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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Minimum Wage
Mr. Colvin: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if her Department will assess the impact of the national minimum wage on small businesses in Hampshire; and if she will make a statement. [7665]
Mr. Ian McCartney: The likely impact of the introduction of the national minimum wage on small businesses is one of the issues to be considered by the independent Low Pay Commission before it issues its recommendation on the level at which the national minimum wage might be set. To help in this deliberation the Commission members will include representation from small business.
Mr. Colvin: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what timetable has been established for the Low Pay Commission (a) to reach a conclusion on the recommended level of the minimum wage and (b) to propose measures relating to the implementation of the minimum wage. [7657]
Mr. McCartney: Professor George Bain, the Chairman of the Low Pay Commission, will be working up a timetable for the Commission to enable it to produce a recommendation on the level at which the national minimum wage might be introduced.
Mr. Colvin: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will publish the terms of reference of the Low Pay Commission; and if she will make a statement. [7650]
Mr. McCartney:
The terms of reference of the independent Low Pay Commission will be published in due course. We will ask the Commission, in making its
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recommendation on the level at which the national minimum wage might be set, to take into account the economic circumstances prevailing at the time.
Mr. Redwood:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade when the Minister for Trade and Competitiveness in Europe established a blind trust for his non-British Petroleum shareholdings. [7552]
Mrs. Beckett:
Lord Simon's trust holdings have been in a discretionary trust since they were established. He has had no sole right of decision on these investments, and will have no power of decision in future. Lord Simon decided to transfer his non-trust holdings into a blind trust in accordance with guidance in "Questions of Procedures for Ministers" on his appointment as Minister for Trade and Competitiveness in Europe and set in hand the necessary arrangements. The legal structure of this transfer was proposed on 18 June. Legal finalisation is now proceeding. Lord Simon refrained from giving any trading instructions to his bank in respect of any of these investments following his appointment.
Mr. Redwood:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade when and how her Department was informed that the Minister for Trade and Competitiveness in Europe should be kept apart from any information or decisions which could affect British Petroleum. [7550]
Mrs. Beckett:
From the date of his appointment the Minister's private office has made sure, as agreed between Lord Simon and the Permanent Secretary, that no papers on matters having a bearing on BP are seen by the Minister, and that he is not invited to meetings to discuss BP issues.
Mr. Redwood:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade when and by whom it was decided that the Minister for Trade and Competitiveness in Europe could not be involved in matters affecting British Petroleum. [7548]
Mrs. Beckett:
As would be expected, the Minister for Trade and Competitiveness in Europe decided for himself on the day of his appointment that he should not be involved in matters affecting British Petroleum.
Mr. Redwood:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what discussions she has had concerning the compliance of the Minister for Trade and Competitiveness in Europe with procedures for Ministers. [7553]
Mrs. Beckett:
I sought confirmation about the position reached on arrangements for handling his investments on the afternoon of 3 July, following which I wrote to the right hon. Member on 4 July.
Mr. Redwood:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will make a statement on the Government's policy concerning travel agencies owned by tour operators or general travel companies; [7853]
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Mrs. Beckett:
The Monopolies and Mergers Commission are currently investigating foreign package holidays and travel agents services and will report in November. Any concerns which they may raise will be considered when the report is received.
Mr. Redwood:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she asked the Minister for Competition and Consumer Affairs to issue a correction to his statement at the Athens conference concerning the travel trade. [7849]
Mrs. Beckett:
No. My hon. Friend did not make a statement in Athens--he participated in a panel session at a conference organised by the Institute of Travel and Tourism. Among the issues raised in that discussion was vertical integration in the travel industry, which my hon. Friend correctly pointed out was still under investigation by the MMC.
Mr. Redwood:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she asked the Minister for Competition and Consumer Affairs to step down from consideration of the MMC investigation into the travel trade. [7852]
Mrs. Beckett:
No. My hon. Friend announced on 1 July that he had decided to rule himself out of consideration of the MMC report into the travel trade. This was at his own initiative.
Mr. Forth:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will give for the consultation on competitiveness (a) the expected completion date and (b) the cost of conducting the consultation. [8249]
Mrs. Beckett:
(a) The consultation exercise is intended to lead to the publication of a White Paper early next year. Beyond that, I believe that a continuing dialogue with business interests is essential to enhancing the UK's competitiveness.
(b) It is not possible at this stage to give a precise separate figure for the cost of the consultation exercise, which has not yet been formally launched.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Consumer Affairs has made formal complaints to the Portuguese and Greek Governments about timeshare operations. [8475]
Mr. Nigel Griffiths:
No. The timeshare industry is relatively small in Greece and complaints resulting from timeshare purchases by UK citizens in Portugal are considerably fewer than in Spain. I am however concerned that some Member States have not yet implemented the EU Timeshare Directive and will be seeking information on their plans.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if the Minister for Competition and Consumer Affairs has made a formal complaint to the Spanish Government about timeshare operations; and if she will publish the complaint and the response. [8473]
Mr. Griffiths:
I wrote to the Spanish Government on 9 June about the failure to implement the EU Timeshare Directive in Spain to protect timeshare buyers. Spain has
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no cooling-off period. I am awaiting a reply. I have placed a copy of my letter in the Library of both Houses. I will also place a copy of the response.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans her Department has to control business practices which involve companies claiming fees in advance for services which are freely available through Government-supported operations. [8479]
Mrs. Roche:
My Department is aware of cases of unscrupulous practice by a small number of companies--so called "grant cowboys"--who trade in grant availability advice to businesses. My advice to firms approached by such companies is to talk to their Business Links, who are a local and reliable source of advice on the full range of business support that is available both from the EU and other sources.
We will continue to keep the matter under review.
Mr. Sanders:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what restrictions apply to Business Link support for small firms; and if she will make a statement. [7899]
Mrs. Roche:
Business Links are able to support all small firms within the limitations of European Community State Aid rules.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps she took to examine the feasibility of privatising the Royal Greenwich Observatory in (a) Edinburgh and (b) Cambridge. [8351]
Mr. Battle:
The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) was obliged by the previous Government to implement the recommendations of the prior options review of the Royal Observatories, including subjecting the instrumentation programme provided by the Royal Observatories to competitive tendering. The tendering process was suspended in November 1996 following the discovery of significant legal and financial difficulties. In the light of developments since then, PPARC approached me with fresh advice asking to be released from this obligation. I announced my acceptance of this advice in an answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Barking (Ms Hodge) on 4 July.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list the representations the Minister for Science, Energy and Industry received from hon. Members on the proposed closure of the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Cambridge prior to the closure announcement; and if she will publish those representations. [8472]
Mr. Battle:
It is for hon. Members to publicise their approaches to me, should they wish to do so.
(2) if the statement made in Athens by the Under-Secretary with responsibility for consumer affairs that Lunn Poly shops should be rebranded as Thomson shops represented Government policy. [7848]
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