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Publicity
Ms Hodge: To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) how many staff are assumed in his Department's budget, employed (i) full-time and (ii) part-time, (a) to work on press and media and (b) to provide information and publicity in 1996-97; [39475]
- (2) how many staff were employed full-time or part-time (a) to provide information and publicity and (b) on press and media in (i) 1995-96, (ii) 1994-95 and (iii) 1993-94. [39429]
Mr. John M. Taylor: The numbers of staff employed in the press office and publicity branch of the Department's information directorate are as follows:
| Publicity | Press Office | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full time | Part time | Full time | Part time | |
| 1996-97(27) | 35 | 1 | 31 | -- |
| 1995-96(27) | 33 | 1 | 31 | -- |
| 1994-95 | 30 | 2 | 31 | -- |
| 1993-94 | 39 | 2 | 34 | -- |
(27) Figures include posts arising from the 1995 Machinery of Government changes.
China (Tableware Imports)
Ms Walley: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will set out the timetable for further European Council of Ministers' decision-making in respect of quotas of tableware imports from China; and if he will make a statement. [38811]
Mr. Oppenheim: The European Commission is due to complete its annual review of these quotas, and to propose any appropriate adjustments, before 31 December 1996. The Council of Ministers will then consider the issue.
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Companies (Payments)
Mrs. Roche: To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 4 July, Official Report, column 496, what was the cost of mailing the consultative document. [38907]
Mr. Page: The consultative document was mailed to all those consultees on my Department's company law mailing list at a cost of £541, including VAT.
Off-shore Oil
Mr. Hardy: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action has been taken to ensure that orders for floating production units to be used in the development of United Kingdom off-shore oil reserves will either be built in the United Kingdom or have substantial United Kingdom content. [38116]
Mr. Page: My Department established a working group in 1994 to consider how to make United Kingdom industry more competitive in the supply of floating production systems. At the beginning of 1995, the group proposed a set of recommendations for Government and industry. These have been implemented and the competitiveness of UK industry has improved markedly, as evidenced by the several orders placed with UK companies for floating production system work during 1995 and 1996. Most notably, Harland and Wolff in Belfast are building what is expected to be the world's largest shipshaped floating production system for BP. Also, BARMAC, AMEC, SLP, Heerema Hartlepool and Brown Brothers have all won orders and UK industry is well positioned for further work.
Civil Space
Mr. Batiste: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the progress of the review of Government policy towards civil space. [39617]
Mr. Ian Taylor: I hosted the second United Kingdom space policy forum at Queen Mary and Westfield college on Tuesday 25 June. This was a great success with almost 200 senior members of the UK space community attending. As a result of the forum and the wide-ranging discussions during the review, I am now publishing a "Forward Plan for UK Space Activities", copies of which are being placed in the Library of the House. The plan will be presented to the press tomorrow and will set out key goals for the UK civil space programme.
Companies House
Mr. Batiste: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the results of the Companies House contracting-out programme. [39618]
Mr. Oppenheim: The Companies House contracting out programme announced by the then President of the Board of Trade in December 1994 has now been completed.
The final element of the programme was concluded on 1 July with the award of a contract to Capita Managed Services Ltd. for the running of the Companies House customer enquiry unit and the postal search and search accounts service in Cardiff.
23 Jul 1996 : Column: 202
The contract was awarded on the basis of best value for money after a competitive tender in line with EC procurement rules. It will run for three years with an option for Companies House to extend for a further two, one year periods. The contract commenced on 1 July, and 46 full and part-time staff involved in the activities transferred to the contractor.
In running the Postal Search and Search Accounts Service, Capita Managed Services Ltd. will be making records held by the registrar available for inspection by the public and providing copies of such records to the public. This is a function of the registrar determined by statute--Section 709 of the Companies Act 1985--and Capita Managed Services Ltd. has, therefore, been granted an authorisation for this purpose under the Contracting Out (Functions in Relation to the Registration of Companies) Order 1995.
Following agreement in December 1995, Companies House mainframe computer services have, since April this year, been provided under an extension to the DTI's existing contract with Hoskyns.
Competitive tendering has been carried out in respect of Companies House, London and the English satellite offices, Companies House, Edinburgh, and the remittance processing and office services functions at Companies House, Cardiff.
In each case, after careful evaluation of the bids, I concluded that best value for money would be obtained by retaining these activities in-house. This is a great tribute to the management and staff of Companies House who have worked hard over recent years to improve quality and cut costs. The contracting out process has identified significant further savings and these will result in an even more effective service for customers.
Mr. Batiste:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if the agency review of the Patent Office has been completed; and if he will make a statement. [39615]
Mr. Lang:
An evaluation report on the performance of the Patent Office since its inception as an executive agency in March 1990 has been completed, and a revised framework document has been prepared. Copies of these documents, which complete the agency review process, have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Mr. Batiste:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will announce the results of his study into the value for money of the export intelligence system. [39616]
Mr. Nelson:
I am pleased to report that the independent market research carried out for my Department by Metra Martech has found that in 1995 United kingdom firms earned between £300 million and £500 million of additional exports as a result of information provided under this system and that this represents at least £65 of additional exports for each £1 of support provided by the taxpayer. One in every four customers of the service did business as a result of its last year.
23 Jul 1996 : Column: 203
Mr. Batiste:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects to receive the annual report of the subsidence adviser appointed under section 46 of the Coal Industry Act 1994. [39619]
Mr. Page:
I have now received this report from the subsidence adviser and have arranged for copies to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses today.
Mr. Robert Jackson:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has for the privatisation of AEA Technology plc. [39638]
Mr. Page:
The Government have consistently said that decisions on the future of AEA Technology--AEAT--would be taken in the light of the performance of the business and on a basis which meets the needs and requirements of customers and serves the best interests of the taxpayer.
AEAT has a strong management team led by Sir Anthony Cleaver and Dr. Peter Watson which has transformed the performance of the business over the past two years. However, the Government and AEAT management remain convinced that the company can realise its full commercial potential only in the private sector.
In the light of what has been achieved, the Government have now decided that AEAT should be privatised later this year. The intention is that, subject to market conditions, privatisation will proceed by way of a flotation on the London stock exchange. In preparing for the flotation, the Government will continue to pay particular regard to the interests of the taxpayer, the company and its employees. The Government also remain committed to ensuring the independence and impartiality of AEAT's services to its customers.
Mr. Donohoe:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) how much the Monopolies and Mergers Commission spent in carrying out its investigation into the acquisition of Chesterfield Transport (1989) Ltd. by Stagecoach Holdings plc under the provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1973; [38650]
(3) how much the Monopolies and Mergers Commission spent in carrying out its investigation into the acquisition of Lancaster City Transport Ltd. by Stagecoach Holdings plc under the provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1973; [38654]
(4) how much the Monopolies and Mergers Commission spent in carrying out its investigation into the acquisition of Portsmouth Citybus Ltd. by Stagecoach Holdings plc under the provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1973; [38656]
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(5) how much the Monopolies and Mergers Commission spent in carrying out its investigation into the acquisition of Ayrshire Bus Owners Ltd. by Stagecoach Holdings plc under the provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1973; [38651]
(6) how much the Monopolies and Mergers Commission spent in carrying out its investigation into the acquisition of Mainline Partnership Ltd. by Stagecoach Holdings plc under the provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1973; [38653]
(7) how much the Monopolies and Mergers Commission spent in carrying out its investigation into the acquisition of Formia Ltd. by Stagecoach Holdings plc under the provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1973. [38655]
Mr. John M. Taylor
[holding answer 22 July 1996]: The estimated costs in carrying out the investigations are as follows:
Mr. Donohoe:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much Monopolies and Mergers Commission spent defending its actions against the application for judicial review in relation to the acquisition by Stagecoach Holdings plc of SB Holdings, the judgment in which case was made on 5 July. [38657]
Mr. John M. Taylor
[holding answer 22 July 1996]: The court has awarded the Monopolies and Mergers Commission its costs in these proceedings. At this stage it is not yet clear how much the total spend on MMC legal costs will be. The MMC's spend to date in relation to counsel's fees is £7,495.
Mr. Donohoe:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) how much the Department of Trade and Industry spent in defending its actions against the petition for judicial review brought by Stagecoach Holdings plc in the Court of Session, the judgment in which case was made on 20 June; [38660]
Mr. John M. Taylor
[holding answer 22 July 1996]: The court has awarded the Department and the Monopolies and Mergers Commission its costs in these
23 Jul 1996 : Column: 205
proceedings. The Department and the MMC were represented by the same counsel. Spend in relation to counsel's fees is about £25,800. Other legal costs have not yet been finalised.
Mr. Donohoe:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much the Monopolies and Mergers Commission spent defending its actions against the application for judicial review in relation to the acquisition by Stagecoach Holdings plc of Mainline, the judgment in which case was made on 5 July. [38658]
Mr. John M. Taylor
[holding answer 22 July 1996]: The court has awarded the Monopolies and Mergers Commission its costs in these proceedings. At this stage it is not yet clear how much the total spend on MMC legal costs will be. The MMC's spend to date in relation to counsel's fees is £8,533.
(2) how much the Monopolies and Mergers Commission spent in carrying out its investigation into the acquisition of S.B. Holdings Ltd. by Stagecoach Holdings plc under the provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1973; [38652]
The MMC introduced revised costing and budgetary arrangements on 1 April 1995. Reported costs from this date are on accruals based accounts; those for earlier years are cash-based. In addition, overhead costs were attributed on an estimated basis for earlier years. The figures for the first five inquiries are therefore not directly comparable with those for the last two.
i Stagecoach Holdings plc/Lancaster City Transport Ltd.--£163,000
ii Stagecoach Holdings plc/Portsmouth Citybus Ltd.--£131,000
iii Stagecoach Holdings plc/Formia Ltd.--£68,000
iv Stagecoach Holdings plc/S B Holdings Ltd.--£242,000
v Stagecoach Holdings plc/Mainline Partnership Ltd.--£185,000
vi Stagecoach Holdings plc/Ayrshire Bus Owners (A1 Service) Ltd.--£232,000
vii Stagecoach Holdings plc/Chesterfield Transport (1989) Ltd.--£187,000
(2) how much the Monopolies and Mergers Commission spent in defending its actions against the petition for judicial review brought by Stagecoach Holdings plc in the Court of Session in relation to the company's acquisition of A1 Service, the judgment in which case was made on 20 June. [38659]
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