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3 Nov 2009 : Column 889W—continued
Fuel Poverty
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many (a) people and (b) households were in fuel poverty in each region in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [297593]
Mr. Kidney: Fuel poverty is measured at household level rather than at individual level.
The Department's latest estimates for fuel poverty are for 2007, available online at:
The following table provides the number of households in fuel poverty for each English region:
| Number of house holds in fuel poverty | |||||
| Thousand | |||||
| Government Office Region | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
Natural Gas: Storage
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 12 October 2009, Official Report, column 483W, on "Natural Gas: Storage", what the minimum amount of gas in storage over the winter is required under the safety monitor system. [294494]
Mr. Kidney [holding answer 20 October 2009]: In the Winter Outlook Report 2009-10 National Grid's preliminary assessment of storage requirements for Safety Monitors this winter is 100 million cubic metres (mcm) of storage space and 60 mcm/d of storage deliverability. National Grid may revise this assessment during the course of the winter if appropriate.
Nuclear Weapons
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he expects to receive the annual report from the Director of the Office for Civil Nuclear Security; and what consideration was given to publishing the report in August 2009. [295781]
Mr. Kidney: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has received a copy of the report.
The report was published and deposited in Parliament on 8 October. There is not a set timetable for publication and the report was published as soon as was practical.
Planning Act 2008
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which draft national policy statements under the Planning Act 2008 for which his Department is responsible he expects to publish before March 2010. [296504]
Mr. Kidney [holding answer 2 November 2009]: The Department intends to publish a suite of six energy national policy statements for consultation during autumn 2009.
This will include an overarching national policy statement for energy and five technology-specific national policy statements on: fossil fuel electricity generation; renewable energy generation; gas supply infrastructure and gas and oil pipelines; electricity networks and nuclear power generation.
Radioactive Waste: Waste Disposal
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which companies based in (a) France, (b) Sweden, (c) the United States and (d) the UK have made applications under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 for authorisation to dispose of low level nuclear waste in the UK; on what date each application was made; and what the status of each such application is. [295664]
Mr. Kidney: Applications made under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 for authorisation to dispose of low level nuclear waste in the UK are listed in the following table by company and site. This list represents the most recent applications by these companies.
Warm Front Scheme
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of those who have qualified for support under the Warm Front scheme are in receipt of each type of non-taxable social security benefit. [297086]
Mr. Kidney [holding answer 2 November 2009]: The following table details the proportion of households assisted by the Warm Front scheme who are in receipt of each type of qualifying benefit (all qualifying benefits are non-taxable).
| Benefit type | Percentage per total households assisted |
| Note: Dates: June 2005 to 31 August 2009 | |
Some households will be in receipt of more than one benefit, such households have been counted against each individual benefit.
Treasury
EU Budget
7. Mr. Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what he expects the net UK contribution to the EU budget to be in (a) 2009 and (b) 2013. [297054]
Ian Pearson: The Government's latest forecast of UK net contributions to the European Community budget for 2009-10 is £4.1 billion, which is 0.6 per cent. of total managed expenditure. In line with all other public expenditure estimates, the Treasury does not currently publish forecasts beyond 2010-11.
Unemployment
18. Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the economy of the level of unemployment. [297067]
Mr. Byrne: In this current downturn unemployment remains below levels at a similar stage compared to the early 1990s. Our substantial investment in getting people back to work is helping ensure 3 million people have left the claimant count since the end of 2008.
Capital Projects
20. Mr. Betts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the economy of bringing forward expenditure on capital projects. [297069]
Mr. Byrne: The Chancellor forecast in this year's Budget that the country will return to growth at the turn of the year as a result of measures taken by this Government including the fiscal stimulus package. These additional investments are already supporting a number of industries and employing people across the country. An update on the economic position will be given in the pre-Budget report.
Small Businesses
21. Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent fiscal measures his Department has taken to support small businesses during the recession. [297070]
Ian Pearson: Support for small businesses has included extending loss relief, deferring the increase in corporation tax for small companies and helping businesses spread tax payments through the Business Payment Support Service. This service has now made over 220,000 agreements with business, worth almost £4 billion of tax.
In addition, the Enterprise Finance Guarantee, by 28 October, had offered over 6,100 businesses loans totalling approximately £620 million.
National Debt
22. Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the UK's national debt is. [297071]
Ian Pearson: Public sector net debt at the end of the 2008-09 financial year stood at 43.2 per cent. of GDP, excluding financial sector interventions.
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