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Kenya
Mr. Vaz: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will make a statement on the current level of trade between Britain and Kenya; and what is the current balance of imports and exports between Britain and Kenya. [4910]
Mrs. Roche: In 1996, the value of UK exports of goods to Kenya was £241 million, a slight decrease on 1995. UK imports increased, by 18 per cent., to £191 million. The crude balance of trade in goods decreased, from a surplus of £82 million in 1995, to £50 million in 1996.
Post Office
Dr. Tony Wright: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans she has to amend the legal immunities of the Post Office in respect of the services it provides. [4981]
Mr. Ian McCartney: The Post Office's immunity from contractual liability for ordinary post was granted by Parliament in the Post Office Act 1969 because of the very high volumes of mail handled and essentially unrestricted access to posting at over 100,000 pillar boxes and over 19,000 post offices.
In view of the fact that individual recording of each letter would be impracticable and would give rise both to substantial delays and large increases in costs, Parliament took the view that the acceptance of liability by the Post Office, without proof of posting or delivery, could give rise to an escalating level of fraudulent claims and to high costs which could be met only by a substantial increase in the standard letter tariffs. It is the Government's view
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that the vast majority of mail users would not wish to see much higher tariffs or to obtain proof of posting for all items posted as the price for abolishing the Post Office's immunity. We therefore have no plans to introduce legislation to do so.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list for each operating nuclear power station in Britain (i) its year of construction, (ii) the year it began supplying electricity to the national grid, (iii) its anticipated decommissioning date at year of construction, (iv) its actual decommissioning date, if now decommissioned and (v) its expected decommissioning date at the present time. [4638]
Mr. Battle
[holding answer 20 June 1997]: Dates for the start of construction, first commercial operation and date of shutdown, where applicable, for nuclear power stations operating in Britain are given in the 1997 World Nuclear Industry Handbook extracts of which are reproduced in the following table.
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Political Parties (Donations)
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will introduce legislation requiring companies to undertake a ballot of all (a) shareholders and (b) employees before making donations to political parties. [4816]
Mr. Ian McCartney [holding answer 23 June 1997]: The Government gave a commitment in the Queen's Speech that they would consider how the funding of political parties should be regulated and reformed.
Social Chapter
Mr. Rooney: To ask the President of the Board of Trade when she expects to introduce legislation incorporating the social chapter into British law. [4926]
Mr. Ian McCartney [holding answer 23 June 1997]: Following signature of the new treaty, which incorporates the agreement on social policy, the Government expect to introduce in the autumn a Bill to amend as necessary the European Communities Act 1972.
The Government have undertaken to implement the two directives which have been adopted under the agreement on social policy within two years of the signature of the new treaty or when it enters into force if that is later.
Oil Exploration
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment her Department has made of the environmental impact of drilling for oil in the Atlantic.[4402]
Mr. Battle
[holding answer 23 June 1997]: In deciding which blocks to offer for licence in the 17th round, the Department of Trade and Industry took account of advice from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, its principal adviser on environmental matters, relevant Government Departments and environmental groups. Blocks awarded for licence in the round are subject to
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conditions which seek to mitigate any possible adverse environmental impact of petroleum activities. The conditions were agreed with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimate she has made of the total number of people employed on defence-related jobs in British manufacturing industry. [4753]
Mr. Battle
[holding answer 23 June 1997]: In 1994-95, 360,000 jobs in UK industry were estimated to be dependent on defence expenditure and equipment exports.
Source: UK Defence Statistics 1996, MoD.
Bank of England
Mr. Denzil Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to answer the question tabled on 2 June by the right hon. Member for Llanelli relating to the proposed legislation transferring to the Bank of England operational responsibilities for the setting of interest rates. [5339]
Mrs. Liddell: I did so on 20 June.
Gini Coefficient
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the current Gini coefficient for each member state of the European Union. [3442]
Mrs. Liddell: International comparisons of income distribution are difficult to make and there are no officially recognised current estimates of Gini coefficients for each member state of the European Union. Estimates of Gini coefficients for the early 1990's, using data from the Luxembourg Income Survey, have recently been published in an article "Poverty in the UK: A Comparison with Nineteen Other Countries" by Jonathan Bradshaw and Jun-Rong Chen. This can be found in the January 1997 issue of "Benefits", a journal published by Nottingham University, which is available in the House of Commons Library.
Income Support
Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer at what stage in the annual public expenditure cycle it is appropriate for him to discuss openly the resources of households with children above income support levels. [3964]
Mr. Darling: There is not going to be a Public Expenditure Survey in 1997. If the hon. Member wants to make representations to my right hon. Friend then he is free to do so.
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