Marine Renewable Technologies
21. Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when plans to he has to provide support for the development of marine renewable technologies. [48558]
Gregory Barker: Our new UK marine energy programme will accelerate the development and deployment of marine renewable technologies at commercial scale.
We are currently considering the allocation of new funding for wave and tidal technologies, in addition to the review of the renewables obligation, and will announce our decisions by the summer.
Energy Efficiency
22. Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to encourage the adoption of energy efficiency measures in public and private sector workplaces. [48559]
Gregory Barker: When the Prime Minister pledged that this would be the ‘greenest government ever’ he also committed central Government to lead by example by reducing our own emissions by 10% within 12 months. I chair the Whitehall working group and we are making good progress, but we need to go further across the public sector.
To help the private sector, the Energy Bill will extend the Green Deal to businesses, making new finance available, which will be especially valuable to smaller firms.
Energy Use
23. John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to enable consumers to make informed choices about energy use. [48560]
Charles Hendry:
The Energy Bill includes powers to legislate to give customers greater control over their energy costs by requiring energy suppliers to inform consumers about the cheapest available tariff. We are
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also looking at how best to provide information on how consumers’ consumption compares to that of similar households.
Renewable Heat Incentive
24. Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the likely contribution of the renewable heat incentive to reducing carbon dioxide emissions. [48561]
Gregory Barker: We have calculated that the renewable heat incentive, the first scheme of its kind in the world, will achieve cumulative carbon dioxide savings of 44 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2020, equivalent to the annual emissions from 20 new gas-fired power stations.
Energy Supplies
25. Mr Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure security of energy supplies. [48562]
Charles Hendry: In the short and medium term, our energy supplies are secure. However, we are not complacent.
We are taking a range of actions, including through electricity market reform and the national policy statements, to provide the right environment for investment.
Additionally, we have a provision in the Energy Bill that will reduce the likelihood of a gas supply emergency;
The Government remain vigilant, and we are carefully following international developments, in Japan, in the middle east, and more generally, in case there are actions to be taken or lessons to be learned.
Carbon Sequestration
Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether funding can be allocated to a project under the Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Programme in advance of statutory project consents being secured. [49008]
Charles Hendry: Any award of funding under the Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Programme would be contingent upon a project securing all necessary permissions for its development, although this may not preclude assistance to ascertain the detailed cost of a project.
Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consultation with (a) local communities, (b) local authorities and (c) other local and national parties will take place prior to allocating funding from the Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Programme. [49009]
Charles Hendry:
Funding from the Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Programme will be awarded to projects following a robust and transparent selection process, with projects assessed against Government objectives for the programme and value for money. Local communities, local authorities and other local and national parties have had the opportunity to comment on our proposed approach following the publication of
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the further information document “UK CCS Commercial Scale Demonstration Programme: Delivering Projects 2-4 (Further Information)” last December.
Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what mechanism he has put in place to ensure that the potential effects on the environment and local communities of projects considered for funding under the Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Programme are taken into account before a decision is made. [49010]
Charles Hendry: Carbon capture and storage projects are complex industrial developments and will be subject to a number of consenting, regulatory and policy requirements, which take into account the local impacts of a project.
Any provision of funding under the Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Programme is contingent on a project securing all necessary permissions for its development, although may not preclude work to ascertain the detailed cost of a project.
Departmental Redundancy
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many civil servants in his Department have been offered voluntary redundancy since April 2010; and if he will make a statement. [49192]
Gregory Barker: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has not offered any of its civil servants voluntary redundancy since April 2010.
Electricity Generation
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on the sale by energy companies of generation capacity. [48913]
Charles Hendry: The UK currently has an energy only market, where energy companies buy and sell electricity rather than generation capacity. In its electricity market reform consultation, DECC published a number of policy options for a capacity mechanism. These included options that would in principle enable generation capacity as well as energy to play a role in the market. The consultation closed on 10 March and DECC is evaluating responses with a view to publishing a White Paper before summer recess.
Energy: Housing
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the potential effects on the implementation of the Green Deal of the application of variable rates of value added tax to different energy-saving materials. [48792]
Gregory Barker: A 5% rate of VAT is already available on a large number of the energy-saving products, such as insulation, that are likely to qualify for Green Deal financing.
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We have commissioned research to assess the impact that pricing, including VAT rates, could have on consumer demand. The research will be completed prior to this autumn's consultation on the Green Deal secondary legislation.
Energy: Prices
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will request energy companies to introduce a uniform basic tariff for electricity and gas costs incurred by consumers. [49163]
Charles Hendry: Energy tariffs are a matter for Ofgem, which recently announced the findings of its review of retail markets. This found that complex pricing structures and an increase in the number of tariffs are contributing to lower consumer engagement and proposed restricting the number of standard “evergreen” tariffs to one per payment method with readily comparable simple unit prices.
We welcome Ofgem's proposals for strong action to empower consumers through better information and simpler tariffs. A copy of its Retail Market Review—Findings and initial proposals is available online at:
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Markets/RetMkts/rmr/Documents1/RMR_FINAL.pdf
Energy: Sales
Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will amend the provisions of Standard Licence Condition 7a on the sale of energy contracts to micro businesses and small business to bring them into line with the licence conditions governing sales to residential consumers. [49024]
Charles Hendry: Licensing is a matter for Ofgem and we welcome their recently announced consultation, included in its report “The Retail Market Review—Findings and initial proposals”, on whether the levels of protection proposed for domestic consumers in this area should be extended to the non-domestic sector. A copy of this report can be found online at:
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Markets/RetMkts/rmr/Documents1/RMR_FINAL.pdf
The consultation questions are on page 57.
National Grid
Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on the loss of energy through transmission in the National Grid. [48835]
Charles Hendry: The Government recognise the importance of keeping transmission losses to a minimum. Minimising losses reduces the amount of electricity that needs to be produced, in turn resulting in lower carbon emissions and other costs. National Grid is incentivised to minimise transmission losses as part of its annual system operator incentive scheme set by Ofgem. In addition, Ofgem is considering whether further incentives should be placed on Transmission Owners in the next Transmission Price Control Review (2013-21) to help reduce losses and how these would operate. This will be covered in Ofgem's strategy decision document, due to be published on 30 March 2011.
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Work-based Stress
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what arrangements are in place in his Department to (a) reduce levels of work-based stress and (b) provide assistance to staff diagnosed with such stress. [48210]
Gregory Barker: DECC is committed to protecting the health, safety and welfare of our employees. The Department recognises that workplace stress is a health and safety issue and acknowledges the importance of identifying and reducing workplace stressors. The arrangements to reduce workplace stress include:
Information on stress, including how to recognise it and a manager’s checklist, is available on the HR intranet.
Links on the health and safety pages of the intranet to the HSE guidance and sources of support. DECC uses the HSE management standards website to follow the comprehensive information to assist in reducing and tackling work-related stress.
All staff have the tools and opportunity to work flexibly, subject to normal work requirements, and this helps enable a better work-life balance.
A one-day course to share, change experiences and learn techniques to manage personal stress is available to staff.
The employee assistance programme is a dedicated information and counselling support service for staff and offers help and assistance for those who may feel they are suffering from adverse levels of stress. This is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
If a member of staff is diagnosed with stress, additional one-to-one help is available and may include an occupational health referral to gain medical advice.
Wind Power
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) if he will estimate the proportion of wind turbines installed in the UK which use direct drive technology derived from rare earth metals; and if he will make a statement; [48186]
(2) what assessment he has made of the environmental effects of the manufacture of direct drive technology for use in wind turbines; and if he will make a statement. [48187]
Charles Hendry: I understand that the proportion of wind turbines installed in the UK which use direct drive technology derived from rare earth metals is negligible (less than 1%)—and only 4% to 5% of turbines worldwide use this technology.
I refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave her on 4 March 2011, Official Report, column 616W, regarding the assessment of the environmental effects of the use of rare earth metals in wind turbines.
My officials are in regular contact with wind developers and turbine manufacturers as well as renewable trade associations and will continue to keep this issue under review.
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Business, Innovation and Skills
Aimhigher Programme
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many potential students were reached by AimHigher in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [48377]
Mr Willetts [holding answer 22 March 2011]: Aimhigher is managed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). HEFCE has provided the following information on the number of potential students reached by Aimhigher.
In 2009-10 Aimhigher reached 1,210,362 potential students. Due to changes in the monitoring procedures adopted by Aimhigher partnerships, comparable figures for previous years are not available.
Beer: Competition
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions his Department has had with (a) representatives of (i) pub companies, (ii) breweries, (iii) pub licensees and (iv) consumers, (b) the Campaign for Real Ale and (c) other interested parties on the (A) beer tie and (B) voluntary reform of the pub industry. [48375]
Mr Davey [holding answer 22 March 2011]: The Department has recently had discussions with representatives from the Independent Pub Confederation, the British Institute of Innkeeping, the British Beer and Pub Association and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors in its role of monitoring the pub industry's progress towards self-reform, as set out by the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee.
The Office of Fair Trading's final decision on the Campaign for Real Ale's (CAMRA) super complaint regarding beer ties concluded that the pub sector in the UK is competitive overall and it has not found evidence of competition problems that are having a significant adverse impact on consumers.
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what consideration he has given to the implementation of a statutory industry code of practice for the pub industry. [48376]
Mr Davey [holding answer 22 March 2011]: The Government are currently monitoring the industry's progress towards self-reform within the timeframe set out by the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee.
Business: Higher Education
Mr Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the answer of 27 January 2011, Official Report, columns 485-86W, on business: higher education, how many businesses participated in funding partnerships with universities through (a) the Research Council's Pathways to Impact, (b) HEFCE's Research Excellence Framework, (c) the Higher Education Innovation Funding and (d) ongoing collaboration between the Research Councils and the Technology Strategy Board in each of the last five years; how many businesses he expects to participate in
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such partnerships in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement. [46994]
Mr Willetts [holding answer 15 March 2011]: Research Council Pathways to Impact are not a system for allocating separate funding. The first Research Excellence Framework assessment will be in 2014. Higher Education Innovation Funding is allocated to higher education institutions to support their interactions with business and other users. Higher Education Business and Community Innovation Survey data on the number of university contracts with businesses are available at:
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/econsoc/buscom/hebci/
Collaborations between business and academe are enabled through a range of activities by the Technology Strategy Board, not all of which involve funding partnership with the research councils. Overall, through its support for collaborative research and development (R and D) projects, the Technology Strategy Board has provided support to approximately 1,500 unique businesses and about 2/3 of projects have at least one academic partner (more may have academic sub-contractors). Furthermore, there are currently over 1,000 live knowledge transfer partnerships, and each of these is a partnership between business and the knowledge base, a majority of which will be higher education institutes. Such partnerships are likely to continue going forward, but it would not be possible to specify numbers as projects as individual collaborative R and D projects can range from £10,000 to £100 million, and are funded on the basis of their technical and economic merit with no pre-set targets for the number of partnerships.
Education: English Language
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) what representations he has received from providers of English for Speakers of Other Languages courses on his proposals to change the fee remission rate in England; [48855]
(2) what recent estimate he has made of the number of students on English for Speakers of Other Languages courses in receipt of full fee remission who would be eligible for his proposed 50 per cent. fee remission rate; [48856]
(3) what recent estimate he has made of the total savings to his Department from the removal of full fee remission for students on English for Speakers of Other Languages courses in each of the next three years. [48857]
Mr Hayes: Ministers receive a significant number of representations from further education providers, many of whom deliver English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses and have taken the opportunity to discuss changes to fee remission including ESOL.
From August 2011, full Government funding will be provided for ESOL to unemployed people in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance or in the Employment and Support Allowance (Work-Related Activity) Group, where English language skills have been identified as a barrier to entering employment. We will also continue to pay 50% of ESOL course fees for people who are settled here. We will no longer fund ESOL courses delivered in the workplace.
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The equality impact assessment published alongside “Skills for Sustainable Growth” (November 2010) found that, at the aggregate level, there are unlikely to be disproportionate impacts on protected groups. A separate assessment of how the changes may affect ESOL learners is currently being carried out by this Department, and I expect to be able to publish the assessment in due course.
Higher Education: Admissions
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many funded places there were for each foundation degree course at each higher education institution in each of the last five years; and how many places there will be in each of the next three years. [48174]
Mr Willetts: The latest available information from the Higher Education Funding Council for England will be placed in the Library of the House. Historical figures are not available at an individual course level; the figures show the total number of HEFCE-funded and non-HEFCE-funded foundation degree students in English higher education institutions and further education colleges from 2006-07 to 2010-11. Information on the number of foundation degree places in each of the next three years is not available as we do not plan for the number of students at a course or subject level. The actual number of places on foundation degree courses will depend on the decisions of individual institutions and students.
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many potential students were reached under university access agreements in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [48378]
Mr Willetts [holding answer 22 March 2011]: This is a matter for the Director of Fair Access. The Office for Fair Access have confirmed that the director makes no assessment of the number of potential students reached through the additional outreach activities undertaken by institutions through their access agreements.
The Director of Fair Access publishes annual monitoring reports setting out the outcomes of the Office for Fair Access' annual monitoring of access agreements. The latest report is for 2008/09 and is available at:
www.offa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/05_Offa-Access-monitoring.pdf
The report for 2009/10 will be published in a few months.
Higher Education: Autism
Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assistance his Department provides to individuals with autism and related conditions who wish to go to university; and what plans he has for such assistance over the comprehensive spending review period. [48241]
Mr Willetts: As part of widening participation, the Government provide financial support to disabled students in higher education (HE). They are supported via (i) the institution they attend and (ii) individually through disabled students’ allowances (DSAs).
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The Government provide funding to HE institutions, through the Higher Education Funding Council for England, to help them recruit and support disabled students; £13.2 million has been provided in the academic year 2010/11. Universities wanting to charge more than a £6,000 annual graduate contribution will have to demonstrate to the Director of Fair Access what more they will do to attract a higher proportion of students from under-represented groups, including students with disabilities.
In addition, DSAs are available to help individual students in HE with the extra costs they may incur on their course because of a disability, including autism and related conditions. In academic year 2010/11 eligible undergraduate students may receive the following:
| £ | ||
| Allowance | Maximum payable to eligible full-time undergraduates | Maximum payable to eligible part-time undergraduates |
|
Specialist equipment allowance (for the duration of the course) |
||
| (1) Unlimited | ||
For postgraduate students (full or part-time) there is one allowance to meet all costs, up to £10,260 in 2010/11.
DSAs do not depend on income and do not have to be repaid. They are paid in addition to the standard student finance package; we have no plans to change that.
Students
Mr McFadden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many undergraduate students are normally resident in Wolverhampton South East constituency; and what proportion of the 18 to 21- year-olds resident in the constituency this figure represents. [49014]
Mr Willetts: The latest data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) show there were 1,660 undergraduate enrolments from Wolverhampton South East parliamentary constituency in UK higher education institutions in the 2009/10 academic year. The Department does not hold population statistics at constituency level, therefore the proportion of 18 to 21-year-olds which this figure represents cannot be provided. Comparable figures for students studying higher education courses in further education colleges are not available.
Students: Fees and Charges
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the answer of 16 March 2011, Official Report, column 439W, on students: fees and charges, when he plans to publish the equality impact assessment on the package of reforms to higher education funding and student finance; and if he will make a statement. [48408]
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Mr Willetts: The equality impact assessment on the package of reforms to higher education funding and student finance was published on 29 November 2010.
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the likely cost to his Department of the information campaign on the increase in annual tuition fees in 2012-13; what the cost will be of hiring an advertising agency to undertake the campaign; what the budget will be for the production of press, radio and online advertisements; and if he will make a statement. [48702]
Mr Willetts: The Department considers it essential to ensure that prospective students and their families know about the full package of support available, to support access to higher education. This Department is working with the Central Office of Information to develop an effective and proportionate information campaign.
We have invited proposals from creative agencies to support this campaign and expect their costs to be in the region of £150,000, including their charges for production of press and online advertisements. The budget for chosen media is yet to be determined.
Third Sector
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department has taken to support the big society initiative. [42642]
Mr Davey: Department for Business innovation and Skills has several programmes aimed at achieving the big society goals of catalysing social action, decentralising power and opening up public services, and which will support the growth agenda. These include:
proposals for the possible mutualisation of Post Office Ltd (POL) with the potential to give sub-postmasters, staff and communities a much greater say in the ownership and running of the Post Office;
improvements to guidance and tools on Businesslink.gov.uk to: (a) help businesses and other organisations to make appropriate choices about legal form and ownership model (including in the context of public service reform and support for social enterprise); and (b) encourage businesses to consider employee ownership and other mutual models; and
creating a single, cohesive network of mentoring providers for the first time in the UK, bringing together at least 40,000 mentors.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department are participating in volunteering activities as part of his Department's involvement in the big society initiative. [42662]
Mr Davey: My ministerial colleagues and I support and encourage volunteering through our policy responsibilities, in our constituencies, and by participating in some personal activities. We also encourage our staff to participate in volunteering by offering guidance and special paid time off. As the lead Minister for Every Business Commits in the Government, I am talking to business and our stakeholders about how we can do more to support communities and encourage social action such as volunteering.
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Further Education: Manpower
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time lecturers were employed in the further education sector (i) nationally and (ii) in the west midlands in each of the last three years. [47878]
Mr Hayes [holding answer 22 March 2011]: The numbers of full and part-time FE teaching staff employed in England and in the west midlands in each of the last three years are set out in the following tables:
| National | ||
|
|
Full-time | Part-time |
| Note: Mode was unknown for 1,021 staff in 2007-08, 619 staff in 2008-09 and 1,553 staff in 2009-2010. These staff have been excluded from the table. | ||
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| West m idlands | ||
|
|
Full-time | Part-time |
| Note: Mode was unknown for 246 staff in 2007-08, eight staff in 2008-09 and 29 staff in 2009-10. These staff have been excluded from the table. Source: Staff Individualised Record Data | ||
Note:
The occupational category ‘providing teaching and promoting learning’ is used to derive the primary role of each member of staff from the proportion of time that a member of staff spends on this activity. This definition varies slightly to that used in the annual SIR report so staff numbers may vary slightly between these sources.