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30 Mar 2009 : Column 924W—continued
Carbon Trust: Public Relations
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with which public affairs companies (a) the Carbon Trust and (b) the Energy Saving Trust entered into contracts in 2008. [266681]
Joan Ruddock: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change on 25 March 2009, Official Report, column 497W.
Climate Change
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will re-assess his estimate of the rate of global warming to take account of data demonstrating that the 2008-09 winter was the coldest in the UK for almost 20 years. [267253]
Joan Ruddock: The rate of global warming is reflected in the long-term trend in global average temperature. Observations collated at the Met Office Hadley Centre and the university of East Anglia Climate Research Unit indicate that this rate has been approximately 0.13° C per decade over the past 50 years. Natural weather variability will always mean that, despite the presence of an underlying warming trend, some colder than average winters will occur in the UK. These events are fully consistent with our understanding of climate change and are included in the underlying dataset that is used to calculate the rate of global warming at the end of each calendar year. However, they do not have a significant effect on the long-term trend in global average temperature and thus do not necessitate a change in our estimate of the rate of global warming. Furthermore, the scientific evidence indicates that global average temperatures will continue to rise in the long-term if greenhouse gas emissions continue.
Climate Change Summit
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many staff of his Department attended the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen in 2009. [265919]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 24 March 2009]: Two senior scientists from the Department attended the International Congress on “Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions” held in Copenhagen.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many staff of his Department attended the International Climate Change Conference in New York in 2009. [265920]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 24 March 2009]: No staff from the Department of Energy and Climate Change attended the 2009 international conference on climate change in New York, organised by the Heartland Institute. This event was predominantly aimed at environmental sceptics.
It ran almost concurrently with the international scientific conference on climate change, supported by the Government of Denmark, in Copenhagen. This mainstream event attracted some 2,000 scientists and experts, including many leaders in their fields, and therefore took priority for our officials.
Coal
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the tonnage of coal burnt in the UK in each year since 1990. [266716]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The tonnage of coal consumed in the UK between 1990 and 2007 is given in the table. Figures for 2008 will be published on 30 July 2009.
| Coal Consumption in the UK, 1990-2007 | |
| Coal consumption (thousand tonnes) | |
| Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2008 (Internet version). Chapter 2: Solid fuel and derived gases, Long Term Trends. | |
Committee on Radioactive Waste Management
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what information his Department holds on (a) levels of participation in stakeholder meetings held by the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management and (b) the reimbursement of travel costs for participants in such meetings; and if he will take steps to increase public access to such meetings. [263816]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The independent Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) provides independent scrutiny of the Government’s and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s proposals, plans and programmes to deliver geological disposal, together with robust interim storage, as the long-term option for the UK’s higher activity radioactive waste.
CoRWM are well known for their positive approach to public and stakeholder engagement and information on participation at specific stakeholder events is placed on their website (www.corwm.org.uk) within published meeting reports.
It is CoRWM practice to reimburse reasonable travel, subsistence or accommodation costs. The committee also carefully consider the timing and location of events in order to help stakeholders to participate more easily.
Community Energy Saving Programme
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2009, Official Report, column 918W, on Community Energy Saving Programme, when he expects to publish the final order for the Community Energy Saving Programme; and when he expects this order to come into force. [266829]
Joan Ruddock: A draft statutory instrument is now available on the DECC website. Consultation on the CESP proposals closes on 8 May, and the Government will then need to consider the responses received carefully. We hope to lay the final statutory instrument before Parliament this summer, with a view to the scheme coming into force later in 2009.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his Department's budget is for (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11. [266625]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The total departmental expenditure limit budget for the Department of Energy and Climate Change for (a) 2009-10 is £2,859 million and for (b) 2010-11 is £2,910 million. The annually managed expenditure Budget is set one year at a time via the main estimate laid before Parliament early in the new fiscal year.
Departmental Responsibilities
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether his Department has a central strategy team. [266600]
Departmental Translation Services
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many language translators are employed in (a) his Department and (b) its non-ministerial departments; and what the cost of translating services provided by such people was in the latest period for which information is available. [257149]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Responsibility for employing language translators is delegated to the Department’s different business units. As such there is no central record of language translators and the Department would incur a disproportionate cost if it were to compile such a record.
Electricité de France
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what information he has received on the operations of European Union anti-trust inspectors on the offices of Electricité de France (EDF) in Brussels on 11 March, in respect of EDF’s proposals to build nuclear power plants in the UK. [266136]
Mr. Thomas: I have been asked to reply.
Ministers do not receive information on unannounced inspections by the European Commission, Directorate-General Competition, or, for that matter, by national competition authorities. The broad details of inspections are confirmed in official statements by the independent competition authority concerned. In this particular case we know from the European Commission’s statement of 11 March 2009 that:
‘on 10 March Commission officials carried out unannounced inspections at the premises of the electricity company EDF in France in respect of prices on the French wholesale electricity market’.
Electricity Generation
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the UK's electricity supply capacity margin; and if he will make a statement. [266724]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The UK's electricity supply capacity margin can be calculated as the difference between the
UK's electricity supply capacity available to the transmission network and the UK's peak demand. 2007 is the latest year for which data are available. 2008 data will be available on 30 July 2009. In 2007, the UK's capacity available to the transmission network was 75,190 MW, while the peak demand met was 61,527 MW. This indicates a margin of 13,663 MW, approximately 22.2 per cent. of demand.
Energy: Advisory Services
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 9 March 2009, Official Report, column 56W, on energy: advisory services, what the address of each energy saving trust advice centre is. [266769]
Joan Ruddock: The address details of the 16 Energy Saving Trust regional advice centres that are funded by my Department are listed as follows:
Environmental Transformation Fund
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 12 February 2009, Official Report, column 2161W, on Environmental Transformation Fund, by what date he expects to sign the trust fund arrangement with the World Bank. [267003]
Joan Ruddock: This arrangement, known officially as the “Contribution Arrangement” between the World Bank (the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) and the United Kingdom acting through the Department for International Development and my Department was signed on 26 March.
Forest Carbon Partnership Facility
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change who represents the Government on the governing body of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. [266725]
Joan Ruddock: Both the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for International Development (DFID) jointly represent the UK at meetings of the Participant's Committee of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility.
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