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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Indonesia
16. Mr. Corbyn : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what restrictions there are on trade with Indonesia.
Mr. Needham : There are no major restrictions on trade with Indonesia. Some products require licences for export to Indonesia, and there are quota restrictions on imports of textiles and clothing into the EU. However, as a result of the successful completion of the GATT Uruguay round textile and clothing quotas will be phased out over a 10-year period under the ending of the multi-fibre arrangement. Indonesia's high tariffs will also be reduced.
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Embassies (Advice to Business Men)
22. Dr. Goodson-Wickes : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what recent initiatives he has taken to improve the standard of advice given to British business men via Her Majesty's embassies overseas.
Mr. Needham : I am in regular contact with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs about commercial work undertaken by FCO posts abroad. They are an integral part of our overseas trade services network. Recent initiatives, including the establishment of business links, the recruitment of export promoters and the preparation of market plans for our top 80 markets share the common objective of enhancing the standards of every part of the overseas trade services.
Aerospace Industry
24. Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received since last December's GATT settlement from the aerospace industry.
Mr. Needham : The Department of Trade and Industry has been in regular contact with the United Kingdom aerospace industry, both with individual companies and through the Society of British Aerospace Companies, about the continuing negotiations on a new GATT agreement on trade in civil aircraft.
Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme
25. Mr. Gunnell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many companies have utilised the small firms loan guarantee scheme in the year following the changes made to the scheme in the 1993 March Budget ; and what is the total sum guaranteed under that scheme during that period.
Mr. McLoughlin : A total of 3,886 loans at a value of £155.01 million have been guaranteed under the small firms loan guarantee scheme in the year to 31 March 1994. This compares to 2,342 loans at a value of £52.01 million in the previous year.
Exports (Stimulation)
26. Mr. Hayes : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to stimulate local events to promote United Kingdom exports ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Needham : To assist British companies to compete in world markets my right hon. Friend has created business links giving local access to a wide range of business advice and support services. In addition, numerous export-related events are sponsored by my Department across the country. The current language campaign, with more than 70 local events and initiatives from this week onwards throughout the United Kingdom and a special BBC television programme, is one example.
National Consumer Council
27. Mr. Pike : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the effect on the service to consumers of the reduction in the funding of the National Consumer Council.
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Mr. McLoughlin : I am confident the National Consumer Council will continue to promote and safeguard the interests of consumers, taking into account the revised level of grant in aid.
Local Markets
28. Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received on the effect of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Bill on local markets.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : My Department has received some 120 representations from individuals, local authorities, trade associations and businesses on the Government's proposals to deregulate market franchise rights, of which 16 express support. Many of those who oppose the proposal do so under the misapprehension that it will abolish the right of local authorities to continue to hold markets and collect rents. Clauses 21 to 23 of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Bill would remove rights of local authorities with market franchises to object to proposals to set up competing markets within six and two thirds of a mile of their own. Other opponents believe that removing market franchise rights will remove controls over other markets which may cause a local nuisance. Market franchise rights can only be used against rival markets held on the same day as the franchise market or where, if not held on the same day, it can be demonstrated that the owner of the franchise has suffered actual loss. A range of powers is available to local authorities to control any undesirable consequences arising from other markets.
Exports and Inward Investment
29. Mr. Riddick : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he last met business representatives to discuss exports and inward investment.
Mr. Needham : My right hon. Friend frequently has meetings with members of the United Kingdom business community which involve discussions concerning exports and inward investment.
Shipbuilding Industry
30. Mr. Byers : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps he is taking to support the shipbuilding industry.
Mr. Heseltine : My Department's sponsorship divisions maintain close contact with our shipbuilding industry. We provide the industry with assistance from the shipbuilding intervention fund and the home credit guarantee scheme. We provide the maximum level of support permitted by the seventh directive on aid to shipbuilding.
Institute of Directors
31. Mr. Ian Bruce : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he last met the Institute of Directors to discuss matters affecting business including inward investment.
Mr. Heseltine : I have regular contact with the Institute of Directors to discuss matters affecting business.
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Assisted Areas
32. Mr. Moss : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the new map for objective 5b areas in England.
Mr. Heseltine : I consider it to be generally very satisfactory. The Government negotiated a trebling of England's objective 5(b) coverage, to 1.7 million people.
I am particularly pleased that the Government secured designation of the whole of Cornwall. Newly eligible areas include large parts of Devon, parts of Somerset, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Lancashire, and large parts of Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, Northumberland and Cumbria. New areas in Shropshire and Hereford and Worcester now complement those retained in rural Wales and a new area in Clwyd.
Personal Pensions
33. Mr. Denham : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimate he has made of the level of provisions required by insurance companies to meet the compensation arising from the mis-selling of personal pensions ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : The Department has written to life offices asking for an indication of their likely exposure to compensation in respect of mis-selling of personal pensions, and providing guidance on how the Department expects them to reserve for any such exposure in future Companies Act accounts and DTI returns. Individual responses must remain confidential as between the life offices and the Department, but where a life office considers that it is likely to have a liability, or a contingent liability, in respect of mis-selling of pension business, the Department expects this to be recognised in the published accounts. The Securities and Investments Board is seeking to determine the extent of mis- selling and the position will not be clear until that review is completed later in the year. It would be wrong to conclude, therefore, at this stage that evidence of procedural defects necessarily implies that the advice given by financial advisers was bad.
Commercial Debt
34. Mr. Bates : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received on the issue of late payment of commercial debt ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has continued to receive representations from a variety of organisations and individuals proposing responses to the problem of late payment.
On 30 November 1993, the Department of Trade and Industry published a consultation paper, "Late Payment of Commercial Debt", to seek the views of the business community on possible options to address the problem of late payment, including legislation for a statutory right to interest and a British Standard for prompt payment.
Responses to the paper were required by 31 March 1994. More than 340 responses have been received and are now under consideration.
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Small Firms
35. Mrs. Anne Campbell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received from industry about the availability of finance for the growth and development of small firms.
Mr. McLoughlin : We regularly meet representatives from industry and we receive many suggestions as to how small firms can be helped to obtain the finance that they need.
Sir Michael Grylls : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects to publish his report to Parliament on the status of small and medium-sized enterprises in the United Kingdom.
Mr. McLoughlin : My Department plans to publish the report small firms in Britain 1994 in June. A copy will be sent to individual hon. Members and a copy placed in the Library of the House.
Utility Regulators
36. Mr. Enright : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will review the power of the utility regulators to limit charges and boardroom salary increases.
Mr. McLoughlin : The utility regulators have sufficient powers to protect consumers' interests over a range of issues including prices. The remuneration of company directors is a matter for the company concerned and its shareholders.
Postal Services (Privatisation)
37. Mr. Llwyd : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many representations he has received on the subject of the privatisation of postal services in the last year ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Heseltine : Around 280 letters have been received on the subject in my Department since 1 April 1993 from hon. Members, interested parties and members of the public. A wide range of views have been expressed.
Companies House
Mr. Morgan : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the effects of full or partial privatisation of Companies House on employees' pension and redundancy rights.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : Any assessment would be premature in advance of a decision in principle on the future of Companies House. No such decision has yet been taken.
Nuclear Energy Review
Mr. Spellar : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the timetable and terms of reference of the nuclear energy review.
Mr. Eggar : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham (Mr. Merchant) on 16 December 1993, Official Report, columns 759-60.
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VAT Registration, North West
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many businesses registered and deregistered for value added tax in (a) Pendle and (b) the north-west in 1992 and 1993.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : The figures for 1992 are as follows :
|Registrations |De-registrations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North West (Standard Region) |19,262 |22,791
Pendle |254 |284
Figures are not available for 1993.
Shareholders and Creditors (Class Actions)
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will introduce proposals for legislation under which shareholders and creditors would be able to bring class actions against the recognised supervisory bodies.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : I have no plans to seek to change the present state of the law.
Auditors
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what information plc auditors are required to file with the recognised supervisory bodies in relation to their own affairs.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : All registered auditors must provide their supervisory body each year with information relating to the following matters so that the bodies may discharge their statutory duties as set out in part II of schedule 11 to the Companies Act 1989 : --the holding of an appropriate qualification ;
--being a fit and proper person(s) ;
--professional integrity and independence ;
--the technical standards applied to company audit work ; --the maintenance of competence ;
--the monitoring and enforcement of compliance with the supervisory body's rules ;
--eligibility for membership of the supervisory body ;
--the ability to meet claims arising out of company audit work ; --the maintenance of the public register for company auditors by the supervisory body.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many (a) individual auditors and (b) auditing firms are registered with each of the authorised bodies under the provisions of the Companies Act 1989.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : The latest available figures for those registered with the recognised supervisory bodies under the Companies Act 1989 are as follows :
Supervisory body |Individuals |Firms ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales |19,473 |9,218 Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland |1,273 |742 Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland |829 |463 Chartered Association of Certified Accountants |3,959 |507 Association of Authorised Public Accountants |460 |425
Audit Failures
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many instances of audit failures he has referred to any accountancy body ; and what was the outcome of each referral.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : I refer the hon. Member to the annual reports of the recognised supervisory bodies for company auditors for the years ended 30 September 1992 and 1993 respectively, copies of which are in the Library of the House.
Yorkshire Rider Bus Company
Mr. Madden : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received concerning the proposed takeover of the Yorkshire Rider Bus Company by Badgerline.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has received representations from the hon. Member. In addition, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House to a question raised by the former hon. Member for Bradford, South, Bob Cryer, on 24 March, Official Report , column 424. While the Director General of Fair Trading is still considering the proposed acquisition, all representations about it should be made direct to him.
Deregulation
Mrs. Anne Campbell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will estimate the number of newsagents who are expected to go out of business following the current deregulation proposals ; (2) if he will estimate the number of school children who will lose their delivery jobs following the current deregulation proposals.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : Statutory consultation on the provisions of an order under the Fair Trading Act 1973, in relation to the wholesale supply of national newspapers to retailers in England and Wales, ended on 31 March.
The proposed order, which follows a Monopolies and Mergers Commission report, would prohibit wholesalers from refusing to supply retailers on the grounds that an area is already adequately served ; placing restrictions on the point of sale ; preventing retailers from selling newspapers on to other retailers. I am prepared to consider as an alternative to an order any industry-led solutions that could lead to a substantial increase in competition comparable to that which would be achieved by an order. Until I have had a chance to consider fully the representations I have received I cannot say what precise form the changes I intend to introduce will take. Therefore, I would not wish to speculate about the potential impact of reform.
Exports (Declaration of Interest)
Mr. Cousins : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what guidance is given to (a) members of the Export Credit Advisory Council and (b) the British Overseas Projects Board on declarations of interest ; what such declarations have been made ; and in what form such declarations are recorded.
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Mr. Needham : When members of the Export Credits Advisory Council are appointed, they are required to provide a list of their business interests and directorships to the Export Credits Guarantee Department on a confidential basis. These lists are updated from time to time as necessary and maintained by ECGD. Members are also required to declare where they have an interest when advising ECGD on particular issues.
As a condition of service, Overseas Projects Board members are asked to declare their financial interests, including their directorships, to the Department of Trade and Industry and to keep the Department informed of any changes. This information is retained on file by the DTI's Overseas Projects Board secretariat and held in strict confidence.
Companies Acts (Investigations)
Mr. Cousins : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many investigators and inspectors appointed under the Companies Acts have declared an interest in the matters of companies under investigation in the years since 1989.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : My Department would not appoint a particular inspector or investigator if there was a known conflict of interest. If a possible conflict arose during the course of an investigation, officials would discuss with the appointee the appropriate course of action. Instances of this occurring are very infrequent.
Mr. Cousins : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what interests relevant to terms covered in the report on the affairs of Astra plc were declared by the inspectors investigating the affairs of the company.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : The inspectors disclosed no interests which conflicted with their appointment to investigate and report on the affairs of Astra Holdings plc.
Scott Inquiry
Mr. Flynn : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what discussions he or his officials have had with Lord Justice Scott regarding the ways in which the papers and documents submitted to his inquiry could be retained as a collection and made available to public scrutiny.
Mr. Needham : There was correspondence in February 1993 alerting the inquiry to the provisions of the Public Records Act.
Ice Cream
Mr. George Howarth : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will make a statement on the effect on fair trade of the freezer monopoly in the ice cream industry ;
(2) what advice is given to small and medium-sized ice cream makers seeking to sell their products to high street retailers and corner shops ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) what is his response to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission's report on the Wall's freezer monopoly in the ice cream industry.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : The Monopolies and Mergers Commission's report on the supply in the United Kingdom of ice cream for immediate consumption was published on 29 March. The MMC has concluded that, although scale
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and complex monopoly situations exist in the industry, the practice of freezer exclusivity does not operate against the public interest. The Government have announced that, since the MMC have made no adverse findings, there is no action which can be taken on the report. Ice cream makers and retailers operate in a competitive environment and can choose how best to meet the needs of their customers.European Funding
Mr. Gale : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to ensure that the Thanet travel-to-work area obtains the maximum possible European regional development funding and objective 2 funding for investment in infrastructure for central area initiative sites ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Heseltine : The Council regulations allow the member states three months from the date of the decision on eligibility, 20 January, to draw up and present to the Commission plans describing the uses to which it is intended to put the fund's grants. For this purpose the British objective 2 areas will comprise 13 plan areas. The plans are being prepared by Government Departments, with appropriate local consultation.
The Government have divided the indicative allocation, for the purposes of their plans, as follows :
Plan area |Million ecu
|(1994 prices)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
North East England |308
West Cumbria |25
Yorkshire and Humberside |313
East Midlands |79
West Midlands |371
Greater Manchester/Lancashire/Cheshire |329
Greater London |74
Thanet |14
Plymouth |29
South Wales |188
Eastern Scotland |121
Strathclyde |286
Gibraltar |5
|---
|2,142
The regulations allow a further six months to negotiate, on the basis of the plans presented, a Community support framework for each plan area. The frameworks will then govern the allocation and use of the fund's grants.
Only after the Community support frameworks have been negotiated and adopted can detailed decisions be taken on projects to receive grant.
Liquid Steel
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the President of the Board of Trade, if he will make a statement concerning the level of production of liquid steel in the European Union.
Mr. Heseltine : Crude steel production in the EC increased from 132.2 million tonnes in 1992 to 132.5 million tonnes in 1993.
Fuel (VAT)
Mr. Boyes : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimate he has of the number of people who have paid for electricity in advance to avoid paying VAT on fuel bills.
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Mr. Eggar : I understand that about 5 per cent. of electricity customers have made pre-payments.
Business Conditions
Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what reports he has received from (a) the Confederation of British Industry and (b) other business representatives regarding changes in business conditions in each quarter since April 1992.
Mr. Sainsbury : My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade regularly receives reports from the Confederation of British Industry and other business representatives regarding business conditions.
Export Share
Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what reports he has received from companies on changes in the United Kingdom's share of (a) the European export market and (b) the Pacific rim countries.
Mr. Needham : The Department receives many reports from companies concerning their export successes. Examples of companies doing well in the export market are included in the "Overseas Trade Magazine", which is available in the Library of the House.
Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what reports he has received from companies in (a) the west midlands and (b) Coventry regarding their exports to (i) Europe and (ii) the Pacific rim.
Mr. Needham : My Department has regular contact with firms in the west midlands and recognises their export successes in Europe and the Pacific rim.
Maastricht Treaty
Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what measures his Department is taking to make companies aware of the implications of the Maastricht treaty ; and what representations he has received from companies regarding the implications for business of the Maastricht treaty.
Mr. Needham : We have had a number of requests for information on Maastricht from industry. Up to now, we have responded on an individual basis. In early May, we shall issue a new DTI booklet entitled "The Single Market--Making it Work for You", which will include material on aspects of the Maastricht treaty.
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