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8 Mar 2010 : Column 6W—continued
Renewable Energy: Fuel Oil
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to increase regeneration capacity for waste oils; and if he will make a statement. [319846]
Dan Norris: DEFRA's policies on waste oils are set out in Waste Strategy for England 2007. We are currently considering the responses to the stage one consultation on the transposition of the revised Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC), including the provisions in article 21 on waste oils.
Special Protection Areas
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2010, Official Report, column 831W, on Special Protection Areas: cats, what guidance the European Commission has provided on the (a) implementation of the European Habitats Directive and (b) appropriateness of banning domestic cats and dogs in housing developments close to areas with Special Protection status. [319799]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The European Commission has produced a range of guidance on specific articles of the Habitats Directive which is available on its website. I am not aware that any of this guidance gives specific advice on the appropriateness of banning domestic pets close to Special Protection Areas.
Tuna: Conservation
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons the Government decided not to sign up to the EU protocol on sustainable fishing of tuna. [319210]
Huw Irranca-Davies: There is no official EU protocol on sustainable fishing of tuna. However, the UK plays a full part in tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organisations to work towards sustainable management of tuna stocks and, in the case of Atlantic bluefin tuna, has been a leading voice within the EU in calling for additional measures through the listing on Appendix I on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in order to protect this stock.
Leader of the House
Departmental Marketing
Mr. Syms: To ask the Leader of the House pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Ruislip Northwood of 5 January 2010, Official Report, column 103W, on departmental marketing, how much her Department and agencies have spent on advertising, marketing, public relations and publicity in relation to the (a) Real Help Now and (b) Building Britain's Future themed campaign to date. [320453]
Barbara Keeley: The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons incurred no cost on advertising, marketing, public relations and publicity in relation to (a) Real Help Now and (b) Building Britain's Future themed campaigns to date.
Scotland
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions from his Department's buildings in each year since 2005. [320569]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office did not centrally record its carbon emissions before the current financial year. This information is, however, now being recorded and will be reported in our forthcoming annual report.
Departmental Energy
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps his Department plans to take to participate in the Earth Hour event on 27 March 2010. [319099]
Ann McKechin: As part of the Scotland Office's continuing efforts to reduce energy consumption, staff are reminded regularly to turn off computers, monitors and other electrical equipment, unplug mobile phone chargers and switch off lights when rooms are not in use. As the 2010 Earth Hour event is on the evening of Saturday 27 March, our buildings are likely to be unoccupied. Security guards will ensure that no inessential lights are left on.
Departmental ICT
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information technology projects initiated by his Department were cancelled prior to completion in the last 12 months; and what the cost of each such project was to the public purse. [320435]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office shares an information technology system (SCOTS) with the Scottish Executive, which is responsible for the development, administration and maintenance of the system; consequently, the Office does not directly undertake IT projects.
Departmental Languages
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) Ministers and (b) civil servants in his Department received coaching in a foreign language in the last 12 months; what expenditure his Department incurred in providing such coaching; and in what languages such coaching was provided. [320540]
Ann McKechin: No Ministers or civil servants received coaching in a foreign language in the last 12 months.
Trade Unions
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many days staff of his Department spent on trade union activity in the latest year for which figures are available; and what recent estimate he has made of the annual cost to the public purse of such activity. [320670]
Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office do not have any staff that spend time undertaking trade union activities.
Energy and Climate Change
Energy Supply
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the maximum transmission system demand was in each of the last 20 years. [320328]
Mr. Kidney: DECC's data for the maximum transmission system demand are contained in our report 'UK Energy Sector Indicators 2009: Supporting Indicators Dataset':
The following table shows the data for simultaneous maximum electricity load met (left axis) from 1985 to 2008.
| Simultaneous maximum electricity load met, 1985 to 2008 (GW) | |
| GW simultaneous maximum load met, UK (left axis) | |
| Source: DECC. | |
Fossil Fuels
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of UK energy demand has been met from fossil fuel sources in each year since 2006. [321270]
Mr. Kidney: The volume and proportion of UK energy demand met from fossil fuel sources since 2006 is shown in the following table.
| Million tonnes of oil equivalent | ||||||
| 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | ||||
| Volume | Proportion (percentage) | Volume | Proportion (percentage) | Volume | Proportion (percentage) | |
Mining: Coal
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what (a) deep and (b) open-cast coal mines are operational; and what the annual output was of each such mine in each of the last five years. [320329]
Mr. Kidney: The following table lists deep and surface coal mines operational as at March 2010. Statistics on the output from such mines are provided by operators to the industry's licensing body, the Coal Authority, on a confidential basis and are not publicly available.
| Mines | |
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