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12 Nov 2008 : Column 1262W—continued
Leader of the House
Departmental ICT
Paul Holmes: To ask the Leader of the House how many (a) memory sticks, (b) laptop computers, (c) desktop computers, (d) hard drives and (e) mobile telephones were (i) lost by and (ii) stolen from her Office in each year since 1997. [234097]
Chris Bryant: There have been no further losses following the answer I gave on 3 November 2008, Official Report, column 14W, namely that since June 2007 one laptop has been reported stolen from the Leader of the House of Commons Office. The laptop was used to update the office website and did not contain any personal data or other sensitive information. No data have been lost.
Following a machinery of government change, information prior to 2006-07 is available only at disproportionate cost.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Employers' Liability: Databases
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will make it his policy to create a database to which all employers are required to submit the details of their liability insurance. [228808]
Jonathan Shaw: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, as matters to do with employers’ liability compulsory insurance (ELCI) sit with the DWP. I understand that your inquiry is about ELCI and not public liability insurance. At present, where a potential claimant who has been injured or made ill through their work and is unable to identify the employer’s insurer to claim against, they may use the employers’ liability code of practice tracing service. The code of practice, which was launched on 1 November 1999, is a voluntary code operated by the insurance industry, which requires signatories to retain historical records of insurance policies for 60 years.
Tracing employers’ liability insurance policies is complex and we know that the historical records of some insurers are incomplete. However, the Government are committed to improving this situation and we are working with stakeholders to improve the effectiveness of the tracing service, ensuring that we are in a position where we can be confident that every effort has been made to trace this information. For this reason, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to consider positive measures within the industry to address this issue. I understand that the ABI are looking into the feasibility of a database.
In the meantime, DWP will continue to monitor the success rate of employers’ liability insurance policy tracing through the Employers’ Liability Code of Practice Review Body, and support improvements to the code, in order to build further upon the successes in tracing employers’ liability insurance policies.
Energy and Climate Change
Carbon Emissions Reduction Target
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many fuel-standardised kilowatt hours of energy savings were carried forward from phase two of the energy efficiency commitment to the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target. [234710]
Joan Ruddock: Ofgem's report ‘A Review of the Energy Efficiency Commitment 2005-2008’, published in August 2008, states that the energy suppliers carried over 57 fuel standardised lifetime tera-watt hours (or 57,000,000,000 fuel standardised lifetime kilowatt hours) from energy efficiency commitment 2 to the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target.
Carbon Emissions: Departmental Responsibilities
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what work is expected to be carried out by the Special Representative of the Prime Minister on Carbon Trading; and if he will make a statement. [231600]
Joan Ruddock: The Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Carbon Trading, my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith (Mark Lazarowicz), was appointed on 6 October this year.
The Special Representative has been tasked with promoting the development of a global carbon market, helping to ensure that London remains at the forefront of these developments, as well as advising the Government on the potential for linking international emissions trading schemes.
He is responsible for engaging in dialogue with the European Commission, the private sector, financial institutions, other Governments and others interested in the development of the global carbon market internationally.
He is also responsible for maintaining a dialogue with UK carbon market players in the financial sector and wider economy.
Further tasks will be developed in consultation with the Secretary of State.
Carbon Emissions: Government Departments
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much (a) carbon dioxide and (b) greenhouse gasses were emitted by (i) by Government departments and agencies and (b) the UK (A) with allowance made for trading and (B) with no allowance made for trading in each of the last 15 years. [231793]
Joan Ruddock: Greenhouse gas emissions from the Government estate are monitored by the Sustainable Development Commission. The estimates do not take account of emissions trading and are restricted to carbon dioxide emissions. The reports can be found at:
UK greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide emissions are published as National Statistics. These can be found on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) website at:
The impact of emissions trading in respect of progress towards the UK targets is explained in DEFRA’s January Statistical Release “UK Climate Change Sustainable Development Indicator: 2006 Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Final Figures”. A more detailed breakdown of these results can be found at:
Climate Change
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the timetable is for the development and implementation of the first climate change risk assessment; and if he will make a statement. [231680]
Joan Ruddock: We are currently in the process of conducting a scoping study on the climate change risk assessment, this will be completed by February 2009. The climate change risk assessment will commence after this date and is expected to be completed by the end of 2010, including a post-project consultation period.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the timetable for the development and implementation of the cost-benefit analysis of climate change adaptation is; and if he will make a statement. [231681]
Joan Ruddock: The scoping study for the cost-benefit analysis is currently underway, and will be completed by February 2009. The main study will start in summer 2009 and will be published by 2012.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the level of access to project credits under (a) the provisions of the Climate Change Bill and (b) EU effort-sharing arrangements. [234109]
Joan Ruddock: The information is as follows.
(a) The Bill already requires the Government to
“have regard to the need for UK domestic action on climate change”
when considering how to meet the UK’s targets and carbon budgets. As required in the Bill, we have asked the independent Committee on Climate Change to advise on the appropriate balance between action at domestic, European and international level, for each carbon budget.
In addition, the Government have now tabled an amendment to the Bill which would require a limit to be set on the purchase of credits for each budgetary period in secondary legislation, subject to the affirmative procedure, and taking into account the Committee’s advice.
(b) The current proposal is that, on the basis of sharing a 20 per cent. EU reduction target, member states have an annual project credit allowance in the years 2013-20 equal to 3 per cent. of their non-emissions trading scheme emissions in 2005.
Energy Efficiency Commitment
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many fuel-standardised kilowatt hours of energy savings were carried forward from phase one to phase two of the Energy Efficiency Commitment. [234643]
Joan Ruddock: Ofgem's report ‘A Review of the Energy Efficiency Commitment 2005-2008’ published in August 2008 states that the energy suppliers carried over measures equivalent to 36 fuel standardised lifetime tera-watt hours (or 36,000,000,000 Fuel Standardised lifetime kilowatt hours) from EEC1 to EEC2.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Power Stations
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the greenhouse gas emission reductions that will be made from a 1990 baseline within the domestic (a) EU and (b) UK power sectors under (i) a 20 per cent. and (ii) a 30 per cent. EU effort-sharing arrangement. [234113]
Joan Ruddock: The EU greenhouse gas (GHG) effort sharing decision is focused on emissions not covered by the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS). It therefore does not cover emissions from the power sector which are included under the EU ETS.
The EU has emissions reduction targets, with a proposed 20 per cent. unilateral reduction, from 1990 GHG emissions, by 2020 and the commitment to deliver a 30 per cent. reduction in the context of an international deal. Phase III (2013-20) of the EU ETS limits emissions from industrial sectors and seeks to meet these targets.
Home Energy Efficiency Scheme: Hertfordshire
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much was provided in Warm Front grants in (a) Hertfordshire and (b) Hemel Hempstead in the latest year for which figures are available; and how many families in each location received a grant in that year. [234576]
Joan Ruddock: The following table illustrates the number of households assisted and cost of measures delivered through the Warm Front grant, in (a) Hertfordshire and (b) Hemel Hempstead between 1 April 2007 and 30 March 2008.
| Households assisted | Cost of measures (£) | |
Children, Schools and Families
Adoption
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many adoptions have broken down in each of the last five years; [234667]
(2) what the average age was of children of each ethnicity at time of adoption in the last year for which records are available. [234583]
Beverley Hughes: Information on the number of adoptions which have broken down is not collected centrally. When an adoption breaks down and a child returns to be looked after, for reasons of confidentiality, the local authority concerned will give the child a new identity code, which means that we cannot link post-adoption records to pre-adoption records.
The average age for children of each ethnicity at the time of adoption, for those adopted during the year ending 31 March 2008, is shown in the following table.
| Average age at adoption by ethnic origin for looked after children adopted during year ending 31 March 2008 , England | ||||||
| Years:months | ||||||
| All children | White | Mixed | Asian | Mixed | Other | |
| Source: SSDA903 return on children looked after. | ||||||
Children: Databases
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of children who should have their personal details shielded on the ContactPoint database; how many children have been identified as children who will have their details shielded; and if he will make a statement. [234642]
Beverley Hughes: The decision to shield a child record will be taken on a case-by-case basis, based on the level of threat posed if information about their whereabouts becomes available.
Local authorities are currently engaging with their local partners to ensure that they understand the purpose of ContactPoint and the reasons for shielding. They will be working with those local partners to identify which of their records require shielding in accordance with the Children Act 2004 Information Database (England) Regulations 2007.
Local authorities are also currently undertaking a local shielding analysis using a structured questionnaire which asks each local authority and local partner “What is your estimate of the number of child records needing shielding?”. This analysis is expected to produce a reliable estimate of the children and young people whose records should be shielded on ContactPoint, and is expected to be completed by the end of November.
Very early indications, based on estimates from a couple of local authorities, are that that the numbers of records that will require shielding will be less than 0.5 per cent. but this figure will be refined as local authorities continue make progress with partner engagement.
Children: Day Care
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent assessment he has made of the level of availability of wraparound child care in (a) England, (b) the West Midlands and (c) Birmingham. [234624]
Beverley Hughes: As required by the Childcare Act 2006, all 150 top tier local authorities in England, including Birmingham and other West Midlands authorities, have completed and published assessments of the sufficiency of childcare, including “wraparound” care in their areas.
Dorneywood
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 19 June 2008, Official Report, column 1187W, on Dorneywood: official hospitality, what use his Department has made of Dorneywood for official engagements in the last 12 months. [221995]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Watson) on 20 October 2008, Official Report, columns 90-91W.
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