Written Answers to Questions
Monday 28 June 2010
Wales
Companies House
Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the proposed closure of the Companies House office at Nantgarw. [4276]
Mrs Gillan: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 23 June 2010, Official Report, column 215W.
Departmental Mobile Phones
Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to the answer of 7 June 2010, Official Report, column 12W, on departmental mobile telephones, what the (a) purchase cost of the handset, (b) network provider, (c) type of tariff and (d) name of the supplier is in respect of the mobile telephone issued to (i) the Secretary of State and (ii) the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State. [4710]
Mrs Gillan: The mobile telephones issued by my Department to Ministers are obtained through the central procurement arrangements provided by the Ministry of Justice. Under this arrangement, the telephones are on the standard Government tariff operated by Vodafone, and incur a purchase cost of £50 and a monthly line rental charge of £2 plus VAT. The current telephones are made by Nokia.
Railways
Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on how many occasions she has travelled to Wales by train since her appointment. [4125]
Mrs Gillan: To date I have travelled by train to Wales on nine separate occasions in the course of my duties. For each journey I travelled standard class, in line with the new policy I implemented upon taking office.
House of Commons Commission
Motions
Mr Amess: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, answering for the House of Commons Commission if the House of Commons Commission will place on the parliamentary (a) intranet and (b) internet site a sound recording of the debate held on the motion of no confidence in the Government on 28 March 1979; and if he will make a statement. [R] [4273]
Sir Stuart Bell: Following the answer given on 24 February 2010, the sound recording of the debate held on 28 March 1979 has been requested from the parliamentary broadcasting archives which are held at the British Film Institute. The history section of the website was identified as the best area for the content:
New content can also be publicised on the parliamentary intranet with a link to the Parliament website page.
The historical debate on the motion of no confidence in 1979 lasted nearly seven hours and the audio material is made up of six CDs. The average length for audio recordings or podcasts on the Parliament website is about 15 minutes. How the material can best be edited and presented in the Living Heritage section is now being considered.
Energy and Climate Change
Bio-energy Capital Grant Fund
Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has for the future of the bio-energy capital grant fund. [4391]
Charles Hendry: Before finalising the Department's £85 million contribution to Government savings of £6.2 billion in 2010-11, DECC is reviewing all spending plans, including uncommitted bio-energy capital grant scheme funds, with the aim of minimising any impact on the delivery of our objectives. We appreciate the need to provide clarity and certainty to those who have applied for grants under round 6 of the scheme, and will do so as soon as possible. The future of the scheme will be considered in the wider context of overall support for renewable heat technologies.
Carbon Emissions: Housing
Sarah Newton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether companies will have to repay Carbon Emissions Reduction Target funding in order to qualify for the Renewable Heat Incentive; and if he will make a statement. [4451]
Gregory Barker: The Government are committed to increasing the amount of renewable heat in the UK; this is a crucial part of ensuring we meet our renewables targets, cutting carbon and ensuring energy security. We are currently looking at the renewable heat incentive (RHI) proposals. Clearly there are benefits to the scheme, but we must also consider the impact of the costs, particularly given the financial constraints we must work within and the potential impact that funding options could have on vulnerable people.
However, I can confirm that renewable heat installations supported now by energy supplier subsidy under CERT would not be precluded from any future support scheme for renewable heat, though will of course have to meet its requirements. As my hon. Friend may know, there has been a recent consultation on extension to CERT from April 2011 until December 2012. Further announcements on the scope of that extension will be made in due course.
Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme
Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) what the estimated cost will be to public bodies required to register for the carbon reduction commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme for (a) registration and (b) the annual cost of purchasing carbon allowances; [4367]
(2) how many public bodies are required to register for the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme. [4369]
Gregory Barker: Any public body which in 2008 had at least one half-hourly electricity meter settled on the half hourly market is required to register for the scheme. Of those that register, those that meet the 6,000MWh qualification threshold will be required to participate in the scheme. In addition all UK Government Departments, the Scottish Administration, the Welsh Assembly Government and Northern Ireland Departments must all participate in the CRC scheme regardless of electricity usage. The precise number of public bodies which meet these criteria will not be known until the close of the registration period on 30 September. The Environment Agency estimates that 1,100 public bodies will be participants in the scheme. Other registered public sector bodies must make a simple information disclosure at registration at the start of each phase of the scheme.
Participants meeting the qualification threshold must pay a one-off registration fee of £950 and an annual subsistence fee of £1,290. Organisations which make a simple information disclosure are not required to pay these fees.
The annual cost to a participant from allowance purchases will depend on their total emissions, as well as their position in the league table. Their emissions will depend among other things on the organisation's size and measures introduced to improve their energy efficiency. All of the revenues raised from the Government sale of allowances will be returned to participants, so that those whose energy efficiency scores are highest will receive a bonus. Because of these uncertainties, Government have not estimated the cost to the public sector.
Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) how much the implementation of the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme has cost to date; [4365]
(2) how many officials in the Environment Agency are responsible for administering the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme in (a) 2010 and (b) 2011. [4366]
Gregory Barker: The Environment Agency is the UK Administrator for the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC) and the Regulator for England and Wales. In January 2010 there were nine people administering CRC which will rise to 30 by December 2010.
The cost of Environment Agency implementation activities until April 2010 was £6.6 million. This includes developing an IT system and communication activities to those affected by the regulations including provision of guidance and running a helpdesk since April 2009.
Departmental Mobile Phones
Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for West Bromwich East (Mr Watson) of 16 June 2010, Official Report, column 461W, on departmental mobile phones, what the (a) purchase cost of the handset, (b) network provider, (c) type of tariff and (d) name of the supplier was in respect of the BlackBerry device issued to each Minister in his Department. [4066]
Charles Hendry [holding answer 24 June 2010]: The purchase cost of the BlackBerry device for each Minister is £250. The network provider is Vodafone. The type of tariff is Network and BlackBerry and the name of the supplier is Vodafone.
Environment: Job Creation
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will set targets for the creation of jobs in the environmental industries. [4268]
Gregory Barker: Getting people back into employment and the transition to a low carbon, environmentally responsible economy are key objectives for the Government. However I have no plans to set a specific target for the creation of jobs in the environmental industries.
Nuclear Power Stations: Construction
Ian Swales: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he intends to lay before the House the National Planning Policy Statement on the siting of new nuclear power stations. [4591]
Charles Hendry: We are still considering responses to the consultation on the draft Nuclear National Policy Statement, but plan to make an announcement as soon as possible.
Oil Rigs: Transocean
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 7 June 2010, Official Report, column 32W, on Transocean, who the operator is of each of the 10 Transocean rigs in UK waters which are not idle and stacked. [4341]
Charles Hendry: The operators of the 10 Transocean rigs which are currently working in the North sea are tabled as follows:
| Rig | Operator |
Renewable Energy
Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department plans to take to support renewable energy generation. [3785]
Charles Hendry: We are committed to renewable energy as part of our comprehensive programme of measures to fulfil our ambitions for a low-carbon and eco-friendly economy.
To drive up renewable electricity generation, we have committed to a feed in tariff mechanism (FIT), together with the maintenance of banded Renewables Obligations Certificates (ROCs).
We are currently looking at proposals for a Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) to incentivise the uptake of renewable heat and will look to make an announcement on this as soon as possible.
Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on supporting loan funding for investment in renewable energy industries. [3787]
Charles Hendry: We announced in the Budget our commitment to addressing the barriers to investment in the low-carbon economy.
We welcome market-based interventions which support the financing of renewables, such as the European Investment Bank's intermediated lending scheme for onshore wind projects.
We are also currently considering a wide range of options for the scope and structure of a Green Investment Bank and will put forward detailed proposals following the spending review.
Mrs Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with representatives of the biofuels industry on the designation of biofuels produced from recycled cooking oils and recycled methanol under the Renewables Obligation Scheme. [4259]
Gregory Barker: Since 6 May 2010 there have been no ministerial discussions with the bioliquids (biofuels for electricity or heat) industry on the designation of fuels produced from used cooking oil and recycled methanol under the Renewables Obligation 2009. There have been discussions at official level. However, I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the issue further.
Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what progress has been made on implementing the Renewable Heat Incentive; and if he will make a statement. [4427]
Gregory Barker: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Michael Fallon) on 15 June 2010, Official Report, columns 367-68W.
Attorney-General
Departmental Official Cars
Mr Watson: To ask the Attorney-General how many Government (a) cars and (b) drivers are allocated to Ministers in the Law Officers' Departments. [4548]
The Attorney-General: Ministers in the Law Officers' Departments have two cars and drivers allocated to them but notice has been served on one of the cars and drivers, and the contract for this is due to come to an end in September 2010.
Mr Watson: To ask the Attorney-General how many (a) civil servants and (b) special advisers in the Law Officers' Departments are entitled to the use of (i) a car with a dedicated driver, (ii) a car from the Government car pool and (iii) a taxi ordered through a departmental account. [3211]
The Attorney-General: The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the only civil servant in the Law Officers' Departments currently using a car with a dedicated driver and car from the Government car pool. The Crown Prosecution Service has however given notice and the contract with the Government Car Service will be terminated on 24 August 2010.
The Treasury Solicitor's Department (Tsol) has a number of accounts with the Government Car and Despatch Agency. The Government Car and Despatch Agency is mainly used as a secure means of transport when there is a need to transport classified or sensitive documents relating to legal work undertaken by the Department. The service is also used occasionally by the Permanent Secretary (six times in the first six months of 2010) and by other officials when there is no reasonable, cost-effective public transport alternative.
Tsol, the National Fraud Authority, the Serious Fraud Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate do not have a departmental taxi account.
The CPS does not operate a national account with taxi operators. The CPS is however a devolved organisation and it is possible that there are local arrangements in place where accounts have been established with local taxi operators. To identify any such agreements would require local managers to review all paper procurement records and would incur a disproportionate cost.
The Attorney-General's Office operates a departmental taxi account which is available for use by all staff but can be used only if there is a justified business need.
The Law Officers' Departments do not have any special advisers.
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