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Cancelled Road Schemes
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is the total cost of all longer-term road schemes which were withdrawn on 26 November 1996 and what percentage that represented of the total cost of all road schemes which were in the programme immediately before that date.
Viscount Goschen: The total cost (including works, land and preparation costs) of all the schemes which were withdrawn on 26 November 1996 from the English Trunk Road programme was about £8 billion. This represents about 49 per cent. of the total cost of the road programme as detailed in Managing the Trunk Road Programme November 1995, on the same basis.
Planning Consents: Decision Times
Lord Skelmersdale asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What was the average length of time between an application for planning consent for retail development in Northern Ireland and its final determination during the last five years.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Northern Ireland Office (Baroness Denton of Wakefield): Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Planning Service under its Chief Executive, Mr. T. W. Stewart. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Skelmersdale from the Chief Executive, of the Planning Service, Mr. T. W. Stewart, dated 18 March 1997.
I have been asked to reply to your recent Question about decision times on planning applications for retail developments in Northern Ireland.
Unfortunately, it will take a few days to extract the information from our records. I will write to you again when the information is available.
Ecclesiastical Exemption from Listed Buildings Control
Lord Gisborough asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What plans they have to review the ecclesiastical exemption from listed buildings and conservation area controls.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of National Heritage (Lord Inglewood): In implementing proposals to restrict the ecclesiastical exemption in 1994, the Government undertook that the new arrangements would be formally reviewed after two years.
My right honourable friend the Secretary of State and my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Wales have invited Mr. John Newman, Reader in the History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London and a former Chairman of English Heritage's Churches Advisory Committee, to conduct the review. His terms of reference will be:
- To review the operation of the Ecclesiastical Exemption (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Order 1994, in particular to establish whether there is, within each of the six denominations whose buildings retain the ecclesiastical exemption under the terms of the order, a formal control procedure for proposed works to listed churches and unlisted churches in conservation areas which provides protection for such buildings comparable with what would otherwise apply under secular controls.
Petrol Supplies in Rural Areas
Lord Beaumont of Whitley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How they ensure that there are supplies of petrol within reasonable access of remote rural settlements.
The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Fraser of Carmyllie): The Government share the concerns people living in rural areas have about high petrol prices and security of future supplies.
That is why the Secretary of State for Scotland has commissioned research into petrol prices and supply in rural areas of Scotland. This wide-ranging study will be the first to address the social, economic and environmental issues surrounding the supply of petrol in Scotland.
Copyright Protection: British Television Programmes
The Earl of Stockton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will review the workings of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to afford
- young British creative television programmers the same protection as their competitors in other parts of the world against theft and plagiarism of their ideas.
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie: The Department of Trade and Industry has consulted interested parties on several occasions about the possibility of amending copyright law, as set out in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, to give specific protection to a scheme or plan for a series of programmes. In the absence of any consensus among interested parties on the issue and in view of concerns about the anti-competitive effects of any changes, the Government decided that legislation in this area should not be introduced or supported. It is in any case widely believed that sufficiently elaborated schemes or plans for programmes will attract copyright protection without any legislative change. Other laws such as the laws of confidentiality and passing off may provide programme makers with protection against theft and plagiarism of their ideas, as can equivalent laws in other countries. Granting copyright protection to ideas as such would be contrary to the basic principles of copyright law in this and other countries, and no other countries have been identified which give specific protection to schemes or plans for programmes.
Electricity Generating Capacity in the EU
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is the total electricity generating capacity of each country in the European Union, showing the breakdown between the different forms of fuel used in each.
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie: Latest available data are attached.
| A | B | D | DK | E | F | FIN | GR | I | IRL | L | N | P | SV | UK | ||
| Total net capacity(6) | 17,440 | 14,916 | 116,909 | 11,144 | 45,994 | 107,619 | 14,427 | 8,942 | 65,921e | 4,393 | 1,257 | 19,041 | 9,378 | 33,623 | 70,213 | |
| Nuclear | -- | 5,632 | 22,834 | -- | 7,068 | 58,515 | 2,310 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 505 | -- | 10,055 | 12,762 | |
| Hydro | 11,306 | 1,403 | 8,876 | 9 | 16,784 | 24,987 | 2,777 | 2,523 | 19,844 | 517 | 1,140 | 37 | 4,469 | 16,152 | 4,236 | |
| Geothermal | -- | -- | 167 | -- | -- | 5e | -- | 2 | 470 | -- | -- | -- | 8 | -- | -- | |
| Solar | -- | -- | 535 | -- | 5e | -- | -- | -- | 15e | -- | -- | 2 | -- | -- | -- | |
| Tide, Wave, Ocean | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 240 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
| Wind | -- | 4 | 1,136 | 619 | 115 | 3e | -- | 27 | 21e | 6 | -- | 257 | 8 | 67 | 86 | |
| Other (Fuel Cells) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 87 | -- | -- | 45 | -- | -- | -- | |
| Combustible Fuels | 6,134 | 7,877 | 83,361 | 10,516 | 22,022 | 23,869 | 9,340 | 6,390 | 45,484 | 3,870 | 117 | 18,195 | 4,893 | 7,349 | 53,129 | |
| of which: single fuel fired: | ||||||||||||||||
| Coal and Coal Products | 583 | -- | 36,604 | 132 | 10,303 | 4,201 | 54 | 4,215 | 19 | 928 | -- | -- | 1,779 | n/a | 28,621 | |
| Liquid Fuels | 246 | 518 | 5,621 | 1,593 | 7,952 | 9,505 | 943 | 2,111 | 18,641 | 888 | -- | 13 | 2,857 | n/a | 8,417 | |
| Natural Gas | 556 | 67 | 12,762 | 726 | 485 | 270 | 322 | 16 | 1,910 | 313 | 21 | 3,800 | -- | n/a | 9,367 | |
| Peat | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 434 | -- | -- | -- | n/a | -- | |
| Other Combustibles198 | ||||||||||||||||
| 161 | 1,311 | 191 | 205 | -- | -- | 48 | 149 | -- | 6 | -- | 2 | n/a | 318 | |||
| of which: multi fired: | ||||||||||||||||
| Solid/Liquid | 296 | 1,056 | 8,920 | 6,844 | 657 | 8,648 | 4,779 | -- | 6,471 | -- | -- | 1,247 | 355 | n/a | 5,611 | |
| Solid/Natural Gas | 1,276 | 114 | 1,868 | 141 | 12 | 290 | 189 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2,896 | -- | n/a | -- | |
| Liquid/Natural Gas | 2,737 | 2,101 | 9,243 | 607 | 2,288 | 455 | 1,285 | -- | 15,659 | 1,307 | -- | 10,239 | -- | n/a | 795 | |
| Solid/Liquid/Gas | 242 | 3,860 | 7,032 | 282 | 120 | 500 | 1,768 | -- | 2,635 | -- | 90 | -- | -- | n/a | -- | |
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