| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Advanced Manufacturing Centre, Chelmsford
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what (a) Government and (b) EU funding will be made available to replace the KONVER funding of the Advanced Manufacturing Centre in Chelmsford. [61888]
Mrs. Roche [holding answer 1 December 1998]: I understand that the Advanced Manufacturing Centre has expressed confidence that they will be financially viable from the year 2000.
With regard to future EU support, the Commission has proposed that from 2000 onwards EU training support will be available through the new Objective 3 for areas such as Essex. In addition, although the KONVER II Programme finishes at the end of 1999, European Social Fund moneys can be spent until the end of June 2000 while moneys from the European Regional Development Fund can be spent until the end of 2001, provided they are committed by the end of 1999.
Electronic Commerce
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will place in the Library copies of the submissions received in response to the Government's consultation on electronic commerce. [61995]
Mrs. Roche
[holding answer 1 December 1998]: A Summary of Responses was placed in the Library when I made a statement on Secure Electronic Commerce on 27 April 1998, Official Report, columns 26-27.
7 Dec 1998 : Column: 66
Mr. Chope:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many informal meetings at which Government business was discussed he has had with (a) the Ford Motor Company, (b) Thames Water, (c) GEC, (d) British Telecom, (e) Tesco, (f) BSkyB and (g) Manpower since becoming Secretary of State. [61985]
Mr. Mandelson
[holding answer 1 December 1998]: I had a meeting with BT on 30 October, and met representatives from BT and BSkyB when they attended a meeting of the Information Age Partnerships on 19 November along with representatives of around 30 other companies involved in the Partnership. I have had no meetings with any of the other companies since becoming Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.
Yvette Cooper:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he is yet in a position to make his decision on Yorkshire CoGen Ltd's application to construct a combined heat and power generating station at Castleford in West Yorkshire. [62932]
Mr. Battle:
On Thursday 3 December 1998 I granted consent under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 to Yorkshire CoGen Ltd's application for my consent to construct a 56 MW combined heat and power generating station at the Hickson and Welch chemical works at Castleford.
I have placed a copy of the decision letter in the Library of the House.
Mr. Cotter:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what programmes TECs administer to encourage Afro-Caribbeans to go into business. [61169]
Mrs. Roche:
Business Link partnerships, in which TECs are a key partner, provide a range of high quality services to meet the needs of all established and potential businesses in their area.
The Department is working with the Business Link Network to ensure that ethnic minority businesses, including Afro-Caribbean entrepreneurs, are aware of the support available through BL partnerships and that those services are accessible and relevant.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the staff changes by grade in the Export Control Organisation since 3 May. [61930]
Mrs. Roche:
The table shows the staff by grade in the Export Control Organisation on 3 May 1998 and on 30 November 1998.
Notes:
(i) Vacancies occur at the margins from time to time due to retirements, transfers etc. Such vacancies are filled as soon as practicable.
(ii) My previous answer to the hon. Member on 6 July 1998, Official Report, columns 375-76, gave the comparison between the current DTI structure and the former, more commonly known, Civil Service grades
7 Dec 1998 : Column: 67
Tobacco
Sir Alastair Goodlad: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has made to tobacco companies about marketing practices in developing countries; and if he will make a statement. [61481]
Mr. Wilson: In the absence of any relevant international agreement, it is for individual Governments, whether in developing or developed countries, to establish their own policies on how the marketing of tobacco products in their own domestic markets should be regulated. UK tobacco companies operating in those countries must comply with these policies but I would hope that such companies would apply the highest standards of marketing practices wherever they operate.
Aerospace Research
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much his Department provided for research and development on civil aerospace in each of the last five years; and if he will make it his policy to increase the amount provided. [62373]
Mr. Battle: The information on CARAD and launch investment refers to support for civil aeronautics and excludes support to the space industry.
| £k | |
|---|---|
| 1993-94 | 23,040 |
| 1994-95 | 23,358 |
| 1995-96 | 24,538 |
| 1996-97 | 23,844 |
| 1997-98 | 24,635 |
As far as CARAD is concerned, no decisions have yet been made about detailed DTI budget allocations in future years.
7 Dec 1998 : Column: 68
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1993-94 | 0.0 |
| 1994-95 | 0.0 |
| 1995-96 | 16.4 |
| 1996-97 | 1.3 |
| 1997-98 | 50.0 |
Applications for launch investment are considered on their merits and against other competing demands on public expenditure.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1993-94 | 0.0 |
| 1994-95 | 0.0 |
| 1995-96 | 5.8 |
| 1996-97 | 2.7 |
| 1997-98 | 3.5 |
Note:
Forecast outturn for IMI in 1998-99 is £2.5 million and another £2.5 million has been committed to this programme for 1999-2000.
More broadly, EPSRC has funded £87 million (including funding for inter-disciplinary research centres and an engineering design centre) over the last five years in research related to manufacture of aircraft, spacecraft and their components. In addition, underpinning research amounting to £7.3 million currently exists for aerodynamics.
Further opportunities for support of civil aerospace research and development exist in the recently launched managed programmes on Systems Integration, Materials Processing and Integrated Design and Manufacture with annual budgets of £4.5 million, £6 million and £1.5 million respectively.
Finally, EPSRC expects to consider funding proposals arising under Defence and Aerospace Research Partnerships (DARPs), a recent initiative launched by the Defence, Aerospace and Systems Panel.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what emergency measures are in place to provide back-up for the utilities in case of computer failures caused by the millennium bug. [62202]
Mrs. Roche
[holding answer 3 December 1998]: The utilities already have contingency plans in place to deal with an emergency. They are developing additional measures to respond to any failure caused by computer date changes in the Year 2000. The Department and the Government as a whole have a number of measures to respond to an emergency.
7 Dec 1998 : Column: 69
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures he is taking to ensure that the utilities achieve millennium bug compliance by the year 2000. [62201]
Mrs. Roche:
The Department is working with all the key players to ensure that the public has confidence that there will be no disruption to key infrastructure services for which it has responsibility, as a result of the Millennium Bug.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |