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26 Jan 2009 : Column 212W—continued
Wines
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what measures his Department is taking to promote the production and commercial sale of English wines. [249516]
Jane Kennedy: I have been asked to reply.
The area of vines planted in England is increasing in response to market demand. However, this increase is
not yet being reflected in a substantial increase in English wine production due to the time lag for newly planted vines to become productive, and also because the wet weather of the past two summers has resulted in a lower production from existing vines.
In the recent reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP) regime for wine, the UK successfully negotiated a derogation that will allow the English wine sector to continue to expand without the threat of our plantings being capped by the controls that exist in the main EU wine production countries. This outcome was warmly welcomed by the English wine industry. The reform also provides for the UK to establish a national programme to assist the development of our domestic wine industry. After consulting with the industry, further funding is being provided through the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) to establish training programmes to help upskill this rapidly developing sector. The English wine industry is also able to access funds from the RDPE for a range of other activities and a number of applications have already been approved.
Energy and Climate Change
Carbon Emissions: Lighting
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the likely effect on UK carbon dioxide emissions of replacing all UK household lightbulbs with compact fluorescent lamps. [242481]
Jane Kennedy: I have been asked to reply.
DEFRA’s Market Transformation Programme estimates that by using only compact florescent lamps (CFLs) UK homes could yield annual savings in the order of just under 3 MtCO2, some 2 per cent. of the total CO2 emissions from UK households in 2006.
European member states agreed on 8 December 2008 a draft measure under the Eco-design of the Energy-using Products Directive to set mandatory efficiency requirements on light bulbs that will result in a phase out of incandescent lamps by September 2012 and removal of the least-efficient halogen lamps by 2016. After this date, only the most efficient halogen lamps, CFLs and lamps based on emerging light emitting diode technologies will remain.
The European Commission is developing a further measure to set efficiency requirements on directional spot lamps commonly used in UK homes.
Departmental Catering
Mr. Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which (a) food and (b) drinks companies have supplied his Department since its inception; and how much was paid to each of those suppliers. [248796]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: DECC staff in 3-8 Whitehall Place, Atholl House and temporary accommodation in 1 Victoria street and Ergon House at present make use of the BERR and DEFRA catering services in these premises, the arrangements for which will be covered in BERR’s and DEFRA’s answers to this question.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what (a) directly-operated and (b) franchised catering outlets his Department provides for staff. [249073]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was formed on 3 October 2008. Catering arrangements for DECC premises have not yet been determined. DECC staff in 3-8 Whitehall Place, Atholl House and temporary accommodation in 1 Victoria street and Ergon House at present make use of the BERR and DEFRA catering services in those premises.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many special advisers were employed in his Department at each pay band on 30 November 2008; and what his Department's total expenditure on special advisers has been since its inception. [243575]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 15 January 2009, Official Report, column 870W.
Departmental Pay
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much has been spent by his Department on staff reward and recognition schemes since its inception. [248719]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has not made any expenditure on staff reward and recognition schemes since its inception on 3 October 2008.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many bonuses have been awarded to senior civil servants working at his Department in each year since its inception; and what was spent on such bonuses. [249854]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: No bonuses have been awarded to senior civil servants working at the Department of Energy and Climate change since the Department’s inception on 3 October 2008.
Departmental Surveys
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department’s central media and communication unit has spent on public surveys since its inception. [247915]
Energy
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will assess the merits of a joint initiative undertaken by Kettering Borough Council and E.ON to reduce domestic energy consumption and the potential for a national scheme. [250490]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 22 January 2009]: I welcome the initiative by Kettering borough council and E.ON, which involves trialling smart meters with the aim of reducing energy consumption.
The Government have made clear that they support the provision of smart meters as a means not only of reducing energy consumption but also of providing benefits to consumers and energy markets. We therefore announced on 28 October 2008 an intention to mandate the provision of smart meters to all households.
Energy Supply: EU Action
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with his European Union counterparts on the liberalisation of the energy market in the European Union. [250699]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend attended the Energy Council in Brussels on 10 October which agreed a Common Position on the texts of the legislation proposed in the Commission’s third liberalisation package. The package is currently undergoing a Second Reading, with discussions taking place within the Council at official level. The third package is expected to be adopted by the middle of the year.
Heating: Housing
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) if he will estimate the percentage of fuel above that required to heat a house in Bristol which is required to heat identical houses in (a) Edinburgh, (b) Glasgow, (c) Aberdeen, (d) Dundee, (e) Lerwick, (f) Braemar and (g) Stornoway; and if he will make a statement; [247875]
(2) how much fuel above that required to heat a typical semi-detached house in Bristol with (a) gas central heating and (b) non-white meter electronic heating it takes to heat a similar house in (i) Braemar, (ii) Lerwick, (iii) Aberdeen, (iv) Edinburgh, (v) Dundee, (vi) Glasgow and (vii) Stornoway, using the data contained in the climatic severity index. [247876]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 15 January 2009]: No data are available at the required level of detail but the BREDEM model (which estimates domestic energy consumption and is produced by the Building Research Establishment) provides a more general comparison.
According to this model, it requires around 25 per cent. more fuel to heat a house to equivalent internal temperature in Eastern Scotland, compared with an identical home in the Severn region.
Housing: Insulation
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what funding is available to people between the ages of 60 and 70 years to help them insulate their homes; for what reasons 70 is the age at which people can claim the maximum level of such funding; and if he will make a statement. [248484]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 19 January 2009]: Warm Front is the Government’s main scheme for tackling fuel poverty in the private sector in England for vulnerable householders. It is administered and managed by Eaga plc. on behalf of the Government. The scheme provides grants for specified heating and insulation measures up to £2,700 in value (£4,000 where the work includes installation of an oil fired central heating system). Pensioners in receipt of qualifying benefits (such as pension credit) are eligible to full assistance under the scheme.
Under the carbon emissions reduction target (CERT), energy suppliers are required to offer substantial discounts for key insulation measures, such as loft insulation and cavity wall insulation. Subject to survey of a property, suppliers are currently offering all households without insulation at least 50 per cent. discount from the Energy Saving Trust guide price for insulation measures.
For reasons of equity, we oblige suppliers to meet 40 per cent. of their CERT in a priority group of vulnerable and low-income households. This means anyone over 70 years, or those in receipt of qualifying benefits (e.g. income, pension benefit) including those over 60 years. To meet their targets, suppliers currently offer priority groups such measures at little or no cost, subject to survey. People over 70 years are statistically shown to be increasingly at risk of falling into fuel poverty, and are therefore included in the priority group definition.
Industrial Diseases: Compensation
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much the Government has spent on legal fees relating to claims made by miners with osteoarthritis of the knee caused by their work in mines in each of the last five years. [248518]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department’s legal fees in respect of claims made by miners for osteoarthritis of the knee are shown in the following table.
| Cost (£) | |
| (1) Figures are up to November 2008. | |
Members: Correspondence
John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he plans to reply to the letters of 14 October 2008 and 28 November 2008 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare on behalf of his constituent, Mrs. Marion Woore. [248006]
Joan Ruddock: I replied to the hon. Member on 20 January 2009 and apologised for the delay.
Natural Gas
Mr. Crabb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the
average number of days of gas supply in storage in December of each year since 2005. [249094]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The amount of gas supply in storage at a given point in time cannot meaningfully be assessed in terms of days as stored gas is not used on its own to meet GB demand.
The following table summarises the average stock level of gas in GB storage sites in December of each year since 2005.
| Average December stock level (Billion cubic metres) | |
| Source: National Grid. | |
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many days of gas supply were added to gas stocks by gas storage projects which became operational in (a) 2008 and (b) 2007; and how many days of gas supply he expects to be added to gas stocks by gas storage projects planned for 2009. [249309]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The amount of gas supply in storage at a given point in time cannot meaningfully be assessed in terms of days as stored gas is not used on its own to meet UK demand.
13 mcm (million cubic metres) of capacity were added as part of an expansion to the Hole House Farm facility in 2007. No new storage facilities became operational in 2007 and 2008.
In 2009, the first stages of the Aldbrough facility are expected to become operational. The total new capacity at the site is expected to be 370 mcm.
Renewable Energy
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much electricity has been generated from renewable sources in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [248437]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Electricity generation from renewable sources in each of the last 10 years is given in the following table:
| Electricity generation (GWh) | |
| Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2008, Table 7.4 | |
In the first four years of this period, before the Renewables Obligation was introduced in 2002, growth was at an average annual rate of 6.5 per cent. Over the next five years the average annual rate of growth was almost double this at 12.1 per cent.
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