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20 Jan 2010 : Column 400W—continued
Energy and Climate Change
Climate Change: Sea
Mr. Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his most recent assessment is of the state of climate science research on the effect of climate change on changes in sea level; what projections he made of changes to sea level by 2100; and if he will make a statement. [311274]
Joan Ruddock: The prediction of sea level rise is at the forefront of scientific research. While prediction of the component from thermal expansion of the ocean is well understood, the contribution from polar ice sheets represents a major source of uncertainty, resulting in a wide range of projections of sea level rise.
The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (2007) estimated that the contribution to globally averaged sea level rise by the end of the century from thermal expansion would be in the range 18 to 59 cm, with up to a further 10 to 20 cm coming from the melting of ice sheets, but that higher values could not be excluded. Since then the literature has suggested that values for the total globally averaged sea level rise are more likely to be in the range 60 to 100 cm, with some papers estimating values as high as 200 cm, although these are thought to be highly unlikely.
For the UK, the most comprehensive assessment of future sea level rise is published in UKCP09, which can be found at:
Fuel Poverty
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how often his Department reviews its definition of fuel poverty. [310979]
Mr. Kidney: There are no plans to review the definition of fuel poverty.
Fuel Poverty: Bexley
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his most recent estimate is of the number of households in Bexleyheath and Crayford in fuel poverty. [310692]
Mr. Kidney: The most recently available sub-regional split of fuel poverty relates to 2006, and shows that there were around 3,200 fuel poor households in the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency.
Temperature
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the average temperature in the UK in each of the last 10 years. [311192]
Joan Ruddock: The Department obtains estimates of the average temperature in the UK from the National Climate Information Centre based at the Met Office, which makes these data along with regional values for months, seasons and years freely available from its website at:
The UK annual average temperatures in the last decade were:
| °C | |
The 2009 value is provisional and will be finalised once all data have been received and quality-controlled. The six years 2002-07 are the warmest six years on record since records began for the UK as a whole in 1914.
Winter Fuel Payments: Disabled
Mr. Sanders:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will make it his policy to extend eligibility for the winter fuel payment to all
families with children in receipt of the middle or higher rate of care disability living allowance or the higher rate of mobility disability living allowance. [311650]
Jonathan Shaw: I have been asked to reply.
Winter fuel payments are made to people aged 60 or over. There are no plans to alter the eligibility criteria.
Disability living allowance (DLA) is specifically designed to help meet the extra costs of disability, including heating.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
Mr. Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 7 January 2010, Official Report, column 574W, on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, what steps he is taking to increase the transparency of the negotiations; and if he will make a statement. [311437]
Mr. Lammy: UK officials have consistently argued for more transparency in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiations and in bilateral discussions. As a result of our calls, and those of like-minded countries, the negotiating parties agreed to release a summary of the key elements being discussed. This can be found on the Intellectual Property Office website along with further information that we are able to disclose under the existing terms of the agreement and is updated regularly.
Mr. Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will place in the Library the latest draft held by his Department of the (a) civil enforcement, (b) border measures, (c) criminal enforcement and (d) intellectual property rights enforcement section of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. [311446]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 18 January 2010]: Although I am sympathetic to the view that ACTA negotiations should be more transparent and I have instructed my officials to press for more transparency, we are not in a position to place the drafts held by my Department in the Library.
As is common practice in trade negotiations, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is taking place in confidence. Disclosure of any documents without the agreement of all our ACTA negotiating partners would damage the United Kingdom's international relations. This would harm our ability to protect, promote and secure an outcome in the UK's interest, and the premature release of documents that are not agreed and not fully developed may also have a negative effect on the Government's reputation.
Mr. Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which Ministers are given access to UK position papers on negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. [311447]
Mr. Lammy:
I am the Minister responsible-for Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). My officials regularly liaise with the officials from other Departments
(FCO, HMRC, MOJ, BIS) who keep their relevant Ministers within their Departments informed when necessary.
Mr. Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when he next plans to meet (a) Ministerial colleagues, (b) officials from the Intellectual Property Office and (c) others to discuss the negotiation of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. [311448]
Mr. Lammy: I have no plans to meet with my ministerial colleagues to discuss the negotiation of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in the near future but they have been kept informed of developments. I will continue to discuss ACTA with officials whenever there are significant developments. I have discussed ACTA with EU partners in the past and will continue to do so when the opportunity arises.
Business Council for Britain
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many times the Business Council for Britain has met; when it last met; what its membership is; how many officials have attended each of its meetings; and how much it has spent on (a) travel, (b) hospitality and (c) other expenses since June 2007. [311603]
Ian Lucas: The Business Council for Britain was established in June 2007 and has met formally nine times since then. The most recent meeting was on 2 December 2009. There are 16 members of the Business Council: Stephen Green (HSBC, Chair), Sir Richard Branson (Virgin), Damon Buffini (Permira), Cynthia Carroll (Anglo American), Tony Hayward (BP), Brent Hoberman (Mydeco), Sir Terry Leahy (Tesco), Ian Livingston (BT), Dick Olver (BAE Systems), Sir John Parker (National Grid), Sir John Rose (Rolls-Royce), Sir Stuart Rose (Marks & Spencer), Dame Marjorie Scardino (Pearson), Lord Sugar (Government Small Business Advisor), Paul Walsh (Diageo) and Andrew Witty (GlaxoSmithKline). Officials do not participate in the discussions at the Business Council meetings. The number of officials attending is always kept to a minimum, but varies. The Business Council has incurred a sum of £870 for hospitality, but no other costs for travel or other expenses.
Communication Service Providers
Mr. Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the likely effects on consumer choice of making provision for consumer access to third-party communication providers from all (a) next generation and (b) other public communications networks. [311872]
Mr. Timms: I have made no such assessment. However, we are working with Ofcom to ensure the greatest consumer choice for Next Generation Access and expect all networks built using public funds to conform to an open access model, enabling third parties to offer services.
Mr. Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will take steps to ensure that all (a) next generation and (b) other public communications networks offer consumers equal access to third party service providers. [311873]
Mr. Timms: We are working with Ofcom to ensure the greatest consumer choice for Next Generation Access and expect all networks built using public funds to conform to an open access model, enabling third parties to offer services.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff in his Department are working on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiations. [311442]
Mr. Lammy: The Intellectual Property Office has two officials working on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement under the direction of the Director of International Policy and the Chief Executive Officer. These officials co-ordinate the UK position with the support of lawyers and policy officials from across Government.
Electric Vehicles: Motorcycles
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the merits of providing support to producers of electric motorcycles and mopeds. [310927]
Mr. Khan: have been asked to reply.
Passenger cars are by some distance the biggest source of emissions from road transport, forming almost 60 per cent. of total UK domestic C02 transport emissions compared to less than 1 per cent. by motorcycles. As such, the focus of government support is on cars where it will have the biggest impact on greenhouse gas emissions from road transport. We recognise that electric motorcycles offer environmental benefits compared to conventional motorcycles and they are already zero rated for VED purposes and exempt from fuel duty. We anticipate that electric motorbikes will be able to access the re-charging infrastructure installed as part of the £30 million Plugged in Places framework.
Higher Education: Admissions
Stephen Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of undergraduates studying (a) part-time and (b) full-time were from low participation neighbourhoods in each of the last five years. [311120]
Mr. Lammy: The latest available information from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is provided in the table. Figures are provided for young (under 21) and mature (21 and over) part-time and full-time undergraduate entrants to higher education institutions in England, for the academic years 2006/07 and 2007/08. Figures for earlier academic years are not directly comparable, due to a change in the methodology used to calculate the proportion of students who are from low participation neighbourhoods.
Information for the 2008/09 academic year will be available from HESA in April.
| Proportion of undergraduate entrants from low participation neighbourhoods, English higher education institutions, academic years 2006/07 and 2007/08 | ||||
| Percentage | ||||
| Part-time | Full-time | |||
| Academic year | Young | Mature( 1) | Young | Mature( 1) |
| (1) The participation rate for mature entrants excludes students who have a previous HE qualification. Note: Percentages have been rounded to one decimal place. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency Performance Indicators. | ||||
Dr. Richard Taylor: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many school and sixth form college leavers went on to universities on average in each year in the period (a) 1981 to 1990, (b) 1991 to 2000 and (c) 2001 to 2009. [311122]
Mr. Lammy: The latest figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) are shown in the table. This shows the number of 18-year-old undergraduate entrants, some of whom may not have attended schools or sixth form colleges. Figures are not available prior to 1994/95, and figures for the 2009/10 academic year will be available in January 2011.
| UK domiciled 18-year-old undergraduate entrants UK higher education institutions1 academic years 1994/95 to 2008/09 | |
| Academic year | 18-year-old entrants |
| (1) Excludes the Open University due to inconsistencies in their coding of entrants across the time series. Note: Figures are based on a snapshot as at 1 December and have been rounded to the nearest five. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). | |
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