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23 Nov 2009 : Column 35W—continued
Energy and Climate Change
Carbon Emissions: Buildings
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether energy companies may count interest free loans which they provide for the greening of community buildings against their carbon emission reduction targets. [301074]
Joan Ruddock: No. CERT is an obligation on electricity on household gas and electricity suppliers to promote CO2 reductions in the GB household sector only.
Carbon Emissions: Housing
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department plans to spend on steps to achieve the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13 and (e) 2013-14; and what estimate he has made of the (i) proportion of such expenditure to be incurred in England, (ii) the carbon savings to be achieved, (iii) the number of properties affected and (iv) the number of jobs created from such expenditure in each year. [300478]
Joan Ruddock: The Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) is a GB-wide obligation on electricity and gas suppliers with more than 50,000 customers to achieve 185mt CO2 savings in the domestic sector. It runs from April 2008 to March 2011. The costs of the scheme fall to energy suppliers. The Government estimate that the cost to suppliers of meeting the obligation over the three years is £3.2 billion.
Energy suppliers contract with third party installers, primarily insulators, to source and supply these measures on their behalf. By March 2009 suppliers had achieved 55.3mt CO2 savings, reaching over one million households with insulation measures alone. CERT supports the full spectrum of energy efficiency measures and independent estimates from November 2008 (Element Energy: An Assessment of the size of the UK household energy efficiency market) showed that there are 50,000 people directly involved in the domestic energy efficiency products and services market (with a much larger number c.900,000 in supporting areas).
Climate Change
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many (a) Ministers and (b) officials from his Department he expects to (i) attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and (ii) travel to that conference by air; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of such travel. [300415]
Joan Ruddock: The UK delegation to the UNFCCC conference in Copenhagen has not yet been finalised, however, the current list identifies two Ministers and 36 officials from the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
At present 19 delegates have confirmed their intention to travel to the conference by air. This is necessary as the rail options are limited, and inflexible. As delegates will be working around the clock many individuals have fixed appointments that set fixed boundaries to their possible travel times. Not all delegates have made their travel arrangements as of yet. DECC has estimated up to £17,500 for the total cost of travel for all UK delegates attending the conference. The cumulative cost so far is well below this figure.
Renewable Energy
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether the biomass to be deployed in his Department's renewable energy strategy will be compliant with the Searchinger factor. [300405]
Joan Ruddock: The biofuels and bioliquids used to deliver the UK's 15 per cent. renewable energy target by 2020 will be required to meet the sustainability criteria set under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). These criteria include consideration of direct land use change but not indirect land use change.
However, the Directive places a requirement on the European Commission to submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council, by 31 December 2010, reviewing the impact of indirect land use change on greenhouse gas emissions and addressing ways to minimise that impact.
In addition, the European Commission is due to report on requirements for a sustainability scheme for energy uses of biomass, other than biofuels and bioliquids, by 31 December 2009.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change for what reasons Question (a) 245083 and (b) 245084 on the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000, tabled on 15 December 2008, were not answered in the last session; what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all Questions tabled by hon. Members for ordinary written answer are answered within a working week; and if he will make a statement. [300325]
Joan Ruddock: Prior to DECC setting up its own Parliamentary Unit at the end of January 2009, parliamentary questions were answered by either BIS (previously BERR) and DEFRA's Parliamentary Units. The questions referred to were the responsibility of DEFRA's Parliamentary Unit. According to their records they have no record of having received these questions.
The Department's target is to answer 70 per cent. of Written Questions within five working days. The Department monitors its performance against this target and keeps its procedures under review.
Children, Schools and Families
UK School Games
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children have competed in the UK School Games in each year in which they have been staged; and what the cost of staging those games was in each such year. [300217]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
The UK School Games is a multi-sport competition organised by the Youth Sport Trust for school-aged children and acts at the pinnacle of a wider competition pathway. The Youth Sport Trust has advised that the
total cost and numbers of competitors in each UK School Games since its conception, is as follows:
1,100 competitors across five sports at the four-day event
Total year round cost of UK School Games: £2.036 million
1,350 competitors across eight sports
Total year round cost of UK School Games: £2.89 million
1,470 competitors across nine sports
Total year round cost of UK School Games: £3.26 million
1,523 competitors across 10 sports
Total year round cost of UK School Games: £3.30 million (estimated final cost).
Home Department
Police: Pay
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was paid in salary and wage costs for police forces in the last 12 months; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of that paid to police officers and civilian police force staff who earn more than £50,000 per annum. [300848]
Mr. Hanson: Approximately £10,901,841,000(1) was paid in salary and wage costs for police forces in England and Wales in 2008-09.
Information on the proportion paid to police officers and staff who earn more than £50,000 per annum is not available.
(1) Figures taken from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) are 2008-09 provisional actuals.
Cabinet Office
Departmental Air Travel
Simon Hughes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many domestic flights within Great Britain officials from her Department took in an official capacity in 2008-09; and at what cost to the public purse. [300419]
Ms Butler: It is not possible to readily identify from the Department's accounting system the amount and cost of domestic air travel by Cabinet Office officials in 2008-09. This information is available only at disproportionate cost.
Employment
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of (a) UK nationals, (b) UK-born people, (c) foreign nationals, (d) non-UK EU nationals, (e) EU A8 nationals and (f) non-EU nationals (i) aged over 16 years and (ii) of working age were in employment in the UK in each of the last four quarters for which figures are available; and what the percentage change in each category was in each of the last four quarters. [300916]
Ms Butler: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply to the hon. Member. A copy of their response will be placed in the Library.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when she plans to reply to that part of the letter of 8 October 2009 from the hon. Member for Walsall North which was transferred from the Department for Work and Pensions, concerning a constituent and the Civil Service Pension Scheme. [300618]
Tessa Jowell: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 19 November.
Unemployment: Young People
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of young people aged between (a) 16 and 17 and (b) 18 and 24 years were unemployed in each (i) year since 1987 and (ii) of the last four quarters for which figures are available; and what estimate she has made of the number of students looking for part-time or vacation work included in those figures. [300824]
Ms Butler: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply to the hon. Member. A copy of their response will be placed in the Library.
Justice
Driving under Influence: Convictions
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many drivers convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs in each police authority area in each year since 1999 had previous convictions for the same offence. [301034]
Claire Ward: The information requested is shown in the following tables. However, figures for 1999 are not available.
These figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer (PNC), which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the police.
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