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Nursery Vouchers
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what has been the change in the number of nursery places available since the introduction of the nursery voucher scheme. [10890]
Mr. Byers: Data on the change in nursery education places since April 1997 are not available.
Minimum Wage
Mr. Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations his Department has received regarding the impact of a minimum wage on youth employment. [10896]
Mr. Andrew Smith: The Department has no record of any such representations, but any received would have been passed to my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade who has responsibility for the minimum wage.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Aid and Trade
Mr. Pond: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the aid and trade provision projects since the inception of aid and trade provision showing for each project (a) the recipient country, (b) the United Kingdom company involved and (c) the export value and ATP value. [10604]
Clare Short: The aid and trade provision was introduced in 1977. Since that time, 297 projects have been undertaken in 50 countries involving 185 different UK companies with a total export value of almost £4,443 million and a total ATP value of over £1,623 million. Details of all ATP projects on which agreements have been concluded, by country and the UK company will be deposited in the Libraries of the House.
Indonesia
Ann Clwyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement about the amount of aid pledged to Indonesia at the recent consultative group for Indonesia meeting, what amounts relate to (a) new and (b) existing commitments; and if she will list the projects which will be funded under this year's pledges, specifying the amount allocated to each project. [10454]
28 Jul 1997 : Column: 56
Clare Short
[holding answer 25 July 1997]: No pledge of new aid was made at the consultative group meeting. The United Kingdom representative provided a forecast of likely expenditure in respect of existing commitments. Information about on-going projects in Indonesia was provided in reply to an earlier question from my hon. Friend, Official Report, 16 July 1997, columns 189-92.
Mr. Dafis:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what priority will be accorded to sustainable development in the forthcoming White Paper on international development. [10239]
Clare Short:
Sustainable development will be at the heart of the forthcoming White Paper. My Department's principal aim is to contribute to the elimination of poverty in poorer countries. We intend to work to enable poor people to realise their rights to human development and achieve sustained improvements in their living standards. This will involve promoting sustainable economic growth, access to essential social services and protection of the global and national environment. A key part of our agenda will be to seek greater policy coherence in our approach to developing countries, both within the UK and with international development partners.
The White Paper will also reflect the Government's commitment to the targets contained in the report of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, "Shaping the 21st Century". These include the target that every country should have a current national strategy for sustainable development in the process of implementation by 2005, so as to ensure that current trends in the loss of environmental resources are effectively reversed at both global and national levels by 2015. At the UN General Assembly special session in New York last month, it was agreed that all countries should have sustainable strategies in place by 2002. We regard these targets as compatible and my Department hopes to work in partnership with developing countries on the preparation of such plans.
Mr. Dafis:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if the multilateral agreement on investment will be included in the forthcoming White Paper on international development. [10656]
Clare Short:
The White Paper is being drafted at the present time, I certainly expect it to include a reference to the agreement.
Mr. Dafis:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will publish the latest draft of the multilateral agreement on investment, and place a copy in the Library. [110653]
Clare Short:
My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade leads on this agreement. As my hon. Friend the Minister for Small Firms, Trade and Industry told the House on 23 July, Official Report, column 677, the latest draft will be placed in the Library of both Houses.
28 Jul 1997 : Column: 57
Mr. Love:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development in respect of the flooding, what action is being taken to assist the humanitarian relief effort in Poland; and if she will make a statement. [10676]
Clare Short:
We have provided £100,000 through the United Nations department of humanitarian affairs for the provision of medical supplies to the flood victims in southern Poland. We also provided advice on identifying water engineers to assist in dispersing the flood water. We are in contact with the Polish authorities about further help that we might provide.
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what projects the Export Credits Guarantee Department supported relating to the services or infrastructure of the mines and railways in the Akashat area of Iraq before 1990; if any costs were incurred by the ECGD as a result of such support; and whether any liabilities relating to such support are still outstanding.[10092]
Mrs. Roche:
In 1987, the ECGD provided £14.8 million of cover in support of a contract to provide water treatment plants and related pipelines for the Akashat railway. The ECGD paid £10.2 million of claims on this contract and this amount remains outstanding.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will make a statement on encryption and the licensing of trusted third parties. [10392]
Mrs. Roche:
An analysis of the responses to the consultation paper is currently under way. As soon as this process has been completed, and following discussion with ministerial colleagues, a statement will be made.
Mr. Burnett:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the total funding made available by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Devon and Cornwall training and enterprise council to (a) the North Devon Business Link and (b) the North Devon Enterprise Agency. [9700]
Mrs. Roche:
My Department contracts with Devon and Cornwall training and enterprise council for the provision of funding to the business link Devon and Cornwall network. The current total funding made available is £8.5 million. Information on the funding which the business link Devon and Cornwall network has then made available to the North Devon Business Link outlet is not held by my Department. North Devon Enterprise Agency received £20,000 of funding between 1986 and 1987 under the then Department of Employment's local enterprise agency grant scheme.
Mr. Rowlands:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what are the key functions of the Measurement
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Advisory Committee; when the committee was established; by what authority; and if she will list the names of the chairman and the secretary. [9638]
Mr. Nigel Griffiths:
The key functions of the Measurement Advisory Committee are to advise the Department on the effectiveness with which the national measurement system supports UK industry; and the priorities the Department should assign to programmes of work undertaken to meet the needs of the national measurement system.
The committee is an advisory non-departmental public body, whose chairman and members' appointments are personal, unpaid and voluntary. The committee was established in 1994 under the authority of the then President of the Board of Trade to replace the Standards, Quality and Measurement Advisory Committee established in 1988. The current chairman, Mr. William Goldfinch OBE, has recently been appointed for a three-year term with effect from 1 July 1997 and replaces the previous chairman, Sir Ivor Cohen, who retied on 30 June 1997.
The committee does not have a formal secretary, but is serviced by the technology and standards directorate of the Department of Trade and Industry.
Mr. Wigley:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade how her Department plans to ensure that UK trade and investment policies contribute to sustainable development in poorer countries. [10439]
Mrs. Roche:
My Department is working with the Department for International Development and others to consider the ways in which UK trade and investment policies can promote sustainable development. The Government's forthcoming White Paper on international development will set out the detail of policies designed to achieve that objective.
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