§ Mr. WhittingdaleTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many and what percentage of workers belonged to trade unions in each of the last 20 years; and what the figures were broken down into(a) public and (b) private sector workers. [44765]
§ Ms HewittThe number of workers who are members of a trade union can be estimated annually from the results of the autumn Labour Force Survey. The number and percentage of workers in Great Britain is given in the table. Data are available for union membership from 1990 and can be sub-divided for the private and public sector from 1993.
carrying out technology road mapping which will identify R&D priorities for future phases of Foresight Vehicle and inform requirements such as those outlined in the Government's draft "Powering Future Vehicles" strategy. The strategy seeks to accelerate the transition in the UK to a low carbon transport systems.
Since 1992, the DTI's Advanced Fuel Cells Programme has supported industrial R&D in the fuel cells area including stack development, fuel processing and systems development for both transport and stationary power generation applications. Some of the work is generic so it is not possible to be precise regarding the expenditure specifically relating to vehicles. It is estimated that since 1997 work which is wholly or primarily relevant to vehicle applications of fuel cells has amounted to £2.4 million.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council supports research into transport operations, manufacture and management. Areas covered include improving engine efficiencies, road management, environmental impacts, social inclusion and safety. The £10 million EPSRC research portfolio covering transport operations and management consists of 97 active grants, of which an estimated £500,000 per year relates to low carbon vehicles. EPSRC also supports fuel cell research. The research portfolio is shared between engineering, chemistry and materials programmes of the EPSRC which estimates overall support of around £2 million a year for fuel cell research across all programmes.