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Mr. Heseltine: I deeply regret that the right hon. Gentleman made that intervention. If he looks carefully at the words that he has used, he will find that he has no grounds on which to base what he has just said. My relationship with my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury is as good and as excellent now as it has always been.
Mr. Congdon: Given that the most successful economies are low-tax economies, will my right hon. Friend do everything that he can to reduce public expenditure?
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Mr. Heseltine: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question. Maintenance of the continued improvement in the economic fortunes of our country is certainly high on the Government's list of priorities, and that requires tight control of public expenditure.Business Links
12. Mr. Purchase: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what recent consideration he has made of the financing of business links; and if he will make a statement. [26814]
Mr. Heseltine: Business links have been assured of on-going funding from my Department for the delivery of counselling and business support services. They are also financed by partner contributions and by charging for services. Last months's competitiveness White Paper confirmed the Government's intention to fund the development of business links for a three-year period. Beyond that, the Government will continue to contribute funding to business link services on a three-year rolling programme, subject to evaluation.
Mr. Purchase: Is the President aware that a recent article in the Financial Times suggested that the funding for business links was not as secure as we have been led to believe? The President knows that there is all-party support for the concept and work of business links. Indeed, in my authority, a steering committee is ready to move forward to set up business links, a move about which I am very pleased. Can I take a message back to my authority that the funding for business links is assured and that it can look forward to increased prosperity as a result?
Mr. Heseltine: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for taking the matter with the seriousness that it deserves. To qualify for the franchise, business links have to put forward a business plan, for which they are responsible, for appropriate national examination. That includes a business plan of how they are to fund their activities, taking into account the support which the Government will provide and their ability to raise funds from other sources, including charges. That is the responsibility of individual business links. We have given a commitment to an on-going three- year programme and, beyond that, to fund the specific services that the Government have suggested, such as technology counsellors and export and design advisers.
Mr. Forman: Is my right hon. Friend aware that his answers will be very welcome to the small business community in my constituency? Will he see to it that his words are widely publicised in such groups as the Carshalton and Wallington business group and others which are committed to the contribution that small businesses can make, especially to new employment?
Mr. Heseltine: I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend. The fact is that 103 business links are now open in 39 areas and outline plans for another 142 have been approved in a further 30 areas. I have every confidence that the target that we set of 200 business links by the end of the year will be achieved.
Payment of Bills
13. Mr. Cummings: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will estimate the amount of money owed
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by his Department to suppliers in 1993 and 1994 which remained unpaid after 30 days from the presentation of invoice. [26815]Mr. Ian Taylor: The Department does not keep estimates of amounts outstanding. The percentage of invoices paid, within either 30 days or the agreed credit period, was 90 per cent. in 1993-94. On more rigorous Treasury guidelines, the figure for 1994-95 was 84 per cent. The target for 1995-96 is 95 per cent. and payment procedures are being improved, where necessary, to achieve this.
Mr. Cummings: That was a rather disappointing reply. Does the Minister agree with the former consumer affairs Minister, Baroness Denton, that when goods are supplied and not paid for, it is basically theft? Does he also agree with the colleague who stated in a Department of Trade and Industry press release that people who are owed money should contact the chairmen of the respective offending companies, even at home, and go along and collect the money? If that is the case, can we look forward to the Minister's home number being made public?
Mr. Taylor: If it helps the hon. Gentleman, he can have my Internet number as well. The Department did not do very well in 1994-95. We need to pull up our socks, which is what I said in my answer. We are targeting 95 per cent. payment and have put the systems in place. In a recent meeting with the CBI in the north-east, we learnt that it was aware that some of the targets that we had set ourselves in the competitiveness White Paper were extremely welcome. The CBI is working on further information. The question whether the law should come into it is highly contested, even among smaller businesses. We have to find a way to shame people into making payments. The Government do not want to be shamed and will, therefore, be a good payer.
Mr. Wilkinson: Is not late payment of invoices one of the prime causes of the failure of small businesses? Is it not welcome that the Department recognises the importance of the DTI setting a lead in the matter? Can the Minister move his target onward to 99 or 100 per cent. at the earliest possible date?
Mr. Taylor: Targets are set and then need to be beaten. I agree with my hon. Friend that, if one sets a target of 95 per cent. and achieves it, one then needs to do better. The problem of late payment is complicated. Many surveys show that too many companies rely on trade credit, so the question is one of the overall financing of many of our companies rather than of late payment, which is often due to the failure to agree clear contractual terms between two commercial parties. Government Departments must set an example and do better and the targets set by the DTI should be emulated throughout Government.
National Consumer Council
14. Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what further discussions he has had with the National Consumer Council of the impact on the service that it provides of the reduction in its budget since 1993. [26817]
15. Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what further discussions his Department
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has had with the National Consumer Council on the reduction in its service following his budget cuts. [26818]Mr. Jonathan Evans: My Department is in frequent contact with the National Consumer Council and has regular discussions on all issues of mutual interest, including the council's work programme and budget.
Mr. Jones: Does the Minister think that, by cutting the budget of the National Consumer Council, he will stifle its criticisms of the Government's policy? What message does he think that that will give to British consumers?
Mr. Evans: I do not believe that. The purpose of the decision made in 1993 to reduce funding by about 25 per cent. in three years is to help the National Consumer Council to develop a more focused approach to its work. The hon. Gentleman needs to recognise that, until that time, the council had had an 80 per cent. real terms increase in its grant. In the changing circumstances, the time had clearly arrived for a more focused approach on its part. I am pleased to see that that is being adopted.
Mr. Griffiths: The Minister referred to the ups and downs of the financing of the National Consumer Council. Is he aware, for example, that in that more focused approach to which he referred, housing and education matters have been dropped from the council's inspections? Does he think that that is a retrograde step? If the Government's finances get better, will he commit himself to restoring the funds cut from its budget?
Mr. Evans: The Government are committed to assisting the National Consumer Council to develop a focused approach. I said earlier that the announcement made in 1993 followed a period in which the amount of grant made available increased by 80 per cent. in real terms. Ninety-one per cent. of the spending of the NCC is grant in aid from the Government, and it is our view that an additional proportion of funding could come from other sources. That is another part of the approach that the Government have adopted. In developing negotiations with the NCC, the Government announced an additional grant of £291, 897 at the end of last year to ease the process of transition.
West Midlands
16. Mr. Turner: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many manufacturing companies existed in the west midlands in 1979; and how many of these were trading in 1993. [26819]
Mr. Page: VAT-registered businesses in the production sector, which includes manufacturing, mining, quarrying and public utilities in the west midlands region, increased from 14,445 in 1979 to 17,579 at the end of 1993.
Mr. Turner: How does the volume of output in 1979 compare with that in 1993, and what was the value of that output? May I remind the Minister that, between 1980 and 1983, we saw the destruction of manufacturing industry in the west midlands, when one third of capacity was lost? That was due to the calamitous policies of Lord Howe, who should be tried for industrial treason.
Mr. Page: There is no doubt that the productivity, output and exports of this country are all increasing. It is all good news, and the only thing that is going down is unemployment. I am surprised that the hon. Gentleman
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did not refer to the fact that his constituency was changed from intermediate to assisted area status in 1993. Regional selective assistance produced some £6.5 million, leading to £65 million being invested in his area. Companies such as Sun Valley Foods, Canon Processing Equipment and Bilstone and Battersea Enamels are all creating and safeguarding more than 1,000 jobs in the hon. Gentleman's constituency. Why is he not grateful?Mr. Anthony Coombs: Will my hon. Friend confirm that the Engineering Employers Federation has issued figures which show that £160 billion worth of goods have been sold by the engineering industry in the past year, that exports since 1980 have doubled and that manufacturing output is at a near-record level for the engineering industry? Do not those statistics compare significantly with the efforts of the previous Labour Government, when manufacturing output fell?
Mr. Page: I can only agree with my hon. Friend. It is significant that the amount of employment in manufacturing has gone up by 31,000 in the past year. It is interesting to note that unemployment in the west midlands is now 8.4 per cent. That is lower than the national average, and it is dropping quicker than the national average.
Madam Speaker: Mr. Andrew Faulds.
Some of my older colleagues--there are a few left--may remember that when Baroness Thatcher first stood at that Dispatch Box in 1979, I warned that she would create of Britain a disaster area. Where could that be truer than in the west midlands?
Mr. Page: Unfortunately, while the hon. Gentleman's rhetoric is strong, his facts are remarkably weak.
Utility Standing Charges
19. Mr. William O'Brien: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will initiate a full investigation into the standing charges on domestic gas, electricity and telephone accounts; and if he will make a statement. [26823]
Mr. Page: Standing charges are a matter for the utilities and their regulators.
Mr. O'Brien: Because of the evidence now available that the abolition of standing charges will reduce the average domestic gas bill by 3 per cent. and the average electricity bill by 6 per cent., and given that many pensioners and people on low incomes would welcome a reduction in their bills after the imposition of VAT last year, will the Minister influence the regulators to justify, qualify and investigate standing charges for all the utilities--electricity, gas, water and telephones?
Mr. Page: While the hon. Gentleman makes his point, I must draw to the House's attention the fact that standing charges are a fair way to recover fixed charges such as meter readings, administration and emergency services. As my right hon. and hon. Friends have already pointed out, consumers can take comfort from the fact that gas
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prices have fallen in real terms by 23 per cent., BT's main prices have fallen by 35 per cent. and electricity prices have fallen by 8.5 per cent. That is real help to the consumer.The answer to the hon. Gentleman's question whether I would be prepared to influence the regulators is: absolutely not. The regulators' independence is their strength.
Mr. McLoughlin: Does my hon. Friend agree that standing charges have fallen, as a number of companies have announced reductions? Will he confirm that there is nothing new about standing charges, which have been around since before 1979? The Opposition say that they should be abolished. Their hypocrisy is there for everyone to see.
Mr. Page: My hon. Friend is right. Since 1993, MANWEB has abolished its standing charges. While the future players in the gas market have not yet revealed their strategies, I have no doubt that they will consider reducing or abolishing standing charges once the Gas Bill is enacted.
Sizewell B
20. Mr. Skinner: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total cost to public funds, including the costs of the public inquiry, for the construction of Sizewell B. [26824]
Mr. Page: Sizewell B has cost about £2.5 billion to construct. The costs of the public inquiry completed in 1985 and attributed to the then Department of Energy, or recoverable from the Central Electricity Generating Board, totalled some £2.5 million.
Mr. Skinner: That is a lot of money to pay out for the production of nuclear power. The Minister says nothing about the £1.3 billion given annually to the nuclear power industry as a straight subsidy. Will he confirm that, with the construction of Sizewell C at a cost of a further £4 billion, the price of electricity will be 3.7p per kWh, which is far in excess of anything that could be produced by coal-powered stations using British coal? Does it not make a nonsense and scandal of the fact that while British miners have been sacked and thrown on the dole--31,000 of them recently--by the President of the Board of Trade, the Government with their crazy economics will subsidise nuclear power to the hilt?
Mr. Page: The hon. Gentleman might imagine himself as some latter- day knight defending the coal industry that was--
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Mr. Page: --but the Government are not prepared to pour money down the throat of the coal industry to produce not cheap but expensive electricity to the detriment of UK Ltd. My right hon. Friend's statement and the debate in the House on the privatisation of the nuclear industry made it perfectly clear what we would do. The privatisation of the nuclear industry is nothing new. We have had a privatisation policy since 1970 and it has produced significant benefits for the British people. It might be interesting for the House to note that before those state industries were privatised, they cost £50 million a week, which came from the taxpayer's pocket. They now contribute £50 million a week to the Treasury.Newspaper Carriage Charges
21. Mr. Mullin: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received from independent newsagents about carriage charges; and if he will make a statement. [26826]
Mr. Jonathan Evans: I have received a substantial number of letters, as I informed the House earlier, following a campaign by the National Federation of Retail Newsagents concerning increasing wholesalers' carriage charges.
Mr. Mullin: Given the Government's professed concern for the welfare of small business men, why will they not stick up for the newsagents against the arrogance of those near-monopoly distribution companies? If the Conservative party is the party of competition, should it not be fighting for the newsagents, not for the near-monopoly distribution companies, which are extremely arrogant and abuse their power daily?
Mr. Evans: The hon. Gentleman should know that the role performed by the small retail newsagent is recognised and well understood by Conservative Members. We also recognise the anxieties that have been expressed by many people in the industry about increasing wholesale charges.
As I said earlier, it is important that all sections of the industry-- publishers, wholesalers and newsagents--get together to resolve that difficulty. It is certainly not in the interests of the publishers for the position of the small retail newsagent to be damaged, because half the fixed sales of newspapers are undertaken through the delivery mechanisms of small retail newsagents, and advertising revenue is fixed on that basis.
In those circumstances, it is important that that dialogue takes place. I can tell the hon. Gentleman that Mr. Frost of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents has informed me that part of that dialogue is already taking place.
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