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Export Trade
30. Mr. Turner: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the impact of the rise in the value of the pound upon the United Kingdom export trade; and if he will make a statement. [19474]
Mr. Nelson: Exports are still expanding despite the rise in the value of the pound. Export volumes grew at an annualised rate of 7 per cent. during the final quarter of 1996 and manufacturers expect orders and deliveries to continue to grow.
UK Trade
Mr. Kevin Hughes:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what response he has made to representations
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from the Confederation of British Industry regarding the relative strength of the United Kingdom's trading position in Europe. [19463]
Mr. Nelson:
The UK's trade with Europe has climbed to record levels. At a recent meeting with my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade, the CBI welcomed the very low level of output price inflation that was contributing to this performance.
Mr. Bellingham:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what legislation under the social chapter is currently being (a) prepared and (b) considered; and if he will make a statement. [19466]
Mr. John M. Taylor:
Issues under discussion include rights for part-time and temporary workers, information and consultation at national level and the reversal of the burden of proof in sex discrimination cases. The Commission is considering future action in many other areas, including individual dismissals and sick pay. All these measures would be likely to impose damaging, job-destroying burdens on business if we gave up our opt-out from the social chapter.
Mr. Grocott:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many representations he has received on his recent publication, "Privatisation". [19478]
Mr. Lang:
My Department has received numerous requests, principally from delegates to the conference and from UK diplomatic posts overseas, for additional copies of the booklet "Privatisation: Setting Enterprise Free".
The publication has also prompted six written parliamentary questions. Five of these have been from the hon. Member. The sixth was tabled by the hon. Member for Cunninghame, North (Mr. Wilson).
Mr. David Atkinson:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment has been made by the World Trade Organisation of infrastructure risk to computer systems of millennium compliance; what plans he has to pursue the issue; and if he will make a statement. [20188]
Mr. Ian Taylor:
There has been no assessment to date by the World Trade Organisation of this issue. The Government are very aware of the significance of the problem and its implications for world trade and have been working hard to address it within the UK and the European Union. We are looking at how best to bring the issue to international attention in close consultation with UK industry. We have suggested to the Commission that the matter should be raised with the ISO.
Mr. Hinchliffe:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the impact of the coal mine closure programme on related industries. [19459]
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Mr. Page:
The hon. Member may recall that the Employment Select Committee published a report in January 1993 which, among other things, considered the consequences of British Coal's proposed pit closures for related industries. The Government provided a full response to that report.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what were the results of the recent consultation on proposed amendments to the small companies audit exemptions; and what actions he plans to take. [21459]
Mr. Lang:
I am pleased to announce that all three of our deregulatory proposals were endorsed by the public consultation, and I propose to implement them at once, in order to bring the benefits to small companies as soon as possible.
Our main proposal, to raise the audit exemption threshold to £350,000 annual turnover and so to abolish the statutory requirement for the "audit exemption report" which has been required since 1994 in the turnover band from £90,000 to £350,000, was supported by two thirds of the 272 respondents to the consultation.
This change will bring the deregulatory benefits of total audit exemption to an estimated further 200,000 small companies.
The current arrangements will be retained for those charities which have chosen to incorporate, pending an early consultation on options for harmonisation of the financial reporting requirements under charities legislation on the one hand and companies legislation on the other.
The two technical amendments on which we also sought views, relating to the treatment of companies which form part of groups and of dormant companies, enjoyed the overwhelming support of respondents. Companies which form part of groups will not be required to file audited individual accounts, provided that they are not otherwise excluded and that the turnover of the group does not exceed the threshold. The regulations clarify that dormant companies are automatically entitled to audit exemption on the same terms as qualifying non-dormant companies.
A summary of the responses to the consultation will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament.
Mr. Lidington :
To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he intends to issue a public consultation document on the Government's proposals on the provision of public encryption services. [21461]
Mr. Ian Taylor:
I am pleased to announce that, further to my reply to the hon. Member for Worcester (Mr. Luff) on 10 June 1996, Official Report, columns 13-14, I am today publishing a consultation paper outlining the Government's detailed policy proposals for the licensing of trusted third parties (TTPs) for the provision of encryption services. The proposals involve licensing TTPs who offer encryption services to the public in order to facilitate the development of electronic commerce; to protect consumers; and to preserve the ability of the intelligence and law enforcement agencies to fight serious
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crime and terrorism, and protect economic well-being and national security, by requiring disclosure of encryption keys under safeguards similar to those which already exist for warranted interception.
This initiative is part of the Government's overall policy on promoting electronic commerce for the benefit of both business and the public. It forms an integral part of the Government's strategy for building the information society in the UK--the information society initiative.
The consultation paper seeks comments from industry and the public on the broad outline of the proposed legislation. Copies are available in the Library of the both Houses. I expect to make a further statement on the future direction of the Government's proposals once the outcome of the consultation exercise is known.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he has received a report by the Director General of Telecommunications for the year 1996, under section 55 of the Telecommunications Act 1984. [21458]
Mr. Ian Taylor:
Yes. The 13th report by the Director General of Telecommunications is being published today. it covers the period 1 January to 31 December 1996. Copies of the report have been laid before each House of Parliament and placed in the Libraries.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the international clearance of frequency 35 for use by Channel 5. [21455]
Mr. Ian Taylor:
Frequency channel 35 will be used from nine major transmission sites and, because of the potential of such transmissions to create interference problems with neighbouring countries, it is necessary to co-ordinate their use with other countries. The Radiocommunications Agency has obtained agreement to transmission from five of the sites--Fenton, Sudbury, the Wrekin, Hannington, and Ridge Hill. It is anticipated that the outstanding issues concerning the other sites--Kilvey Hill, Waltham, Bilsdale and Darvel--will be resolved by the end of April.
According to Channel 5 Broadcasting, the use of frequency channel 35 could mean that an extra 4 million people will be able to receive the service, increasing coverage to over 80 per cent. of the population. The Government announced on 16 September 1996 that Channel 5 will have access to this frequency for a period of five years. Towards the end of this period, the Government will review the position on the development of the market for advance digital services and will make a judgment whether, and if so for what period of time, Channel 5 may continue to use the channel. In due course, the channel will be redeployed to facilitate the new digital broadcasting opportunities. We have agreed with Channel 5 that it is responsible for developing a sensible transition plan to enable the channel to be retrieved and for warning those customers affected that they may need to migrate in due course to alternative delivery mechanisms such as cable, satellite or digital terrestrial television.
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