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Embryology
Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 23 October (WA 101) regarding the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's (HFEA) code of practice, why the HFEA has not previously taken similar account of the Declaration of Helsinki. [HL74]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): I am advised by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority that the guidance in the sixth edition of its code of practice, published in January 2004, provided information in line with the guidance set out in the Declaration of Helsinki, in respect of information for women donating eggs for research and the general obligations relating to consent.
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Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many women have donated eggs specifically for research at each respective licensed centre following the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority press statement on 21 February; and what level of financial compensation was paid to egg providers at each respective licensed centre since that date. [HL188]
Lord Darzi of Denham: The information requested has not been collected by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) prior to February 2007. For these cases, the information is held locally on licensed centres' records and is made available for examination at HFEA inspections.
Since February 2007, HFEA records show that no women underwent ovarian stimulation treatment specifically to donate eggs for research. Eggs have been donated as part of an egg-sharing arrangement for patients who were also undergoing their own fertility treatment. This is shown in the following table:
| Eggs donated for research since February 2007(1) | |||
| Licensed centre | Number of patients | Number of cycles | Number of eggs |
(1) The HFEA is investigating the possibility of some double counting by two of the centres, which may affect the accuracy of these figures. The HFEA will release updated information when its investigations are complete.
Where all the eggs provided are for donation, the donor, irrespective of whether the eggs are to be used for treatment or research, can be reimbursed only for loss of earnings (up to a daily maximum of £55.19 with a maximum total payment of £250) and reasonable expenses. In egg-sharing arrangements, the patient receives treatment at a reduced cost in return for donating some of her eggs for the treatment of others or for research. Egg-sharing arrangements are carefully regulated and the HFEA's code of practice requires that the patient's treatment is not compromised by the donation.
Emissions Trading Scheme
Lord Beaumont of Whitley asked Her Majesty's Government:
To which companies and in what proportions the emissions allocations of the first phase of the European Emissions Trading Scheme were distributed. [HL414]
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The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): The EU has approximately 12,000 installations that monitor and report emissions to agreed guidelines in phase I of the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS).
In the UK, approximately 1,100 installations were covered under phase I. These installations carry out activities as listed in Annexe I of the emissions trading directive. They include heavy emitters such as large electricity producers, energy-intensive activities such as iron and steel production and smaller combustion installations with a thermal input capacity above 20 megawatts (MW). The exact allocation to each UK installation is laid out in the final allocation decision for phase I. This is available on the Defra website.
In the UK, all sectors except for the electricity supply industry were provided allocations that were equivalent to business-as-usual projections. The electricity supply industry was expected to deliver the emission reductions that the UK's share of the phase I cap required, as it faced limited international competition and had relatively low-cost abatement opportunities.
Energy: Renewables
Lord Vinson asked Her Majesty's Government:
How much the cost of expansion of the national grid required to accommodate expected levels of renewables generation in the United Kingdom will exceed that assumed in the regulatory impact assessments conducted for the renewables obligations of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. [HL236]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office & Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Lord Jones of Birmingham): The energy White Paper set out proposals that will bring forward a wider range of renewables generation technologies. This includes the likely accelerated development of offshore wind. We estimate the costs of connection of 8 gigawatts of offshore wind generation to be £2.5 billion to £3 billion.
Investment in onshore electricity networks is made by the transmission owners and distribution network operators under the regulatory supervision of Ofgem. Ofgem has agreed £560 million of investment in the onshore transmission network specifically to connect new renewables generation in Scotland and the north of England. In the transmission price control, which covers the five-year period from 1 April 2007, a further £3.8 billion of investment in the transmission network was agreed. This figure includes both refurbishment and the costs of connecting new generators of all types, and it may increase if warranted by generator demand.
These costs are not included in the regulatory impact assessment for the renewables obligation. The costs of new electricity infrastructure will ultimately depend on which technologies are brought forward, the amount of generation, its location and the technical and commercial framework within which it is delivered.
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Flooding
Lord Rotherwick asked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment they have made of the total cost of flood damage in each of the last 10 years. [HL483]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): Where the information is available, the Environment Agency records flood extents. Complete estimates of actual flood damage in past years are not recorded centrally.
Regular flooding occurs to a variable extent each year. Estimates of flood damage caused by some of the larger individual events in recent years are £3 billion from the flooding in June/July 2007 (still being evaluated), £450 million in Cumbria in 2005 and £1 billion in the autumn 2000 events.
Lord Rotherwick asked Her Majesty's Government:
What plans they have to give greater powers to the Environment Agency for the co-ordination of action to prevent flood damage. [HL484]
Lord Rooker: The Environment Agency is empowered under the Water Resources Act 1991 to manage flood risk arising from designated “main” rivers and the sea. The agency also exercises a general supervision over matters relating to flood defence.
Under our developing strategy to improve flood risk management, Making Space for Water, we intend to give the agency a strategic overview for management of flood risk from all sources (main rivers and other watercourses, sea, surface, sewer and ground water). We have announced the detailed form that this new role will take on the coast and are considering how the role should be applied inland. As with the coastal overview role, the inland changes will be informed by public consultation.
Lord Rotherwick asked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment they have made of the number of different organisations producing flood mapping as a consequence of flood damage earlier this year. [HL485]
Lord Rooker: The Environment Agency's first national map of flooding was published on the internet in 2000. The Environment Agency is aware of other organisations, such as Norwich Union, that produce flood maps. However, the agency does not have a complete picture of the number of other organisations in the private sector that have produced flood maps since the summer floods.
Lord Rotherwick asked Her Majesty's Government:
What advice is being provided to local authorities on (a) the costs, and (b) the benefits of appropriate insurance cover for flood damage; and what assessment they have made of the costs incurred as a consequence of inadequate cover. [HL488]
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): The Government do not hold detailed information about local authority insurance provision.
Local authorities have a duty under the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 to ensure that they have a sound system of internal control which facilitates the effective exercise of their functions and which includes arrangements for the management of risk (Regulation 4).
Guidance issued by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy on local authority reserves and balances lists “the adequacy of the authority's insurance arrangements to cover major unforeseen risks” as one of the factors that authorities should consider in deciding the level of their general reserves (LAAP Bulletin 55). This guidance is available at www.cipfa.org.uk/pt/laap.cfm.
Communities and Local Government (CLG) wrote to all local authority chief executives on 15 November 2007 to recommend that they review their decisions in respect of insurance cover for flooding to ensure that they are satisfied with the arrangements and level of cover in place in their authority. CLG suggested that they do so whether or not they experienced flooding this year.
Food: Supplements
Baroness Greengross asked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment has been made by the Royal Mail of the volume of business it receives from the Channel Islands involving the carriage of food supplements and herbal remedies that either contain illegal ingredients or are marketed with illegal claims; and what steps they intend to take to ensure that Royal Mail addresses this issue. [HL415]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office & Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Lord Jones of Birmingham): This is an operational matter for which Royal Mail has direct responsibility. I have therefore asked the chief executive of Royal Mail, Adam Crozier, to provide a direct reply to the noble Baroness.
Government: Devolved Institutions
Lord Roberts of Llandudno asked Her Majesty's Government:
What formal mechanisms are in place to ensure that new developments in areas of devolved responsibility are shared between the United Kingdom Parliament and the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly. [HL401]
The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Ashton of Upholland): The way in which the United Kingdom Parliament and the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly communicate new developments in areas of devolved responsibility is rightly a matter for those bodies. The
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Health: Contaminated Blood Products
Lord Roberts of Conwy asked Her Majesty's Government:
Which Ministers, from which departments of state, including the Ministry of Justice, the Scotland Office and the Wales Office, will be meeting the independent public inquiry, headed by Lord Archer of Sandwell, into the deaths of 1,757 haemophilia patients infected with contaminated National Health Service blood and blood products. [HL358]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): There are currently no plans for Ministers to meet Lord Archer's independent inquiry. Officials from the department are co-operating fully with the inquiry, have met the inquiry team twice and have supplied it with copies of relevant official documents in line with the Freedom of Information Act.
HIV/AIDS
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass asked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the incidence of HIV, AIDS and AIDS-related illness in the United Kingdom, by regions, for the years 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005. [HL375]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): HIV is currently monitored at the overall population level by collection and analysis of data on the number of new HIV diagnoses, which includes newly acquired (incident) and existing (prevalent) infections. The data for 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005 are shown in the table.
| New HIV diagnoses by country/strategic health authority (SHA) and year of diagnosis | ||||
| Country/SHA of diagnosis | ||||
| England | 1990 | 1995 | 2000 | 2005 |
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