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Mahogany

Mr. Chris Davies: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many cubic metres of Brazilian mahogany have been imported into the United Kingdom since the listing of the product in appendix III of the convention on international trade in endangered species. [828]

Mr. Nelson: Brazilian mahogany--Swietenia macrophylla--was listed in appendix III of CITES on 16 November 1995. Between then and 25 October 1996, CITES imports permits received and verified by HM Customs and Excise indicate that 10,141 cu m have been imported into the UK.

Wirral Business Link

Ms Eagle: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the nature of the financial irregularities in respect of the sacking of the managing director of Wirral business link. [1059]

Mr. Page: Business links are independent organisations not owned by Government. The decision in relation to the dismissal of the chief executive of Wirral business link is a matter for its board of directors. I have, though, asked the board of directors to keep me closely informed of developments.

Ms Eagle: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the sacking of the managing director of Wirral business link; and what were the reasons for this action. [1058]

Mr. Page: Business links are independent organisations not owned by Government. The personnel arrangements in Wirral Business Link are a matter for the board of directors.

Coal Production

Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the total production of coal in the United Kingdom from (a) deep mines (b) opencast mining for each quarter since the first quarter of 1992; and what forecasts relating to production his Department has evaluated. [877]

Mr. Page: The information requested is given as follows:

UK coal production: deep-mined

	Thousand tonnes
	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Quarter 1	18,404	15,515	8,870	8,397	9,006
Quarter 2	16,484	11,852	7,734	8,637	8,721
Quarter 3	15,129	11,527	7,290	8,674	--
Quarter 4	15,783	11,563	7,960	9,442	--
Total	65,800	50,457	31,854	35,150	--

29 Oct 1996 : Column: 114

UK coal production: opencast

Thousand tonnes
	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Quarter 1	4,819	4,475	3,693	3,938	4,319
Quarter 2	4,743	4,053	4,114	4,173	4,021
Quarter 3	4,242	4,073	4,329	4,070	--
Quarter 4	4,384	4,406	4,669	4,188	--
Total	18,187	17,006	16,804	16,369	--

Source:

Energy Trends.

The Department of Trade and Industry does not make forecasts of coal production. However, Energy Paper 65, "Energy Projections for the UK" which was published by my Department in March 1995, suggested that by the year 2000 solid fuel demand would be around half its 1990 level. Although the report did not split this demand between imports and domestic production, most of the demand is expected to be met by domestic production.

Cosmetics Testing

Mr. Morley: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many representations have been received by the Minister for Consumer Affairs relating to the recent campaign by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals against cosmetics testing on animals; and if he will make a statement. [796]

Mr. John M. Taylor: So far, I have received 2,100 representations to which my officials are responding.

I have written to the RSPCA informing it that the Government are fully committed to the cessation of animal testing, and fully support the use of non-animal alternatives, wherever possible.

Fishermen (Redundancy)

Mr. Steen: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many fishermen have been made redundant in each of the last three years (a) nationally and (b) in Brixham, south Devon; and what have been the equivalent figures as a percentage of total work force in other major industrial sectors. [1068]

Mr. John M. Taylor: Statistical tables of redundancies, including by industry, are published regularly in Labour Market Trends, formerly the Employment Gazette, copies of which are available in the Library of the House. Information specific to the Brixham area is not, however, available.

Outward Investment

Mr. Wareing: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the volume of United Kingdom outward investment in each year since 1979; and what percentage change this represented in each year. [479]

29 Oct 1996 : Column: 115

Mr. Greg Knight [holding answer 28 October 1996]: Information on the volume of United Kingdom outward investment is not available. The level of outward investment, by value, is given in current prices in the following table.

United Kingdom outward investment

	Value (£ million, current prices)			Percentage change on previous year
	Direct	Portfolio	Total	Direct	Portfolio	Total
1979	5,889	887	6,776
1980	4,867	3,310	8,177	-17.4	273.2	20.7
1981	6,005	4,467	10,472	23.4	35.0	28.1
1982	4,091	7,565	11,656	-31.9	69.4	11.3
1983	5,417	7,350	12,767	32.4	-2.8	9.5
1984	6,042	9,755	15,797	11.5	32.7	23.7
1985	8,430	16,754	25,184	39.5	71.7	59.4
1986	11,649	22,288	33,937	38.2	33.0	34.8
1987	19,147	-5,324	13,823	64.4	n/a	-59.3
1988	20,863	11,209	32,072	9.0	n/a	132.0
1989	21,503	36,524	58,027	3.1	225.8	80.9
1990	10,490	17,206	27,696	-51.2	-52.9	-52.3
1991	9,056	29,157	38,213	-13.7	69.5	38.0
1992	10,850	27,346	38,196	19.8	-6.2	0.0
1993	17,026	84,828	101,854	56.9	210.2	166.7
1994	18,363	-17,968	395	7.9	n/a	-99.6
1995	25,546	40,327	65,873	39.1	n/a	16576.7

Source:

United Kingdom Balance of Payments, The Pink Book, Office for National Statistics.

Defence Diversification (Scotland)

Mr. Welsh: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what public expenditure has been invested in defence diversification in Scotland and the United Kingdom in the current year. [373]

Mr. Greg Knight: In the UK, defence diversification is addressed specifically through the European Community initiative, Konver. One hundred and thirty-six mecu, £113 million, from the European structural funds has been allocated to the UK and Gibraltar Konver II programme, which runs until 1999, having recently been extended by two years.

29 Oct 1996 : Column: 116

Up to the end of September, some £16.6 million in structural funds grants were approved in the UK this year, of this, £4.3 million is for Scotland. This figure will be fully matched by national public expenditure.

Scientific Institutions

Mr. Wareing: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy on the future of United Kingdom public sector scientific institutions. [480]

Mr. Ian Taylor [holding answer 28 October 1996]: The Government's policy on the future of the public sector research establishments was set out in the Government response to the multi-departmental scrutiny of public sector research establishments, Cm 2991, which my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade presented to the Library of the House in September 1995. This detailed a range of measures to ensure that the research establishments are able to respond to the changing needs of their customers, and to maintain the reputation for excellence for which they are renowned.

The measures include a programme of prior options reviews of research establishments. My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade announced the timetable for these reviews in January 1996, and the initial results in May 1996. Further announcements will be made as decisions are taken. The intention is that the major part of the work should be completed by the end of December 1996.

Defence Exports (Indonesia)

Mr. Michael Brown: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what mechanisms the Government have put in place to ensure that defence and defence-related goods are not exported from the United Kingdom to Indonesia. [375]

Mr. Lang: The export of military, paramilitary, police and security goods is controlled under the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1994, as amended, and as such require an export licence. Export licence applications are subject to careful scrutiny against established criteria and internationally agreed guidelines to which we are committed, together with other Government Departments.

These guidelines were placed in the Library of the House in July this year.

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