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7 May 2008 : Column 973W—continued
Where a supplier is not listed there has been no expenditure. The Department has not made any payments to Christine Lee and Co. solicitors and Dean and Dean solicitors.
London Development Agency: Mandate Communications
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what payments the London Development Agency made to Mandate Communications and AS Biss in each of the last five years; on what dates; and for what purpose in each case. [202250]
Mr. McFadden: My Department does not hold records of the payments that London Development Agency makes to individual companies.
Migrant Workers: Pay
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps his Department takes against employers who offer housing to immigrant workers and deduct more than the legally permissible offset from their salaries as payment. [200081]
Mr. McFadden: Under the national minimum wage legislation, accommodation is the only benefit in kind which can count against the minimum wage. The amount that can count towards minimum wage pay is set by Government, and is currently £4.30 per day, rising to £4.46 in October 2008.
Arrears are due when an employer has not paid minimum wage as a result of a failure to properly apply the accommodation offset. We are strengthening our enforcement provisions through the Employment Bill, including providing for a penalty for all employers found to have underpaid their workers and a fairer system of calculating arrears.
Motor Vehicles: Fuels
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the number of litres, to the nearest million, of vehicle fuel sold in the UK in each of the last five years. [203813]
Malcolm Wicks: HM Revenue and Customs publish monthly clearances data (quantities released for consumption) on their website, http://www/uktradeinfo.com/index.cfm?task=bulloil. Their latest figures are in the table as follows.
| Consumption of Road Fuel | ||
| Million litres | ||
| Motor Spirit | DERV | |
| Note: Biofuels are not included Source: HM Revenue and Customs | ||
OECD: Seoul
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform which Ministers will attend the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s internet governance meeting in Seoul in June 2008. [202895]
Mr. Thomas [holding answer 1 May 2008] : A UK Minister will not be attending the OECD Ministerial Conference on the Future of the Internet Economy in Seoul. The UK delegation will be led by Mr. David Hendon, Head of Business Relations, BERR.
Ordnance Survey
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the primary role of Ordnance Survey’s Shareholder Executive is. [203429]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 6 May 2008]: The Shareholder Executive is responsible for advising Ministers from the Department for Communities and Local Government directly on the management of their shareholding and financial interests in Ordnance Survey, and managing the relationship with Ordnance Survey on all shareholder and financial issues.
Post Offices
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will place in the Library a copy of the datasets on road distance to a post office or sub-post office for lower layer super output areas provided by the Post Office to assist the compilation of the Index of Deprivation for (a) 2007 and (b) 2004. [202822]
Mr. McFadden: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many post office branches there were in each local authority area in England in each year since 1996-97. [202966]
Mr. McFadden: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Post Offices: Closures
Daniel Kawczynski:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what
proportion of post offices proposed for closure are run from (a) leasehold and (b) freehold properties. [202867]
Mr. McFadden: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Renewable Energy: Housing
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what maximum grant was available to individual households under the low carbon buildings programme for (A) solar photovoltaics, (b) wind turbines, (c) small hydro, (d) solar thermal hot water, (e) ground source heat pumps, (f) biomass room heaters and stoves and (g) wood-fuelled boiler systems in (i) 2006 and (ii) 2007. [202192]
Malcolm Wicks: The maximum grants available to individual households under the low carbon grants scheme in 2006 and 2007 were as follows:
The grant levels from May 2007 to date are as follows:
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what maximum grant will be available to individual households under the low carbon buildings programme for (a) solar photovoltaics, (b) wind turbines, (c) small hydro, (d) solar thermal hot water, (e) ground source heat pumps, (f) biomass room heaters and stoves and (g) wood-fuelled boiler systems in (i) 2008, (ii) 2009 and (iii) 2010. [202193]
Malcolm Wicks: From May 2007 to date under the low carbon buildings programme household stream the current maximum grant per household is £2,500. The specific grant levels are set out on the low carbon buildings programme website:
There are no plans to change the grant cap or the grant levels. The programme has been extended to June 2010 or until funds are exhausted whichever comes sooner. We will continue to monitor uptake to the domestic stream going forward.
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what his Department's expenditure on grants for households under the low carbon buildings programme for (a) solar photovoltaics, (b) wind turbines, (c) small hydro, (d) solar thermal hot water, (e) ground source heat pumps, (f) biomass room heaters and stoves and (g) wood-fuelled boiler systems was in (i) 2006 and (ii) 2007. [202194]
Malcolm Wicks: Under the low carbon buildings programme household stream the total grants paid in 2006 was £1,012,021 and £5,218,922 in 2007.
Further information and breakdown of grants paid for each technology is available on the low carbon buildings programme website:
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many grants were allocated to households by his Department under the low carbon buildings programme for (a) solar photovoltaics, (b) wind turbines, (c) small hydro, (d) solar thermal hot water, (e) ground source heat pumps, (f) biomass room heaters and stoves and (g) wood-fuelled boiler systems was in (i) 2006 and (ii) 2007. [202195]
Malcolm Wicks: Under the low carbon buildings programme household stream the total value of grant committed in 2006 was £4,560,706 and £2,662,791 in 2007.
Further information and breakdown of grants paid for each technology is available on the low carbon buildings programme website
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what his Department's budget for household grants under the low carbon buildings programme for (a) solar photovoltaics, (b) wind turbines, (c) small hydro, (d) solar thermal hot water, (e) ground source heat pumps, (f) biomass room heaters and stoves and (g) wood-fuelled boiler systems is for (i) 2008 (ii) 2009 and (iii) 2010. [202196]
Malcolm Wicks: The Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP) Phase 1 has a £36 million budget over three years. We did not set yearly allocations or specific amounts of funding for individual technologies.
The programme has been extended to June 2010 (or until funds are exhausted whichever comes sooner) with the remaining £10 million budget covering the range of technologies.
Justice
Convictions: Genetics
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will take steps to review the cases of those convicted of serious crimes on the basis of low template DNA evidence; and if he will make a statement. [201981]
Maria Eagle: The Government have no plans to review convictions involving the use of low template DNA evidence. A review of low template DNA techniques, commissioned by the Independent Forensic Science Regulator and led by Professor Brian Caddy, Emeritus Professor of Forensic Science at Strathclyde university, was published on 11 April. The overall finding of the review is that the science supporting the delivery of low template DNA profiling is sound. Any individual who alleges that he or she is the victim of a miscarriage of justice may apply to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, an independent body, for it to consider the case. The Commission has the power to refer any cases where there is a real possibility that the conviction or sentence will not be upheld to the appropriate court, which will treat the reference as a new appeal.
Courts
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will consider the merits of introducing a mechanism to measure levels of public confidence in the court system. [203313]
Maria Eagle: The British Crime Survey (BCS) has been used to measure public confidence in aspects of the Criminal Justice System since 2001. In October 2007, new questions were introduced into the survey which will provide information about public confidence in the fairness and effectiveness of the courts.
Crime: Victims
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 31 March 2008, Official Report, column 555W, on crime: victims, what form the recruitment exercise for a commissioner for victims and witnesses took; what steps his Department has taken to make an appointment since 2006; and what future options for the role of commissioner are under consideration. [203163]
Maria Eagle: The recruitment exercise for the role of Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses was carried out according to the code of practice for public appointments and used an executive recruitment agency (Veredus) who specialise in public appointments. This included public advertisements in relevant publications and an executive search targeting individuals perceived to be of the right calibre for the role.
We are still undertaking analysis to inform options for the role. The Office For Criminal Justice Reform is consulting with a number of relevant stakeholders (including the Victims Advisory Panel) and will be putting advice up to Ministers in due course.
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