| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
PRIME MINISTER
Welsh Assembly
Mr. Hogg: To ask the Prime Minister what steps he took to investigate the allegations made by the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Smith) against the right hon. Member for Caerphilly. (Mr. Davies). [6260]
Mr. Baldry: To ask the Prime Minister what investigations he carried out and with whom he spoke prior to writing to the Leader of the Opposition on 26 June concerning matters relating to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Smith). [6261]
The Prime Minister: I have nothing to add to the replies I gave to the right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks (Mr. Hague), on Wednesday 25 June, Official Report, columns 837-38.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Mis-selling of Pensions
Mr. Cousins: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will review the charging to policyholder funds of the costs of mis-selling of pensions by insurance companies. [3304]
Mr. Nigel Griffiths [holding answer 16 June 1997]: The Department has been in regular contact with all life insurance companies on a number of issues arising from pensions mis-selling, including the attribution of costs.
In October 1994, in the light of SIB's publication of criteria and procedures for assessing whether compensation should be paid to individual pension policyholders, the Department made clear that each company would need to consider where the costs should fall on its funds; and indicated that, while the precise arrangements would vary according to the circumstances of each office, the Department considered the following general principles to be relevant:
The Insurance Companies Act 1982 gives the Secretary of State powers to intervene in individual companies' affairs, to protect policyholders against the risk that the company may be unable to meet its liabilities, or --in the case of life and pensions business--fulfil the reasonable expectation of policyholders. The Department stands ready to use these powers, though on current evidence it
1 Jul 1997 : Column: 95
believes that their use to impose a particular attribution of the costs of pensions mis-selling is likely to be justified only in exceptional cases.
Mr. Paice:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she intends to abandon the use of the CE mark as an indicator of the safety of imported toys. [5168]
Mr. Nigel Griffiths:
The CE marking is not a European mark of safety or quality intended for consumers. Its purpose is to indicate to enforcement authorities that the toys bearing it are intended for sale in the European Community and signifies a declaration by the manufacturer or his authorised representative that the toys have been designed and manufactured in accordance with the requirements of the relevant European directives. All toys supplied in the United Kingdom, whether manufactured here or imported, must comply with the Toys (Safety) Regulations 1995 which implement the European requirements and trading standards officers have the necessary powers to remove non-complying toys from the market.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimate she has made of the annual cost to the Government of subsidies to the defence industry per person employed on defence-related work in each of the last three years. [4751]
Mr. Battle
[holding answer 23 June 1997]: It is not possible to answer the question in the way posed because the Government do not provide subsidies to the defence industry. However, the Department and others, through our on-going sponsorship activities, support and encourage the competitiveness of the industry as it does to a whole range of sectors.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will assess the advantages of requiring auditors criticised in her Department's inspectors' reports to bear part of the costs. [4826]
Mr. Nigel Griffiths
[holding answer 25 June 1997]: The role of Companies Act inspectors is to investigate rather than to perform a judicial function of apportioning blame. It would therefore not be possible to recover costs from any party criticised by Companies Act inspectors. Inspectors' reports can be and often are the basis of subsequent action by the Department or by other prosecutors and/or regulators. Under section 439(2) of the Companies Act 1985 a person who is convicted on a prosecution initiated as a result of the investigation may be ordered to pay all or some of the costs of that investigation.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will investigate the affairs of the auditors of Resort Hotels and the recognised supervisory body which licensed and monitored the quality of audits. [4857]
1 Jul 1997 : Column: 96
Mr. Ian McCartney
[holding answer 25 June 1997]: The regulation of auditors is a matter for their recognised supervisory body to whom any complaints should be made. The Department's powers of investigation are broadly directed towards limited liability companies and to persons carrying on investment business, rather than the affairs of auditors.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will assess the advantages of replacing the present regulators of insolvency with a single independent regulator. [4823]
Mr. Nigel Griffiths
[holding answer 25 June 1997]: As the hon. Member will be aware, a working party has been established to consider whether there are ways in which regulation of the insolvency profession might be made more effective in the public interest. The working party intends to issue a draft report by way of a consultation document in the autumn and will clearly welcome responses from all those with an interest in insolvency. I shall give careful consideration to any recommendations the working party may make in its final report.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade when she expects to announce the result of her Department's inquiry into the affairs of the clothing company, Helene. [6060]
Mr. Nigel Griffiths:
My Department does not discuss the affairs of individual companies.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will extend the requirement to detect and report fraud placed on local authority and bank auditors to other private sector auditors. [5973]
Mr. Ian McCartney:
My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has no plans to do so.
Guidance on the rights and duties of auditors required to report to regulators in the financial sector was set out in the Auditing Practices Board's (APB) "Statement of Auditing Standards" (SAS) 620, issued in March 1994 and revised in March 1995. The APB has published two further SASs that clarify the rights and duties of auditors when reporting fraud or any other non-compliance with regulations. These are SAS 110: Fraud and Error and SAS 120: Consideration of Law and Regulations. Copies of these documents are available for inspection in the Library of the House.
Sir Richard Body:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his Department's position towards a European Union universal service in telecommunications.[6106]
Mrs. Roche:
The draft EC directive on the application of open network provision to voice telephony and on universal service for telecommunications is scheduled to come into force on 1 January 1998. The directive defines
1 Jul 1997 : Column: 97
universal service as a defined minimum set of services of specified quality which is available to all users independent of their geographical location and, in the light of specific national conditions, at an affordable price. The Government are keen to ensure that EC universal service obligations guarantee consumers a good quality service at an affordable price, whilst not imposing unreasonable burdens on new entrants to the EC telecommunications market.
Mr. Letwin:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list the regulations laid by her before the House since 1 May. [5997]
Mrs. Beckett
[holding answer 30 June 1997]: My Department has laid one set of regulations--the British Coal Corporation (Change of Quorum) Regulations--which were laid on 26 June.
(i) With profits funds which, in normal circumstances, stand to profit from the sale of pensions business can reasonably be expected to bear a corresponding share of the costs associated with that business.
However,
(ii) Compensation costs should not be regarded as a normal expense of the business for the purpose of assessing bonus rates; and
The overall objective of this guidance was to minimise the risk that the costs of compensation would have an adverse effect on the levels of bonus paid to policyholders.
(iii) The Department would expect proprietary offices to consider whether it is appropriate that some part of the compensation cost be met from outside the long-term fund, to enable the reasonable expectations of policyholders to be fulfilled.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |