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Electrical Goods (Home Repairs)

Mr. Allen: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what proposals he has to introduce legislation to provide consumer protection for repairs on electrical goods carried out in homes. [8843]

Mr. John M. Taylor: Under the Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1982, traders who repair electrical goods, whether on their business premises or at consumers' homes, are required to do so with reasonable care and skill and within a reasonable time. Failure to do so amounts to a breach of contract for which the consumer may seek redress. We have no plans to introduce further legislation.

Hawk Aircraft (Indonesia)

Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if Hawk training aircraft destined for Indonesia are being converted into ground-attack aircraft in the United Kingdom. [5914]

Mr. Lang: As announced to the House on 21 November, an export licence has been issued for the supply of a further 16 Hawk aircraft to Indonesia. These aircraft, which are to be supplied for external defence, have a range of capabilities, including ground attack. This was taken into account when the export licence application was considered.

Neither this case, nor in respect of the first consignment, has there been modification of trainer aircraft destined for Indonesia into ground attack aircraft in the United Kingdom.

Crown Agents

Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if the Crown Agents and its subsidiary companies require export licences when exporting or trans-shipping military, security, police or paramilitary equipment or services. [8656]

Mr. Nelson: The Crown Agents and its subsidiary companies are subject to the same licensing requirements as UK-registered companies.

Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if the Crown Agents and its subsidiary companies required export licences prior to privatisation when exporting or trans-shipping military, security, police or paramilitary equipment or services. [8657]

Mr. Nelson: The Crown Agents and its subsidiary companies are subject to the same licensing requirements as UK-registered companies. Privatisation will not affect this position.

Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if a British-based company is required to apply for an export licence for military, security, police or

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paramilitary goods or equipment when the goods or equipment are to be exported or shipped by the Crown Agents. [8658]

Mr. Nelson: Where placing a contract and also arranging shipping, the Crown Agents would normally apply for any licence required. Where the Crown Agents act purely as a freight forwarder, the supplier of the goods concerned would have to apply for any necessary licence.

Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if a British-based company was required to apply for an export licence for military, security, police or paramilitary goods or equipment when the goods or equipment were exported or shipped by the Crown Agents prior to the privatisation of the Crown Agents. [8659]

Mr. Nelson: Where placing a contract and also arranging shipping, the Crown Agents would normally apply for any licence required. Where the Crown Agents act purely as a freight forwarder, the supplier of the goods concerned would have to apply for any necessary licence. Privatisation will not affect the licensing requirements.

Personal Business Advisers

Mr. Harvey: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what monitoring procedures are in place to ensure that there are adequate safeguards against personal business advisers recommending services solely to generate income for themselves. [8940]

Mr. Page: In order to become accredited, a business link must demonstrate to an independent assessor that the advice given by a personal business adviser and other advisers is both impartial and independent. To do this it must follow the guidelines on the independence of advice to customers set out in D47--D49 of the "Business Link Service Guide".

This includes, among others:

Outside their counselling and diagnostic role, PBAs and other advisers should have no personal interest in the supplier recommended or chosen.
PBA targets should not include any that link a PBA's pay to performance measured by the volume of services taken up by customers, or to earning money for the business link or its partners. The same should also apply to others wholly or substantially involved in advising customers under the business link brand.

Business Breakfasts

Mr. Hoon: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the cost of the first two business breakfasts held on 11 November at Luton and Lincoln. [4294]

Mr. Lang [holding answer 15 November 1996]: The cost of catering, presentational materials and hire of venues for the two events including VAT, has now been confirmed as £8,780.

Office of Science and Technology

Mr. Ingram: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the cost of commissioning the Coopers and Lybrand review of the dual support transfer for the Office of Science and Technology. [8889]

Mr. Ian Taylor: Excluding VAT, the Office of Science and Technology--OST--paid Coopers and Lybrand in total £81,862.16, comprising £76,650.00 consultant fees,

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£4,022.16 for expenses and £1,190 for 700 copies of the final report. VAT amounted to £14,325.88. The associated administrative costs to OST is making and managing this contract were covered routinely within the office's running costs budget.

Regional Selective Assistance

Mr. Jamieson: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the role of Mr. A, Mr. B, and Mr. C, whose names have been supplied to him, in the application for a regional selective assistance grant by Synex Ltd. [6234]

Mr. Lang [holding answer 27 November 1996]: In the application by Synex Ltd, Mr. A. provided independent accountancy advice under the terms of his contract with the Government Office for the South West. Further details are contained in my reply of 10 December 1996, Official Report, column 87-88.

Mr. B. and Mr. C. were, at the time of the Synex application, both members of the South West industrial development board--SWIDB--which provides independent advice on applications for regional selective assistance. The board comprises senior business people with wide experience of commerce and industry who, like Mr. B. and Mr. C., voluntarily give their time freely in support of the important work that the SWIDB performs. Details of the attendance of Mr. B and Mr. C at board meetings which considered the Synex case are contained in my replies of 10 December 1996, Official Report, column 88.

I understand that it is also the case that Mr. B and Mr. C had some private discussions with Synex Ltd. They were responsible for declaring any interests which may have arisen from these discussion and my replies of 10 December 1996, Official Report, column 88 reflect the outcome of this.

The decision on the Synex case was taken by my Department on 19 May 1995. The company appealed against the decision on 31 May 1995 and Mr. C provided advice to the Government Office for the South West on 29 June 1995 as part of a further technical assessment. Although Mr. C had previously declared an interest in the case and had not participated in board discussions leading up to the decision, the Government office believed that he could properly make a contribution at this stage on the technical aspects alone. The Department's decision to reject the case was confirmed on 31 July 1995.

Mr. Jamieson: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what regulations prevent members of an industrial development board from advising the DTI on the merits of an RSA application while giving paid advice to the same applicant. [6230]

Mr. Lang [holding answer 27 November 1996]: Appointments to the industrial development boards are made in accordance with the Cabinet Office's guide to public appointments procedures and the Treasury code of best practice for board members of public bodies. These cover avoidance of potential conflicts of interest and, among other things, prevent board members from offering advice on the merits of an RSA application on which they had received payment for advising the applicant. Members are required to provide the Government Offices with a list of current interest such as directorships and

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registers of these interests are maintained and regularly updated. The registers are checked by officials before members are included in the consideration of any case.

Orimulsion

Mr. Rogers: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the potential environmental impact of the burning of orimulsion in power stations; and if he will make a statement. [8527]

Mr. Page: My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade is currently considering an application for consent to extend a power station in order to enable it to burn orimulsion. Environmental information has been submitted as part of that application and objections received to the proposal but no conclusions have yet been reached in relation to the application.

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