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6 May 2008 : Column 872W—continued


6 May 2008 : Column 873W

Mr. Thomas: The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) is not directly responsible for a public sector pension scheme.

BERR’s accounting officer has responsibility for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) Pension Scheme. Information on rate and cost of employer contributions is contained in the UKAEA Pension Scheme’s resource accounts (since 2000-01).

Departmental Responsibilities

Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what role the relevant shareholder executive has in determining the definition of the public tasks of his Department's agencies. [203464]

Malcolm Wicks: The shareholder executive has no remit for determining the definition of the public tasks of the Department's agencies. However, working with appropriate stakeholders, the shareholder executive ensures that, for each of the businesses in its portfolio, wholly or partly owned by Government, there are clearly articulated objectives reflecting both commercial and non-commercial aims.

Energy: Fees and Charges

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) what steps the Government are taking to assist pensioners and vulnerable adults with rising energy costs; [202028]

(2) what steps the Government are taking to work with energy companies to minimise the effects of rising fuel bills for low income families, pensioners and vulnerable adults; [202029]

(3) what steps the Government plan to take to minimise further rises in energy costs. [202030]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 30 April 2008]: We are concerned about the impact of higher prices on vulnerable people and we continue to encourage energy suppliers to adopt initiatives to restrict price rises for the most vulnerable.

In Budget 2008, the Government said they would like to see the amount energy suppliers spend on social programmes increase to at least £150 million a year over the period ahead. A new voluntary agreement has recently been signed individually with the six major energy suppliers to treble their individual investment on social programmes in the next three years, reaching collective investment of £150 million by 2010-11. This will take spend to £100 million in 2008-09, £125 million in 2009-10 and £150 million in 2010-11.

In addition, winter fuel payments helped keep 11.7 million people warm in winter 2006-07 and Budget 2008 announced an additional one-off payment of £100 to over-80s households and £50 to over-60s households in 2008-09.

The Government do not interfere in commercial pricing decisions in the energy supply markets which are competitive markets. Ofgem’s analysis suggests that recent energy price rises are due mainly to global demand for fossil fuels pushing up wholesale prices. The UK gas market is increasingly influenced by
6 May 2008 : Column 874W
continental gas markets and the Government are supporting the European Commission’s efforts to improve competition in those markets.

Increased gas storage can help to protect the UK gas market from price shocks. The Government are taking steps to improve and streamline the regulatory regimes for constructing gas storage facilities through the Planning and Energy Bills, now before Parliament.

Energy: Skilled Workers

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment the Government have made of current and future skills needs in the (a) nuclear waste industries and (b) energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors. [202513]

Malcolm Wicks: The nuclear industry began a comprehensive review of its skills base in 2002. The Sector Skills Council Cogent became responsible for nuclear in 2004 and used the review to develop the sector skills agreement for the industry. The sector has also developed and launched a national Skills Academy for Nuclear, which will lead on training and skills development. The academy plans, on behalf of employers, to start learners on 1200 apprenticeships and 150 foundation degrees, while providing 4000 shorter courses to re-train existing staff over the next three years. It will also lead on delivery of the passport system to record skills and competencies. The needs for nuclear waste management are fully factored in to the academy's and employers’ plans.

Energy efficiency and renewables are mostly emerging technologies and it is hard to predict the exact timing of deployment. This makes it challenging to plan for skills delivery and, clearly, the production or large numbers of skilled people ahead of or behind demand for their services would be unhelpful. Employers and Sector Skills Councils are in early discussions about skills strategies (possibly leading to Skills Academies) for waste and environmental services, which would cover microgeneration and waste-to-energy, while the wind industry has just started discussions of its own. On the wider front, energy skills are largely generic and transferable, so people trained in the more developed skills programmes (nuclear, process and oil and gas) could provide a resource for renewable energy in the future.

Export Credits Guarantee Department

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what arrangements his Department has in place to monitor the extent to which support for carbon-intensive projects provided by the Export Credits Guarantee Department is consistent with Government policy on climate change. [200335]

Malcolm Wicks: ECGD’s Statement of Business Principles, published in 2000, includes the commitment that ECGD:


6 May 2008 : Column 875W

The implementation of the Statement of Business Principles in relation to environmental issues is described further in ECGD’s Case Impact Analysis Process (CIAP), which is published on the ECGD website:

Fuel Poverty

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2008, Official Report, column 1447W, on fuel poverty, when he expects (a) fuel poverty figures for 2006 and (b) updated regional fuel poverty figures to be published. [202375]

Malcolm Wicks: Fuel poverty figures for 2006 will be available in the sixth annual fuel poverty strategy progress report later this year. Data used to estimate numbers of fuel poor households are derived from the annual English House Conditions Survey (EHCS). Regional figures (at Government office region level) will be published in an annex of detailed tables accompanying the 2006 report.

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much and what proportion of the total administrative cost of the coal health compensation schemes had been spent on (a) contractors and (b) external legal advice as at 31 March 2008. [202714]

Malcolm Wicks: With respect to Coal Health Compensation schemes, the Department’s administrative costs are broken down as follows as at 31 March 2008:

Contractors Costs (£ million) Proportion (%)

Departments Claims Handlers

450

74.7

Records Management

69

11.5

Consultants

32

5.3

Website

4.5

0.7

Other (Technical and special projects)

3

0.5

Department’s legal costs

44

7.3

Total

602.5

100


Other costs with respect to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Vibration White Finger (VWF) that are not part of the Department’s administrative costs are shown in the following table as at 31 March 2008. These are cost that would normally be borne by the plaintiffs but which, for these schemes, the Department has agreed to meet.

£ million
COPD VWF

Claimants’ representatives

994

179

Medical

398

34


6 May 2008 : Column 876W

Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the average settlement has been for (a) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and (b) vibration white finger claims for the 20 solicitors firms who have submitted the greatest number of claims under the Coalminers’ Compensation Scheme. [202746]

Malcolm Wicks: The average settlement for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Vibration White Finger (VWF) by the 20 claimants’ representatives who have submitted the greatest number of claims is shown in the tables as at 20 April 2008:

Average c laims for COPD
Claimants’ representatives Total claims Total claims settled by payment Average damages paid on claims settled by payment (£)

Beresfords Solicitors

80,820

58,393

2,468

Thompsons Solicitors

57,963

43,646

9,182

Hugh James

56,814

39,700

7,275

Raleys Solicitors

48,893

33,749

5,935

Browell Smith and Co.

32,983

23,304

6,436

Avalon Solicitors

32,415

18,537

2,190

Mark Gilbert Morse

25,727

19,635

7,388

Union of Democratic Mineworkers

16,587

13,617

3,116

Barber and Co.

14,092

11,084

2,720

Watson Burton LLP

14,073

12,227

4,345

Graysons Solicitors

12,968

11,233

4,489

Ashton Morton Slack LLP

10,201

6,847

3,054

Randell Lloyd Jenkins and Martin

9,849

7,436

5,680

Delta Legal

9,424

6,635

2,164

TLW Solicitors

8,098

6,734

3,154

Moss Solicitors

7,943

6,083

4,115

Ingrams Solicitors

7,926

5,920

3,493

Birchall Blackburn

7,652

3,851

2,639

Corries Solicitors

7,491

4,559

3,241

Irwin Mitchell Solicitors

6,786

4,599

9,928



6 May 2008 : Column 877W
Average c laims for VWF
Claimants’ representatives Total claims Total claims settled by payment Average damages paid on claims settled by payment (£)

Thompsons Solicitors

21,074

16,303

16,217

Browell Smith and Co.

16,463

11,689

10,644

Beresfords Solicitors

11,620

7,194

10,325

Union of Democratic Mineworkers

11,523

9,896

10,555

Raleys Solicitors

11,279

9,675

12,014

Hugh James

10,638

8,422

11,170

Graysons Solicitors

8,700

7,064

15,448

Moss Solicitors

7,397

4,984

10,411

Watson Burton LLP

5,935

4,941

16,978

Towells Solicitors

5,361

4,157

12,376

Ashton Morton Slack LLP

5,276

3,321

9,306

Kidd & Spoor Harper Solicitors

3,667

3,000

14,135

Atteys

3,358

2,934

14,445

O. H. Parsons and Partners Solicitors

2,702

2,203

10,985

Irwin Mitchell Solicitors

2,364

1,978

14,078

Shaw and Co. Solicitors

2,267

1,992

17,973

Saffmans Solicitors

2,234

1,958

11,689

Kingslegal

1,884

1,573

8,428

Latham and Co. Solicitors

1,844

1,521

15,132

Corries Solicitors

1,677

1,175

22,330


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