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30 Jun 2008 : Column 553W—continued
Copies are also available in the Library for the reference of Members.
Departmental Responsibilities
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many reviews of regulation his Department and its agencies have conducted or commenced since July 2007; and in which areas. [210858]
Mr. McFadden: The Department’s Better Regulation Simplification Plan published in December 2007 followed a detailed review of the administrative burdens imposed by all the regulations for which BERR and its agencies are responsible available at:
Our approach is to review regulation in line with the March 2008 White Paper “Post-legislative scrutiny: the Government’s Approach” by the Office of the Leader of the House.
In addition, the revised Impact Assessment process has increased the focus on post implementation reviews.
Departmental Security
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many departmental identity cards or departmental passes have been reported lost or stolen in the last 24 months in (a) his Department and its predecessor and (b) each of its executive agencies. [210836]
Mr. Thomas: The number of departmental access passes reported lost or stolen in the last 24 months, from 1 June 2006 to date, by BERR and its predecessor, DTI, is 106. There is nothing on the pass which indicates which buildings or organisations it gives access to.
I have approached the chief executives of the Insolvency Service and Companies House and they will respond to you directly.
Letter from Robert Burns, dated 23 June 2008:
The Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, has asked me to reply to you directly on behalf of the Insolvency Service in respect of your question (2007/2946) asking how many departmental identity cards or departmental passes have been reported lost or stolen in the last 24 months by (a) his Department and (b) each of its executive agencies.
The amount of departmental identity cards lost/stolen from the Insolvency Service in the past 24 months is 9.
Letter from Tim Moss, dated 23 June 2008:
I am responding on behalf of Companies House to your recently tabled Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
In the last 24 months Companies House has had 26 staff security passes reported lost; none have been reported stolen.
Departmental Sick Leave
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the average number of days taken as sick leave in his Department and its predecessor was in each of the last five years for which information is available; and if he will make a statement. [213203]
Mr. Thomas: Sickness absence data for the Department of Trade and Industry for 2004, 2005 and 2006-07, including the average number of days taken as sick leave, is published on the public civil service website at:
along with data for other Departments and agencies.
Cabinet Office has introduced a revised format for reporting sickness absence statistics across the civil service. The new format was introduced at the end of March 2008 and the first report covers the calendar year 2007. The first BERR report using this format indicated an average number of working days lost due to sickness absence as 6.1 for the calendar year to December 2007.
The most recent internal departmental data on sickness absence indicates that the average number of sick days taken per person in the year to 30 April 2008 was 5.8.
Departmental Television
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to what premium Sky, digital terrestrial or cable television channels (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies subscribes; and at what cost in the most recent year for which figures are available. [210859]
Mr. Thomas: The Department and its Executive agencies do not subscribe to any premium Sky, digital terrestrial or cable television channels. The Department does subscribe to the COI service which provides links to the House of Commons and House of Lords at an annual cost of £33,000.
Departmental Vetting
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what procedures his Department follows for checking the criminal records of employees; and if he will make a statement. [213124]
Mr. Thomas: All new recruits to BERR are subject to a minimum of the HMG Basic Check. For all employees requiring unescorted access to BERR London offices, there is a check of both spent and unspent criminal records. For staff recruited to posts based outside of London, applicants are required to provide a self-declaration of unspent criminal records. On a random basis, 20 per cent. of these self-declarations are checked.
A check of both spent and unspent criminal records is carried out in support of national security vetting where this is deemed appropriate for specific posts.
Electricity: Research
Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what progress has been made on the commitment in the Gleneagles G8 Climate Change Action Plan to identify and link centres of excellence for the promotion of research and development of electricity grids. [209776]
Malcolm Wicks: The International Energy Agency led the development of this work, with the support of its member states. The Agency held three workshops (November 2006, April 2007 and October 2007) to identify representatives of the major centres of excellence; to share experience; and to discuss the integration of variable renewables (wind, solar, wave, tidal) in electricity grids. The background material, presentations and findings of these workshops are available at:
(ii) http://www.iea.org/Textbase/work/workshopdetail.asp?WS_ ID=314; and
The Agency's final report on the work—‘Empowering Variable Renewables: Options for Flexible Electricity Systems'—is expected to be published at the end of July.
Energy
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent assessment he has made of the potential of decentralised energy networks initiated by local councils to contribute to energy efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions reductions. [212825]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 20 June 2008]: In developing our policies on energy and carbon reduction we have received views and evidence from many organisations of the potential of decentralised energy networks to contribute to energy efficiency or climate change reductions, including those initiated by local councils. The Department has not itself made a comprehensive assessment of the potential of specific schemes initiated by local councils.
Energy: Conservation
Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what progress has been made on the commitment in the Gleneagles G8 Climate Change Action Plan to develop local commercial capacity projects promoting energy efficiency and low-carbon energy sources. [209773]
Malcolm Wicks: There are numerous examples of such projects under the Clean Energy Investment Framework implemented by the World Bank and the other regional development banks. These include:
The Inter American Development Bank's work in Peru which provided financing to support 100 small-scale hydropower plants operated by small local firms and community associations; and in Panama for a long term contract with small firms and community associations for hybrid energy supply scheme solar panels and wind energy to 4,000 households.
The World Bank's “Lighting Africa” initiative has trained over 100 local entrepreneurs and project developers from across 30 countries in Africa to access global carbon finance markets. It helps to scale up the implementation of the off-grid renewable and energy efficient lighting projects in their countries. For grid-based energy efficiency, the World Bank's “Efficient Lighting Initiative” is helping to develop the capacity of local counterparts (electric utilities, energy ministries, bureaus of standards and testing, and the private sector) in Africa, Asia and Latin America on best practices for large-scale deployment of efficient lighting systems (for example, replacing incandescent bulbs with energy saver compact fluorescent lamps—CFLs); and Under the Slovak Sustainable Energy Financing Facility, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has provided a €60 million credit line to four local banks to enable them to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy. This support includes assistance to build capacity in the banks to appraise loan applications and to help sub-borrowers in developing energy audits and rational energy utilisation plans.
Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what progress has been made on the commitment in the Gleneagles G8 Climate Change Action Plan to develop a framework for energy investment to accelerate the adoption of cleaner and more efficient energy technologies. [209777]
Malcolm Wicks: The commitment was addressed to the World Bank and other multilateral development Banks.
To support the World Bank and other multilateral development Banks, the UK has committed over £15 million of grant technical assistance to their clean energy investment frameworks. These funds have been used to help the Banks undertake analytical work on climate change mitigation and adaptation issues, to study the economics of climate change and to undertake a number of low carbon growth strategies.
The multilateral development Banks have prepared a report to the G8 Summit entitled “Joint Multilateral Development Banks Report to the G8 on the Implementation of the Clean Energy Investment
Framework and Their Climate Change Agenda Going Forward”. This report outlines what the Banks have done, individually and collectively, to make progress on several important aspects of the climate change agenda. The report describes each of the Banks' overall strategies and gives examples of specific programmes, approved by their Executive Boards which, in aggregate, amount to a global clean energy investment framework.
The multilateral development Banks have set out an investment programme of new energy lending of at least $117.7 billion between their financial years 2008-10 under the clean energy investment framework. This includes increased investment on energy access and low carbon technologies. They also commit to scaling up adaptation investments.
We have also been working with the multilateral development Banks, a number of other donor government, developing countries and civil society to establish the new climate investment funds: These funds are designed to help developing countries with low carbon and climate resilient development. The multilateral development Banks have estimated that if a minimum of $5 billion is provided under the new multilateral climate investment funds they could leverage an additional. $24 billion of additional programmes and projects.
European Chemicals Agency
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the (a) role and (b) budget is of the European Chemicals Agency. [214167]
Mr. Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
The role of the European Chemicals Agency is set out in European Regulation 1907/2006 on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). It draws on its permanent staff and the member state experts on its various committees to manage the technical, scientific and administrative aspects of REACH. It also has a role in providing advice and guidance to industry and ensuring consistent application of the regulation across the European Union. Its budget for 2008 is approximately €66 million.
Exports: Peacekeeping Operations
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many of the single individual export licences issued in 2007 with respect to (a) Afghanistan and (b) Iraq had an end user which was a private military or security company. [212938]
Malcolm Wicks: Although information on end users is required for the assessment of Standard Individual Export Licence applications, the Government do not hold information by categories of end user.
The Government publish detailed information on export and trade control licences issued, refused and revoked, including the overall value and a summary of the items covered by these licences, in their Annual and Quarterly Reports on Strategic Export Controls. This does not however include information on end users, which is confidential.
The Government's Annual Report for 2007 has not yet been published, but the Quarterly Reports covering 2007 have been. The Government's Annual Reports, published since 1997, are available from the House of Commons Library, and all the Annual Reports from 2003 onwards, plus the Quarterly Reports covering 2007, are available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website at:
Fuel Poverty: Leeds
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what his estimate is of the number of people in (a) Leeds West constituency and (b) Leeds metropolitan district who are eligible for a social tariff from energy suppliers. [213331]
Malcolm Wicks: The information requested is not available. Energy suppliers voluntarily provide a range of assistance to households vulnerable to fuel poverty, including social tariffs. In April the Government secured the individual agreement of the six largest energy suppliers to increase their collective spend on social assistance to £150 million a year by 2010-11. This will be spent on a number of initiatives including social tariffs, rebates and trust funds.
Industry: Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what progress has been made on the commitment to the Gleneagles G8 Climate Change Action Plan to develop partnerships with industry to reduce the greenhouse gas emission intensity of major industrial sectors. [209772]
Malcolm Wicks: We have supported the International Energy Agency’s Gleneagles programme of work, which included developing partnerships with industry. The Agency has produced a number of publications and workshops, including a IEA Chief Technology Officer Roundtable in January this year; and workshops on energy efficiency and CO2 reductions in (a) the cement industry; (b) the pulp and paper Industry; (c) petrochemical products; (d) ammonia production; and (e) the aluminium industry.
The G8, China, Korea and India, have recently established the new International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Co-operation, which includes the development of public-private partnerships in key energy consuming sectors.
Domestically, we have various initiatives in place to encourage industry to use energy and resources more efficiently. For example, the Manufacturing Advisory Service offers help and advice to small and medium-sized enterprises to improve their operational efficiency and promote innovation through best practice and improving resource efficiency in both energy and waste. The Carbon Trust offers support for the development of low carbon technologies across the whole innovation process, as well as advice to business on reducing their carbon emissions.
Microgeneration
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what research his Department has commissioned on consumer understanding of the technology options and financial support for the installation of domestic microgeneration systems in the last three years. [211216]
Malcolm Wicks: A consortium comprising of BERR, regional development agencies, non-Government organisations and elements of the microgeneration industry commissioned research to provide a robust evidence base to inform the future direction of microgeneration policy. The research investigates consumer behaviour and the impact of various policy options on demand, models future uptake of microgeneration to 2050, and considers the likely impact of targets on uptake. It is available at:
This updates earlier research on the potential of microgeneration commissioned by DTI and published in 2005.
The Department has also undertaken general research in 2006, 2007 and 2008 on awareness of and attitudes to renewable energy.
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