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20 Nov 2008 : Column 799W—continued
It is important to note that only a small proportion of offenders convicted of a sexual offence carry out a sexual reoffence on completion of their sentence. Therefore the ‘Rate of reoffending (one year)’ column in the table represents the percentage of sexual offenders who committed a further offence of any type, with only a small proportion of the offences committed being in the sexual/sexual(child) category. An indication of this can be seen from the number of severe offences committed by this group which on average shows that less than one severe offence is committed per 100 offenders in this group. In the most recent year for which data are available this was zero.
The latest reoffending statistics for adults, “Reoffending of adults: results from the 2006 cohort”, were published on the same date and can be obtained from:
Shoplifting: Fixed Penalties
Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of those issued with a fixed penalty notice for retail theft in the last three years have subsequently reoffended. [236851]
Mr. Hanson: A study of criminal histories and re-offending rates of PND recipients is under way and will be published in late 2009.
Energy and Climate Change
Carbon Sequestration
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of when carbon capture and storage technology would be commercially deployed following the establishment of a European carbon price through the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. [234110]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The timing of the commercial deployment of CCS in the UK depends on several variables, including: how much demonstration projects succeed in confirming the technical performance of the technology; the scale of cost reductions gained from economies of scale and learning; the relative cost of fossil fuels; and the associated cost of carbon.
Modelling undertaken by DECC suggests CCS deployment at €40-60/tCO2, however the early stage of development of the technology and the variables outlined above that will affect this figure mean that there is significant uncertainty surrounding this range.
The Government do not comment on the future level of the carbon price.
Departmental Energy
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to improve the energy performance of his Department's headquarters. [234108]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department intends to implement the guidance provided in Good Practice Guide 286—Energy Performance in the Government's Civil Estate. As well as considering ways to improve the building’s energy efficiency, we are also looking for opportunities to reduce our carbon, energy and water consumption through changes to the way in which we work. 100 per cent. of the electricity supplied to 3-8 Whitehall Place is generated from renewable sources.
Departmental Expenditure
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what financial contributions his Department is making to international bodies in 2008-09. [236407]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The final budget for DECC will be agreed once negotiations on the Machinery of Government changes with BERR and DEFRA are complete.
Departmental Land
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much surplus land his Department owns; and what the (a) area and (b) estimated monetary value of each site is. [236429]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: DECC owns no surplus land.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2008, Official Report, columns 441-42W, on departmental public expenditure, by what date he expects the negotiations on the machinery of government changes referred to in the Answer to be completed. [236580]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: There is no precise date but negotiations on the machinery of government changes, as they affect the Department of Energy and Climate Change, should be completed in time to allow the spring supplementary estimates to be completed.
Electricity Generation: Wind Power
Robert Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the annual (a) percentage of active generating time
achieved and (b) total amount of electricity generated by micro-wind turbines allowed under the permitted development planning regime. [236328]
Mr. Iain Wright: I have been asked to reply.
Micro-wind turbines do not currently have permitted development rights. We do not have the figures referred to. We are currently considering the appropriate limits and conditions that would enable permitted development rights for householders to be extended to micro-wind turbines. To achieve this we would need to amend secondary legislation. The amending order would be accompanied by an impact assessment that would quantify the main costs and benefits of the change.
Energy Group
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will place in the Library the organisational chart for the Energy Group. [236749]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The detail of the future organisational structure of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is currently being determined, following the creation of DECC on 3 October 2008.
Energy Markets Unit
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will place in the Library the organisational chart for the Energy Markets Unit. [236750]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The detail of the future organisational structure of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is currently being determined, following the creation of DECC on 3 October 2008.
Energy Supply
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent progress has been made towards the objective of ensuring the (a) reliable supply and (b) efficient use of secure, clean and affordable energy. [236400]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: For the period from 2000, reliability of the UK National Grid transmission network in England and Wales has been 99.99983 per cent. There are incentives on operators of electricity distribution networks in Great Britain to reduce the number and duration of interruptions to supply over their network.
Significant new electricity generating capacity and gas storage is being developed in the UK and, in future, the planning process for such infrastructure should be speeded up through the streamlining of consenting through the Energy and Planning Bills. Security of gas supply is also being improved through the development of three major liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals which will increase our options for importing gas from outside Europe. This week the UK received its largest ever LNG shipment as phase 2 of the Isle of Grain LNG terminal was commissioned.
DECC now publishes its views on longer term energy supply in its annual Energy Markets Outlook publication, which considers future security of supply options.
The Government have put in place a comprehensive framework of policies and measures to promote energy efficiency across all sectors of the economy, including the recent announcement by the Prime Minister of a new £1 billion package of measures to deliver lasting improvements in energy efficiency to help families permanently cut their energy bills.
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to monitor the UK’s electricity supply capacity margin. [236738]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: National Grid is responsible for monitoring the UK’s electricity supply capacity margin on an operational basis. The Department publishes a longer term view of the capacity margin in its Energy Markets Outlook document, which can be viewed at
DECC has also published information in the context of the 2007 Energy White Paper and the subsequent renewables consultation.
Energy Supply: Africa
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with his counterparts in African countries on the possibility of a high voltage direct current cable network connecting North Africa to Europe. [236064]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 17 November 2008]: None.
Energy Supply: Europe
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with his European counterparts on the possibility of an integrated high voltage direct current cable network in Europe. [236065]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 17 November 2008]: None.
Fallow Initiative
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent steps have been taken by the Fallow Initiative; what assessment he has made of its progress; and if he will make a statement. [236408]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Fallow Initiative has been extremely successful. Each year the Department identifies licences where there has been no drilling activity for three years or longer. The owners then have just one year in which to drill or hand the licence back. In January 2008, a further 58 newly fallow blocks and 11 newly fallow discoveries were identified and an additional tranche will be identified in the new year.
In addition to the 26 field developments that the process has delivered in existing licences, 72 of the 257 blocks that were offered last week in the 25th Licensing Round had been made available for re-licensing as a result of the Fallow Initiative.
Franco-British Nuclear Forum
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) on how many occasions Ministers have attended meetings of the Franco-British Nuclear Forum since its creation; [236742]
(2) what role his Department has in arranging meetings of the Franco-British Nuclear Forum; [236743]
(3) who attended the most recent meeting of the Franco-British Nuclear Forum; [236744]
(4) when the most recent meeting of the Franco-British Nuclear Forum took place. [236745]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Franco-British Nuclear Forum has met twice: in November 2006 and March 2007. It was attended by my noble Friend the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy on both occasions. Membership of the forum was made up from industry, policy makers, regulators and scientists. The forum was managed by BERR—now DECC—officials. Full information about the forum is available at:
Natural Gas
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of days of gas supply held in UK gas storage facilities. [233929]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 6 November 2008]: The following table, from National Grid’s Winter Outlook 2008 report, shows the assumed number of days of storage the UK has for 2008-09 at the maximum withdrawal rate.
| Space (GWh) | Deliverability (GWh/d) | Deliverability (mcm/d) | Days at full rate | |
The maximum deliverability of 140 mcm/day equates to around 28 per cent. of demand on a one-in-20 peak winter day. However, gas in storage is only one of the sources of supply which meet UK consumption, along with UK production not exported, and imported gas.
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the total capacity of new gas storage facilities that will come onstream in 2009. [233930]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 6 November 2008]: The UK currently has 4,364 million cubic metres (mcm) of working storage capacity, with an additional 420 mcm of capacity expected to come online.
The Government are encouraging new investment in gas storage through the Energy and Planning Bill’s reform of the planning and consents regulatory framework
to ensure that is clear and consistent and reflects the national need for new infrastructure.
Nuclear Power Stations: Public Participation
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how he intends to take into account the submissions made to the consultation on the strategic siting assessment of nuclear power plants; what criteria he will use to evaluate the responses; when he expects to publish the revised strategic siting assessment; if he will publish on his departmental website all responses; and what steps he plans to take following this consultation. [236366]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Consultation on the Strategic Siting Assessment Process and Siting Criteria for New Nuclear Power Stations in the UK closed on 11 November 2008.
The Government are currently analysing the responses to the consultation. After careful consideration of those responses, we will publish the Government's response to the consultation in the new year. The Government's response will contain the final SSA criteria and any updates to the Environmental Study. We will also be inviting nominations for sites which will then be assessed against the SSA criteria.
The consultation document set out details of the proposed SSA process and next steps. We will update the process and next steps in the light of consultation responses and include details in the Government response to the consultation next year. All responses to consultation will be published on the DECC website unless confidentiality was requested. The home addresses of respondents will not be published for reasons of privacy.
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