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6 May 2009 : Column 310W—continued
Renewable Energy: Heating
Mr. Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what timescale Ofgem requires to assess the suitability of renewable heating products for funding through the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target programme; and what the (a) maximum and (b) minimum time taken between an initial application to Ofgem and the successful accreditation of a new product has been. [272932]
Joan Ruddock: Ofgem advises that if all required information is provided at the time of submission it may take around a month to assess and approve the proposal. However, if a piece of information is missing, for example details of the seasonal coefficient of performance (CoP) which may need to be monitored for six months via a trial, assessing such an activity may take significantly longer, even up to a year.
Mr. Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what procedures Ofgem uses to assess the suitability of renewable heating products for funding through programmes associated with the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target; and if he will make a statement. [272933]
Joan Ruddock: Ofgem assesses renewable heating products in a number of ways as different types of information are required to demonstrate compliance with the CERT obligation.
Manufacturers of heat pumps are required to demonstrate a seasonal coefficient of performance (CoP) of the units and the percentage of heat load they provide. If the seasonal CoP is not known then a field trial on 10 installations is required. For each installation, the energy supplier is required to confirm which fuel has been displaced as a result of the installation and the type of supplementary heating used if need be. This allows Ofgem to estimate how much carbon each installation saves using a methodology developed for this purpose.
Ofgem requires that between 3 and 4m(2) of solar water heating panelling (evacuated tube and flat plate respectively) is installed per property, which is calculated to be an appropriate size for each property type.
Installation of the domestic biomass boilers must meet the standards outlined in the guidance to the Building Regulations.
Each of these domestic renewable technologies above and installers of these technologies is required to be accredited by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) or equivalent to ensure the quality of the technology and installation. This means that each technology promoted through CERT must comply with the standards specified by the MCS. In addition, each installer is recommended to be registered by the REAL Assurance Scheme.
Evaluation of each communal biomass boiler installation is assessed on a case by case basis. The supplier is required to provide: the existing site heat demand, type of heating system (fuel and system efficiency), information about the biomass boiler including its seasonal efficiency,
type of wood and its calorific value and moisture content, annual fuel supply and details of the back-up system. Suppliers are also required to check whether an installation may take place in a smoke control area in which case only exempted appliances may be used.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Audio Recordings: Licensing
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what recent assessment his Department has made of the accuracy of catalogued lists kept by (a) PPL and (b) the Performing Right Society of (i) featured and (ii) non-featured artists on sound recordings produced between 1950 and 1970. [273289]
Mr. Lammy: No such assessment has been made.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what representations he has received from (a) the Radio Centre and (b) representatives of business organisations on Performing Right Society (PRS) public performance licences for radios in the workplace; what recent representations he has received from businesses which have ceased to used radios in the workplace because of PRS licensing requirements; and if he will make a statement. [273290]
Mr. Lammy: My officials met Radio Centre on 23 April this year following a general stakeholder meeting on 20 March, correspondence from Radio Centre dated 2 February, a meeting in November 2008 and Radio Centre’s response to the Intellectual Property Office’s consultation on changes to exemptions from public performance rights in sound recordings and performers’ rights dated October 2008.
We have received a number of representations from businesses about the PRS licence for workplace radio listening, many of which say they are considering ceasing to use the radio.
Departmental Air Conditioning
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many of his Department's buildings are equipped with air conditioning systems with output greater than 250kW; how many of these systems have been inspected under the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 since the Regulations came into force; and if he will place in the Library a copy of each inspection report. [272142]
Mr. Simon: The Department’s building services are provided through the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), which manage the buildings that DIUS occupies.
The National Measures Office (NMO) occupies space in Teddington that is owned by DIUS but managed by the NMO.
All of these organisations are currently in the process of scheduling in the works required to satisfy the regulations. The inspection results will be placed in the Libraries.
Higher Education: Admissions
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills whether a financial penalty will be imposed on higher education institutions for over-recruitment against the admission figures prescribed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England for 2009-10; and whether universities which made offers to their applicants prior to 15 January 2009 will be treated differently to institutions which made offers after that date. [272162]
Mr. Lammy: We are determined to maintain arrangements both for the funding of institutions and support for students that meet needs but are at the same time sustainable. If universities over-recruit, these objectives are jeopardised. We made this clear to institutions last October when we asked HEFCE to “work up contingency measures that could be used to reduce the risk of institutions over recruiting”. HEFCE reiterated this message in November when it asked institutions to “review their planned recruitment for 2009/10”. Our grant letter to HEFCE repeated this position by asking the Council to “minimise and preferably eliminate over recruitment in 2009/10” and reinforced this by saying that “any over-recruitment in the coming year could result in a transfer of HEFCE grant back to this Department, in order to meet the consequent unanticipated student support costs in that or future years”.
As we have been entirely consistent in signalling the particular importance of controlling over-recruitment, HEFCE will treat all institutions in the same way when responding here.
Higher Education: Veterinary Medicine
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many students from (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) outside the UK undertook university courses in veterinary studies in each of the last five years. [272896]
Mr. Lammy: The numbers of English, Welsh and non-UK domicile enrolments to veterinary science courses, in each of the last five years for which data are available, are shown in the following table.
| English, Welsh and non-UK( 1) domicile enrolments( 2) to veterinary science courses, UK higher education institutions( 3) , academic years 2003-04 to 2007-08 | |||
| Academic year | England | Wales | Non-UK |
| (1) Includes EU and other overseas students. (2) Covers postgraduate and undergraduate students enrolled on full-time and part-time courses. (3) Excludes the Open University due to inconsistencies in their coding of entrants across the time series. Notes: 1. Figures are based on a HESA Standard Registration Population (SRP). 2. Numbers are rounded to the nearest five. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) | |||
Housing: Carbon Emissions
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps he has taken to improve skills in the house-building sector in order to assist progress towards the Government's 2016 target for zero carbon homes. [273190]
Mr. Simon: There will be real challenges in responding to the skill needs of the house-building industry in the next few years. Through our continued investment in skills we want to support the house-building and wider construction industry so that they are ready for the upturn and have the skilled workforce required to meet the 2016 target and the demands of a low carbon economy.
The Zero Carbon Hub, established by the Department for Communities and Local Government, aims to ensure that industry can work with Government and other stakeholders to overcome any barriers to delivery. The skills and training strand of this work will establish the industry’s current level of knowledge about building to low and zero carbon home standards, and determine any areas where additional skills and training are required and which agencies are best placed to support this. The Homes and Community Agency (HCA) has a parallel skills action plan, supported by DIUS, to ensure the development of sustainable communities.
ConstructionSkills (the sector skills council for construction) are working with the Zero Carbon Hub, the HCA and the UK Green Building Council to understand the wider skills needs of sustainable construction. The results of this research will inform training development and the future shape of qualifications.
Through the Sector Compact agreed with ConstructionSkills in June 2008, some £133 million of Train to Gain funding will be available over three years to support the priority skills needs of the construction sector including house-building. Compacts will be reviewed regularly to ensure they continue to meet the needs of employers in the sector in the light of the need for economic renewal and to address the new and emerging skills needs. We have also established an Apprenticeship Task Force with employers, trade unions, educationalists and Government to review the approach to apprenticeships within the sector, and how it might be expanded and improved.
Measurement
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2009, Official Report, columns 421-2W, on trading standards: weights and measures, what changes to enforcement guidance (a) have been made and (b) are being made in relation to the prosecution of traders using imperial scales by local authorities. [271282]
Mr. Lammy: The information is as follows:
(a) None.
(b) Discussions are continuing between Government and the Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS) on the updating of LACORS' guidance on the enforcement of units of measurement legislation. This guidance will reflect an update to Directive 80/181/EEC and will be available to local authority trading standards departments in advance of the changes to UK law which will be implemented before the end of 2009.
Students: Loans
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many graduates of universities in England who have moved abroad to (a) other EU member states and (b) non-EU countries have informed the Student Loans Company of their change of status in each of the last five years. [273075]
Mr. Lammy: In the five-year period 2003-04 to 2007-08, around 38,700 income-contingent loan borrowers notified the Student Loans Company (SLC) of a period of overseas residency. Annual statistics are not readily available. 35 per cent. of known overseas residences during that period were in EU countries, 65 per cent. were in non-EU countries.
Training: Energy
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the skills base of employees in the energy sector. [270832]
Mr. Simon [holding answer 24 April 2009]: Power is the number one industry for the future success of our economy. It currently has an ageing workforce and faces challenges including the asset renewal needed to meet the changing needs of a low carbon economy, and handling the impact of new technology. Energy and Utility Skills (E&U Skills) is the Sector Skills Council (SSC) responsible for the energy sector, and its coverage includes the electricity and gas industries. In common with all SSCs, E&U Skills has developed a Sector Skills Agreement (SSA) which identifies the sector’s current and future skills needs. The SSA, which is UK wide, provides a clear platform for employers, training providers and other stakeholders to address the sector’s skills needs.
Government are directly supporting the industry through the creation of The National Skills Academy for Nuclear (NSAN) and the approval for a National Skills Academy for Power (NSAP), which is at the business planning stage.
Work and Pensions
Departmental Air Conditioning
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent by his Department on carrying out inspections of air conditioning systems within departmental buildings in accordance with the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 since the Regulations came into force. [272136]
Jonathan Shaw: The costs to DWP are included in the overall facilities price of the Department's private finance initiative contract. The cost to the Department's supplier, Telereal Trillium, to date is £67,000.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of his Department's buildings are equipped with air conditioning systems with output greater than 250kW; how many of these systems have been inspected under the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 since the Regulations came into force; and if he will place in the Library a copy of each inspection report. [272137]
Jonathan Shaw: There are 234 air conditioning systems with an output of more than 250 kW. Of these 42 have been inspected by accredited energy assessors. The current programme of inspection is due to be completed by the end of July 2009. Copies of the energy assessors’ reports, which are held by the Department’s PFI service partner, Telereal Trillium, will be placed in the Library shortly.
Departmental ICT
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on IT maintenance in the last 12 months. [272486]
Jonathan Shaw: Since 2005 the Department has had a realigned contract for IT services, which covers the provision of all IT, including maintenance. It is not possible to identify specific costs for IT maintenance.
EU Globalisation Fund
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if his Department will co-ordinate a UK bid for funds from the EU Globalisation Fund; and if he will make a statement. [270677]
Mr. McNulty: In England, (different arrangements apply in the devolved Administrations), Regional Development Agencies, with their partners, are responsible for coordinating an immediate response to large redundancies. They are aware of the availability of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) and would make the initial decision about whether a bid would add value to their response. The European Social Fund (ESF) has already been used to invest in Jobcentre Plus, its Rapid Response Service and Train to Gain, the combination of which have already proved to be effective in helping workers and areas affected by restructuring. The EGF must not duplicate use of the ESF but as long as any bid, that were to come forward to my Department, met the criteria, it would receive full consideration.
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