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1 Feb 2010 : Column WA1

Written Answers

Monday 1 February 2010

Afghanistan: Poppy Crop

Question

Asked by Lord Hylton

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead): The Government have researched options for the licit cultivation of opiates in Afghanistan, particularly their potential use for medical purposes. Our conclusion was that the Government of Afghanistan did not have the necessary control mechanisms in place to ensure the crop was not illegally diverted. Although the capacity and capability of the Afghan state is growing, the lack of robust control mechanisms remains a risk. The Government of Afghanistan have reached the same conclusion. They have ruled out the licit cultivation of opiates as a means of tackling the illegal drugs trade.

Airports: Heathrow

Question

Asked by Lord Bates

The Secretary of State for Transport (Lord Adonis): The Department for Transport has discussed the possibility and the costs of imposing a public service obligation on the route with a number of stakeholders from the Tees Valley area. Neither the regional development agency, One North East, nor any other stakeholder in the region has submitted an application.

Benefits: Former UK Residents

Question

Asked by Lord Greaves

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): Subject to immigration conditions all social security benefits are available to people who meet the qualifying conditions.



1 Feb 2010 : Column WA2

For income-related benefits, in addition to the specific qualifying conditions people must also pass an habitual residence test.

To pass the test everyone, including British citizens returning to the UK after a period abroad, has to show that they have a right to reside and are habitually resident in the common travel area (CTA), which includes the United Kingdom as well as the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and the Republic of Ireland.

Climate Change

Questions

Asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton

The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): Both the UK and the EU engage in regular dialogue and co-operation with China on climate change and value this exchange of information and experience. We have encouraged EU countries to co-ordinate and share information on bilateral activities they undertake with China and will continue to do so.

The commitment of the EU and China to co-operation on environment and energy issues, including climate change, was underlined and given an institutional structure under the UK presidency of the EU at the eighth EU-China summit in September 2005. At this summit, a joint declaration on climate change was agreed, launching the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change. This partnership provides a high-level political framework to further strengthen the co-operation between the EU and China by setting out concrete new actions to tackle climate change. These actions are set out in the rolling work plan, as agreed in Beijing on 19 October 2006.

This partnership fully complements the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and has strengthened co-operation and dialogue on climate change including clean energy, and promotes sustainable development that incorporates work on climate change mitigation and adaptation. It also includes co-operation on the development, deployment and transfer of low-carbon technology, including advanced near-zero-emissions coal technology through carbon capture and storage.

At the EU-China summit on 30 November 2009, both sides agreed to upgrade their climate change partnership in order to strengthen policy dialogue and practical co-operation. We hope the upgraded partnership will provide a platform for more comprehensive and strategic engagement on low-carbon development.

Details of the partnership are regularly updated and available through the EUROPA website at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/china.htm.



1 Feb 2010 : Column WA3

Asked by Lord Hunt of Chesterton

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The renewables obligation provides a financial incentive to invest in renewables by placing an obligation on electricity suppliers to source a certain proportion of the electricity they sell to customers from renewable sources.

The Government have been clear that it will be for energy companies to fund, develop and build new nuclear power stations in the UK, including meeting the full costs of decommissioning and their full share of waste management costs.

Economy: Manufacturing

Question

Asked by Lord Forsyth of Drumlean

Baroness Crawley: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Stephen Penneck, Director General for Office for National Statistics, to Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, dated 28 January 2010.

The attached table contains the number of UK workforce jobs in manufacturing, in June of each year since 1997. Workforce jobs includes employee jobs, self-employed jobs and government-supported trainees. Quarterly data since 1978 are available at www.statistics. gov.uk.

UK Workforce Jobs (thousands)
Seasonally adjusted
Whole EconomyManufacturingPercentage (%)

June 1997

28,697

4,528

16

June 1998

28,824

4,554

16

June 1999

29,127

4,381

15

June 2000

29,554

4,255

14

June 2001

29,890

4,084

14

June 2002

30,064

3,881

13

June 2003

30,350

3,694

12

June 2004

30,671

3,547

12

June 2005a

31,012

3,365

11

June 2006a

31,257

3,261

10

June 2007

31,471

3,187

10

June 2008

31,661

3,138

10

June 2009

30,987

2,883

9



1 Feb 2010 : Column WA4

Elections: OSC Monitoring

Question

Asked by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead): The Government will keep to their existing commitment of providing up to 10 per cent of observers on an ad hoc basis.

Energy: Electricity Generation

Question

Asked by Lord Reay

The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): Using daily generation data, operationally metered wind contributed 0.8 per cent of total operationally metered generation during the week of 14 December 2009, and 0.3 per cent, 1.0 per cent, 0.7 per cent, 1.6 per cent and 1.0 per cent in the five following weeks. The highest demand peak during the six-week period, of 58,503 megawatts, occurred on 7 January 2010. The daily peak demand for the six weeks from 14 December 2009 is detailed in the table below.

These generation data are made available by National Grid and only refer to wind power which is operationally metered-ie, around half of the UK onshore wind farms and none of the offshore wind farms. Data from DECC providing a more complete coverage of wind farms are available on a two to three-month lagged basis. Peak demand data are also from National Grid, using the initial demand out-turn measure.



1 Feb 2010 : Column WA5

DatePeak demand (MW)

14-Dec-09

55,048

15-Dec-09

55,713

16-Dec-09

55,297

17-Dec-09

55,141

18-Dec-09

55,477

19-Dec-09

51,350

20-Dec-09

50,315

21-Dec-09

55,411

22-Dec-09

54,821

23-Dec-09

53,657

24-Dec-09

48,794

25-Dec-09

41,274

26-Dec-09

40,808

27-Dec-09

43,674

28-Dec-09

48,108

29-Dec-09

50,167

30-Dec-09

49,704

31-Dec-09

49,235

01-Jan-10

45,197

02-Jan-10

49,451

03-Jan-10

50,483

04-Jan-10

57,717

05-Jan-10

57,071

06-Jan-10

56,294

07-Jan-10

58,503

08-Jan-10

56,927

09-Jan-10

53,092

10-Jan-10

52,272

11-Jan-10

57,998

12-Jan-10

57,049

13-Jan-10

57,789

14-Jan-10

57,275

15-Jan-10

54,204

16-Jan-10

49,779

17-Jan-10

48,606

18-Jan-10

54,697

19-Jan-10

53,962

20-Jan-10

55,429

21-Jan-10

54,563

22-Jan-10

53,032

23-Jan-10

48,861

24-Jan-10

48,713

Equal Pay


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