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The overall CIRM budget available for the call is $200 million, and in addition to MRC, CIRM is partnering three other agencies under this call for applications under similar arrangements—the State of Victoria, Australia; the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium of Canada; and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN). Through this collaborative funding partner programme, California-based principal investigators (Pis) can collaborate with researchers eligible for funding by any of these agencies.

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Drayson on 5 May (HL2987), whether they can provide examples of original research publications describing human embryonic stem cells derived by nuclear transfer in which a primary or significant focus on such stem cells would not have been revealed without trained scrutiny of the entire content of a paper. [HL3352]

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Drayson on 5 May (HL2987), which significant examples of research publications describing induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can be cited for which neither the terms “induced pluripotent stem cell” nor “iPS cell” were explicitly used in the title, abstract or associated keywords, such that trained scrutiny of the entire content of a paper would be required to determine if research with such cells was described therein. [HL3353]

Lord Drayson: I refer the noble Lord to my previous Answer on 5 May (col. WA99) (HL2987).

14 May 2009 : Column WA220

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Drayson on 5 May (HL2987), whether the citation rate of research papers normalised by subject area has provided a reliable measure of their quality in the case of papers claiming to have derived human embryonic stem cells following nuclear transfer, beginning with those described in the journal Science (Volume 303, pages 1669—1674). [HL3355]

Lord Drayson: The MRC has not undertaken an analysis of citation rates for research papers claiming to have derived human embryonic stem cells from nuclear transfer, and this could not be undertaken without incurring disproportionate cost.

Energy: Carbon Emissions

Question

Asked by Lord Carlile of Berriew

To ask Her Majesty's Government by what amount carbon emissions will be reduced by proposals for wind power generation on land in the United Kingdom; and how much carbon will be generated by the construction and manufacture of the generating capacity and infrastructure involved. [HL3108]

The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change & Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The UK renewable energy strategy consultation document set out scenarios for deployment of renewable energy needed to meet the UK's share of the EU renewable energy target. The central scenario presented in the consultation document hhtp://decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/uk_supply/energy_mix/renewables/res/res.aspx suggested that the UK might need to produce around 32 per cent electricity demand from renewable sources by 2020.

This level of renewable electricity was estimated to save between 45 to 50 MtCO2 in 2020, of which around 27 per cent, or 12 to 13 MtCO2 could be attributable to onshore wind. Emissions from electricity generation are covered by the emissions trading scheme (ETS). Carbon savings from onshore wind are not counted as additional to ETS emissions reductions.

Carbon savings are estimated by comparing the emissions from the generation mix under the renewable energy target, against emissions from the forecast generation mix under current measures, including RO banding. Estimates were made by independent consultants Redpoint et al (2008), and do not include any estimates for lifecycle emissions (from construction and manufacture) either of the renewable technologies, or of the conventional alternative.

Energy: Meters

Question

Asked by Lord Teverson

To ask Her Majesty's Government when there will be a further announcement about the introduction of domestic smart meters; and when the installation of those meters will commence. [HL3329]

14 May 2009 : Column WA221

The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change & Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The Government published a consultation on smart metering on 11 May 2009. The consultation is available on the open consultations section of the DECC website.

The consultation document includes discussion of the preparation programme that will be needed before the rollout of smart meters can begin. The preparation programme, and the start date for rollout, will reflect final decisions on the issues covered by the consultation.

Foster Care

Questions

Asked by Lord Sheikh

To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken to improve the physical and mental health of children and young adults in foster care. [HL3370]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families (Baroness Morgan of Drefelin): The Government are taking a number of steps to improve the physical and mental health of looked after children. In particular, we are currently consulting on revised statutory guidance on promoting the health and well-being of looked after children. This guidance will be statutory on primary care trusts, strategic health authorities and local authorities and it will clearly outline the steps that should be taken to improve both physical and mental health. In addition, we have introduced an indicator within the national indicator set to measure progress on improving the emotional and behavioural health of looked after children. Other actions being taken include taking forward the recommendations of the CAMHS review in relation to vulnerable children, the piloting of multi-dimensional Treatment Foster Care and our wider Care Matters programme to improve outcomes for looked after children. This programme includes a number of measures to improve the quality of placements and of care planning which impact on children's health and well-being.

14 May 2009 : Column WA222

Asked by Lord Sheikh

To ask Her Majesty's Government what system is in place to tackle the disproportionately high rate of teenage pregnancy among young people in foster care. [HL3371]

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: We share concerns about England's high rate of teenage pregnancies including among children in care. That is why this Government launched the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy in 1999, following a detailed report by the Social Exclusion Unit.

Between 1998 and 2007 we have achieved a 10.7 per cent fall in the under-18 conception rate and a 6.4 per cent fall in the under-16 rate, reversing the previous upward trend. Within the overall reduction in teenage conceptions, teenage births have fallen by 23.3 per cent over the same period.

Our strategy places a strong focus on targeted interventions with young people at greatest risk of teenage pregnancy, in particular looked-after children and care leavers. Government guidance to local areas on effective local teenage pregnancy strategies highlights the importance of training and support for foster carers in helping them talk to their foster children about sex and relationships. The CWDC's Foster Care Training, Support and Development Standards, which set out the skills which all foster carers are expected to demonstrate, include sexual health promotion.

We are currently consulting on guidance on the health and well-being of looked-after children, which will be statutory for primary care trusts and strategic health authorities as well as on local authorities. This includes specific guidance relating to the prevention of teenage pregnancy.

While girls and young women in care are still far more likely to give birth than those not in care, there has been a welcome recent fall in the number of girls and young women who are mothers in the looked-after population (12 years old and older) from 360 in 2007 to 280 in 2008 (source: SSDA903 return on children looked after).

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14 May 2009 : Column WA224

Table A5: Mothers aged 12 years and over looked after at 31 March by age at 31 March, age at birth of first child, category of need, ethnic origin and placement
Years ending 31 March 2005 to 20081,2,3
Coverage: England
numbers andpercentages
	numbers				percentages
	2005	2006	2007	2008	2005	2006	2007	2008
All females looked after at 31 March1, 2	27,200	26,900	26,600	26,000
All mothers aged 12 years old and over looked after at 31 March1,2	300	300	360	280	100	100	100	100
Age at 31 March (years)	300	300	360	280	100	100	100	100
12 to14	10	10	10	-	3	3	3	-
15	40	40	40	30	14	12	11	12
16	90	100	110	70	29	33	30	25
17	160	160	200	170	54	53	56	61
18 and over	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Age at birth of first child (years)4	x	300	360	280	x	100	100	100
12 to 14	x	40	50	40	x	12	13	14
15	x	60	80	80	x	21	23	29
16	x	80	100	110	x	26	29	38
17	x	40	60	50	x	12	16	19
18 and over	x	0	0	0	x	0	0	0
Birth date not reported	x	90	70	0	x	30	19	0
Category of need5	300	300	360	280	100	100	100	100
Abuse or neglect	140	150	180	150	48	50	50	52
Child's disability		-		-		-	-	-
Parent’s illness or disability	10	10	10	10	4	3	2	5
Family in acute stress	30	30	30	30	10	10	8	9
Family dysfunction	50	50	60	50	16	17	18	17
Socially unacceptable behaviour	10	10	10	10	5	4	3	4
Low income		0		-	-	0	-
Absent parenting	50	50	60	40	17	16	18	13
Ethnic origin	300	300	360	280	100	100	100	100
White	190	180	220	160	63	60	61	57
Mixed	20	30	30	30	8	9	8	12
Asian or Asian British	10	10	10	10	2	2	2	4
Black or Black British	80	80	90	70	25	28	26	24
Other Ethnic groups	10	-	10	10	2		3	3
Placement	300	300	360	280	100	100	100	100
Foster placements	110	140	140	130	37	45	39	46
Placed for adoption	0	0	0		0	0	0	-
Placed with parents	30	20	20	20	8	6	5	7
Placed in the community	80	80	120	80	26	27	33	27
Secure units, children's homes and hostel	60	50	60	40	20	15	15	15
Other residential settings	20	20	20	10	7	5	6	3
Residential schools	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Missing—Absent for more than24 hours from agreed	-	-	10	-	-	-	1	-
Other placement	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Source: SSDA903

1. Source: SSDA903 return on children looked after.

2. Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short-term placements.

3. Historical data may differ from older publications. This is mainly due to the implementation of amendments and corrections sent by some local authorities after the publication date of previous materials.

4. Data on the first child's date of birth started to be collected in 2005-06.

5. The most applicable category of the eight "Need Codes" at the time the child was taken into care rather than necessarily the entire reason they are looked after.

Asked by Lord Sheikh

To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken to reduce the proportion of young people in foster care entering the youth justice system. [HL3373]

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