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5 Nov 2008 : Column 570W—continued
Energy and Climate Change
Carbon Emissions: Scotland
Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of the £400 million to be invested in low-carbon technologies will be allocated to projects and initiatives in Scotland in the period 2008 to 2011. [229989]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The UK Environmental Transformation Fund (ETF) has a budget of £400 million on the 2008-11 spending round. The capital funding will generally be allocated to the best proposals on an open call basis, so the exact proportion that is invested in Scotland will depend on the nature of applications which are received.
Many, although not all, ETF schemes are open to Scottish applicants, including the Low Carbon Buildings Programme, the Marine Renewables Deployment Fund, the Hydrogen Fuel Cells and Carbon Abatement Technologies Demonstration Programme, the Biomass Capital Grants Scheme, and the Offshore Wind Capital Grants scheme.
For areas of ETF activity where responsibility is devolved, which includes bio-energy, anaerobic digestion, and Energy Saving Trust and Carbon Trust activities, schemes are restricted to activities in England. The Carbon Trust and the Energy Saving Trust have separate funding arrangements with devolved Administrations.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) how many of his Department’s staff have been (a) redeployed to his Department and (b) newly recruited; [230620]
(2) what the staffing level is of his Department in its first year. [230618]
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) how many staff are employed by his Department (a) on a full-time equivalent basis and (b) on a headcount basis; [229119]
(2) how many staff in his Department were previously employed by (a) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (b) the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and (c) other Government departments on (i) a full-time equivalent and (ii) a headcount basis. [229121]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The new Department (DECC) will consist of posts taken from the existing Departments for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and from Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (DEFRA). The detail is still being worked on, but the Department of Energy and Climate Change will comprise roughly 900 posts, approximately 500 from BERR and 400 from DEFRA. Once the detail has been agreed, the information on numbers of posts will be a matter of public record.
Departmental NDPBs
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what funding has been agreed with each of his Department's non-departmental public bodies for the period 2008-2011. [228658]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change has yet to agree funding for the period 2008-11. Discussions are under way with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, to determine what funding for non-departmental public bodies will transfer to the new Department. These discussions are expected to be completed in time for reflection in the spring Supplementary Estimates.
Departmental Public Bodies
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change for which (a) regulators, (b) inspectorates, (c) executive agencies, (d) non-departmental public bodies and (e) public corporations his Department (i) has responsibility and (ii) will become responsible in the next 12 months. [231254]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Cabinet Office paper in the House Library ‘Machinery of Government: economy, business, climate change, energy and environment’ sets out this information. There are ongoing negotiations to determine the overall functions of the Department and which additional regulators, inspectorate, executive agencies and NDPB might become the responsibility of the Department. Once these are completed they will be a matter of public record.
Departmental Recruitment
Mr. Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many vacant posts for which he is responsible were advertised in each of the last three years; and at what cost. [230591]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: DECC has only been in existence since 3 October 2008. Discussions on the final resourcing of the Department are not yet complete.
Electricity
Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the required investment in the electricity transmission infrastructure in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK in the next (i) five, (ii) 10 and (iii) 15 years; and if he will make a statement. [229991]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: In support of the Renewable Energy Strategy consultation exercise BERR commissioned advice from independent consultants Sinclair Knight Merz to provide an initial high level assessment of the costs, benefits and issues to be addressed in accommodating high levels of renewable electricity generating capacity into the electricity transmission and distribution system in Great Britain. This analysis was published alongside the consultation document and is available at
Investment in electricity transmission infrastructure is ultimately a matter for the owners and operators. National Grid and the Scottish transmission owners, Scottish and Southern Energy and ScottishPower, are currently conducting transmission investment studies to identify the likely scenarios and associated investment costs to deliver the transmission capacity required in 2020 and beyond, with wider industry input through an Electricity Networks Strategy Group. A report is expected to be finalised by the end of January 2009.
Electricity Generation
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what periods of outage occurred in each of the principal power stations in Great Britain because of (a) planned maintenance and (b) unplanned reasons in the last 12 months; what the lost generating capacity was in each case; and if he will make a statement. [230680]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 27 October 2008]: The management and performance of individual power stations is a commercially confidential matter for electricity generating companies. Table 5.10 in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics, available at
shows the aggregated load factors achieved by plants of different generating technology types in the years 2003-07.
Electricity Generation: Scotland
Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of electricity generating capacity in Scotland in (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 15 years time; and if he will make a statement. [229990]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Government do not make separate estimates for future levels of generating capacity in different parts of Great Britain. Scenarios for future electricity generating capacity in the UK are set out in the Updated Energy Projections of February 2008, available at
These projections do not, however, take account of any policy changes that may be made in pursuance of the Renewables Energy Strategy, which will be published next spring.
Energy: Prices
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the gap between (a) wholesale market prices and (b) retail prices for home energy fuels; and if he will make a statement. [228791]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: According to the recent Ofgem probe, wholesale gas and electricity costs make up about 65 per cent. of the retail prices of gas and electricity. Changes in wholesale energy prices of gas and electricity tend to be passed through to retail prices with a lag. Retail pricing structures of companies are commercial decisions by the energy supply companies and the Government do not interfere in commercial pricing decisions in the energy supply markets.
Fuel Poverty: Hemel Hempstead
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many people were in fuel poverty in Hemel Hempstead constituency in the latest period for which figures are available. [229656]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The most recent year for which sub-national estimates of fuel poverty are available is 2003. The data for fuel poverty levels for 2003 come from the Fuel Poverty Indicator dataset—available online at:
In 2003, there were around 2,000 households in the constituency of Hemel Hempstead living in fuel poverty.
Fuel poverty is not measured at an individual level so these data may not reflect the current situation.
Fuel Poverty: Pembrokeshire
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of households in Pembrokeshire in fuel poverty. [229260]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The responsibility for estimating fuel poverty in Wales lies with the Welsh Assembly Government.
The most recent geographical split of fuel poverty information in Wales comes from the Living in Wales survey, 2004. This shows that in 2004, there were around 42,000 fuel poor households in mid-Wales, the region
that contains Pembrokeshire. Information on fuel poverty at a local authority level for Wales is not currently available.
The full 2004 fuel poverty report can be found here:
Heating: Housing
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of households in (a) Wales and (b) Pembrokeshire that have kerosene heating. [229259]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The information requested would be the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government. Information on the number of households using kerosene heating is not currently available.
Miners: Pensions
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will reform the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme to ensure that the entire surplus is used for the benefit of former mineworkers. [229738]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 23 October 2008]: The guarantee and surplus sharing arrangements which have existed for the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme since 1994 strike the best balance between protecting the interests of the scheme membership and the taxpayer. There are no plans to seek to reform them.
National Grid
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will list in date order the generating companies which have secured places in the queue for National Grid connections; how much grid capacity is reserved for each; what the source is of electricity generation in each case; and if he will make a statement. [230679]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 27 October 2008]: Currently there are around 50GW in total of generation with offers of connection to the grid.
National Grid publish a list of all offers of connections to the grid on their Transmission Entry Capacity (TEC) Register. This is available on their website
The TEC register includes specific projects, grid capacity and dates for completion but is not broken down by generation type. National Grid do not currently publish a breakdown of the projects by generation type.
We do not hold information on each generation type of the projects with offers of grid connection, although the DECC Re Stats planning database
lists renewable generation projects by type of renewable energy.
Natural Gas: Stroud
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many and what proportion of households in Stroud constituency are not on the mains gas network; and what plans he has to facilitate access to households which are not on it. [228696]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department does not hold detailed information about communities and households that are not connected to the mains gas network. The Design and Demonstration Unit within the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform previously developed a model for providing connections by packaging existing funding sources and using independent gas transporters to provide connections. That model was instrumental in persuading Ofgem to agree to incentivise the large gas networks to provide connections to deprived communities. This incentivisation is available to the networks under the new 2008-13 Gas Distribution Price Control, and I very much hope that they will take the opportunities it offers.
Nuclear Power
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what (a) meetings and (b) briefings he has had on nuclear power; with whom; on what dates; and if he will post on his departmental website copies of all briefings he has received on (i) nuclear and (ii) other power generation sources since his appointment. [228641]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have had introductory meetings on a range of matters concerning our new portfolios which includes nuclear. As such briefs and presentations provide advice and information to Ministers, the Department will not be publishing them.
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will review the (a) conduct and (b) content of the second round of consultation on nuclear power policy in summer 2007; and if he will post on his Department’s website the statements issued by his Department on the judgement of the Market Research Standards Board on the market research which informed the consultation. [230133]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Last year’s consultation on the future of nuclear power in the UK was a full and transparent consultation, lasting 20 weeks. We published a comprehensive consultation document, had a dedicated website, ran press advertising, held stakeholder events and commissioned Opinion Leader to run deliberative events with the public.
The decision by the Market Research Standards Board referred to Opinion Leader’s conduct in relation to the deliberative events, one part of our consultation. I have published on our website the response the Department issued on this matter.
Radioactive Waste: Waste Management
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proposals the UK put forward to the meeting of the Executive Committee of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) on 1 October 2008 in respect of the establishment of a working group on radioactive waste management; and what consideration the GNEP has given to the concept of regional repositories for radioactive waste. [229960]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The GNEP Executive Committee was informed of a proposal by the UK to establish a working group on radioactive waste management. My right hon. Friend, the then Minister for Energy said that the GNEP should have a credible strategy for the management of radioactive waste and this strategy should cover operational waste produced during power station operation; decommissioning waste; and any spent fuel for which no reprocessing is planned.
The concept was well received, although some GNEP partners requested more time to consider if there is a need for a separate working group and whether the timing is right to establish a new working group now. A workshop has been organised by GNEP in December to discuss this and recommend the best way forward.
With the UK proposal for a working group on radioactive waste management still under consideration, GNEP has yet to consider any substantive aspect of radioactive waste management including regional repositories.
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