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Business Links
Mr. Harvey: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what monitoring process will be used by his Department to ensure that merging the business links budget into a single budget will be cost effective; and what checks will be in place to ensure that money is being targeted effectively by business links. [8937]
Mr. Page: Merging the business links budget into a single budget stream is part of a simplification process which also involves relating funding to achievements. Bids for business links service funding are submitted by training and enterprise councils which are required to assess the business support services required in the local area in a business plan which will also describe how the TEC will monitor achievements and impacts. The TEC will be required to submit regular management information to the Government Office, have regular reviews of the targets and milestones in the business plan with the Government Office contract manager, satisfy financial appraisal and monitoring checks and provide evidence of achievements against plans before each contracting round. In addition, my Department has a programme of independent evaluation to check that Government funding is being targeted in a way that secures optimum value for money.
Mr. Harvey: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many business links have not proved financially viable; and what has been the total amount of funding provided by the Government. [8938]
17 Dec 1996 : Column: 525
Mr. Page: The Department of Trade and Industry's contribution towards establishing the business links network is approximately £54 million over the period 1993-94 to 1995-96. Over the same period the Department has provided £113 million for business support services. For the current financial year the Department has made available £49 million for establishing the network and £81 million for business support services. No business link has proved not be financially viable.
Offshore Petroleum Licensing
Lady Olga Maitland: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the current position of the 17th round of offshore petroleum licensing. [9728]
Mr. Page: I am pleased to announce that the Petroleum (Production) (Seaward Areas) (Amendment) Regulations 1996 came into force on 16 December 1996. These regulations vary the terms and conditions of petroleum licences to reflect the nature of the acreage to be awarded in the 17th round.
Following the entry into force of the regulations, the formal notice offering tranches within the UKCS for licence in the 17th round of offshore licensing will soon be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities. This will set out the detailed terms of the round, including the format of applications, the information required with the application, the criteria to be used in assessing applications and the date by when applications must be received which will be no earlier than 90 days after the notice appears.
In order to provide as much flexibility to applicants as possible, applications may be made from 6 January 1997 until the closing date. No decisions about licence awards will be taken until after the closing date for applications and after all applications have been thoroughly assessed.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the operation of the Chemical Weapons Act 1996. [9863]
Mr. Lang:
The Chemical Weapons Act 1996 entered into force on 16 September 1996.
In consultation with industry and other interested parties, my Department has continued with preparations to implement the chemical weapons convention in the United Kingdom from when it comes into effect on 29 April 1997. The Chemical Weapons (Notification) Regulations 1996 and the Chemical Weapons (Licence Appeal Provisions) Order 1996 have been made; the production, possession and use of the most toxic chemicals is now subject to licence, with a more refined licensing system to be introduced from 1 January 1997; the first stage of the process of collecting information to enable the compilation of the United Kingdom's initial declaration to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has started; and consultation on the composition of the advisory committee is also well advanced. I hope to be able to make an announcement about the appointment of the committee's chairman soon.
17 Dec 1996 : Column: 526
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EU Research Council on 5 December. [9862]
Mr. Ian Taylor:
The main issue considered by the Council was the Commission's revised proposal for 100 million ecu additional funding for the fourth framework programme for research and technological development. The Council agreed the proposal subject to a statement in the minutes by the Council and Commission recognising the need for the Council to examine urgently, on the basis of detailed figures provided by the Commission, the expenditure pressures expected to arise in category 3 of the EU's financial perspectives until the end of the current financing period. This statement was included to respond to concerns expressed by the UK, and shared by other member states, that the proposal should be fully compatible with the financial perspectives. The Netherlands and Sweden entered reservations that are expected to be raised as and when the European Parliament confirm funding agreed by the Budget Council for research and TENs--trans-European networks--in the final stages of the EU's 1997 budgetary process. The areas to be funded from the 100 million ecu match the United Kingdom priorities well, especially research on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and vaccines, and on aeronautics technologies.
The Council had a brief discussion of the Commission's proposals for the structure of the fifth framework programme outlined in its working paper, "Towards the Fifth Framework Programme: material for the policy debate". Most member states shared the reservations expressed by the UK, that substantial further consideration was needed of programme objectives and management mechanisms to achieve the aim of a focused, user-driven programme.
The Council agreed conclusions endorsing the Commission's proposed research strategy for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which specifies priority research areas and embodies provisions that will ensure that the research undertaken is of the highest quality. The Council also agreed conclusions on the treatment of SMEs in the framework programme, the role of the joint research centre and the contribution of research to the fight against drugs.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he has reviewed the interrelationships between the science, engineering and technology expenditure of Government Departments. [9864]
Mr. Ian Taylor:
The Government chief scientific adviser has carried out such a review at my right. hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade's request. A report of the review is published today and I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Library of the House.
17 Dec 1996 : Column: 527
Mr. Dafis:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received regarding the conclusion of the recent report of the Committee for Diversity and Pluralism on the space available for minority titles; and if he will make a statement. [7965]
Mr. Page:
I have seen a copy of the report and noted the comments about the distribution of newspapers and magazines.
Mr. Dafis:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what conclusions his Department has reached in respect of the recent recommendations about home news delivery made by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission; and what assessment he has made of representations from local professional newsagents regarding margin decreases imposed by newspaper publishers. [7964]
Mr. John M. Taylor:
The MMC last reported on newspaper distribution in 1993. It made no recommendations in respect of home delivery.
Newsagents' margins on the sale of newspapers are a commercial matter for the parties concerned.
Mr. Livingstone:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the conclusions of the recent report of the Committee for Diversity and Pluralism relating to newspaper publishers' imposed margins; and if he will make a statement. [8582]
Mr. Page:
I have seen a copy of this report and noted its contents.
Mr. Meacher:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what records his Department compiles of the oil company names and the oil drilling rigs and platforms involved in oil spillages and discharges in United Kingdom licensed blocks in the (a) North sea and (b) North Atlantic. [9500]
Mr. Page:
Oil spills and oily discharges from oil and gas installations on the United Kingdom continental shelf are reported on an installation by installation basis to my Department. This information is then compiled on an annual basis to provide the records contained in the "Energy Report", a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
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