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Local Government Ombudsman
Mr. Congdon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made on the review of the local government ombudsman service; and if he will make a statement. [15016]
Mr. Curry: The first stage of the review, in which the need for a local ombudsman service was examined, has been completed. On 30 November 1995, the reviewer--Sir Geoffrey Chipperfield--presented his report to my right hon. Friend and to the chairman of the Commission for Local Administration in England, and today I have arranged for copies of the report to be placed in the Library of the House.
Sir Geoffrey has concluded that the present centralised investigation and review processes of the CLA would not be able to handle effectively the increasing volume of complaints, which he foresaw with the growth of citizens' awareness of their rights and remedies. He has proposed, therefore, a new complaints regime, under which each local authority would be statutorily obliged to operate its own local complaints system, involving both internal review and an external reviewer or adjudicator. The role of any independent, central body, such as the CLA, would be limited to the validation and monitoring of each local authority's system; such a body would not have any role to investigate specific complaints.
We have carefully considered Sir Geoffrey's report and the CLA's representations on it. We recognise the importance of all local authorities having their own effective local complaints systems, although we are not persuaded of the need to seek legislation imposing a new statutory duty on local authorities to establish and maintain such systems. Nor do we believe that the case has been made that there is at present no continued need for the CLA's role as a wholly independent body to investigate complaints of maladministration.
We have concluded, therefore, that we should proceed with the second stage of the review, which will focus particularly on the efficiency and effectiveness of the
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CLA's procedures as an investigatory body. I have today asked Andrew Whetnall, a senior official in my Department, to undertake this stage of the review. I propose that he should be assisted by the advisory group, including representatives of the local authority associations and citizens' advice bureaux, which we established for the first stage of the review. In parallel, I am inviting comments from local authorities and all interested parties on the wider issues raised in the review's first stage. In the light of these comments and the findings of the review's second stage, we intend to take our decisions on the CLA's future.
Mr. Byers:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the top 10 companies that have been leading beneficiaries of export credits backing arms sales since 1979. [14866]
Mr. Nelson:
It has been the policy of successive Governments not to disclose information about commercial relations between the Export Credits Guarantee Department and individual companies unless the relevant parties have agreed to this.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the largest sum put up by Her Majesty's Government as a financial guarantee or collateral in respect of securing an arms deal; in what year; and with what country the deal was concerned. [14461]
Mr. Lang:
It has been the policy of successive Governments not to disclose details of individual contracts unless the relevant parties have agreed to this. I am therefore unable to provide the information which the hon. Member requests.
Mr. Chris Davies:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his policy regarding the late payment of commercial debt. [14653]
Mr. Page:
The Government recognise the problems that late payment can cause for smaller firms and are committed to tackling the issue. In the 1994 White Paper, "Competitiveness-Helping Business to Win", the Government announced a number of practical measures to tackle late payment, including support for the development, by business of a British standard on prompt payment, improvements to court procedures for debt recovery and a requirement for public companies to disclose their payment policies. In addition, we are helping small businesses to improve their cash-flow management.
I also announced to the House on 11 January 1996, Official Report, columns 293, that I have agreed to look again at the arguments for statutory interest and will report the outcome in the summer.
Mr. Jamieson:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade between which dates Mr. Holmes was employed in
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the Department of Trade and Industry south-west regional office; and what was the nature of his work. [8924]
Mr. Lang
[holding answer 15 January 1996]: While he was not an employee of the DTI south-west regional office, Mr. Kenneth Holmes advised it on accountancy and financial issues on an external consultancy basis between 5 February 1991 and 15 April 1995.
Mr. Jamieson:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 7 December, Official Report, column 335, when he expects to be able to report the findings of his Department's inquiries into the circumstances of the regional selective assistance for the Rom Data Corporation. [8924]
Mr. Lang
[holding answer 15 January 1996]: No DTI south-west regional office employees or former employees are known to have subsequently acted as directors or been otherwise employed by the Rom Data Corporation. However, Mr. Kenneth Holmes, who advised the regional office on regional selective assistance applications on a consultancy basis, became a director and chairman of the Rom Data Corporation.
Mr. Jamieson:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what advice was received by the Department of Trade and Industry south-west regional office from other DTI regional offices regarding Mr. John Dawson. [8926]
Mr. Lang
[holding answer 15 January 1996]: None was sought or received.
Mrs. Roche:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he next expects the small business ministerial group to meet; and how frequently and on what dates it is expected to meet in the coming year. [14583]
Mr. Page:
The small business ministerial group will meet twice a year. The next meeting has been arranged for 1 July 1996.
Mrs. Roche:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the remit of his review of the small firms loan guarantee scheme. [14584]
Mr. Page:
The review of the small firms loan guarantee scheme rules was announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his November 1994 Budget statement with a view to making the scheme simpler and more attractive.
Mrs. Roche:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what system of monitoring he intends to establish to discover what level of use the regional supply network has had from (a) small and medium enterprises and (b) all businesses (i) in each region and (ii) in total. [14585]
Mr. Page:
A system of monitoring regional supply network usage has been in place since offices opened in April 1995. Quarterly monitoring information reports are obtained from each regional supply office. These include information on the number of businesses that ask the RSN to find suppliers, the number of suppliers who meet the requirements of purchasers and the number of businesses gaining contracts as a result of these inquiries. These
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figures are collected for each region and collated as national totals. Information on the size of businesses using the RSN services is not collected.
Mr. Byers:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what amount has been paid to date in 1995-96 for the carrying out of ballots by trade unions. [14542]
Mr. John M. Taylor
[holding answer 9 February 1996]: During the financial year 1995-96, £831,938 has been authorised for payment to trade unions by the certification office by 31 January 1996 in respect of the statutory funds for trade union ballots scheme.
Mr. William Powell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he plans to introduce legislation to enable co-operation with the international criminal tribunals for (a) the former republic of Yugoslavia and (b) Rwanda; and if he will make a statement. [14308]
Sir Nicholas Bonsor:
Legislation to enable the United Kingdom to surrender those indicted by the international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda will be presented to the Privy Council shortly.
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