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22 July 2008 : Column 1140W—continued
Regional Development Agencies: Fraud
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the losses to each regional development agency from fraud committed by staff of her Department in each year since the agencies were established; and if she will make a statement. [214634]
Mr. McFadden: BERR does not make estimates of losses but performs an annual exercise to record actual instances of discovered fraud, details of which are supplied to HM Treasury for inclusion in their Annual Fraud Report. Discovered levels of fraud in BERR and, previously in DTI, are extremely low.
Moreover I am not aware of any instance where fraudulent action by a BERR or DTI member of staff has resulted in a loss to a Regional Development Agency.
Regional Development Agencies: Rural Areas
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps he has taken to ensure that regional development agencies have a clear strategy for development in rural areas, with particular reference to remote locations. [217665]
Mr. McFadden: The Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 states explicitly that a regional development agency's purposes apply as much in relation to the rural parts of its area as in relation to the non-rural parts of its area. The Act requires a Regional Development Agency (RDA) to formulate and keep under review a strategy in relation to its purposes and to have regard to the strategy in exercising its functions. This strategy should reflect the distinctiveness of the different parts of the region, including rural areas, identifying challenges and opportunities for these geographic areas.
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has also issued guidance obliging the Regional Development Agencies to ensure that their new corporate plans for 2008-11 tackle rural needs as a cross-cutting requirement. They have to demonstrate that they are ensuring that all sub-regions and localities within each region, including both rural and urban areas, can achieve their potential, consistent with the Government's objectives on creating economic opportunities for all and tackling spatial concentrations of deprivation.
Regulation: Standards
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform which (a) statutory regulators and (b) inspectorates are covered by the Regulators' Compliance Code. [220540]
Mr. McFadden: The functions to which the Regulators' Compliance Code applies are set out in the Legislative and Regulatory Reform (Regulatory Functions) Order 2007 (SI 2007 No. 3544), which is available on the OPSI web-link at:
Broadly the statutory regulators to which the Compliance Code applies are set out in Part 1 of the Schedule to that Order, and there are 30 of them. Part 2 covers the
regulatory functions exercisable by a Minister of the Crown and Part 3 covers the regulatory functions exercisable by local authorities.
Renewable Energy
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with reference to his Department's June 2008 consultation paper on renewable energy strategy, what proportion of the UK's renewable energy target of 15 per cent. by 2020 he expects to be met from (a) Northern Ireland, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales. [219006]
Malcolm Wicks: The European Commission's proposed target of 15 per cent. renewable energy in the UK by 2020 does not specify where in the UK renewables should be located. We are working with all the Devolved Administrations in developing our Renewable Energy Strategy, but we have not yet reached a view on the proportion of the 2020 target that will be met from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps his Department is taking to take account of affordability in developing its renewable energy strategy which do not make costs for domestic or business users unaffordable. [219397]
Malcolm Wicks: We are consulting this summer on how to meet the UK's share of the 2020 renewable energy target in the most cost-effective way.
Royal Mail: Pensions
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2008, Official Report, column 257W, on Royal Mail: pensions, what the value of the investment fund established to support the Royal Mail pension plan was on (a) 31 March 2008 and (b) 30 June 2008. [219779]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 17 July 2008]: The value of the escrow account put in place to support the Royal Mail pension fund was £1,071 million on 31 March 2008 and £l,089 million on 30 June 2008.
Seals: Animal Products
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the (a) amount and (b) value of each category of seal product (i) imports and (ii) exports was in each of the last five years. [217676]
Mr. Thomas: The following table sets out information on trade in seal fur and products:
| Total UK imports | Total UK exports | |||
| £ | kg | £ | kg | |
A detailed breakdown of these figures from 2003-07 are as follows:
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