Policy Announcements, Friday 13 June

Government  

• Consent was given today under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 to Bridestones Developments Ltd for the construction of a 380 MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station at Carrington, Trafford. The station has also been given deemed planning permission subject to 42 conditions agreed with the Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council. As part of the consent Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks has placed a condition in the Section 90 Direction that the company shall install the necessary plant and pipeworks to ensure that the station can supply heat in the future if the opportunity materialised. Combined Heat and Power (CHP) can, in the right setting, ensure that fuel is used more efficiently by capturing and using heat and generating electricity in a single process.  
• A £100m campaign to give every child the chance of five hours of sport every week was announced by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown today. He called for a 'united team effort' in the run up to 2012 to make sport a part of every child's day. Building a greater sporting nation and a fitter nation. Involving schools, parents, volunteers, coaches and the sports world to offer the equivalent of an hour of sport to every child, every day of the school week. The plans include greater emphasis on competition within and between schools, a network of competition managers and a new National School Sports Week.  
• 250 schools in deprived areas across the country will join the Department of Health's 'Schools on the Move' National Pedometer Programme today. Between September 2007 and March 2008, 45,000 pedometers will be distributed to encourage schoolchildren to become more active and help reduce levels of obesity