (a) mains gas and (b) liquefied petroleum gas; and if he will make a statement. [199432]
Malcolm Wicks: Comparison of the costs to heat a property are used in the modelling of fuel poverty and are sourced from the Sutherland Comparative Domestic Heating Cost tables, available through
The latest figures are from October 2007 and show the following estimates of the “costs of space and water heating for an average size three bedroom house”:
| £ | ||||||
| Heating fuel | Type of heating system | South-east | South-west and Wales | Midlands | Northern England | Scotland |
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