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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Sawn Wood Imports
Mr. Dafis: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what quantities of sawn wood were imported into the United Kingdom in the past year from the 10 countries which are the principal exporters of sawn wood to the United Kingdom. [4485]
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Mr. Lang: UK imports of sawn wood 1 in 1995 are given in the table:
| Thousand metric tonnes | |
|---|---|
| Sweden | 841 |
| Canada | 360 |
| Finland | 343 |
| Latvia | 343 |
| Russia | 263 |
| Portugal | 155 |
| USA | 89 |
| Irish Republic | 73 |
| Estonia | 61 |
| Brazil | 56 |
| World | 3,040 |
(15) Sawn wood is defined by headings 248.2 and 248.4 of the Standard International Trade Classification, revision 3.
EU Working Time Directive
Mr. Allen: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the representations received on the working time directive. [4279]
Mr. Lang: My Department has received a wide range of representations about the working time directive. Many of these have been from employers or employer organisations concerned about the directive's potential implications for industry.
Royal Observatories
Mr. Ingram: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much has been spent to date on preparing for the bidding process for the royal observatories; and from which budget these sums were paid. [4569]
Mr. Ian Taylor: A total of £495,000 has been spent to 31 October 1996 on implementing the recommendations of the prior options review of the royal observatories. This has been paid from the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council's allocation from the science budget.
Nanotechnology
Mr. Ingram: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the report of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology on the level of Government support for nanotechnology; and if he will make a statement. [4566]
Mr. Ian Taylor: I have carefully considered this report which recognises the long-term public support for nanotechnology provided by both the research councils and by my Department. At least two new projects relevant to nanotechnology have recently been introduced through the foresight programme, including a national centre for microelectronics. Developments in nanotechnology have potential applications in many other generic priorities identified by foresight.
Environmental Auditing
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the ways in which his Department has (a) demonstrated by example and (b) promoted externally, the ability to improve efficiency and competitiveness through environmental auditing; and if he will make a statement. [4532]
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Mr. Page: My Department has taken significant steps to improve its own environmental performance. It reduced energy costs by 14.13 per cent. in the five years to March 1996 and is preparing new targets for reducing both energy usage and waste. In keeping with the commitment in the 1990 White Paper "This Common Inheritance", the Department undertook a review of its own environment management capabilities. Work has started on implementing potential improvements identified. Advice has been given to line management to ensure that the environment has been taken into account in policy formulation. Two examples of this in practice will feature in "Case studies of environmental appraisal of policies in Government Departments", scheduled to be published in the new year.
My Department has encouraged UK business to adopt positive environment management, which includes the audit of environmental performance, as a way to deal with the environment as a strategic business issue. To this end, the Department commissioned the United Kingdom Accreditation Service to create an accreditation system to allow accredited certificates to be issued against BS 7750, and latterly, ISO 14001.
Small Businesses
Mrs. Roche: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps he proposes to take in order to improve the participation of representatives of small business in committees of inquiry, advisory bodies and non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible. [4384]
Mr. Page: In making appointments to executive non-departmental public bodies, my Department complies with the guidance issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments Central to this guidance is the overriding principle of selection based on merit.
Appointments to advisory and other bodies are not formally required to comply with the OCPA guidance; however, the Department takes the commissioner's guidance into account in all its appointments, including the principle of appointment on merit.
Where appropriate, we aim to ensure that representation on public bodies is well balanced. It is of course possible for anyone to put forward nominations for public appointments, including themselves.
Mrs. Roche:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the number of defaults since the beginning of the small firms loan guarantee scheme by the size of loan. [4386]
Mr. Page:
Information is not available on loans prior to April 1988. Since that date, of the 35,574 loans guaranteed the following number have defaulted:
Mrs. Roche:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many specialist lenders in the technology
Loans up to £30,000: 7,159
Loans above £30,00 and up to £100,000: 2,632
Loans above £100,000: 140
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sector have been added to the loan guarantee scheme's list of approved lenders since his Department's review earlier this year. [4385]
Mr. Page: None. The criteria for potential lenders is currently being formulated.
Medical Research
Mr. Alfred Morris: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much was spent on research into (a) Alzheimer's disease, (b) cancer, (c) stroke, (d) heart disease and (e) HIV-AIDS in each financial year since 1989 in constant prices; and if he will make a statement.[1398]
Mr. Ian Taylor [holding answer 6 November 1996]: All the data provided are in 1995-96 prices.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| HIV-AIDS | |
| 1995-96 | n/a |
| 1994-95 | 23.2 |
| 1993-94 | 22.7 |
| 1992-93 | 21.5 |
| 1991-92 | 22.8 |
| 1990-91 | 21.9 |
| 1989-90 | 17.3 |
| £ million | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alzheimer's disease(16) | Cancer | Stroke | Heart disease | |
| 1995-96 (where available)(17) | 1.97 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 1994-95(17) | 1.40 | 13.5 | 3.5 | 11.7 |
| 1993-94(18) | n/a | 13.9 | 0.9 | 6.4 |
| 1992-93(18) | n/a | 14.5 | 1.1 | 5.8 |
| 1991-92(18) | n/a | 15.2 | 0.7 | 5.9 |
| 1990-91(18) | n/a | 16.1 | 0.5 | 7.0 |
| 1989-90(18) | n/a | 17.1 | 0.5 | 7.1 |
(16) Data earlier than 1994-95 are not readily available.
(17) Figures using previous definitions of research areas.
(18) Figures using current definitions of research areas.
The Scottish Office's expenditure on the other areas is as follows:
| Alzheimer's disease | Cancer | Stroke | Heart disease | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| 1995-96 | 52,124 | 433,447 | 134,068 | 148,647 |
| 1994-95 | 53,070 | 781,171 | 118,061 | 260,216 |
| 1993-94 | 70,448 | 1,004,889 | 147,865 | 376,769 |
| 1992-93 | 58,280 | 487,314 | 69,666 | 317,441 |
| 1991-92 | 36,720 | 202,408 | 101,339 | 156,466 |
| 1990-91 | 66,187 | 98,179 | 8,215 | 28,941 |
| 1989-90 | 41,733 | 273,342 | 102,698 | 92,853 |
Department of Health/national health service expenditure, including England and Wales, on the other areas is summarised as follows:
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| Alzheimer's disease(20) | Cancer | Stroke and heart disease | |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | |
| 1995-96(19) | 91,000 | 7,438,000 | 3,580,000 |
| 1994-95 | 154,653 | 7,353,694 | 1,699,134 |
| 1993-94 | 148,037 | 7,671,858 | 468,648 |
| 1992-93 | 82,579 | 7,623,011 | 269,186 |
| 1991-92 | 83,819 | 7,968,350 | 251,456 |
| 1990-91 | 108,215 | 7,402,607 | 309,185 |
| 1989-90 | 0 | 7,694,481 | 333,873 |
(19) Estimated figures.
(20) NHS figures are not available.
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