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Lackenby Picton Electricity Line
Dr. Kumar: To ask the President of the Board of Trade when she will announce her decision on the planning application for the Lackenby Picton overhead electricity transmission line. [24512]
Mr. Battle: My right hon. Friend will reach her decision as soon as she properly and practically can.
Debt (Late Payment)
Mr. Paice: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action she is taking to ensure that the Government pay interest on debts outstanding for more than 30 days. [25073]
Mrs. Roche
[holding answer 23 January 1998]: It is important that Central Government lead by example in creating a better payment culture. Government
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Departments and their agencies are obliged to pay all valid invoices within 30 days or other agreed credit terms and are required to publish their payment performance in their annual or departmental reports.
The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Bill, which was introduced in the other place on 10 December 1997, will provide suppliers with a statutory right to claim interest on late payments of commercial debts. The Government's commercial debts will be subject to the legislation.
Mr. Boswell:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade when she will complete the current review of utility regulation; and what plans she has to publish its conclusions. [24323]
Mrs. Beckett
[holding answer 21 January 1998]: I hope to be in a position to publish the conclusions of the review of utility regulation in the near future. Following publication there will be a period of consultation during which all interested parties will have the opportunity to submit representations on any proposals for change.
Mr. Bercow:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if those young unemployed people who take up the Welfare-to-Work employer option will be paid the full national minimum wage. [23089]
Mr. Ian McCartney:
It is expected that New Deal employees will receive the normal rates paid to comparable employees of the company.
We have asked the Low Pay Commission to consider separately the issue of lower rates or exemptions from the National Minimum Wage for all those aged 16 to 25; New Deal participants would be included within this age band.
Mr. Boswell:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimate she has made of the likely impact on total coal-burn in the United Kingdom of the new emissions standard which will operate by 2001. [25485]
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Mr. Battle:
The Environment Agency has issued a consultation document setting out proposals for new sulphur dioxide targets. My Department is considering these.
Sir Brian Mawhinney:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade when the right hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire can expect an answer to his letter to her of 28 October on behalf of his constituent Mrs. Tomayan. [25285]
Mrs. Beckett:
A reply to the right hon. Member's letter was sent on 23 January 1998, after a delay caused primarily by reprinting of brochures.
Mr. Sutcliffe:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many reinstatements have been awarded by industrial tribunals in cases of unfair dismissal in the past five years (a) nationally and (b) on a regional basis. [24504]
Mr. Ian McCartney:
I have consulted the Chief Executive of the Employment Tribunals Service who tells me that the number of reinstatements ordered by the Industrial Tribunals in the last four years in unfair dismissal cases are as detailed in table 1. Table 2 shows the figures for England and Wales broken down by the tribunal regional office.
| Year | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | 1996-97 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of reinstatements | ||||
| in England and Wales | 14.00 | 24.00 | 21.00 | 29.00 |
| in Scotland | 5.00 | 17.00 | 4.00 | 2.00 |
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| Office | Birmingham | Bristol and Exeter | Bury St. Edmunds and Bedford | Cardiff and Shrewsbury | Leeds and Sheffield | London North | London South (including Ashford) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of reinstatements | |||||||
| 1993-94 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| 1994-95 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 2.00 |
| 1995-96 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.00 | 1.00 |
| 1996-97 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | 7.00 | 5.00 | 1.00 |
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Mr. Redwood:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will make a statement on the role of Her Majesty's Treasury in negotiating a recent agreement between a mining company and a generator; and on what previous occasions the Treasury has negotiated similar agreements. [24767]
Mrs. Beckett:
Government have worked closely as a team on coal industry matters in recent months and the Paymaster General was able to help in facilitating discussions between the parties concerned. Ministers have acted as facilitators not negotiators.
Freedom of Information
Mr. Alan Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will include in his proposed Freedom of Information Bill a provision to make available to public scrutiny all public access agreements to land and buildings issued since 1975 under the conditional exemption scheme. [23517]
Dr. David Clark: As explained in the White Paper "Your Right to Know", the proposed Freedom of Information Act will contain provision for access to official information generally. It will not list particular types of information. The information that my hon. Friend refers to will be within the scope of the Act. Its disclosure would depend, as for all information, (a) on decisions on the continuation of any relevant statutory prohibitions to disclosure and (b) on the substantial harm and public interest tests integral to the Act's access provisions.
2 Marsham Street (Demolition)
Mr. Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when demolition of 2 Marsham Street will commence. [24782]
Mr. Kilfoyle: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated under the terms of the Framework Document to Property Advisers to the Civil Estate. I have asked its Chief Executive, Mr. John Locke, to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from John C. Locke to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated 26 Janaury 1998:
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I have been asked by the Parliamentary Secretary, Office of Public Service, to reply to your Question on the demolition of No. 2 Marsham Street because Property Advisers to the Civil Estate have responsibility for the building.
2 Marsham Street is occupied by the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions. The Department is due to vacate the building in the Spring of 1998. Property Advisers to the Civil Estate are the owners of the building and advertised the demolition contract on 15 December in the Official Journal of the European Community. They expect to be in a position to let the demolition contract by 1 July 1998, provided that such a course represents best value for money at that time.
No. 11 Downing Street (Refurbishment)
Mr. Forth: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the most recent refurbishments of the living accommodation at No. 11 Downing Street; what was its total cost; when it was carried out; what was the tendering process; if he will list the companies to which contracts were awarded; and what was the country of origin of fixtures and fittings. [22024]
The Prime Minister: The repairs and refurbishment of No. 11 Downing Street are part of a continuing programme of work to Nos. 10 and 11, covering the domestic accommodation, the offices and the public rooms. Both buildings are Grade 1 listed and, given their historic role, have to be kept at standards appropriate to such buildings, as laid down by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, in consultation with Westminster City Council and English Heritage as appropriate.
Over the past five years, the total expenditure on No. 10 and No. 11 combined has been respectively £118,000 in 1993-94; £108,000 in 1994-95; £381,000 in 1995-96; £190,000 in 1996-97; and £126,000 in 1997-98. Over this period £155,000 has been spent on the flat in No. 10 and £105,000 on the flat in No. 11. This has included the reconstruction of kitchens in No. 10 and No. 11, redecoration of parts of the flats as part of the rolling programme of refurbishment, rewiring, scaffolding costs, the cost of removing debris, and additional security costs. Both work schedules have been designed to refurbish parts of Nos. 10 and 11, some of which had remained untouched for over 30 years, and in the case of No. 11 to accommodate the fact that previously unused rooms are now used as family bedrooms.
In every case proper tendering procedures were followed. For security reasons it has not been the practice to name companies who work in Downing Street, but there has been no recent change to the existing list of approved contractors employed on the accommodation work in Nos. 10 and 11.
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