Police: Gifts and Endowments

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what policies (a) Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and (b) the Independent Police Complaints Commission have adopted on their employees receiving gifts and hospitality from (i) police forces, (ii) police and crime commissioners and (iii) serving police officers. [190978]

Damian Green: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) staff are subject to the civil service code which states that civil servants must not accept gifts or hospitality, or receive other benefits from anyone which might reasonably be seen to compromise their personal judgment or integrity. The policy applies to all HMIC staff, whether on a permanent, seconded, fixed term, temporary, contractor or associate basis. All offers of gifts and hospitality, irrespective of whether they are received or not, must be recorded on the gifts and hospitality register held locally within individual business units. HMIC publishes a copy of its gifts and hospitality register every three months.

All Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) staff must follow the IPCC's code of conduct which includes what they must do in regard to declaring gifts and hospitality. An IPCC employee should not use their official position to receive benefits of any kind from a third party, which might reasonably be seen to compromise their personal judgment and integrity. The Code of Conduct can be found on the IPCC website, which also includes a register of its gifts and hospitality updated every six months.

Stalking

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her future plans are for funding the national stalking hotline. [189552]

Norman Baker: The Government ring-fenced nearly £40 million of stable funding from 2010-15 for specialist local domestic and sexual violence support services and national helplines. £900,000 of this funding is allocated to providing support to helplines, of which £45,000 is committed until April 2015 to the National Stalking Helpline.

International Development

Afghanistan

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many full-time officials in her Department have responsibility for its role and activities in Afghanistan. [190466]

Justine Greening: DFID's London-based Afghanistan team consists of seven full-time staff, as well as a wide range of staff across the Department, including press, policy, financial and corporate advisers and staff in country offices, who work on Afghanistan.

We do not provide detailed information on staff numbers in Afghanistan for security and operational reasons.

11 Mar 2014 : Column 186W

Climate Change

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions she has had with her international counterparts on the inclusion of a stand-alone climate change goal in a new development framework. [191062]

Justine Greening: DFID Ministers are engaged in discussions at the UN and elsewhere about all aspects of the framework that will succeed the millennium development goals.

Israel

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations her Department has made to the Israeli Government about oil production in Gaza. [191059]

Mr Duncan: DFID is not aware of any conversations between the Department and the Israeli Government about oil production in Gaza. DFID does, however, work closely with the embassy in Tel Aviv to raise concerns with the Government of Israel about the need to find both an immediate and long-term solution to Gaza's energy crisis. One of the priority issues we and our EU partners raise with Israel is the necessity of co-operation in facilitating the development of the Gaza Marine 1 gas field.

Middle East

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with civil society organisations working in Lebanon and Jordan about the number of child protection cases in the region. [191060]

Mr Duncan: DFID humanitarian advisers are in regular contact with UNICEF and international non-governmental organisations working on child protection in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. These organisations share information and co-ordinate activities with a wide range of national and local civil society organisations involved in child protection activities, including monitoring trends and assessing needs. Child protection encompasses all activities aiming to prevent and respond to exploitation, abuse, neglect and violence against children. According to the UN, 2,946 children in Lebanon were referred to child protection services in 2013. In Jordan, 4,670 children at risk were referred in 2013. Reliable data for Syria are not available.

Overseas Aid

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what procedures are in place to ensure foreign aid reaches its target and is not embezzled by corrupt or dictatorial regimes. [190534]

Lynne Featherstone: The risk that funds may not be used for their intended purpose is assessed through a range of in-depth evidence-based analyses and reviews including Central Assurance Assessments, Fiduciary Risk Assessments and Due Diligence Assessments. This encompasses a detailed review of the potential recipients, (including all downstream partners), financial management systems, governance structures, policies, procedures, internal systems and fiscal abilities. These reviews are mandatory for all DFID budget support programmes and identify key risks to support programme planning and to inform funding decisions, thereby safeguarding public funds.

11 Mar 2014 : Column 187W

A significant number of DFID staff have been trained in anti-corruption methods and this is then embedded with partner organisations to ensure compliance to DFID's needs. Training is an ongoing process and it is anticipated that all current staff and new entrants will have undertaken a comprehensive programme related to Fraud, Bribery and Corruption within the next 12 months, further ensuring that DFID safeguards UK funds.

In addition to the assessment of existing processes and procedures and as part of our budget support programme, we make sure that all partners have a credible reform programme in place to improve their financial management systems’, accountability for UK funds. Where necessary we provide technical support to assist them in achieving best practice. For each existing programme a continuous monitoring/annual reporting process is engaged along with expert reviews of internal and external audits. Ad hoc site visits and random sampling of accounting procedures and processes are also undertaken reinforcing the zero tolerance approach to fraud, bribery or corruption.

Rwanda

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have had with representatives of the Rwandan Government since December 2013. [190465]

Justine Greening: The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds) met with the Rwanda Foreign Minister at the African Union summit in January. Since January, DFID Ministers have not had discussions with representatives of the Rwandan Government.

Staff

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many full-time members of staff in her Department have responsibility for conflict states. [190732]

Justine Greening: There are 28 full-time staff working in our Fragile States and Conflict Team in the UK, as well as a wide range of staff across the Department, including press, policy, financial and corporate advisers and staff in country offices, who work on conflict states.

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many full time members of staff in her Department have responsibility for her Department's role in Syria. [190734]

Justine Greening: There are 24 full time members of staff in my Department working on the Syria Crisis, which is in addition to the Fragile and Conflict States Team and a wide range of staff across the Department, including press, policy, financial and corporate advisers and staff in country offices, who work on Syria.

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many full time members of staff in her Department have responsibility for issues related to HIV and AIDS. [190735]

11 Mar 2014 : Column 188W

Justine Greening: There are 16 full-time members of staff in our AIDS and Reproductive Health Team, as well as a wide range of staff across the Department, including press, policy, financial and corporate advisers and staff in country offices, who work on AIDS and Reproductive Health.

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many full time members of staff in her Department have responsibility for issues related to workers' rights. [190736]

Justine Greening: The issue of workers' rights is handled by DFID's Politics, Society and State team which consists of four full-time members of staff, as well as a wide range of staff across the Department, including press, policy, financial and corporate advisers and staff in country offices, who work on workers' rights.

Culture, Media and Sport

Arts: Expenditure

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much support her Department has provided to the (a) video games industry and (b) film industry in each of the last five years. [190593]

Mr Vaizey: The Department is providing up to £8 million in match funding in 2013-14 to support skills development in both the video games and film industry. The Department has also supported the film industry through Grant in Aid and National Lottery Funding to the British Film Institute (BFI) in each of the last five years as follows:

Betting Shops

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether any betting shops have been forced to close as a result of local authority action in the last five years. [191017]

Mrs Grant: Local authorities have the power to impose licence conditions on betting shops to ensure they meet their licence objectives, for example in November 2013 Newham Borough Council imposed a number of conditions on a betting shop which was associated with underage gambling and disorder. The Gambling Commission do not collate figures on the number of licence reviews or closures.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what evidence she has considered about the prevalence of betting shops in low income areas; and whether she plans to commission research on this subject. [191020]

11 Mar 2014 : Column 189W

Mrs Grant: The Health Surveys for England and Scotland provide data on gambling participation by region, area deprivation and income. In addition, the Responsible Gambling Trust's research on category B gaming machines will include geographical modelling in order to understand how ‘clustering’ or the locations of LBOs and the populations they serve may influence behaviour.

Football

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her policy is on the reform of football governance. [191037]

Mrs Grant: The delivery of reform in football governance is a matter for the football authorities. I continue to work closely with them to press for improvements in the sport: they have made welcome progress, and I expect them to maintain this.

Gaming Machines

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the Responsible Gambling Trust about its research into B2 gaming machines; and on what grounds she is satisfied that it will be independent. [191014]

Mrs Grant: As the Minister for Sport, Tourism and Equalities I regular meet with the Responsible Gambling Trust and I am confident that robust mechanisms are in place to ensure the integrity of their research programme. All aspects of the research programme will be rigorously peer reviewed and transparent to the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board, the Gambling Commission and Government.

Health

Anaemia

Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will review the effectiveness of the test used to diagnose those with pernicious anaemia; and if he will make a statement. [190481]

Norman Lamb: A range of guidance on the testing and treatment of pernicious anaemia is available from sources including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Clinical Knowledge Summaries. NICE works to ensure its guidance reflects the latest available evidence.

It is the responsibility of general practitioners, using their clinical judgment and supported by relevant guidance, to arrange the appropriate tests and investigations may lead to an appropriate diagnosis.

Darent Valley Hospital

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) frontline and (b) support staff there were at Darent Valley Hospital in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013. [190674]

Dr Poulter: Information is not available in the format requested. Information at Trust level is provided in the following table:

11 Mar 2014 : Column 190W

Hospitals: Food

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether standardised recipes are used for hospital food in England. [190720]

11 Mar 2014 : Column 191W

Dr Poulter: Standardised recipes are available for hospital food in England. The National Dish Selector is a searchable database of recipes that can be searched by both recipe and ingredient. It is designed to be used by catering services as a resource from which to develop local menus. The database was developed by the Department and is available via the Hospital Caterers' Association website at:

www.hospitalcaterers.org/better-hospital-food/

Provider organisations are responsible for compiling their own menus and making decisions about the food served to patients and service users. This includes planning and monitoring the nutritional content of menus.

11 Mar 2014 : Column 192W

Nurses: South Yorkshire

Mr Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) district nurses, (b) health visitors, (c) community psychiatric nurses, (d) community matrons and (e) community learning disabilities nurses were employed by the NHS in each clinical commissioning group area in South Yorkshire in (i) the latest period for which figures are available and (ii) the previous 12 months from that date. [189376]

Dr Poulter: Information is not available in the format requested.

Information on numbers of qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff in the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw NHS England area, as at 30 November 2012 and 2013, is shown in the following table:

11 Mar 2014 : Column 193W

11 Mar 2014 : Column 194W

Mr Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many registered nurses there were in each NHS trust in South Yorkshire in the last five years for which figures are available. [189483]

Dr Poulter: Information on numbers of qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff in each NHS trust in the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw NHS England Area, as at 30 September each specified year and 30 November 2013, is shown in the following table:

Nursing and Midwifery Council

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy that future grants from his Department to the Nursing and Midwifery Council should be subject to agreement of a cap on registration fees for newly qualified nurses. [190450]

Dr Poulter: The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is an independent body and it is therefore for the NMC to determine the level of the annual fee it charges for registration. However, the Department is clear that we would not expect NMC registration fees to increase beyond their current levels, unless there is a clear and robust business case that any increase is essential to ensure the exercise of statutory duties. In February 2013, the Government awarded a grant of £20 million to the NMC to support improvement activities and enable the NMC to protect nurses and midwives from the full impact of a proposed annual registration fee rise for two years.

Obesity

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish age-stratified data on predicted reduction of life expectancy attributable to obesity. [191021]

11 Mar 2014 : Column 195W

Jane Ellison: There are no current plans to produce age-stratified data on the predicted reduction of life expectancy attributable to obesity. We know that excess weight, along with poor diet and inactivity has a major impact on people's health and is a cause of chronic diseases, which can lead to premature mortality.

We have set national ambitions for a downward trend in excess weight by 2020 and are seeing encouraging signs of progress. Obesity rates in children have fallen to 14% in 2012, the lowest level of child obesity since 1998, but we still have much further to go.

Determining age grouped data on predicted reduction of life expectancy attributable to obesity would be a very complex calculation, requiring assumptions about, for example, how many obese children remain obese throughout their lives, the profile of the ages at which adults become obese, and the health impact—and thus the life expectancy impact—of being obese for different periods of time, for example, being obese since childhood through to late middle age.

Moderate obesity (BMI 30-35 kg/m2) has been found to reduce life expectancy by an average of three years, while morbid obesity (BMI 40-50 kg/ kg/m2) reduces life expectancy by eight to 10 years. (National Obesity Observatory briefing note: Obesity and life expectancy, August 2010)

www.noo.org.uk/uploads/doc/vid_7199_Obesity_and_life_expectancy.pdf

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who is responsible for commissioning Tier 3 obesity treatment for (a) children and adolescents and (b) adults. [191033]

Jane Ellison: There are different models of commissioning currently in place at a local level for children, adolescents, and adult services. In some areas obesity services, including tier 3 services, are being commissioned by either local authorities or clinical commissioning groups or in collaboration.

Public Health England and NHS England, in response to concerns expressed about the varied commissioning and access to multi-disciplinary team interventions, commonly referred to as tier 3 services, established a working group to consider and make recommendations on how the current pathway and commissioning arrangements for tier 3 might be improved.

The working group report is shortly due to be published.

Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme

Mr Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the effect on access to medicines of his Department's pharmaceutical price regulation scheme; what steps he is taking to improve access to medicines through the scheme; and if he will make a statement; [190885]

(2) what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the 2014 pharmaceutical price regulation scheme on departmental spending; and if he will make a statement; [190928]

(3) what recent discussions officials in his Department have had on the potential effect of departmental expenditure limits on the operation of the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme agreed in November 2013; and if he will make a statement. [191058]

11 Mar 2014 : Column 196W

Norman Lamb: The Pharmaceutical Price Regulation scheme (PPRS), a voluntary scheme agreed with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) controls the prices of the majority of branded medicines supplied to the national health service. The 2014 scheme is based on an allowed, agreed growth rate for branded medicines spend for the five years of the scheme; for 2014 and 2015 the allowed growth rate is zero %; for 2016 and 2017 it is 1.8%; and for 2018 it is 1.9%. Companies that are members of the scheme will make payments to the Department based on the formula set out in the PPRS; these payments will be treated as departmental income. In respect of England, the anticipated payments in 2014-15 have been passed on to NHS England through the mandate and as such are included within commissioner allocations.

The Government are committed to increasing access to clinically and cost-effective medicines and to improving patient outcomes. Therefore, one of the overarching objectives of the PPRS is to improve access to innovative medicines commensurate with the outcomes they offer patients by ensuring that medicines approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are available widely in the NHS. The scheme includes a number of agreed measures aimed at supporting this objective. In addition, there are discussions with the ABPI to consider further how best the PPRS can support improved access to these medicines.

In supporting these discussions, the Department has made it clear that the PPRS does not affect the operation of government accounting and budgeting rules. The PPRS operates within standard government accounting and budgeting rules, including annual departmental expenditure limits.

Pharmacy

Ben Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department paid in fees and allowances to pharmacies in each of the last three years. [190473]

Norman Lamb: Total expenditure on fees and allowances paid to pharmacy contractors in England, for each of the last three complete financial years, is provided in the following table:

Public Health England Real-time Syndromic Surveillance Team

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2014, Official Report, columns 460-1W, on floods: health hazards, how many people are employed as part of the Public Health England Real Time Syndromic Surveillance Team; and what the job titles and main duties of those people are. [191064]

11 Mar 2014 : Column 197W

Jane Ellison: The Public Health England Real-time Syndromic Surveillance Team lies within the ‘Centre for Infectious Disease Control’ division, in the ‘Health Protection' directorate.

11 Mar 2014 : Column 198W

The staff employed within the team, their time contribution and main duties are illustrated as follows.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2014, Official Report, columns 460-1W, on floods: health hazards, if he will (a) publish and (b) place in the Library copies of all the advice given to him since 1 November 2013 by the Public Health England Real- time Syndromic Surveillance Team. [191065]

Jane Ellison: The Public Health England (PHE) Real-time Syndromic Surveillance Team have been monitoring consultations for defined syndromes in a range of health care services to identify potential public health issues during the 2014 floods. This surveillance has been completed as part of a wider PHE ‘Flooding Surveillance Cell’ which has included the surveillance of flood-related events and laboratory reporting of gastrointestinal pathogens. The main messages and findings from the PHE Flooding Surveillance Reports produced by this surveillance cell have been incorporated into the national flooding Situation Reports (completed by the National Incident Co-ordination Centre) which has been reported to the Department and Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms through the routine incident control pathways.

Versions of the PHE Flooding Surveillance Report have been made publically available on the legacy Health Protection Agency website:

www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/EmergencyResponse/ExtremeWeatherEventsAndNaturalDisasters/EffectsOfFlooding/

The available PHE Flooding Surveillance Reports have been placed in the Library.

Energy and Climate Change

Electricity

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2014, Official Report, column 391, on energy prices, how many electricity suppliers there were in each year since 1998 in the (a) domestic and (b) non-domestic market. [190659]

Michael Fallon: Data are available for the number of suppliers of both domestic and non-domestic electricity from 1998 to 2012 in section 7 of the UK Energy Sector Indicators 2013 published at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-energy-sector-indicators-2013

Electricity Interconnectors: Iceland

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what progress his Department has made on plans for an interconnector to Iceland. [190470]

Michael Fallon: The Government are interested in exploring the possible mutual benefit of an interconnector between the UK and Iceland. Following a general election in Iceland in April 2013 the new Government submitted the project to the Icelandic Parliament for a review. I met with the Icelandic Energy Minister Ragnheiôur Elín Árnadóttir on 10 March and I hope that discussions between the two Governments can begin.

Energy

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2014, Official Report, column 391, on energy prices, what estimate his Department has made of the current market share of each energy supplier that has entered the domestic supply market since 2010. [190658]

Michael Fallon: This Department does not hold the specific data requested.

Ofgem publishes data on market share in Great Britain in its annual National Report to the Commission. The 2013 National Report shows that in 2012 there were 12 small suppliers active in the domestic supply market, with a combined market share of 2%:

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/82755/2013greatbritainandnorthernirelandnationalreportstotheeuropean commission.pdf

11 Mar 2014 : Column 199W

Of the 12 suppliers, Co-Operative Energy, Economy Energy, Flow Energy and iSupply Energy entered the market in 2010 or later.

Energy Company Obligation

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for North West Leicestershire (Andrew Bridgen) of 27 February 2014, Official Report, column 388, on energy company obligation, what the evidential basis is for the statement that more households will receive measures under the energy company obligation as a result of the changes to the scheme. [190669]

Gregory Barker: As set out in the consultation on the Future of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) published on 5 March 2014, we are proposing to extend ECO until March 2017.

The assessment of impact we have published as part of the consultation indicates that extending the targets at the current level of ambition (subject to the proposed reduction in the Carbon Emissions Reduction target) would mean that an additional 930,000 households will benefit from ECO measures by March 2017.

Energy: Competition

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Wirral South (Alison McGovern) of 27 February 2014, Official Report, column 398, on energy prices, what the evidential basis is for the statement that independent generators are not interested in increasing liquidity on the next-day market. [190667]

Michael Fallon: Responses from independent generators to Ofgem's proposed obligation to trade minimum volumes on the day-ahead auctions indicated that most independent generators were comfortable with the level of trading in the day-ahead market and did not support regulation in this area. They did, however, want to see improvements in forward market liquidity to enable them to compete. This is what Ofgem's liquidity reforms announced on 22 February.

Responses can be found at:

www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/wholesale-power-market-liquidity-consultation-secure-and-promote-licence-condition?docid=324&refer=Markets/RetMkts/rmr

Energy: Meters

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the number of smart meters installed in UK households that will be replaced during mass roll-out to meet agreed interoperability standards. [190247]

Michael Fallon: DECC releases statistics on a quarterly basis which detail meter installations by the larger energy suppliers. The latest release details installations up to the end of quarter 3 2013, and can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statistical-release-smart-meters-great-britain-quarter-3-2013

For the purposes of statistical reporting, smart meters are defined as those that are, or are expected to be, compliant with the technical specifications (SMETS)

11 Mar 2014 : Column 200W

defined by Government to support the smart meter roll-out. At the end of quarter 3 2013 a total of 200,400 smart meters had been installed in domestic properties by the larger energy suppliers. Suppliers have indicated that most, if not all, of these meters will need to receive software updates, which are expected to be delivered remotely, before they are fully SMETS compliant. Once the meters have received these updates, they will not need to be replaced during mass roll-out.

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many UK households currently have smart meters installed. [190248]

Michael Fallon: DECC releases statistics on a quarterly basis which detail total smart meter installations by the larger energy suppliers, but does not collect or publish information on the actual number of households with smart meters. The latest release details installations up to the end of quarter 3 2013, and can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statistical-release-smart-meters-great-britain-quarter-3-2013

At the end of quarter 3 2013 a total of 200,400 smart meters had been installed in domestic properties by the larger energy suppliers, of which 117,500 are electricity and 82,900 are gas. We understand that, to date, suppliers have generally targeted dual fuel installations (i.e. installing both gas and electricity smart meters at the same property).

Energy: Prices

Mr Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will estimate the average percentage of household expenditure spent on energy bills in (a) Coventry, (b) Coventry North East constituency, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years. [190980]

Gregory Barker: Data on household expenditure are only available at Government Office Region level. The following table shows the average proportion of household expenditure on energy bills in the West Midlands and England.

These figures include expenditure on electricity, gas and other household fuels, but exclude expenditure on petrol and diesel. They are based on data from the Living Costs and Food Survey, which is run by the Office for National Statistics. Due to the small number of households in each region within the survey, results are averaged across a three year period. The latest data available are for the period 2010-12.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2014, Official Report, column 400, on extreme weather events, if he will publish the terms of reference of the review of the fourth carbon budget. [190665]

11 Mar 2014 : Column 201W

Gregory Barker: The scope of the Fourth Carbon Budget review was laid out by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in his statement to Parliament on 17 May 2011, when announcing that, as advised by the Committee on Climate Change, Government had decided that net emissions over the Fourth Carbon Budget period should not exceed 1950 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent—a 50% reduction from 1990 levels.

In making this statement, the Secretary of State explained that:

“Under the Climate Change Act, emissions reductions by the UK's industrial and power sectors are determined by the UK's share of the EU Emissions Trading System cap. This protects UK industrial and power sectors from exceeding EU requirements. However if the EU ETS cap is insufficiently ambitious, this could mean placing disproportionate strain on other sectors outside the EU ETS such as transport. To overcome this and to provide clearer signals for businesses and investors, government committed to review progress towards the EU emissions goal in early 2014”.

The review is being taken forward in line with this announced scope.

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on the setting of targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to be discussed at the European Council summit on 20 March 2014. [190672]

Gregory Barker: The Government believe that the European Council should agree a binding EU domestic greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 40% on 1990 levels for 2030, and make an offer to move to a target of up to 50% in the context of a comprehensive global agreement on climate change.

Internet

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what services his Department provides that are (a) available online only and (b) planned to move to online only. [190364]

Gregory Barker: The Department has the following services that are provided only online:

Consumer facing services:

Service for retrieving Green Deal Advice Reports. Printed versions can be provided by the Green Deal Assessor.

Business facing services:

Green Deal

Green Deal Plan Tool for Green Deal Providers to add details of measure installed on a Green Deal Plan.

Green Deal Improvement Package tool, for Green Deal Assessors and Providers

Product Application Process for the Energy Technology List— (Manufacturers applying for energy efficiency products to be included on the ETL)

Emissions Trading

EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) platform—aimed at large corporations (e.g. investment firms, credit institutions)

Oil and Gas Industry

Decommissioning Liability Section 29 Notices

Energy Act Part 4A Applications

Environmental and Emissions Monitoring returns—Submission by industry

Environmental directions under the Offshore Petroleum Production and Pipe-lines (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1999 (as amended)

11 Mar 2014 : Column 202W

Field production, flaring and venting consents

Marine and Coastal Access Act Applications

Offshore Petroleum Activities (Oil Pollution Prevention and Control) Regulations 2005—Applications

Petroleum Licence Administration

Petroleum Licence Applications Received:

Petroleum Operations Notice No. l (Notifications and Permits)

Petroleum Operations Notice No. 14 (Habitats Regs) Applications

Rig Stabilisation (Rock Dumping) Applications

Stewardship production efficiency returns for oil/gas fields

Well Operation Notifications System—Applications

Well Operation Notifications System—Consents and notifications issued

These are aimed at the Oil and Gas industry and have alternative offline emergency procedures in place if required.

The Department does not have any plans to make any further services only available digitally. In line with the Government Digital by Default strategy we are seeking to move services online and to increase the use of services digitally. We do however seek to ensure that alternative assisted digital services are available for those unable to take advantage of the digital services.

Natural Gas

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2014, Official Report, column 391, on energy prices, how many gas suppliers there were in each year since 1996 in the (a) domestic and (b) non-domestic market. [190660]

Michael Fallon: Data are available for the number of companies supplying gas broken down by Domestic, Commercial and Industrial sector in section 7 of the UK Energy Sector Indicators 2013, published online at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/254261/ukesi_2013.pdf

North Sea Oil

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the level of unextracted reserves of North Sea oil. [190965]

Michael Fallon: The Department's latest estimates of recoverable reserves relate to the end of 2012. They are published online at:

https://www.gov.uk/oil-and-gas-uk-field-data#uk-oil-and-gas-reserves

The central estimate of oil reserves in the North sea is 546 million tonnes of which 338 million tonnes are in the central North sea and 208 million tonnes are in the northern North sea.

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much was invested in exploration for new oil fields in the North Sea in each of the last 10 financial years. [190966]

Michael Fallon: Information is available only on the total cost of exploration and appraisal activity in the UK and on the UK continental shelf including both

11 Mar 2014 : Column 203W

drilling and seismic acquisition and processing. Expenditure in 2013 is estimated to have been £1.6 billion. Estimates for earlier years are tabulated at:

https://www.gov.uk/oil-and-gas-uk-field-data#ukcs-income-and-expenditure

Much of this expenditure will have been related to looking for new gas fields, looking for new oil fields west of Britain and appraising existing discoveries.

Offshore Industry

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the amount of recoverable oil and gas reserves beneath the UK Continental Shelf. [190619]

Michael Fallon: The Department's latest estimates of recoverable reserves relate to the end of 2012. They are published online at:

https://www.gov.uk/oil-and-gas-uk-field-data#uk-oil-and-gas-reserves

For oil, the central estimate of reserves is 811 million tonnes (6.1 billion barrels); for gas, it is 461 billion cubic metres (2.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent [boe]).

The Government website also contains estimates of possible reserves, potential additional resources and undiscovered resources. Taking account of this range of possibilities, our current best estimate of remaining recoverable hydrocarbon resources from the UK Continental Shelf is of a figure up to 20 billion boe.

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he has taken to ensure greater transparency and fairness in the tendering process for UK Continental Shelf projects. [190625]

Michael Fallon: Regular contact is maintained with operators to gain a better understanding of the tendering process in order to improve transparency and the level of UK content in contracts. Significant success from this approach is now apparent, especially in the fabrication sector. Most recently I have established a cross-party group of MPs chaired by my hon. Friend the Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry) to promote the future success of the UK oil and gas industry throughout the entire value chain of UKCS projects.

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the current level of investment is in exploration projects in the UK Continental Shelf; and what assessment he had made of trends in future investment. [190627]

Michael Fallon: Information is available only on the total cost of exploration and appraisal (E and A) activity in the UK and on the UKCS including both drilling and seismic acquisition and processing. Expenditure in 2013 is estimated to have been £1.6 billion with latest estimates for 2014 of £1.4 billion and £1.8 billion per annum from 2015 to 2018 (all in 2013 prices); these estimates are inherently uncertain and are based on DECC's assessment of operator returns to the latest joint annual DECC/Oil and Gas UK E and A Activity Survey conducted in late 2013.

11 Mar 2014 : Column 204W

Renewable Energy: Heating

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of (a) the efficacy and (b) the running costs of air exhaust heat pumps installed in social and council housing. [190920]

Gregory Barker: The Department has not made any specific assessments of exhaust air heat pumps (EAHPs). This type of heat pump is not a renewable technology and is not subsidised through the Renewable Heat Incentive. DECC part-funded a study in the efficiency and usability of exhaust air-source heat pumps in social housing flats and published a report last summer, which is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/examination-of-performance-of-air-source-heat-pumps-in-a-london-social-housing-block

EAHPs are also modelled in the Standard Assessment Procedure 2009 and 2012, which provides a means of using manufacturers’ data to estimate the efficiency of such heating systems.

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he plans to include gas absorption heat pumps in the Renewable Heat Incentive. [190921]

Gregory Barker: As part of the review of the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), we are looking at additional technologies that could be supported under the scheme. We have commissioned contracts to start work on gathering evidence on a number of technologies, including gas-driven heat pumps; which include gas absorption heat pumps. Before any new technology is added to the RHI, our proposals to do so will be the subject of a public consultation.

The domestic RHI will be introduced this spring. Gas absorption heat pumps will not be supported under the scheme at its introduction.

We published details of the domestic scheme last summer; and, among those documents is ‘4New Technologies: Process towards eligibility':

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/renewable-heat-incentive-proposals-for-a-domestic-scheme

This provides guidance on the criteria and evidence that DECC would expect to consider when deciding whether to include additional technologies under the domestic (and non-domestic) RHI in the future.

Wind Power

Mr O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the effect of (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind turbines on the average domestic energy bill. [190267]

Michael Fallon: In March 2013 the Government published estimates of the impact of energy and climate change policies on energy prices and bills.¹ The report estimated that in 2013 supporting major renewable electricity projects through the renewables obligation (RO) accounted, on average, for around 2% (£30) of the annual household energy (gas plus electricity) bill. Of

11 Mar 2014 : Column 205W

this, onshore and offshore wind each account for around 0.7% (£9, all figures in real 2012 prices).

The report also estimated that, on average, around 1% (£7) of the household energy bill in 2013 went towards supporting small-scale installations through feed-in tariffs (FITs). Wind installations are estimated to make up a small proportion of this cost, less than £1 in 2013.

It should also be noted that onshore and offshore wind generation help put downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices, because they have very low operating costs.

¹ https://www.gov.uk/policy-impacts-on-prices-and-bills

Sandra Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on compensatory forestry planting to mitigate deforestation undertaken as a result of wind turbine construction. [190502]

Michael Fallon: The potential impacts of wind farm developments and any mitigation measures that might reduce or remove those impacts are considered on a case-by-case basis during the assessment of any applications for planning permission or development consent.

Mr O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the cost was of manufacturing (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind turbines in the UK in 2013; and what return on capital was used as a basis for fixing current subsidies to generators using these sources. [190599]

Michael Fallon: Although DECC does not specifically hold estimates of the manufacturing costs of onshore and offshore wind, DECC has published levelised costs estimates of various generation technologies on the DECC website since 2010. The levelised cost of a particular generation technology is the ratio of the total costs (including construction and operating costs) of a generic plant to the total amount of electricity expected to be generated over the plant's lifetime (per megawatt hour). These are available on the following website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/energy-generation-cost-projections

DECC's most recently published figures for current and future levelised costs are available in the DECC Electricity Generation Costs (December 2013) report:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269888/131217_Electricity_Generation_ costs_report_December_2013_Final.pdf

Table 1 is taken from this report, and shows a range of levelised cost estimates for onshore and offshore wind projects commissioning in 2014 and 2016, evaluated using technology specific hurdle rates.

11 Mar 2014 : Column 206W

Levelised cost estimates for different types of electricity generation are highly sensitive to the assumptions used for capital costs, fuel and EU ETS allowance prices, operating costs, load factor, discount rate and other drivers and this means that there is significant uncertainty around these estimates.

Table 20 of the DECC Electricity Generation Costs (December 2013) also contains estimates for the pre-development and construction (capital) costs of selected technologies. The capital cost range for onshore and offshore wind projects commissioning in 2016 is given in table 2:

Finally in setting support rates through Contracts for Difference, DECC made the following assumptions on the required return (hurdle rates) for onshore and offshore wind projects, this is also shown in table 14 of the DECC Electricity Generation Costs (December 2013):

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what evidence his Department uses to determine the effect on local communities of noise, flicker and value reduction of property in relation to wind turbines. [190919]

Gregory Barker: The Department routinely reviews reports on the possible impacts of wind turbines from statutory advisers, agencies, academia and other expert sources in order to monitor the impacts of current policy and to inform new policy.

When making planning decisions on onshore wind farms above 50MW, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change considers evidence put forward as part of the planning process for each application and is guided by the National Policy Statements EN1—Overarching Energy¹ and EN3—Renewable Energy Infrastructure².

¹ Available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/37046/1938-overarching-nps-for-energy-en1.pdf

² Available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/37048/1940-nps-renewable-energy-en3.pdf