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21 Jan 2010 : Column 470W—continued
Exhaust Emissions: Aviation
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) undertaken on claims by airlines that they are able to prove reductions in greenhouse gas emissions arising from their activities. [311945]
Joan Ruddock: The Department has not commissioned or undertaken research on any claims that may have been made by airlines that they are able to prove reductions in greenhouse gas emissions arising from their activities. DECC does, however, monitor UK aviation emissions through its UK greenhouse gas inventory and to some extent can use this to assess the impact of activities in the airline industry.
The Government encourage airlines to set environmental targets and to monitor their progress against them. However, we have no current plans to review the differing methodologies they apply in carrying out this work.
Fuel Poverty: Preston
Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households in Preston have received assistance under the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme since the inception of the scheme. [311143]
Mr. Kidney: The following table shows how many households in Preston have received assistance under the Warm Front Scheme (the operating name of the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme in England) since its inception.
| Preston | |
| Number | |
| (1) Up to 31 December 2009 | |
Industrial Diseases: Compensation
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he plans to establish a compensation scheme for surface workers as part of the British Coal Respiratory Disease Scheme; and if he will make a statement. [312234]
Miners with surface only exposure to dust were not covered by the 1998 High Court Respiratory Disease Judgment and not included under the Claims Handling Agreement (CHA). The Department's position has been that the levels of respirable dust (rather than visible dust) in surface jobs was not sufficient to cause lung disease. Despite the Department's position on these cases, I recognise there has been a long-standing campaign to seek compensation for surface workers. In an attempt to settle this issue, four "test" cases were to be brought before the court for determination in November 2009.
I can now report that at a pre-trial court hearing on 9 October 2009, the solicitors acting for the four selected claimants conceded the litigation on all four cases and costs were awarded to the Department. When advising the court of the position, the claimants' counsel said
"in the light of the expert evidence in each case, the court was likely to make findings in relation to dust exposure that would make it difficult for any of these four claimants to establish any significant injury."
On this basis, no case for compensation has been established in respect of surface workers with surface only exposure.
However, due to the Department's diligence, I can report that c.650 claims previously identified as Coal Preparation Plant only claims by their solicitors were found to be able to be compensated as "mixed workers" under the CHA and these are now being processed. Additionally, another c.200 claims are now having their underground only employment assessed and settled.
Under a Court Order agreed in December 2009, and not opposed by the claimant's solicitors, all remaining surface only claims are now in the "strike out" process for mid February 2010.
Natural Gas: Storage
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he plans to increase the capacity of the UK's strategic gas reserve in respect of (a) short-term and (b) long-term strategic storage; and if he will make a statement. [310099]
Mr. Kidney:
The provision of gas storage capacity is a commercial matter; Great Britain does not have a designated "strategic gas reserve". National Grid's 'Gas Transportation Ten Year Statement 2009', published in December, reports 22 commercial gas storage projects at various stages of
development. If these all proceed to commissioning, they could increase our gas storage capacity, to serve a range of short-term and long-term needs, by some 400 per cent. by around 2020. The Government are helping these projects to go forward, through reforms to the onshore and offshore consents regimes under the Planning and Energy Acts 2008; and by clarifying, alongside Budget 2009, that cushion gas, required by gas storage facilities, is eligible for tax relief.
Nuclear Power Stations
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer to Baroness Neville-Jones of 11 January 2010, Official Report, House of Lords, column WA128, what the outcome was of the inquiry into the removal of protectively marked information from a nuclear licensed site in 2006. [311291]
Mr. Kidney: A recommendation was made to provide a programme of training and education for the individual responsible for the inadvertent disclosure, and this training duly took place.
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change by what process he plans to take into account submissions made to his Department's consultations on (a) the National Nuclear Policy Statement and (b) the regulatory justification of new nuclear power stations; and when he expects to respond to each consultation. [311292]
Mr. Kidney: The consultation on the Nuclear and other energy National Policy Statements will close on 22 February 2010. The Government will carefully consider the responses made to the consultation, along with the output of the Parliamentary Scrutiny of the National Policy Statements, and intend to publish a revised National Policy Statement when the process is complete.
On Regulatory Justification, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has published his proposed decisions for consultation. He will consider all responses received before making his final decisions and expects to respond to the consultation at the end of this process.
Warm Front Scheme
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the average waiting time for the installation of (a) heating and (b) insulation measures under the Warm Front scheme in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the North East and (iv) the UK in each year since the inception of that scheme. [310621]
Mr. Kidney: The following table details average timescales in working days for (a) heating and (b) insulation measures delivered by Warm Front in England since the beginning of the current phase of the scheme in 2005, and for Jarrow, South Tyneside and North East England in the current year to date.
Further details on timescales for (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the North East will be placed in the House of Commons Library when available.
| Average d ays | ||||||||||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10( 1) | ||||||
| Heating | Insulation | Heating | Insulation | Heating | Insulation | Heating | Insulation | Heating | Insulation | |
| (1) To 31 December 2009 | ||||||||||
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of back boilers which have been replaced under the Warm Front scheme in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since its inception. [310622]
Mr. Kidney: The following table shows the total number of boilers replaced by the Warm Front Scheme in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England in each year since the current phase of the Scheme began in 2005, but does not differentiate back boilers and other types of boiler replaced under Warm Front. Details on types of boiler being replaced are not recorded.
| Boilers Installed | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10( 1) | Total |
| (1) Up to 3 December 2009 | ||||||
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much has been provided in Warm Front grants in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since their inception. [310664]
Mr. Kidney: The following table shows the value of Warm Front funding spent in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England in each year since the beginning of the current phase of the Scheme in 2005.
| £ | ||||||
| Measures Spend | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | Total |
| Note: Figures above include the cost of all measures provided through Warm Front, including those subsequently funded through interaction with other programmes (for example with utilities and CERT). | ||||||
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