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Mr. Hain : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many Post Office Crown branch offices in (a) Britain and (b) south Wales are in each of the three categories A, B and C specified by Post Office Counters for (i) 1989 and (ii) projected by management for the end of 1992 ; and what is the proposed percentage change in each category.
Mr. Leigh : The numbers of Crown post offices in categories A, B, and C in (a) Britain and (b) south Wales counters district (B and C not separately identified) at 31 March 1989 were as follows :
|A |B |C
------------------------
Britain |498|552|443
South Wal20 -35-
An effect of the Crown conversion programme may be to change the percentage distribution of offices between these categories ; in addition, the precise effect in any area will depend on negotiations with potential agency operators and the outcome of the local consultation procedure. It is therefore not possible to project numbers for the end of 1992.
Fireworks
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his Department issues advice on care for domestic pets where fireworks are used ; what
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information his Department has on the law relating to the sale of fireworks in other countries ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Leigh : I have been asked to reply.
The main thrust of the Government's annual firework safety campaign is to publicise the firework code, which urges the public to keep pets indoors. The law on fireworks varies greatly in other countries.
Publicity
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the total expenditure by his Department on press and public relations in 1979-80 and in each following year ; and what is his estimate for 1991-92 and budget for 1992-93.
Mr. Leigh : I refer to the answers given to the hon. Member on 13 March 1990 ( Official Report, column 172 ) and 30 April 1991 (column 127 ).
The final outturn for 1990-91 and estimated expenditure in the current year are as follows :
|£ 000
----------------------
1990-91 |2,383
1991-92 |2,410
The figures include regional press officer and other support services. The budget for 1992-93 is not yet finalised.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will provide an up-to-date list of each television advertising campaign carried out, or to be carried out, by (a) the Department of Trade and Industry and (b) the Export Credits Guarantee Department, during 1991-92, and of each other publicity campaign costing more than £100,000, giving for each (i) the topic, (ii) the commencement date, (iii) the duration and (iv) the advertising, promotional and public relations companies involved.
Mr. Leigh : The information is as follows :
(a) Department of Trade and Industry
I refer to the answers given to the hon. Member on 1 July ( Official Report, column 20 ), 12 July (column 523 ) and 17 July (column 180-81 ). The Department continues to have no plans for television advertising in the current year.
(b) Export Credits Guarantee Department
Television advertising campaigns in 1991-92 : None.
Other campaign :
(i) Topic : ECGD's strength in Europe.
(ii) Commenced : 22 April 1991.
(iii) Duration : four weeks.
(iv) Advertising agency : Leo Burnett.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the total expenditure by the ECGD on press and public relations in 1979-80 and in each following year ; and what is his estimate for 1991-92 and budget for 1992-93.
Mr. Sainsbury : The response for the years 1979-80 to 1989-90 is contained in the Official Report for 3 May 1991, columns 364-65. The figures for 1990-91 and 1991-92 are as follows :
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Year |£ 000 ------------------------- 1990-91 |1,067 <1>1991-92 |1,326 <1> Latest estimate.
The budget for 1992-93 has still to be prepared.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether his Department has sent unsolicited direct mail as part of the distribution of publicity material.
Mr. Leigh : My Department uses carefully targeted direct mail in support of a number of its objectives, including the stimulation of innovation, the promotion of exports and the provision of information to business about new methods, opportunities and management skills.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will give separate figures for spending by the ECGD on (a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) newspaper advertising and (d) other promotional material in 1979-80 and in each following year ; and what are his latest estimates for 1991-92 and budgets for 1992-93.
Mr. Sainsbury : The response for the years 1979-80 to 1989-90 is contained in the Official Report for 8 May 1991, column 502. The figures for 1990-91 and 1991-92 are as follows :
|Total |Press |Other
|advertising
|£ 000 |£ 000 |£ 000
------------------------------------------------------------
1990-91 |1,067 |692 |375
<1>1991-92 |1,326 |875 |451
<1> Latest estimate.
No expenditure has been incurred on TV and radio advertising. The budget for 1992-93 has still to be prepared.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will give separate figures for the spending by his Department on (a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) newspaper advertising and (d) other promotional material in 1979-80 and in each following year ; and what are his latest estimates for 1991-92 and budgets for 1992-93.
Mr. Leigh : I refer to the answers given to the hon. Member on 13 March 1990 ( Official Report, columns 173-74 ) and 29 April 1991 (column 55 -56 ). Final outturn figures for expenditure from the Department's central publicity during 1990-91 were as follows :
|£ 000
---------------------------------------------
Television advertising |3,938
Radio advertising |141
Press advertising |1,905
Other promotional materials<1> |3,778
<1> Publications, audio-visual materials and
posters.
I expect expenditure on such activities this year to be well within last year's total. Media allocations are made according to need during the course of the year, but the Department has no plans for television advertising this year.
South Sefton Business Centre
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make an official visit to South Sefton business centre.
Mr. Leigh : I do not at present have any plans to visit the South Sefton business centre.
Thomson Consumer Electronics
Mr. Viggers : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assistance his Department will offer to promote industrial activity (a) in the Gosport area in general and (b) at the Ferguson plant in particular in the light of the announcement by Thomson Consumer Electronics that it intends to close the Ferguson factory.
Mr. Leigh : The best way for the Government to support firms in the Gosport area is through its policies aimed at controlling inflation and encouraging sustained economic growth. Eligible firms there benefit from access to DTI schemes aimed at helping them to become more efficient, encouraging innovation and promoting exports. DTI's Invest in Britain Bureau and the English unit promote new direct investment by overseas firms to the United Kingdom. IBB can give individual inward investors information about locations where sites, premises and labour are readily available to meet their particular needs.
Public Opinion Surveys
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the public opinion surveys carried out by his Department since 12 July 1991.
Mr. Leigh : The Department has carried out no general public opinion surveys in this period.
Exports
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will state the value and volume of exports in each year of the 1980's of (a) beryllium, (b) polonium and (c) bismuth, specifying in each case the countries stated as the destinations of the exports.
Mr. Sainsbury : Information is given in the table. Information on polonium is not available as it is not separately identified in the overseas trade statistics. To provide country details would involve disproportionate cost.
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United Kingdom Exports 1980-89
Beryllium <1> Bismuth <2>
|Volume (kg) |Value (£ k)|of which to |Volume (kg) |Value (£ k)|of which to
|Total |EC |(MT) |Total |EC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1980 |0 |0 |0 |289 |1,469 |...
1981 |1,100 |11 |0 |298 |945 |...
1982 |603 |3 |1 |292 |1,140 |...
1983 |17,898 |23 |0 |310 |1,343 |...
1984 |452 |33 |2 |292 |1,881 |...
1985 |725 |44 |0 |... |... |...
1986 |0 |0 |0 |... |... |...
1987 |13 |4 |3 |... |... |...
1988 |6 |3 |3 |566 |4,270 |2,109
1989 |0 |0 |0 |413 |3,419 |2,135
<1> As defined by code 689.91 of the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC).
<2> As defined by SITC Code 689.92 for 1988-89 and Combined Nomenclature Code 810411 (part of SITC
689.99) for 1980-87.
...= not available.
Source: Overseas Trade Statistics
Businesses, North-West
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentages of businesses in the north-west have reported a decline in sales over the last six months.
Mr. Leigh : Statistical information of this nature is not collected by my Department.
Manufacturing Standards
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on his policy for assisting British trade and professional organisations with travel and administration costs for meetings in connection with achieving Europeanwide standards of manufacture for 1993 onwards.
Mr. Leigh : We continue to make available through the British Standards Institution substantial financial support towards the travel costs of leaders of BSI delegations and of principal experts and other selected personnel attending standards meetings overseas.
Press and Publicity Staff
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether any member of his Department's press and publicity staff accompanied him in Blackpool during the Conservative party conference.
British Shipbuilders
Mr. David Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on British Shipbuilders' external financing limit for 1991-92.
Mr. Leigh : British Shipbuilders' external financing limit for 1991- 92 was set at £5.8 million as recorded in the Government's expenditure plans 1991-92 to 1993-94 published in February 1991. I am now able to announce a reduced EFL for 1991-92 of £3.6 million which amounts to a net improvement of £9.4 million. This is principally due to the release of the provision of legal fees totalling £6 million following the out-of-court settlement of the Scott Lithgow dispute in March 1991 and the deferred receipt of asset sales at North East Shipbuilders Ltd. (NESL) which included £2.075 million from the sale of Pallion, the only remaining NESL yard.
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Telecommunications Council
Mr. David Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Telecommunications Council held in Brussels on Monday 4 November.
Mr. Redwood : The main item was a further discussion on the European Commission plans to apply "MAC" standards to direct-to-house satellite broadcasting. I continued to argue strongly for service provider freedom to follow their commercial judgment. Consumers should not have imposed on them the costs of these changes, especially where they do not derive benefits from new services on offer. I am pleased to say that opinion among EC states does seem to have shifted in this direction to some extent and I hope that the Commission's revised proposals, expected later this year, will show considerable improvement.
The Council reached political agreement on a resolution on satellite communications, which envisages future liberalisation of that sector. A common position was reached on a Council directive on the application of open network provision to leased lines, which will facilitate future liberalisation of the European telecommunication services market. Agreement was also reached on a Council decision on the harmonisation of the international access code, subject to approval by the United Kingdom parliamentary scrutiny committees and the availability of the opinion by the European Parliament. The Commission announced that it hoped to produce a Green Paper on postal services for discussion at the next Telecommunications Council on 5 December 1991. The Commission also announced its intention to produce a Communication on a co-ordinated EC position for the world administrative radio conference (WARC), in February 1992. All member states agreed with the United Kingdom that CEPT should remain the principal European body dealing with international radio frequencies and that member states should where possible support the common CEPT proposals at WARC.
ENERGY
Press and Publicity Staff
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether any member of his Department's press and publicity staff accompanied him in Blackpool during the Conservative party conference.
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Publicity
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give separate figures for the spending by his Department on (a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) newspaper advertising and (d) other promotional material in 1979-80 and in each following year ; and what are his latest estimates for 1991-92 and budgets for 1992-93.
Mr. Wakeham : The information requested for 1989-90 and earlier years was contained in my reply to the hon. Member on 25 April, Official Report, col. 500. Expenditure in 1990-91, and estimated expenditure in 1991 -92, is as follows :
<
|£ '000
|1991-92 |1990-91<1>
------------------------------------------------------------
Television Advertising |- |-
Newspaper Advertising |606 |559
Radio Advertising |- |-
Other Promotional Material |900 |1,074
<1> Does not include expenditure on the privatisation of
the Electricity
Supply Industry.
Decisions on expenditure by media in 1992-93 have not yet been taken.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether his Department has sent unsolicited direct mail as part of the distribution of publicity material.
Mr. Wakeham : Unsolicited direct mail has been used from time to time when it has been considered the best method of disseminating advice or information to specific audiences. A recent example was a mailing to head teachers of a booklet entitled "Energy Efficiency in Buildings--Schools".
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will provide an up-to-date list of each television advertising campaign carried out, or to be carried out, by his Department during 1991-92, and of each other publicity campaign costing more than £100,000, giving for each (a) the topic, (b) the commencement date, (c) the duration and (d) the advertising, promotional and public relations companies involved.
Mr. Wakeham : My Department has a continuing programme of publicity to promote energy efficiency, including a joint campaign with the Department of the Environment on the environment and home energy efficiency and the "Making a Corporate Commitment" campaign, the United Kingdom offshore supplies industry and renewable sources of energy. None of these campaigns will involve television advertising in the current year.
The joint campaign which was launched on Monday 4 November and will run for three years is being handled by Collett, Dickenson, Pearce and Partners Ltd., and Maxima. The purpose of the campaign is to encourage householders to make their homes more energy efficient. The "Making a Corporate Commitment" campaign was launched on 16 October 1991 and will run until 1992-93. The aim of the campaign is to encourage top management to make a corporate commitment to energy efficiency. The campaign is being handled by Laing Henry Ltd. and Network Ltd.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the total expenditure by his Department on press
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and public relations in 1979-80 and in each following year ; and what is his estimate for 1991-92 and budget for 1992- 93.Mr. Wakeham : The estimated expenditure in 1991-92 is £675,000. This figure includes :
(i) forecast expenditure by the Press Office ;
(ii) staff costs (salaries, accommodation and common services) for all the permanent information service and support staff in the Press Office (including the Speech Writing Unit), at 1 November 1991. The corresponding expenditure for previous years was set out in my reply to the hon. Member on 30 April, Official Report, c. 107-8. Details of proposed expenditure for 1992-93 are not available.
Public Opinion Surveys
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list the public opinion surveys carried out by his Department since 11 July.
Mr. Wakeham : I shall write to the hon. Member.
Trawsfynydd Power Station
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the problems being encountered at Trawsfynydd nuclear power station and its future life expectancy.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : I refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave to the hon. Member for Cardiff, West (Mr. Morgan) on 14 October, (col. 6). I understand that Nuclear Electric plc's interim safety case for the restart of Trawsfynydd remains the subject of discussions between it and the Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate.
Nuclear Material (Reprocessing)
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement outlining the sequence of events leading to Her Majesty's Government offering to accept nuclear material from Iraq for reprocessing in Scotland ; what offers of assistance in dealing with the material have been forthcoming from other countries ; and what is the current position regarding the possible importation of the materials.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : Following an approach from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Government indicated that facilities at Dounreay would be available if required for making safe certain nuclear materials which will be removed from Iraq in accordance with Security Council resolution 687. The IAEA requested tenders for this work and an alliance of British and French companies submitted bids. It will be for the agency to assess these and any other offers received on technical and economic grounds.
EMPLOYMENT
Publicity
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give separate figures for spending by the Training Agency or Manpower Services Commission
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on (a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) newspaper advertising and (d) other promotional material in 1979-80 and in each following year ; and what are his latest estimates for 1991-92 and budgets for 1992-93.Column 70
Mr. Forth : (a) The information requested is given in the table :
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|TV (£ ) |Radio (£ )|Press (£ )|Other (£ )|Total (£ )
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Actual
1979-80 |N.A. |N.A. |- |- |-
1980-81 |424,102 |4,127 |2,496,440 |2,588,540 |5,513,209
1981-82 |- |62,896 |1,814,935 |2,784,279 |4,662,110
1982-83 |- |89,654 |2,984,230 |3,222,031 |6,295,915
1983-84 |1,479,748 |17,434 |764,409 |2,670,666 |4,932,257
1984-85 |944,975 |3,477 |717,057 |4,473,283 |6,138,792
1985-86 |9,676,257 |311,537 |1,867,286 |5,111,180 |16,966,260
1986-87 |15,624,000 |258,631 |6,927,370 |12,124,000 |34,934,001
1987-88 |17,321,000 |26,841 |6,950,159 |11,647,000 |35,945,000
1988-89 |12,569,000 |- |5,502,000 |12,449,000 |30,520,000
1989-90 |8,610,000 |56,000 |6,164,000 |12,485,000 |27,315,000
1990-91 |6,115,000 |- |3,803,000 |9,912,000 |19,830,000
All the figures refer only to expenditure by the former Manpower Services Commission, Training Commission and Training Agency. Following the abolition of the Training Agency, from 1991-92 the Department's advertising and publicity budget is held centrally. (b) The total budget for 1991-92 (excluding HSE and ACAS) is £18.41 million. Estimate of the breakdown by media is as follows :
TV (£ ) |Press (£ ) |Others (£ )|Total (£ ) ----------------------------------------------------------------- 8,594,000 |1,166,000 |8,650,000 |18,410,000
(c) Expenditure levels for 1992-93 are in the process of being set.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give separate figures for the spending by his Department on (a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) newspaper advertising and (d) other promotional material in 1979-80 and in each following year ; and what are his latest estimates for 1991-92 and budgets for 1992-93.
Mr. Forth : (a) Expenditure on advertising and promotional material by the Department of Employment from 1979-80 to 1985-86 was as follows :
|£
------------------------------
1979-80 |70,000
1980-81 |320,000
1981-82 |400,000
1982-83 |360,000
1983-84 |500,000
1984-85 |320,000
1985-86 |1,220,000
Figures for television, radio and newspaper advertising and other promotional material are not available separately.
The figures for 1986-87, 1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90 and 1990-91 are as follows :
|Television |Press/Radio
|promotional
|(£ million)|(£ million)|(£ million)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1986-87 |9.3 |3.0 |4.1
1987-88 |3.3 |0.8 |2.8
1988-89 |2.1 |2.3 |1.3
1989-90 |0.9 |0.9 |1.2
1990-91 |n/a |0.5 |2.4
(b) From 1991-92 the Department's advertising and publicity budget has been held centrally. Details of expenditure for 1991-92 and budget for 1992-93 are being provided for the hon. Member in a reply to a separate question.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the total expenditure by his Department on press and public relations in 1979-80 and in each following year ; and what is his estimate for 1991-92 and budget for 1992-93.
Mr. Forth : The information requested is given in the table :
Year |Expenditure
|£ million
-------------------------------------------
Actual
1979-80 to 1985-86 |n/a
1986-87 |1.080
1987-88 |1.014
1988-89 |3.185
1989-90 |3.331
1990-91 |3.507
Estimated
1991-92 |3.870
Figures for 1986-87 and 1987-88 are for Department of Employment information division only. Figures for TA are not available. Figures for 1988-89 represent total expenditure separately incurred by DE information division and TA information services branch ; the two merged to form DE information branch in November 1989. Figures for 1990-91 onwards represent expenditure by the DE information branch.
Expenditure levels for 1992-93 are in the process of being set.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide an up-to-date list of each television advertising campaign carried out, or to be carried out, by (a) the Department of Employment and (b) the Training Agency during 1991-92, and of each other publicity campaign costing more than £100,000, giving for each (i) the topic, (ii) the commencement date, (iii) the duration and (iv) the advertising, promotional and public relations companies involved.
Column 71
Mr. Forth : Two television advertising campaigns have been carried out for the Department so far in 1991-92, for TECs and for Just the Job. No further television advertising is planned by the Department during the remainder of the financial year. The Training Agency is now part of the Department.Column 72
Other publicity campaigns costing more than £100,000 carried out or planned during 1991-92 are set out in the table :Column 71
Topic |Start Date |Duration |Company ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Career Development Loans Press |July 1991 |3 months |<1>GGT Jobclub Press |Late 1991 |3 months |<2>DMB&B Job Review Workshops Press |Early 1992 |1-2 months |DMB&B National Training Awards Press |March 1991 |3 months |GGT National Training Awards Press |December 1991 |4 days |GGT High Technology National Training Press |April 1991 |1 month |GGT High Technology National Training Press |September 1991|2 weeks |GGT Just the Job Press |September 1991|2 months |DMB&B TECs Press |April 1991 |2 months |GGT Investors in People Press |October 1991 |1 month |GGT <1>Gold Greenlees Trott. <2>D'Arcy Masius Benton and Bowles.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether (a) the Department of Employment and (b) the Training Agency or Manpower Services Commission have sent unsolicited direct mail as part of the distribution of publicity material.
Mr. Forth : Direct mail containing information about the national training awards was sent to senior figures in British industry as part of the March to May 1991 campaign to encourage entries for the awards.
Working Hours
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will consider seeking derogations from the EC proposals for limiting working hours of employees for seasonal agricultural activities ;
(2) if he will consider seeking derogations from the EC proposals for limiting working hours of employees for food manufacturing dependent on shift, night and weekend work ;
(3) what derogations are currently being considered in the discussions with his EC counterparts on the proposals for limiting working hours of employees.
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