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Companies House
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his estimate of the increased income which will accrue to Companies House in 1999-2000 as a result of proposed changes to the level of fees to take effect on 1 March 1999. [67913]
Dr. Howells [holding answer 26 January 1999]: The increased income expected in 1999-2000 as a result of proposed changes to fees from 1 March 1999 is approximately £2 million. This figure includes both the direct effect of changed fees and the forecast impact on sales revenue as volumes adjust to changed fees and other market-place parameters.
End-of-life Vehicles
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what is his Department's current estimate of the cost of implementation of the draft EC Directive on end-of-life vehicles; [67341]
- (2) if he will publish the results of the consultation exercise by his Department to assess the implications of the draft EC Directive on end-of-life vehicles. [67342]
Dr. Howells:
The Government estimate that the cost of implementing this Directive will be £312 million per annum in 2005 and £388 million per annum in 2015. My Department submitted an Explanatory Memorandum and Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) on the Directive to the European Scrutiny Committee in December 1998, and the RIA was then updated in January 1999. These documents summarise the results of our consultation exercise and give further details on the costs and benefits of this Directive. Copies of the Explanatory Memorandum and the RIA are available from the Vote Office, and copies of the updated RIA have been placed in the Library of the House.
27 Jan 1999 : Column: 282
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the effect of the End of Vehicle Life directive on vintage and classic cars; what is his Department's current cost compliance assessment; what voting arrangements apply to the directive; and if he will make a statement. [67392]
Dr. Howells:
Vintage and classic vehicles will only be affected by this Directive if they become 'waste' as defined under existing legislation--in other words, when the owners have decided to discard them. My Department submitted an Explanatory Memorandum and Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) on this Directive to the European Scrutiny Committee in December 1998, and the RIA was then updated in January 1999. Copies of the Explanatory Memorandum and RIA are available from the Vote Office, and copies of the updated RIA have been placed in the Libraries of the House. This Directive is a qualified majority voting Directive made under Article 130s(1) of the Treaty of Rome. It has still to be finalised and decisions on the Council's Common Position are not expected until the next Environment Council in March.
Mr. Laurence Robertson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he plans to implement the European Union Directive on End-of-Life Vehicles; and if he will make a statement. [67154]
Dr. Howells
[holding answer 26 January 1999]: This Directive has still to be finalised. Decisions on the Council's Common Position will not be taken until the next Environment Council in March, and the Directive is not presently expected to come into force until the year 2000. We would then envisage that Member States would be given an appropriate period in which to implement the Directive.
Ms Harman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of (a) chairmen and (b) wing members of industrial tribunals are women. [67742]
Mr. Ian McCartney:
The Employment Rights (Dispute Resolution) Act 1998 renamed industrial tribunals as employment tribunals from 1 August 1998.
The current percentage of women who are (a) employment tribunal chairmen (including the Presidents) is 15.4 per cent. and (b) lay members is 29.5 per cent.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the future of British aviation. [66930]
Mr. Battle:
The Prime Minister's statement with the Heads of Government of France and Germany of December 1997 made it clear that there is an urgent need to restructure the aerospace and defence industries in Europe, if our companies are to continue to compete successfully in world markets. That remains the case. However, as Ministers have made clear, it is for industry to make specific restructuring proposals.
Any proposed merger would be considered by the relevant competition authorities. Each case would be considered on its own merits.
27 Jan 1999 : Column: 283
Mr. Gordon Marsden:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of loans under the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme have been in the leisure, hospitality and tourism sectors; and what is the total value of such loans. [67400]
Mr. Wills:
Loans under the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme are recorded under the Central Statistical Office's Standard Industrial Classification of economic activities. Leisure, hospitality and tourism are not recognised as separate sectors within this classification.
Businesses in these areas are distributed within a range of industrial sectors and a manual collection of the data would incur disproportionate costs.
Mr. Alasdair Morgan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the percentage of electrical goods currently on sale in the United Kingdom which are not millennium compliant; what steps he is taking to ensure that goods which are not millennium compliant are clearly marked as such; and if he will make a statement. [66645]
Mr. Wills
[holding answer 20 January 1999]: Only a small percentage of electrical goods on sale in the United Kingdom depend on date changes to function correctly. The 'Millennium Bug Homecheck!' brochure available from Action 2000 and major high street retailers contains a list of domestic electrical and transport equipment not affected by the date change and a list of those which are, mainly home computers, video recorders, burglar alarms, fax machines, digital cameras, answerphones, camcorders, videophones and watches. The Government have sought to make sure that suppliers of electrical goods are fully aware of their responsibilities for ensuring compliance of any such goods on sale that are affected by the date change. Many of the large retailers have tested their electrical goods and given written guarantees that they are millennium compliant.
The application of false or misleading statements to products is a criminal offence under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968. Any goods falsely described as millennium compliant would be subject to controls which already exist.
Mr. Redwood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will give details of the proportion of EU structural funding proposed for rural areas under the European guidelines on regional aid published in March 1998. [66142]
Mr. Byers
[holding answer 18 January 1999]: The Commission's draft regulation for the Structural and Cohesion Funds for post 1999 propose that rural areas could be eligible for funding under Objectives 1, 2 and 3. There is also a proposal for a Community Initiative for rural development. There are no details of proportions of funding available to rural or any other areas at a national level.
27 Jan 1999 : Column: 284
The Guidelines on Regional Aid, published by the Commission in March 1998, cover the review of Assisted Areas which is the subject of a separate exercise. No decisions have been yet made on areas which might be eligible after 1 January 2000.
Mr. Bob Russell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he plans to take to regulate the unsolicited sending of facsimile messages. [67456]
Mr. Wills:
Further to my predecessor's written answer on 16 November 1998, Official Report, column 434, the Government laid the Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) (Direct Marketing) Regulations 1998 before Parliament on 17 December 1998. These Regulations will come into force on 1 May 1999.
The Regulations will prohibit the sending of unsolicited direct marketing faxes to private individuals and sole traders in the UK, as well as to partnerships in England and Wales. The Regulations also establish an "opt-out" scheme for corporate subscribers who do not wish to receive such faxes. The Office of Telecommunications (OFTEL) is responsible for setting up the opt-out scheme. Details of how to register will be publicised in due course.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response Her Majesty's Government gave to the letter of the Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs of 27 October 1998 asking for clarification of his comments, made on 23 October, to the effect that Her Majesty's Government had independent evidence that the Al Shifa factory in Khartoum was making chemical or biological weapons before the United States air strike. [67623]
Mr. Fatchett:
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary did not make the comments to which my hon. Friend refers.
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