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15 Sep 2008 : Column 2098W—continued
Post Office Card Account: Sandwell
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of state benefits were paid into Post Office card accounts in Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council area in the last year for which figures are available. [223233]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 10 September 2008]: As at March 2008, around 32,000 state benefit and pension payments were being made into Post Office card accounts in Sandwell metropolitan borough council area. This represents around 27 per cent. of all state benefit and pension payments made.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Alcoholic Drinks: Prices
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what research his Department has undertaken into the relationship between alcohol pricing and problem drinking. [221312]
Mr. Thomas: None. The Department of Health has, however, commissioned a review of the relationship between alcohol pricing and alcohol consumption and harm. The findings of the first phase of that review were published alongside the Department of Health’s consultation document on further action in respect of the national alcohol strategy. Both documents can be found on the Department of Health’s website at:
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what advice he has received on the compliance with (a) UK and (b) EU competition law of minimum pricing for a unit of alcohol. [221313]
Mr. Thomas: In considering possible measures aimed at reducing alcohol related harms, the Government are taking account of the need to ensure any such measures are compatible with UK and EU law.
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what research his Department has undertaken into the effects that minimum pricing of alcohol would have on people on low incomes who drink responsibly. [221314]
Mr. Thomas: In considering possible measures aimed at tackling alcohol related harms, the Government are, of course, taking account of the likely impact of such measures and would consult publicly before taking decisions on any detailed proposals in this area.
Biofuels
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many (a) domestic and (b) non-domestic biomass installations there are. [219667]
Malcolm Wicks: There is no comprehensive listing of the number of installations due to the range and diversity of biomass use and applications. However the best data available for biomass power generation come from the renewables obligation certificate (ROC) database compiled by Ofgem and available from Ofgem's renewables obligation (RO) website at
Biomass projects extracted from the ROC list are as follows. These tables do not, however, include sewage gas and landfill gas operations, nor those installations not claiming ROCs.
| Table 1: Electricity production from stand-alone conventional biomass combustion | ||
| Plant name | Installed capacity (kW) | Generation in 2006 (MWh) |
| Table2: Electricity production from biomass and waste using anaerobic digestion | ||
| Plant name | Installed capacity (kW) | Generation in 2006 (MWh) |
| Table 4: Electricity from industrial CHP | ||
| Plant name | Installed capacity (kW) | Generation in 2006 (MWh) |
Overall figures for the actual usage of bioenergy in the UK are available from the Digest of UK Energy Statistics on the website at
Data for 2007 will be published on 31 July 2008.
The low carbon buildings programme also has information on the grants it has given (which include biomass) at
For further general information on biomass activity in the UK
http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/B997E80E-CB94-4B75-BF46-ECEBEBFB948A/0/AllEnergy_May07.pdf
Suppliers and products (available through Government grant schemes):
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