HC Deb 14 April 1999 vol 329 cc287-8W
Mr. Llew Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the impact in Wales of the proposals in the Government's consultation paper, "New and Renewable Energy—Prospects for the 21st Century". [80242]

Mr. Jon Owen Jones

The Government intend working towards a target of renewable energy providing 10 per cent. of UK electricity supplies, cost effectively, as soon as possible. We hope to achieve this by 2010.

Ms Julie Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the rates of(a) schizophrenia and (b) depression among (i) AfroCaribbeans and (ii) the population other than Afro-Caribbeans in Wales. [80190]

Mr. Jon Owen Jones

Reliable data are not available centrally on the ethnic group of patients treated in Wales. It is not sufficiently complete and consistently coded to be used for assessing differences between incident rates across ethnic groups. There is also doubt as to whether the numbers of ethnic minority mental health patients in Wales gives a sufficient base for robust findings.

Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.

Ms Julie Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many mental health patients were treated on the NHS in Wales over the last five years. [80191]

Mr. Jon Owen Jones

The available data, held centrally, are given in the following table. They do not, however, represent the numbers of individuals treated by the NHS over this period as one person could be included in more than one category or be discharged more than once from an NHS hospital during a year.

The review document seeks views on a number of issues to enable the Government to frame future policies to meet their objectives of supporting renewables while they are reaching market prices and considers both the costs and benefits of moving towards greater use of renewables. In particular, the paper looks at options for a revised Non Fossil Fuel Obligation (NFFO) in the competitive energy markets of the future.

The paper identifies key issues and challenges which the Government and industry would need to pursue.

Wales already has rich reserves of renewable energy resources, especially wind and biomass. It is important, in terms of generating jobs and developing future industries, that it continues to build on this.

I would encourage all interested parties in Wales to submit their views on the proposals so that they can play their part in framing future renewable energy policy.