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Executive Agencies
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much his Department estimates it cost to establish each executive agency set up by his Department since the start of April 1992. [16962]
Mr. Lang:
No executive agencies have been established by my Department since 1992. The Employment Tribunals Service will be launched as an agency in 1997-98. The costs of establishing the ETS are not separately identifiable, and for the most part will be met from within existing budgets for financial and strategic planning in this area.
25 Feb 1997 : Column: 170
Mr. Harvey:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade when the lease on the Companies House premises in London is due to expire; what its proposed new location is; how many staff will be employed at the new location and at what cost; and if he will make a statement. [17298]
Mr. John M. Taylor:
I have asked the chief executive of Companies House to reply to the hon. Member direct.
Letter from John Holden to Mr. Nick Harvey, dated 25 February 1997:
25 Feb 1997 : Column: 171
Mr. David Howell:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many prosecutions have been brought against traders since October 1995 for failure to comply with metrication regulations. [17180]
Mr. John M. Taylor:
Enforcement of the metrication provisions of the Weights and Measures Act 1985 and the Prices Act 1974 is the responsibility of local authority trading standards departments. To the best knowledge of the Department, there have thus far been no prosecutions of traders for failing to observe the requirements of the metrication regulations.
Mr. Brian David Jenkins:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what support his Department currently gives to businesses located in the west midlands. [17194]
Mr. John M. Taylor:
The Department provides a wide variety of business support measures which are available to west midlands enterprises, including regional selective assistance in assisted areas, the small firms merit award for research and technology, support for products under research, overseas trade services and subsidised services from business links.
The Department has targeted its support measures towards small and medium-sized enterprises. Increasingly these measures are being designed with and delivered through local and sectoral partnerships. This is
25 Feb 1997 : Column: 172
demonstrated by the recent introduction of local competitiveness challenge and sectoral challenge schemes.
Mr. Jenkins:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was (a) the number of applications made for regional selective assistance, (b) the number approved, (c) the total financial value of the approved applications and (d) the average time taken to process and approve the applications since 1992 in each constituency in the west midlands. [17196]
You recently tabled a question regarding the future of Companies House's premises in London. I have been asked to reply to you direct.
Companies House's lease on the property in City Road, London has a break at the landlord's option in December 1999. There is a requirement that parties give notice of any intention to break the lease by December 1998. Our present understanding is that the landlord will wish to exercise the break, and that we therefore need to plan to vacate the premises by then. No decisions have yet been made about a new location and the options are being reviewed as part of the planning process. We envisage that there will be at least one site in London which is readily accessible to users of Companies House services.
Decisions about premises and staffing are bound up with our plans to move to new, electronic services for our customers which will mean, eventually, that we will not need to accommodate a microfiche library in London. However, we will only take this step once we are confident that we have a satisfactory set of alternative products to offer our customers. We do expect to be in this position before the end of 1999 and that we will therefore occupy a much smaller site in London.
There were 72 permanent and 15 casual staff in the London office in March 1996 (full time equivalents); 25 of the permanent staff will reach retirement age between now and the year 2000. Our internal plans, which we have disclosed to staff and are discussing with them, include figures on possible staffing requirements once we have introduced the new technologies. However, these figures are indicative only and may well change as our plans are implemented. Our provisional planning assumption is that there will be a requirement for around 12 staff in London by the year 2000. However, I must stress that it is particularly difficult for me to be precise about the likely impact on staffing and related costs at the London office at this stage, since we have not yet established the nature of the presence which we will need in London beyond the turn of the century. One of the key uncertainties at present is how many users of our services will have switched to the on-line methods of information delivery we will be offering, and will, therefore, not need to make use of a physical presence.
If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
| Constituency | Number of applications |
|---|---|
| Aldridge-Brownhills | 53 |
| Birmingham Edgbaston | 5 |
| Birmingham Erdington | 34 |
| Birmingham Hall Green | 3 |
| Birmingham Hodge Hill | 14 |
| Birmingham Ladywood | 81 |
| Birmingham Northfield | 8 |
| Birmingham Perry Barr | 16 |
| Birmingham Selly Oak | 14 |
| Birmingham Small Heath | 102 |
| Birmingham Sparkbrook | 65 |
| Birmingham Yardley | 37 |
| Bromsgrove | 23 |
| Cannock and Burntwood | 43 |
| Coventry North East | 32 |
| Coventry North West | 15 |
| Coventry South East | 24 |
| Coventry South West | 13 |
| Dudley East | 60 |
| Dudley West | 60 |
| Halesowen and Stourbridge | 45 |
| Hereford | 3 |
| Ludlow | 9 |
| Meriden | 10 |
| Mid Staffordshire | 5 |
| Mid Worcestershire | 44 |
| North Warwickshire | 43 |
| Nuneaton | 23 |
| Rugby and Kenilworth | 3 |
| Solihull | 10 |
| South East Staffordshire | 39 |
| South Staffordshire | 22 |
| Stratford-on-Avon | 10 |
| Sutton Coldfield | 11 |
| The Wrekin | 32 |
| Unassigned | 31 |
| Walsall North | 42 |
| Walsall South | 62 |
| Warley East | 52 |
| Warley West | 50 |
| West Bromwich East | 14 |
| West Bromwich West | 73 |
| Wolverhampton North East | 35 |
| Wolverhampton South East | 77 |
| Wolverhampton South West | 21 |
| Wyre Forest | 17 |
| Total | 1,485 |
25 Feb 1997 : Column: 173
| Constituency | Number of offers | Value of offers £ |
|---|---|---|
| Aldridge-Brownhills | 39 | 1,235,500 |
| Birmingham Edgbaston | 5 | 459,500 |
| Birmingham Erdington | 22 | 3,474,500 |
| Birmingham Hall Green | 2 | 38,000 |
| Birmingham Hodge Hill | 10 | 6,597,000 |
| Birmingham Ladywood | 56 | 5,026,500 |
| Birmingham Northfield | 7 | 2,634,000 |
| Birmingham Perry Barr | 12 | 756,000 |
| Birmingham Selly Oak | 11 | 2,002,000 |
| Birmingham Small Heath | 79 | 6,120,400 |
| Birmingham Sparkbrook | 51 | 8,013,500 |
| Birmingham Yardley | 31 | 1,959,000 |
| Bromsgrove | 14 | 1,540,000 |
| Cannock and Burntwood | 32 | 1,349,100 |
| Coventry North East | 27 | 1,995,000 |
| Coventry North West | 12 | 11,246,000 |
| Coventry South East | 20 | 2,347,000 |
| Coventy South West | 14 | 575,000 |
| Dudley East | 48 | 2,039,500 |
| Dudley West | 53 | 2,054,500 |
| Halesowen and Stourbridge | 38 | 1,021,000 |
| Hereford | 3 | 57,000 |
| Ludlow | 6 | 785,000 |
| Meriden | 7 | 462,000 |
| Mid Staffordshire | 5 | 107,500 |
| Mid Worcestershire | 33 | 1,052,000 |
| North Warwickshire | 25 | 769,000 |
| Nuneaton | 18 | 3,180,000 |
| Rugby and Kenilworth | 2 | 1,225,000 |
| Solihull | 8 | 1,445,000 |
| South East Staffordshire | 29 | 1,628,500 |
| South Staffordshire | 18 | 885,500 |
| Stratford on Avon | 3 | 59,500 |
| Sutton Coldfield | 9 | 2,169,000 |
| The Wrekin | 18 | 2,619,000 |
| Walsall North | 32 | 921,000 |
| Walsall South | 47 | 2,345,500 |
| Warley East | 39 | 2,629,000 |
| Warley West | 36 | 3,408,500 |
| West Bromwich East | 13 | 762,000 |
| West Bromwich West | 51 | 3,546,500 |
| Wolverhampton North East | 26 | 5,439,000 |
| Wolverhampton South East | 64 | 4,824,000 |
| Wolverhampton South West | 15 | 2,150,000 |
| Wyre Forest | 11 | 617,000 |
| Total | 105,569,500 | 10,5569,500 |
| Size of application | Working days to decide (target) | Number of applications decided | Number decided within deadline/ per cent. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Less than £25,000 | 25 | 71 | 64/71 | 90.14 |
| £25,000 to £99,999 | 35 | 99 | 94/99 | 94.94 |
| £100,000 to £249,000 | 45 | 24 | 21/24 | 87.5 |
| £250,000 to £2 million | 60 | 21 | 20/21 | 95.23 |
25 Feb 1997 : Column: 174
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the value of grants awarded to (a) inward investors, (b) existing indigenous British companies and (c) new indigenous companies since 1992 for each constituency in the west midlands. [17195]
Mr. Taylor: The value of regional selective assistance offers made to foreign-owned companies in the west midlands since 1 January 1992 by parliamentary constituency is as follows:
| Constituency | Value of offers £ |
|---|---|
| Aldridge-Brownhills | 135,000 |
| Birmingham Edgbaston | 12,000 |
| Birmingham Erdington | 2,030,000 |
| Birmingham Hodge Hill | 260,000 |
| Birmingham Ladywood | 830,000 |
| Birmingham Northfield | 950,000 |
| Birmingham Perry Barr | 250,000 |
| Birmingham Selly Oak | 965,000 |
| Birmingham Small Heath | 2,000,000 |
| Birmingham Sparkbrook | 4,740,000 |
| Birmingham Yardley | 240,000 |
| Cannock and Burntwood | 345,000 |
| Coventry North East | 80,000 |
| Coventry North West | 8,970,000 |
| Coventry South East | 1,390,000 |
| Coventry South West | 45,000 |
| Dudley East | 315,000 |
| Dudley West | 570,000 |
| Halesowen and Stourbridge | 65,000 |
| Ludlow | 500,000 |
| Mid Worcestershire | 185,000 |
| Nuneaton | 2,250,000 |
| Rugby and Kenilworth | 1,200,000 |
| Solihull | 900,000 |
| South East Staffordshire | 1,010,000 |
| Sutton Coldfield | 1,370,000 |
| The Wrekin | 1,050,000 |
| Walsall North | 270,000 |
| Walsall South | 1,870,000 |
| Warley East | 1,040,000 |
| Warley West | 2,282,000 |
| West Bromwich West | 517,500 |
| Wolverhampton North East | 3,400,000 |
| Wolverhampton South East | 815,000 |
| Wolverhampton South West | 1,725,000 |
| Wyre Forest | 90,000 |
| Total | 44,666,500 |
25 Feb 1997 : Column: 175
25 Feb 1997 : Column: 176
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