| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Military Exports (Indonesia)
Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the President of the Board of Trade on how many occasions export licences have been granted for the export of military, security or police equipment to Indonesia since 1987. [23025]
Mr. Oppenheim: It has been the policy of successive Administrations not to disclose details of applications for export licences unless the requirements of confidentiality are outweighed by the public interest.
A statistical analysis of all export licences issued in 1995 has been placed in the Library of the House. A similar analysis for earlier years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
28 Mar 1996 : Column: 733
Mrs. Clwyd:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many export licences have been granted for the export or transhipment of anti-ambush grenades to Indonesia since 1988. [23029]
Mr. Oppenheim:
Since the beginning of 1991--the point from which full records are readily available--there have been no licences issued for anti-ambush grenades to Indonesia.
Information on earlier years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mrs. Clwyd:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many export licences have been granted for the export or transhipment of anti-personnel fragmentation grenades to Indonesia since 1988. [23030]
Mr. Oppenheim:
Since the beginning of 1991--the point from which full records are readily available--there have been no licences issued for anti-personnel fragmentation grenades to Indonesia.
Information on earlier years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mrs. Clwyd:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what (a) funding and (b) authorisation his Department gave to the report "Police and Public Security Requirements for Equipment and Services in the Countries of the Arabian Peninsula", published in June 1994. [23031]
Mr. Oppenheim:
The report was partially funded through the export marketing research scheme under the terms and conditions applicable at the time for trade associations using the scheme for the first time--75 per cent. The report covered six countries in the Arabian peninsula and was restricted to marketing research only.
The Department's role is to facilitate and encourage the use of export marketing research. It does not confer any "authorisation" to the result of that research.
Goods with potential military or public order applications normally require an export licence. The Government's policy is not to permit the export of such goods which may be used for the purposes of internal repression.
Mr. Donohoe:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much his Department has spent in total in answering parliamentary questions in each parliamentary Session since 1989-90. [22877]
Mr. John M. Taylor:
My Department does not calculate the data requested, and they could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Faber:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what progress he has made with issuing a consultation document on the reform of competition law. [24008]
28 Mar 1996 : Column: 734
Mr. John M. Taylor:
I have now issued the consultation document: "Tackling Cartels and the Abuse of Market Power: Implementing the Government's Policy for Competition Law reform." Copies have been placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Faber:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he has yet received a report by the Director General of Telecommunications for the year 1995, as required under section 55 of the Telecommunications Act 1995. [24006]
Mr. Ian Taylor:
Yes. The 12th report by the Director General of Telecommunications is being published today. It covers the period 1 January to 31 December 1995. Copies of the report have been laid before each House of Parliament.
Mr. Faber:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many fireworks-related injuries were referred to hospitals in the period around 5 November 1995; and if he will make a statement. [24007]
Mr. John M. Taylor:
An analysis of the figures for 1995 and for the previous four years will be placed today in the Library of the House.
Accident and emergency units in hospitals in Great Britain treated 1,530 people for injuries caused by fireworks, a decrease of 3 per cent. over the total reported for 1994. I am heartened that, despite the increases in sales of fireworks in recent times, we have seen a small reduction in the figures this year, and no fatalities. I believe this is in part due to the successful publicity campaign run by my Department and the fireworks industry, and planning for the 1996 fireworks safety campaign is already under way.
Nevertheless, I am concerned that firework injuries remain near 1994 levels. Particularly worrying is that a third of the injuries appear to be due to illegal misuse.
In addition, I am conscious of a number of wider concerns, illustrated by the representations my Department receives on the power and variety of fireworks now available to the general public and, in particular, growing concerns about whether the public should have access to types of fireworks which can cause particular distress to people and animals alike and have the potential to cause serious injury.
In the light of these considerations, and mindful of the review of explosives legislation which the Health and Safety Executive is carrying out and which may have implications for fireworks, I believe the time is now right for a review of the effectiveness of both voluntary and legislative measures dealing with the availability of fireworks. Accordingly, I have asked my officials, working with those in other interested Departments, to put in hand such a review.
I intend that we should seek views about the current controls on fireworks, and on possible ways in which such controls might be improved, from a wide range of interested groups and individuals. These consultations will take place during the summer.
28 Mar 1996 : Column: 735
Mr. Jamieson:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total amount of financial support given by his Department to companies in the south-west in each of the last eight years; and how many companies received such financial support in each of those years. [20794]
Mr. Oppenheim
[holding answer 14 March 1996]: Financial support in the south-west under each of the Department's principal regional, enterprise and technology schemes is shown in the table. Companies may have received support under more than one scheme or have received more than one payment under the same scheme; the absolute number of companies receiving support in any one year could be established only at disproportionate cost.
| Year | Number of payments | Total amount paid £ million |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 77 | 3.054 |
| 1989 | 91 | 4.733 |
| 1990 | 95 | 5.035 |
| 1991 | 107 | 6.324 |
| 1992 | 94 | 4.346 |
| 1993 | 108 | 6.016 |
| 1994 | 118 | 7.058 |
| 1995 | 125 | 7.470 |
| Year | Number of payments | Total amount paid £ million |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 9 | 0.030 |
| 1989 | 70 | 0.284 |
| 1990 | 134 | 0.713 |
| 1991 | 161 | 0.931 |
| 1992 | 136 | 0.830 |
| 1993 | 124 | 0.700 |
| 1994 | 110 | 0.817 |
| 1995 | 105 | 0.834 |
| Year | Number of payments | Total amount paid £ million |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 683 | 6.929 |
| 1989 | 247 | 2.906 |
| 1990 | 81 | 2.391 |
| 1991 | 25 | 0.363 |
| 1992 | 2 | 0.003 |
| 1993 | 0 | 0.000 |
| 1994 | 1 | 0.209 |
| 1995 | 0 | 0.000 |
(Regional development grant scheme I closed in 1988, although relatively small volumes of payments continued after that date).
| Year | Number of businesses | Total amount paid £ million |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 0 | 0 |
| 1989 | 2 | 0.075 |
| 1990 | 15 | 0.575 |
| 1991 | 30 | 1.228 |
| 1992 | 28 | 1.205 |
| 1993 | 30 | 1.466 |
| 1994 | 33 | 1.487 |
| 1995 | 47 | 1.790 |
28 Mar 1996 : Column: 736
| Year | Number of businesses | Total amount paid £ million |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 0 | 0 |
| 1989 | 0 | 0 |
| 1990 | 0 | 0 |
| 1991 | 0 | 0 |
| 1992 | 1 | 0.040 |
| 1993 | 4 | 0.163 |
| 1994 | 9 | 0.501 |
| 1995 | 18 | 1.225 |
| Financial year | Number of loan guarantees issued | Total value of guarantees £ million |
|---|---|---|
| 1988-89 | 213 | 5.62 |
| 1989-90 | 350 | 9.46 |
| 1990-91 | 389 | 8.92 |
| 1991-92 | 472 | 10.16 |
| 1992-93 | 373 | 6.90 |
| 1993-94 | 617 | 21.91 |
| 1994-95 | 959 | 33.66 |
| 1995-96 (to date) | 568 | 19.43 |
| Year | Number of completed projects | Total amount paid £ million |
|---|---|---|
| 1988-89 | 15 | 0.778 |
| 1989-90 | 1,181 | 2.777 |
| 1990-91 | 1,028 | 3.420 |
| 1991-92 | 1,183 | 4.476 |
| 1992-93 | 903 | 3.670 |
| 1993-94 | 840 | 2.956 |
| 1994-95 | 361 | 0.931 |
| 1995-96 | n/a | n.a |
1. n/a = not available.
2. For RSA, REG, RDG and the enterprise initiative consultancy scheme the figures shown are of the number of payments made in any year. The same company may have received more than one payment in any year.
3. For LGS, the figures shown are of the number of loans guaranteed. A company may have had more than one loan guaranteed.
4. For EICS, the figures shown are of number of completed projects. Projects may have involved more than one payment. The total amount figures include the cost of initial business reviews which were free to companies. EICS payments were to the contractor consultants employed by DTI and not direct to companies who met the balance of the cost.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |