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Mr. Eggar : My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade and I have recently had a number of discussions with representatives of the private mining sector about a range of matters. The licensing to the private sector of pits which British Coal no longer wishes to operate is, of course, the responsibility of British Coal.

Offshore Oil Exploration

Sir Michael Grylls : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what sanctions he has at his disposal against oil companies which fail to carry out exploration and drilling commitments specified in licences granted by his Department in previous United Kingdom continental shelf licensing rounds ; and on what occasion he has exercised these powers.

Mr. Eggar : The Secretary of State may revoke a licence if there is any breach or non-observance by the licensees of any terms and conditions of the licence, including exploration and drilling commitments. To date neither the Secretary of State nor his predecessors has exercised these powers.

Small Firms

Ms Quin : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what proportion of economic activity is accounted for by small firms in each standard planning region.

Mr. Leigh [holding answer 22 April 1993] : This information is not available.

Trading Standards Officers

Dr. Strang : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many vacancies existed for trading standards officer posts in each year from 1979 to the latest available date.

Mr. Leigh : [holding answer 21 April 1993] : Information provided to my Department by local weights and measures authorities in England, Wales and Scotland indicates that since 1987-1988 the numbers of vacancies for qualified trading standards officers have been :

         |1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92        

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England  |211    |255    |287    |257    |211            

Scotland |37     |42     |35     |32     |52             

Wales    |7      |8      |15     |13     |11             

         |-------|-------|-------|-------|-------        

Total    |255    |305    |337    |302    |274            

Figures for preceding years are not readily available.

Orimulsion

Mr. Ingram : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his policy with regard to the desirable level of orimulsion imports into the United Kingdom.

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Mr. Eggar : The coal review White Paper, "The Prospects for Coal", states that the Government have been informed by the Venezuelan authorities that Orimulsion exports to the United Kingdom are likely to stay at their minimum contractual level for the foreseeable future. The minimum quantities specified in contracts are commercially confidential.

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Steel Prices

Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what measures he is taking to hold down steel prices ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Sainsbury : None. Steel prices are a matter for the market.

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