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Minimum Wage
25. Mr. Plaskitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations he has received on the national minimum wage. [65215]
Mr. Ian McCartney: The Government have received a number of recent representations on the national minimum wage, both in response to its consultation on draft national minimum wage regulations and through general correspondence.
27. Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list those groups which he plans to exempt from the provisions relating to the minimum wage. [65219]
Mr. Ian McCartney: We have always made it clear that the national minimum wage should have the maximum possible application. The draft minimum wage regulations, upon which we consulted in autumn 1998, provided for the exemption of 16 and 17-year-olds, apprentices under the age of 26 in the first year of their apprenticeship and apprentices aged 18 in any year of their apprenticeship. We have given careful consideration to the responses we received during the consultation exercise and revised regulations will shortly be laid before Parliament.
Sub-post Offices
26. Mrs. Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the future of the sub-post office network. [65216]
Mr. Ian McCartney: The Government remain firmly committed to a network of post offices throughout the country in which sub-post offices will continue to be the key element alongside a core of Post Office owned and managed Crown offices.
Competitiveness White Paper
29. Ms Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received on the Competitiveness White Paper. [65221]
Mr. Byers:
My Department has received numerous representations from business and private individuals welcoming the wide-ranging programme to promote business competitiveness set out in the Competitiveness White Paper.
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30. Mr. Robathan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to make an official visit to (a) Brazil and (b) the USA in the next year. [65222]
Mr. Wilson:
Proposals for overseas visits by the new Secretary of State, including Brazil, are still under discussion. There are provisional plans for the Secretary of State to visit the US in the Spring of 1999. The visit would be part of a continuing programme, building on the good working relationship we have with many American companies for the strategic alliances and joint ventures.
31. Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proposals he has to improve the competitiveness of British high-tech industry. [65223]
Mr. Byers:
The Government set out their agenda for helping to improve the competitiveness of the whole of British industry in the recently published White Paper "Our Competitive Future: Building the Knowledge Driven Economy". In the White Paper, we also recognised the need to look to the future, to those high-tech industries that have strong growth potential. This is why for example, as part of the Enterprise Fund announced in the White Paper, we are working with major financial institutions to set out a national venture capital fund to support very early-stage, high technology businesses. It is also why the Government in partnership with the Wellcome Trust will spend an additional £1.4 billion to modernise the science and engineering base and help fund leading edge research projects.
32. Mr. Fisher:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received from business leaders in the last month on the level of UK interest rates. [65224]
Mr. Byers:
Ministers regularly receive representations from business leaders on many aspects of economic performance, including the level of interest rates. Frequently we are told that one of the most important things the Government can do for business is to deliver economic stability. The Government have taken tough and decisive action to secure that much needed stability, including giving independence to the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England over interest rates. We shall support the Monetary Policy Committee in the difficult decisions they have to make.
Ms Blears:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action he will take to ensure that postal service users pay an affordable, uniform price for services wherever they use the service in the UK. [65196]
Mr. Ian McCartney:
As my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry made clear in his Statement to this House on 7 December 1998 on the future of the Post Office, the Government remain committed to the Post Office being subject to a universal
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service obligation. A uniform public tariff across the UK, regardless of delivery distance, will be maintained for those activities that fall within this obligation.
Mr. Boswell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will specify the procedures for recovery of losses incurred by BNFL on nuclear reprocessing contracts in the UK in the process of cancellation by German interests (a) under contract and (b) under inter-governmental agreements; if he will specify the amount of such losses; and if he will make a statement. [66836]
Mr. Byers:
My hon. Friend the Minister for Energy and Industry and I met the German Environment Minister, Juergen Trittin, on 20 January to discuss BNFL's reprocessing contracts with Germany.
We made clear to Mr. Trittin that the decision to phase out nuclear power was a matter for Germany herself to decide.
But we also stressed that the costs of that decision should not be borne by BNFL which had entered into legally binding contracts in good faith. It would be wrong for the company to suffer financially from a change in German policy over which they had no control. We also emphasised the point that the contracts would be determined under English law. BNFL are firmly of the view that the German utilities are under a clear contractual obligation.
We also made it clear that, if the 650 tonnes of German spent fuel in store at Sellafield were not to be reprocessed, then it would have to be returned to Germany. The UK will not act as a permanent storage depot for nuclear material. We were pleased to announce that Mr. Trittin agreed that a joint working group of UK and German officials be established to work out the practical details of returning the German material should this prove to be necessary.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to the letter of 7 October 1998 from the Minister for Science to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, what response he has had from OST to his request about taking forward specific projects recommended by Sir Gareth Roberts's report on researchers. [65408]
Mr. Battle:
The Office of Science and Technology has been principally involved in work to restructure the membership of the Research Careers Initiative, as recommended in the report. It has also had informal discussions with a number of organisations, in particular to take forward the report's recommendations relating to provision of career guidance and training for researchers. I understand that a new RCI steering group will be meeting in the next few weeks to consider more specific actions.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to the letter of 11 November (td-235-11) from the Minister for Energy and Industry to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, what progress he has
21 Jan 1999 : Column: 548
made in considering air products refrigeration systems using air as the coolant as an alternative to CFCs and other ozone-depleting refrigerants. [65407]
Mr. Battle:
My officials have contacted Air Products Europe Inc. to obtain further information about the Closed Cycle Air Refrigeration (CCAR) system. Their response suggests that the current technology is not yet an economic proposition for domestic refrigeration, but has potential for specialised industrial and buildings applications such as large food storage facilities. The promotion of air cycle refrigeration is being addressed by 2 special interest groups set up with MAFF assistance at the Food Refrigeration and Process Engineering Research Centre at Bristol University, which has received UK and EU funding. Air Products have been in contact with the Centre and have given a presentation on the CCAR system.
Mr. Kirkwood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to review the regulations covering safety standards for domestic gas appliances. [65331]
Mr. Battle:
The safety of new domestic gas appliances is controlled by the Gas Appliances (Safety) Regulations 1995, ("the Regulations") which implement into UK law the European Council's Gas Appliances Directive.
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