House of Commons Hansard Debates for 18 Apr 1990

65. Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next plans to meet the chairman of the Securities and Investments Board ; and what will be discussed.

Mr. Redwood : My right hon. Friend and I meet the chairman of the Securities and Investments Board to discuss a range of topics concerning the regulation of financial services as frequently as is necessary. No date has been fixed for the next such meeting.

Confederation of British Industry

34. Mr. Radice : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next intends to meet the president of the Confederation of British Industry ; and what will be discussed.

64. Mr. Corbett : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next intends to meet the president of the Confederation of British Industry ; and what will be discussed.

66. Mr. Frank Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next intends to meet the president of the Confederation of British Industry ; and what will be discussed.

91. Mr. Knox : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next expects to meet the president of the Confederation of British Industry to discuss manufacturing industry.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : I have no immediate plans to meet the president of the Confederation of British Industry.

89. Mr. Oppenheim : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he last met the Confederation of British Industry ; and what matters were discussed.

Mr. Redwood : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State last met representatives of the Confederation of British Industry when he chaired a meeting of the National Economic Development Council on 4 April 1990. The main items discussed on that occasion were business and the environment, the electronics industry and the United Kingdom's trade performance.

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Cot Deaths

35. Mr. McAvoy : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he first became aware of Dr. Barry Richardson's research into cot deaths ; and what action he then took to alert the public.

102. Mr. McCartney : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he first became aware of Dr, Barry Richardson's research into cot deaths ; and what action he then took to alert the public.

Mr. Forth : The Department of Health wrote to my Department about Dr. Barry Richardson's research on 7 June 1989. A copy of Dr. Richardson's report dated June 1989 was received on 12 June. As a direct result the laboratory of the Government chemist was asked to undertake a scientific assessment of this research work.

In a written reply on 9 March, my hon. Friend the Minister for Health stated that a group of independent experts had been asked to investigate further claims by Dr. Richardson about emission of toxic gases from soiled mattresses taking account of the assessment still being carried out by the laboratory of the Government chemist. I shall await the findings of this expert working group to see if there are any implications for the use of fire-resistant treatments in the manufacture of nursery furniture.

Manufactured Goods (Exports)

36. Mr. Jack : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the level of exports of manufactured goods Japan in 1989.

68. Mr. Batiste : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the level of exports of manufactured goods to Japan in 1989.

79. Mr. David Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the level of exports of manufactured goods to Japan in 1989.

Mr. Redwood : The level of United Kingdom exports of manufactured goods to Japan in 1989 was £1,938 million, an increase of 29 per cent. over 1988.

49. Mr. Robert B. Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what has been the growth in exports of manufactured goods to Japan since 1979.

93. Mr. Irvine : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what has been the growth in exports of manufactured goods to Japan since 1979.

Mr. Redwood : Exports of manufactured goods to Japan have risen from £481 million in 1979 to £1,938 million in 1989, an increase of 303 per cent.

67. Mr. Ian Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what has been the growth in exports of manufactured goods to the European Community since 1979.

96. Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what has been the growth in exports of manufactured goods to the European Community since 1979.

107. Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what has been the growth in exports of manufactured goods to the European Community since 1979.

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Mr. Redwood : Exports of manufactured goods to the European Community have risen from £13 billion in 1979 to £38 billion in 1989, an increase of £25 billion.

Invisibles

37. Ms. Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the prospects for British invisibles in the European market after 1992.

Mr. Redwood : The single market offers both a challenge and an opportunity to British business. This applies to businesses generating invisible trade as much as to those generating visible trade. The opportunities are great : according to estimates published by the Commission in "European Economy" in March 1988, the Community services sector is expected to contribute about 30 per cent. of the gains from the completion of the single market. The outcome for British invisibles will depend on the dynamic response of individual businesses.

Consumer Guarantees Bill

38. Mr. Ingram : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what further representations he has had on the Consumer Guarantees Bill.

63. Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what further representations he has had on the Consumer Guarantees Bill.

74. Mr. Sean Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what further representations he has had on the Consumer Guarantees Bill.

Mr. Forth : At the Committee Stage of the Bill I undertook to inform members of the Committee of the representations I had received about various aspects of the Bill, where I had the agreement of the parties concerned to do so. This I have done. Further representations received since Committee were made in confidence and it would be inappropriate to give details of them.

Consumer Demand

40. Mr. Livsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what effect he expects falling consumer demand to have on British industry.

Mr. Redwood : Prospects for the economy to mid-1991, including manufacturing production, are contained in the Financial Statement and Budget Report 1990-91 laid before the House by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 20 March 1990. Chart 3.8 of that statement forecasts continuing growth in consumer expenditure in 1990 and the first half of 1991, but at a slower rate than in 1988 and 1989. The forecasts suggest maintained levels of manufacturing production in 1990 and modest growth of 0.75 per cent. in the first half of 1991.

Product Safety

41. Mr. Maxton : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has as to how many cases have been brought under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 concerning product safety which were already covered by an approved standard.

48. Mr. Martlew : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has as to how

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many cases have been brought under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 concerning product safety which were already covered by an approved standard.

Mr. Forth : Enforcement of the safety provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 is mainly the responsibility of the trading standards departments of local authorities. A number of suppliers have been successfully prosecuted for breaches of the general safety requirement, but information is not available on whether these cases involved an approved standard.

West Germany

44. Mr. Bell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the level of United Kingdom trade with West Germany.

99. Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the level of United Kingdom trade with West Germany.

103. Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the level of United Kingdom trade with West Germany.

Mr. Redwood : In 1989 United Kingdom imports from West Germany were £20 billion ; United Kingdom exports to West Germany were £11.1 billion. Invisible trade is not separately recorded by country.

87. Mr. Skinner : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the United Kingdom balance of trade with West Germany in 1989 ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Redwood : In 1989 imports of manufactured goods from West Germany exceeded United Kingdom manufactured exports to that country by £9.6 billion. Invisibles are not separately recorded by country.

Post Office

46. Mr. Bidwell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next intends to meet the chairman of the Post Office.

54. Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next intends to meet the chairman of the Post Office.

Mr. Forth : I will next meet the chairman of the Post Office, Sir Bryan Nicholson, on 4 May.

Tin Mining

47. Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the tin mining industry in Cornwall.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : The respective managements have decided to cease operations at the Geevor tin mine immediately and at the Wheal Jane tin mine at the end of the year. These decisions appear inevitable given the prevailing low tin prices and the absence of indications of the substantial and sustained improvement in the tin price required for these mines to continue in production.

The remaining tin mine, South Crofty, has been the subject of a major capital investment programme designed to lower costs. This had been assisted by substantial DTI

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loans. That investment programme, and the geological conditions of the mine, mean that South Crofty is better placed to withstand low prices.

Shipbuilding

50. Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the future of the shipbuilding industry in the United Kingdom.

57. Mr. Ted Garrett : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the future of the shipbuilding industry in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave earlier to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Hillhead (Mr. Galloway).

Exporters

51. Mr. Dykes : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the recent performance of United Kingdom exporters of goods and services.

Mr. Redwood : We have seen a significant and sustained growth in the United Kingdom's export performance. The value of non-oil exports doubled between 1979 and 1988. They increased again by 16 per cent. in 1989. In the three months to February, the value of goods exported was 5 per cent. higher than in the previous three months. This is a remarkable success, achieved in the face of increasingly strong competition, on which British exporters of goods and services are to be congratulated.

52. Mr. Patchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has any new proposals to assist British exporters.

101. Mr. Orme : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has any new proposals to assist British exporters.

Mr. Redwood : I refer the hon. Members to the reply I gave on 14 March to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Hillhead (Mr. Galloway) at columns 477-79.

Engineering Products

55. Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the current balance of trade in engineering products.

80. Mr. Bradley : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the current balance of trade in engineering products.

95. Mr. Ron Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the current balance of trade in engineering products.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : The crude deficit on the balance of trade for engineering products was £8.2 billion in 1989.

Regional Assistance

56. Mr. Hind : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many regional selective assistance grants and regional development grants were awarded to firms in the north-west of England in 1988-89, at what cost to his Department.

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Mr. Douglas Hogg : In the financial year 1988-89 my Department made offers of regional selective assistance for 340 projects, and approved regional development grants under the revised scheme for 2, 036 projects, in the north-west region. The value of these offers and proposals was £133.4 million which is the amount expected to be paid if the projects proceed as planned.

Note : The north-west region includes the counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside and the High Peak district of Derbyshire.

Car Manufacturers

61. Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will next meet the major car manufacturers ; and what will be discussed.

72. Mr. Clelland : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will next meet the major car manufacturers ; and what will be discussed.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : The Secretary of State and I regularly meet the major car manufacturers to discuss a variety of issues.

Footwear

73. Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations he has received from the footwear industry regarding import penetration of the United Kingdom footwear trade.

Mr. Redwood : We have received a small number of representations about footwear issues, including the level of footwear imports.

EC Trade and Industry Ministers

76. Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will next meet his counterparts in the European Community ; and what will be discussed.

86. Mr. Cummings : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will next meet his counterparts in the European Community ; and what will be discussed.

Mr. Redwood : I maintain regular contacts with my opposite numbers in the European Commission across a wide range of issues.

Government Special Shares

77. Sir George Young : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if his Department has any plans to extend the use of Government special shares.

Mr. Redwood : The government have a general prejudice against the creation of special shares, but recognise that a special share may be warranted by the particular circumstances of a privatised company. Each case is assessed on its merits.

Steel

81. Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the future of the steel industry in the United Kingdom.

84. Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the future of the steel industry in the United Kingdom.

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Mr. Douglas Hogg : I refer the hon. Gentlemen to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell) earlier today.

West German Trade and Industry Minister

82. Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he last met his West German counterpart ; and what was discussed.

Mr. Redwood : I last met my West German counterpart, Dr. Haussmann, at the Anglo-German summit on 30 March. A range of issues were discussed.

Building Societies

90. Mr. Beith : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his latest estimate of the proportion of larger building societies having tied arrangements with insurance companies.

Mr. Redwood : Eight of the 10 largest building societies have a "tied" arrangement with a single insurance company. However, seven of these eight also operate an independent financial adviser arm.

Sir Leon Brittan

92. Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he last met the Vice-President of the European Commission, Sir Leon Brittan ; and what was discussed.

Mr. Ridley : I maintain regular contacts with my opposite numbers in the European Commission across a wide range of issues.

Trade Deficit

94. Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will make a statement on the trade deficit.

Mr. Redwood : Exports from the United Kingdom are running at record levels. The present deficit has been caused by excessive growth in domestic demand in relation to domestic industrial capacity. It is therefore a macro -economic problem which will be resolved by the sound macro-economic policies which the Government are pursuing.

Stock Exchange

98. Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he next plans to meet the chairman of the stock exchange ; and what will be discussed.

Mr. Redwood : Ministers meet the chairman of the stock exchange whenever appropriate to discuss topics of mutual interest.

Balance of Trade

Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the European Economic Community countries with which the United Kingdom had a trade surplus in manufactured goods in 1989.

Mr. Redwood : In 1989 the United Kingdom had a manufacturing trade surplus with Ireland, Spain and Greece.

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RECHAR Scheme

Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many jobs have been lost because of coal mine closures in the south Leeds area since 1 January 1984 ; if the RECHAR grants scheme can be applied to this area ; and if he will make a statement ; (2) if he will consider in any further discussions with the European Commission on RECHAR allocations that area of the Normanton constituency which is the former coal mining area of south-east Leeds, for allocation of grant ; and if he will make a statement ; (3) if he will list the areas which have been allocated grants through the RECHAR system.

Mr. Douglas Hogg : The south-east Leeds area lost approximately 3, 000 coal mining jobs since 1 January 1984. The Government have therefore already proposed to the European Commission that it should be among the areas to benefit from the RECHAR initiative for European structural fund grants to coal-mining areas. The Commission's decision is due by 27 April.

Recycling

Sir Charles Morrison : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the research and development projects being undertaken by his Department and related agencies into recycling, giving the cost of each project.

Mr. Forth : The Department has commissioned a range of projects to aid the development of its policy on recycling. Some have been placed with Warren Spring laboratory, including an examination of present market barriers to recycling in the United Kingdom, and others with management consultants, including investigations into CFC recovery, recycling and destruction, and into the problems of scrap tyre disposal. The Department believes that those companies and organisations directly involved in materials recycling should themselves be the prime initiators of R and D in this area, but stands ready to consider helping worthwhile projects.

Animal Experiments

Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many animal experiments for cosmetics took place in the United Kingdom in 1978, 1988 and 1989 ; if these exceed in number the essential minimum referred to by him in his reply to the hon. Member for Gordon (Mr. Bruce) on 6 March, Official Report, column 588 ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Forth : Statistics on the safety testing of cosmetics and toiletries are published by the Home Office. The latest information is contained in table 3 of the "Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Great Britain 1988" and similar information was published in previous years. The number of procedures carried out for the safety testing of cosmetic substances is determined by the requirements of current regulations which are kept to the minimum essential for consumer safety.

Unigate plc

Mr. Gill : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what grants in aid have been paid to Unigate plc in respect of poultry- processing plants.

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Mr. Douglas Hogg : St. Ivel Farm Foods Ltd. (formerly Unigate Poultry Ltd.), a subsidiary of Unigate plc, is receiving regional aid in respect of a poultry processing plant at Scunthorpe.

Payments of regional development grant towards the project have totalled £3,729,000 to date. The company also accepted an offer of £10,558,000 of regional selective assistance and the first payment of grant under that offer was made in the quarter January to March 1989.

Details of the RDG payments and the RSA offer were published in British Business in accordance with standing arrangements.

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