| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
2 Dec 2009 : Column 815W—continued
Manufacturing Industries
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what assistance the Government has provided to the manufacturing sector in (a) the UK and (b) the West Midlands in the last 12 months; [302391]
(2) what estimate he has made of the size of contraction in the manufacturing sector since the start of the recession in (a) the UK and (b) the West Midlands. [302392]
Ian Lucas: The Manufacturing Strategy launched in September 2008 brings together over £150 million support for a range of policy measures that address key issues impacting on competitiveness such as skills, design, technology, global value chains and the move to a low carbon economy. Work is also well under way to complete a new purpose-built Manufacturing Technology Centre at Ansty, near Coventry, which will provide industrial-scale demonstration facilities to help industry develop new manufacturing capabilities.
The Advanced Manufacturing package of measures announced in July 2009 provides more than £150 million from the Strategic Investment Fund to support the development of high tech manufacturing that will enable UK manufacturers to take advantage of new market opportunities.
Over the last 12 months, the Government have also launched the Real Help for Business package, and the Vehicle Scrappage Scheme where more than a quarter of a million orders for new vehicles have been placed, 9 per cent. of which were in the West Midlands.
The recently expanded Manufacturing Advisory Service has conducted 31,000 manufacturing reviews and supported more than 11,000 implementation projects worth nearly £700 million value added. Support in the West Midlands over the past year was worth £7.5 million.
In addition, Advantage West Midlands has provided assistance worth just over £54 million to manufacturers in the West Midlands over the last 12 months, including a £3.5 million boost for the automotive supply chain announced in July.
Based on ONS's latest Index of Production (IOP) data, manufacturing output in the UK declined 15.3 per cent. from peak to trough (February 2008 to August 2009), however there are no comparable data for manufacturing output in the West Midlands over the same time period.
In the UK, during the three months to June 2008 there were 2.87 million employee jobs in the manufacturing industry, while in the three months to June 2009 there were 2.64 million, a fall of 7.9 per cent. This compares to the West Midlands where there were 322,000 employee jobs in the manufacturing industry in the three months to June 2008, while in the three months to June 2009 there were 284,000, a fall of 11.8 per cent.
Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many cars emitting less than (a) 120g/km and (b) 100g/km of carbon dioxide have been purchased under the Vehicle Scrappage Scheme to date. [302894]
Ian Lucas: As at 30 November, for the completed scrappage transactions where we have data on carbon dioxide emissions, 35.7 per cent. have emissions in the range 100-119 g/km and 1.2 per cent. have emissions below l00 grams.
Research: Government Assistance
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding the Government has provided for research and development in the last 12 months. [302393]
Mr. Lammy: In 2007, Government (including Higher Education Funding Councils and Research Councils) funded £7.7 billion (30 per cent. of all) R and D performed in the UK.
Source:
Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Sony Ericsson: Government Assistance
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what grant assistance the Government has provided to Sony Ericsson in the last 12 months. [302394]
Ian Lucas: While Advantage West Midlands, the regional development agency for the west midlands discussed the possibility of grants such as Selective Finance for Investment (SFI) to facilitate the consolidation of Ericsson's R and D facilities at Ansty, Ericsson chose not to take up the offer of support.
Energy and Climate Change
Carbon Emissions
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will place in the Library a copy of each table from which (a) Chart 24 and (b) Chart 25 in the Analytical Annex to the Low Carbon Transition Plan were produced. [303521]
Joan Ruddock: The data will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Climate Change: Research
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the answer of 14 October 2009, Official Report, columns 990-91W, on climate change: research, how much his Department has spent on modelling work into the environmental consequences of (a) injecting sulphate aerosols into the stratosphere, (b) encouraging low level cloud development to increase regional reflectivity and (c) other forms of geo-engineering. [303501]
Joan Ruddock: The amount of funding that the Department of Energy and Climate Change has spent on modelling work into the environmental consequences of different types of geo-engineering is:
(a) injecting sulphate aerosols into the stratosphere: £80,000;
(b) encouraging low level cloud development to increase regional reflectivity: £60,000; and
(c) other forms of geo-engineering: £15,000.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit. [304033]
Joan Ruddock: Officials from the Department have had brief discussions with representatives of the University of East Anglia and its Climatic Research Unit to understand the nature of the attack on its IT systems and the actions they are planning to take.
Combined Heat and Power: EU Law
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department has taken to implement EU Directive 2004/8/EC on the promotion of cogeneration; and if he will make a statement. [302641]
Joan Ruddock: The UK has implemented EU Directive 2004/8/EC in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Details of how the directive has been implemented as at October 2007 were contained in a report to the European Commission published on the DECC website under the title "Evaluation of progress towards increasing share of high-efficiency cogeneration".
Departmental Manpower
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark) of 12 October 2009, Official Report, column 456W, on departmental buildings, what the job titles are of the 25 London-based staff in premises other than 3 Whitehall Place. [303507]
Joan Ruddock: Staff concerned with the Department's non-proliferation responsibilities are currently housed in 1 Victoria street. Their job titles cover nuclear non-proliferation, chemical weapons non-proliferation and the delivery of the UK Global Threat Reduction Programme.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change who the members of his Department's Delivery and Strategy High Level Board are. [303544]
Joan Ruddock: The Delivery and Strategy High-Level (DASH) Board has 18 full members covering nine Government Departments with an interest in energy and climate change issues.
1. Phil Wynn Owen, DECC (the SRO for the Climate Change PSA).
2. National Programme Board: Paul McIntyre, DECC.
3. International Programme Board: Will Cavendish, DECC.
4. Simon Virley, DECC.
5. Peter Betts, DECC.
6. Graham White, DECC.
7. David Wagstaff, DECC (Office of Climate Change).
8. Colin Church, DECC.
9. Robin Fellgett, Cabinet Office (Domestic).
10. Chris Martin, HMT.
11. Richard McCarthy, CLG.
12. Vicky Bowman/Deborah Bronnert, FCO (job share).
13. Janice Munday, BIS.
14. Robin Mortimer, DEFRA.
15. Richard Hatfield, DfT.
16. Andrew Steer, DFID.
17. Vicky Pryce, BIS.
18. Simeon Thornton, DECC.
19. Michael Jacobs, No. 10 SpAd.
20. John Ashton, FCO.
21. Archie Young, Prime Minister's Delivery Unit.
Electricity Generation: Costs
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his most recent estimate is of the average cost of generating 1 MW of electricity by each different generating technology. [303523]
Mr. Kidney: The Government have carried out analysis on generation costs in recent years to inform policy decisions. Some of these estimates were published as part of the Energy Review (2006) at:
More recently the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) have published estimated levelised costs (£/MWh, in 2008 prices) associated with 1 MWh of electricity generated, for their December 2008 report at:
as set out in table 1 and include construction, operation and maintenance costs and where applicable the cost of carbon allowances (EU emissions trading scheme). Moreover, for nuclear, they also include the costs of decommissioning and waste.
It should be noted that the estimates of levelised costs for different types of electricity generation are highly sensitive to the assumptions used for capital costs, fuel and EU ETS allowance prices, operating costs, load factor, and other drivers. In reality, there are large uncertainties and ranges around these figures.
| Technology | Levelised cost (£/MWh) 2010 |
| Source: The Committee on Climate Change (2008) 'Building a low-carbon economy' p189. | |
The costs of most generation technologies have increased over the past 18 months, primarily due to increases in input prices. Work is ongoing to update Government's cost assumptions for different forms of generation.
Energy Performance Certificates
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has made an assessment of the likely effects on the electric heating and heat pump industry of the use of the Standard Assessment Procedure grid carbon dioxide methodology for the purposes of calculating the energy performance of buildings; and if he will meet representatives of the electric heating and heat pump industry to discuss that matter. [302140]
Joan Ruddock: The Department is currently examining all responses received to our consultation on the proposed changes to the Standard Assessment Procedure including those from the UK electric heating and heat pump industry. We will examine all the information provided before any decision to amend SAP is taken. Officials have already met with representatives from the electric heating and heat pump industry and a further meeting is scheduled for 14 December.
Energy: Housing
Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has made an estimate of the energy efficiency savings that would accrue from the application of heating system water treatment cleaners and inhibitors in homes. [302111]
Joan Ruddock: Heating system efficiency is determined by the combination of its main components such as the boiler and radiators. Therefore, adding water treatment cleaner or inhibitors does not increase the overall efficiency.
The application of water treatment cleaners and inhibitors is regarded as good practice within the heating installation industry to ensure the efficiency of the system is maintained over its lifetime, however, we do not hold any data to verify this assertion.
Fuel Poverty: Pensioners
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many and what proportion of pensioner households in (a) England and (b) the UK were in fuel poverty (i) in each year since 1997 and (ii) at the latest date for which information is available. [303530]
Mr. Kidney: Figures on the number and proportion of fuel poor households containing someone aged 60 or over are shown in the following table. Data on a consistent basis are only available from 2003 to 2007, the latest year for which figures are available.
| Age of oldest person in household-60 or over | ||
| Fuel poor households | ||
| 60 or more | Number (1,000) households | Proportion of pensioner households in fuel poverty |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |