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21 Oct 2002 : Column 63W—continued
Housing
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will publish the latest available figures in descending order for the average number of households per 1,000 in each local authority area which are accepted as being in priority need for housing. [74858]
Mrs. Roche: Available information reported by local authorities in England on the number of households accepted per 1,000 under statutory homelessness provisions for the quarter ending 30 June 2002 is available from the library of the House.
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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Inflation
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the level of inflation in the public sector. [75230]
Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply
Inflation in the public sector—as defined by growth in the implied government consumption deflator—is currently close to its average over the past 5 years, and is significantly lower than its average from 1979 to mid-1997. Nevertheless the data need to be interpreted cautiously, because the non-marketed nature of public services and the difficulty of making appropriate adjustments for quality change complicate the measurement of prices and inflation in the public sector.
Public Sector Deflator
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the level of the public sector deflator in each month of the last 10 years. [75239]
Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply
The implied government consumption deflator is not available on a monthly basis, as it is derived from quarterly nominal and real government consumption data.
Consultations
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the consultations being undertaken by her Department. [75232]
Ms Hewitt: Consultations which are currently being undertaken by the Department, and their opening and closing dates, are as follows:
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Aircraft Fuel
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average price of aircraft fuel was in September. [75032]
Mr. Wilson: The average spot price was $263 a tonne (source: Platts Information Agency).
Electricity and Gas Prices
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether pre-tax (a) electricity and (b) gas prices were above or below the EU/G7 median for 2001; and if she will make a statement. [75129]
Mr. Wilson: Average annual electricity and gas prices for 2001 are not yet available for all EU and G7 countries.
In 2001 average pre-tax electricity prices for industrial consumers in the UK were 5 per cent. below the EU/G7 median, based upon the 5 countries for which data are available. Average pre-tax electricity prices for domestic consumers in the UK were 13 per cent. above the EU/G7 median, based upon the 7 countries for which data are available.
Average pre-tax gas prices for UK industrial consumers in 2001 were 20 per cent. below the EU/G7 median, based upon the 7 countries for which data are available. Average pre-tax prices for domestic gas consumers in the UK were 4 per cent. below the EU/G7 median, based upon the 10 countries for which data are available.
Estimates based on data from Eurostat (the EU Statistical Office) and Energy Advice Ltd (a private sector consultant) suggest that in July 2002 industrial electricity and gas prices in the UK, both including and excluding taxes, were generally below the EU median price. Similarly, the estimated data suggests that UK domestic electricity and gas prices, including taxes, were below the EU median price, but were above the EU median price if taxes are excluded.
The DTI regularly publishes this comparison in ''Quarterly Energy Prices'', which is also available on the DTI web site.
Single Market Directives
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of single market directives had been transposed by September; and if she will make a statement. [75130]
Ms Hewitt: Provisional indications from the Commission are that the Internal Market Scoreboard for November 2002 will show the UK as having
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transposed around 98.5 per cent. of single market directives. This was also the percentage shown for the UK in the last Scoreboard published in May 2002.
Corus
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to her answer of 14 February 2002, Official Report, column 529W, on Corus, how much of the aid that was announced in May 2001 to provide suport to communities affected by Corus redundancies has been spent in respect of each of the projects listed; and if she will make a statement. [75437]
Alan Johnson: The majority of the #48 million package of regeneration measures for areas in England affected by the closures announced by Corus in May 2001 consisted of major infrastructure projects funded by the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.
The announcement also indicated that the Government intended to approach the Commission under Article 56 of the ECSC Treaty with a view to introducing an ISERBS type of programme to provide social aid to redundant steelworkers. A scheme involving a one off lump sum payment of #2,480 per individual was implemented. By end of October 2002 #28.6m will have been disbursed to eligible workers.
Infrastructure projects are necessarily slow moving, and little money is spent in the early stages. Progress on the projects is as follows:
- Durham University Stockton Campus (budget #19.4 million)—Work has started on site reclamation but there is no significant expenditure to date.
- Phase 2 of the Middlehaven scheme—One NorthEast is planning to spend some #16 million on Phase 2 which includes a contribution to a new junction on the A66 to access the site. Design work on the junction has been started and development of the Phase 2 site, which will involve the private sector, is planned to start in 2003.
- New Tees crossing and Teesside Light Rapid Transit system feasibility studies (combined budget #500,000)—#300,000 has been spent so far and further work has been commissioned to start in 2003.
- A66 Longnewton Junction improvements (budget #4.7 million)—the project is included in the Highways Agency programme and work will start in 2003.
- Projects funded by the UK broadband fund are seeing One North East in the Tees Valley area and Yorkshire Forward in the North Lincolnshire are a spending #500,000 each on supporting these communities. One North East are spending their money on connecting SMEs to broadband services and Yorkshire Forward on connecting business parks. #130,000 has been spent on feasibility so far in the North East.
- Enterprise Grants in Scunthorpe and some additional wards in Glanford (budget of up to #500,000)—expenditure is dependent on applications from companies wishing to expand. So far 11 applications have been received of which 5 have been approved and offers of grant totalling #149,000 have been made.
The remainder of the package announced in 2001 consisted of an extension of the Job Transition Service to the areas affected by the closures, and is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Expenditure on the regeneration package for Wales also announced on that day is a matter for the National Assembly for Wales.
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Electricity
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) interruptions there were per 100 customers and (b) minutes were lost to electricity power supply interruptions in 2001–02; and if she will make a statement. [75128]
Mr. Wilson: (a) The average number of consumer interruptions per 100 customers in Great Britain in 2001–02 was 89.49.
(b) The average number of customer minutes lost per customer in Great Britain in 2001–02 was 88.94.
The industry regulator, OFGEM, has this year introduced measures that will create financial incentives to network operators to further improve performance.
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