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Industrial Underperformance

Mr. Redwood: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what criteria she used to determine which industries underperformed in the United Kingdom. [16147]

Mrs. Beckett [holding answer 14 November 1997]: I have made no such determination.

Mr. Redwood: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what rate of return on capital she uses to enable her to distinguish between competitive companies and companies in need of improvement. [16144]

Mrs. Beckett [holding answer 14 November 1997]: I do not distinguish between competitive companies and companies in need of improvement on the basis of rate of return on capital.

New Taxes (Advice)

Mr. Redwood: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what advice she gave to the Chancellor in respect of the effects of new taxes on businesses, on cash flow and investment levels. [16145]

Mrs. Beckett [holding answer 14 November 1997]: I maintain regular contact with the Chancellor about the impact on business, including on cash flow and investment, so that this can be taken into account in decisions on taxation and other aspects of economic policy.

Coal Industry

Mr. Redwood: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans she has to meet miners' representatives to discuss (a) the coal industry and (b) proposed pit closures. [16140]

Mrs. Beckett [holding answer 14 November 1997]: Ministers have had a number of meetings with miners' representatives to discuss the present position in the coal industry.

Euro

Mr. Redwood: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimate she has made of the costs to British business of converting to using the euro (i) as a second domestic currency in the transitional period and (ii) as the sole legal currency in the United Kingdom. [16146]

Mrs. Beckett [holding answer 14 November 1997]: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the reply my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury gave to the right hon. Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory) on 11 November, Official Report, column 512.

Sports Sponsorship

Mr. Redwood: To ask the President of the Board of Trade which tobacco companies have requested a meeting with ministers to discuss sports sponsorship; and which have been granted such a meeting. [16141]

Mrs. Beckett [holding answer 14 November 1997]: None.

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Know-how Fund

Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the President of the Board of Trade in the last two financial years, how many know-how fund projects were awarded to (a) companies, (b) large partnerships or institutions and (c) individuals or small partnerships; in each case how many were based in Scotland; and what was the total value in categories (a) to (c). [13978]

Mr. Foulkes: I have been asked to reply. Information on know-how consultancy contracts is not recorded in the categories sought and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Information can be provided in two categories: corporate (companies, partnerships and institutions--small and large) and non-corporate (self-employed individuals) contracts. This is set out below:

Year	Number	Value (£) of contracts awarded	Total value (£)
1995-96
Corporate	333	45,644,200	--
Non-corporate	49	3,678,126	49,322,326
1996-97
Corporate	488	81,757,274	--
Non-corporate	81	3,315,631	85,072,905

Contracts awarded to companies with headquarters in Scotland are not recorded separately.

Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total budget allocated to the know-how fund for each of the last two years; and how much of that budget was spent on administration. [13972]

Mr. Foulkes: I have been asked to reply.

Know-how fund expenditure in the last two financial years was as follows:

1995-96: £86.26 million

1996-97: £90.70 million

In addition, DFID and FCO provided a total of £3 million each year from their running cost budgets to administer the fund.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Conditional Fees

Mr. Garnier: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the academic research into the use of conditional fees referred to in his answer of 10 November, Official Report, column 575; and what research underlay his assessment of the success rate of conditional fees. [16432]

Mr. Hoon: I was referring to the research carried out by the Policy Studies Institute. Of the 837 cases entered into by the solicitors who responded to their survey they

17 Nov 1997 : Column: 56

examined 197 cases in detail. The research was conducted between November 1996 and January 1997 and referred to agreements made no later than September 1996. PSI estimated that some 10,500 agreements had been made in a little over the first year that conditional fees were available and acknowledged that they had become an established method of funding personal injury litigation. I understand that something in the region of 1,500 agreements are now being entered into each month. By the time I spoke at the PSI conference on 23 September some 28,000 cases had been entered into. I do believe that 28,000 agreements in a little over three years is a remarkable success and I am keen that more of our citizens should have the access to justice that these agreements provide.

E-mail

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department pursuant to the answer of 10 November from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Official Report, column 441, if he will list the e-mail addresses of (a) Ministers, (b) senior officials and (c) chief executives of agencies for which he is responsible. [15877]

Mr. Hoon [holding answer 13 November 1997]: The Department and the Agencies and Associated Departments which report to the Lord Chancellor have established the following principal e-mail addresses.

LCD HQ

Enquiries: [e-mail]

Court Service

Enquiries and Chief Executive: [e-mail]

Public Trust Office

Enquiries: [e-mail]

Chief Executive: [e-mail]

Land Registry

Enquiries: [e-mail]

Chief Land Registrar: [e-mail]

Public Record Office

Enquiries: [e-mail]

Chief Executive: [e-mail]

Northern Ireland Court Service

Enquiries: [e-mail]

In addition, some of the Lord Chancellor's Departments and Agencies have established e-mail addresses for senior management and other officials and for enquiries on specific topics. Full details are available on the World Wide Web sites for each organisation.

External e-mail access to a larger number of officials is being considered as part of the development of the Government Secure Intranet.

EU Conventions

Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, pursuant to the answer of 1 July, Official Report, columns 74-76, relating to the

17 Nov 1997 : Column: 57

convention concerning serving of legal and court documents in civil and commercial matters, when and by what means this convention was ratified; what changes are required in the Rules of Court; what consultation was undertaken by Ministers with affected bodies or persons prior to the ratification; and if he will make a statement concerning future steps he expects to take in respect of this convention. [15569]

Mr. Hoon: The Convention was signed on 26 May 1997 but has not been ratified. Public consultation on the draft Convention and how it might be implemented was carried out in March and April 1997. We shall ratify the Convention once proposals for implementation are finalised. Until then it is not known what changes to Rules of Court might be required.

HEALTH

Per Capita Spending

Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the per capita spending on health services in England in the most recent year for which figures are available. [14919]

Mr. Milburn: Total gross expenditure on the National Health Service in England in 1996-97 was £706 per capita.

Speech Therapists

Dr. Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many speech therapists are currently employed within the NHS; how many vacancies exist for speech therapists within the NHS; and what steps the Government are taking to recruit more speech therapists. [14732]

Mr. Milburn: There were 3,580 whole-time equivalent speech and language therapists, excluding assistants and trainees, employed by the National Health Service Hospital and Community Health Services at 30 September 1996--the latest year for which figures are available. Information on the number of vacancies is not available centrally. The Government are ensuring that effective recruitment and retention policies are in place to make the best use of trained staff and that training levels are sufficiently high to match supply and demand.

17 Nov 1997 : Column: 58

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