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Company Voluntary Arrangements
Mrs. Roche: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many company voluntary arrangements there have been (a) in total and (b) for firms with fewer than 200 employees in each financial year since the Insolvency Act 1986. [3939]
Mr. Oppenheim: The total number of company voluntary arrangements in each financial year since the Insolvency Act 1986 is shown in the table. Information by size of business is not available.
| Financial year | Number of CVAs |
|---|---|
| 1987-88 | 26 |
| 1988-89 | 52 |
| 1989-90 | 54 |
| 1990-91 | 75 |
| 1991-92 | 129 |
| 1992-93 | 67 |
| 1993-94 | 196 |
| 1994-95 | 281 |
Source: Companies House.
Business Starts and Closures
Mrs. Roche: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many (a) business start-ups there were and (b) small businesses closed in the last year for which figures are available in each parliamentary constituency. [3933]
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Mr. Page: There are no available figures on the numbers of business starts and closures in each parliamentary constituency. Estimates of numbers of VAT registrations and deregistrations by local authority district are published annually. A copy of the most recent figures "VAT Registrations and Deregistrations, County and District Analysis 1992-1993" is in the Library of the House.
Business Link London
Mrs. Roche: To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects the London business links to begin. [3934]
Mr. Page: Business link London opened for commercial trialling in July 1995. It provides a common enquiry and information services across London. Businesses can contact business link London by telephoning its freephone number 0800 997998.
Plans for local access have been developed by eight local partnerships. Of these, six have been approved by my Department and their hub operations have opened for business. The remaining two are expected to follow early in 1996.
British Coal
Mr. Jack Thompson: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the remaining senior executives of British Coal and the cost to public funds of their salaries. [4092]
Mr. Page: There are currently two full-time members of the British Coal Corporation, Mr Neil Clarke-- Chairman and Mr Philip Hutchinson. Their salaries of £240,000 and £95,000 are paid by British Coal.
Mr. Thompson: To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will list the current number of employees of British Coal; [4088]
(2) what is the cost to the Exchequer of maintaining the remaining workforce and accommodation still required by British Coal for the six months following the establishment of the Coal Authority. [4089]
Mr. Page: This is a matter for British Coal.
EU Telecommunications Council
Mr. Trend: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Telecommunications Council on 27 November. [4941]
Mr. Ian Taylor: I represented the United Kingdom at the Telecommunications Council held in Brussels on 27 November.
The Council reached political agreement on a decision on a series of guidelines for Trans-European telecommunications networks, and on a Decision for a 65 million ecu programme to stimulate development of the European multi-media content industry--INFO 2000 programme--though in both cases adoption of a common position awaits the European Parliament's opinion. The council also adopted a number of items without discussion, and details of these are listed in the Council press release which is deposited in the Library of the
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House. These included the final adoption of the resubmitted directive applying open network provision to voice telephony.
The presidency gave a progress report on discussion of a draft directive on interconnection in telecommunications. A policy debate followed on two draft Commission directives on mobile and personal communications, and full competition in telecommunications markets. The Council agreed unanimous conclusions calling on the Commission to take account of the positions expressed by the Council and member states before adopting the directives.
There was also a policy debate on a draft directive on the development of Community postal services, and on a draft Commission notice on the application of the treaty competition rules to the postal sector. The Council agreed unanimous conclusions on the draft Notice calling on the Commission to delay its publication until agreement had been reached on the directive, but to publish by the end of 1996.
The Commission made brief presentations on: two draft directives on licensing of telecommunications services, and to adapt the open network provision directives 90/387/EEC and 92/44/EEC to a competitive environment; two draft decisions on satellite personal communications, and on a programme for the promotion of multi-lingualism in the information society, and on a Communication on directories in a competitive environment. The Commission also reported on the progress of multilateral negotiations in the World Trade Organisation on basic telecommunications.
No votes were taken on the substantive items in the agenda of the Council.
Mr. Barnes:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Telecoms Council, held on 27 November giving details of all votes and all decisions which were determined by unanimity or without dissension. [1971]
Mr. Ian Taylor
[holding answer 4 December 1995]: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Windsor and Maidenhead (Mr. Trend) on the outcome of the Telecommunications Council. Details of votes on all points are recorded in the Council press release referred to in my reply.
Mr. Austin Mitchell:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his estimate of Britain's share of (a) world trade in manufactured goods and (b) world trade in services for each year since 1975. [4402]
Mr. John M. Taylor:
The information requested is provided in the table.
| Percentage value share of services(17) | Percentage value share of manufactures(18) | Percentage volume share of manufactures(18) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 9.9 | 7.1 | 8.3 |
| 1976 | 9.1 | 6.6 | 8.0 |
| 1977 | 8.8 | 6.9 | 8.0 |
| 1978 | 8.6 | 6.7 | 7.5 |
| 1979 | 9.0 | 6.7 | 6.9 |
| 1980 | 8.8 | 7.0 | 6.7 |
| 1981 | 8.2 | 6.2 | 6.1 |
| 1982 | 7.6 | 6.1 | 6.2 |
| 1983 | 7.4 | 5.6 | 5.9 |
| 1984 | 7.3 | 5.3 | 5.8 |
| 1985 | 7.7 | 5.5 | 5.9 |
| 1986 | 7.7 | 5.4 | 5.9 |
| 1987 | 7.7 | 5.6 | 6.0 |
| 1988 | 7.4 | 5.7 | 5.8 |
| 1989 | 6.8 | 5.6 | 5.8 |
| 1990 | 6.6 | 5.9 | 6.0 |
| 1991 | 6.0 | 5.8 | 5.8 |
| 1992 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 5.7 |
| 1993 | 5.4 | 5.3 | 5.5 |
| 1994 | n/a | 5.4 | 5.5 |
Note: Over the time period 1975-94 volume shares will better reflect changes in composition and relative prices. But volume share of world trade in services is not readily available. Sources:
(17) Derived from data published in IMF "Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook", Part 2, various editions.
(18) Derived from data published in the OECD "Economic Outlook".
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SCOTLAND
Regional Selective Assistance
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many informal approaches his Department has received from companies seeking payments under regional selective assistance in each financial year since 1979-80. [1717]
Mr. Kynoch [holding answer 23 November 1995]: Statistical records of informal approaches to the Department are not kept.
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what tightening of the procedures in relation to the payment of regional selective assistance his Department made during the last 18 months; [1719]
(2) what section within his Department has responsibility for monitoring companies who have been awarded regional selective assistance; and what procedures are used by this section to monitor these projects. [1724]
Mr. Kynoch [holding answer 23 November 1995]: Responsibility for the monitoring of projects which have been awarded regional selective assistance lies with the investment assistance division of the Scottish Office Education and Industry Department. When a company is made an offer of RSA, it is issued with an offer letter which sets out the conditions against which RSA will, assuming the offer is accepted, be payable. Throughout the term of each offer of assistance, and prior to any payment of grant, company progress reports are obtained which have been certified by independent accountants. These allow the division to check that the conditions upon which payment of grant depends have been met. These progress reports are supplemented, as necessary, by the division's own monitoring visits and investigations. The
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Scottish Office Education and Industry Department, in conjunction with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Welsh Office, has within the last 18 months reviewed its monitoring procedures to ensure that straightforward cases are not handled with unnecessary complexity while higher risk cases are accorded appropriately full attention.
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much money his Department offered to companies in regional selective assistance for each financial year since 1979-80; and what proportion of these amounts were fully paid by his Department. [1734]
Mr. Kynoch [holding answer 23 November 1995]: The information requested is set out in the table:
| Year of acceptance | Value of offers accepted (£ million) | Of which total paid (£ million) | Proportion paid to date (percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979-80 | 32.2 | 27.1 | 84 |
| 1980-81 | 31.0 | 23.0 | 74 |
| 1981-82 | 29.9 | 22.5 | 75 |
| 1982-83 | 50.4 | 39.2 | 78 |
| 1983-84 | 38.3 | 34.1 | 89 |
| 1984-85 | 70.7 | 55.2 | 78 |
| 1985-86 | 58.6 | 44.6 | 76 |
| 1986-87 | 34.6 | 26.9 | 78 |
| 1987-88 | 56.2 | 37.6 | 67 |
| 1988-89 | 49.8 | 34.7 | 70 |
| 1989-90 | 76.3 | 50.2 | 66 |
| 1990-91 | 173.5 | 99.5 | 57 |
| 1991-92 | 52.3 | 36.2 | 69 |
| 1992-93 | 72.3 | 43.0 | 59 |
| 1993-94 | 126.8 | 51.6 | 41 |
| 1994-95 | 113.0 | 22.7 | 20 |
1. This table refers to the year an offer was accepted. Payments in respect of an offer will normally be spread over several years. 2. For the most recent years, some offers are still live and further payments may be made in respect of these.
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make it his policy to disclose fully the amounts of money actually received by companies from his Department in regional selective assistance. [1720]
Mr. Kynoch [holding answer 23 November 1995]: The amount of an offer made to a company, where the offer is over £75,000, is published in "Labour Market Trends" following the first grant payment. It is not intended to depart from this practice.
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will make it is policy to instruct his Department to make a new appraisal of the effectiveness of the regional selective assistance scheme; [1721]
(2) what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of awards made by his Department under the regional selective assistance scheme; [1722]
(3) what specific measures and sources of funding are available to his Department to support economic development in Scotland. [1723]
Mr. Kynoch [holding answer 23 November 1995]: The Government's chief role in supporting economic development is to promote a stable low-inflation economic environment. Within that context, the Scottish Office is responsible for a number of measures which support economic development. For example, it sponsors and funds Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands
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Enterprise; it encourages inward investment and export promotion through its two joint bureaux with Scottish Enterprise, Locate in Scotland and Scottish Trade International; and it offers grant assistance to encourage industrial investment in the assisted areas.
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