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Nursery Provision
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will estimate the annual cost of providing nursery provision in Wales for all three year olds whose parents want it, over and above the cost of the Government meeting its own target in this respect. [70246]
Mr. Hain: Over half of three year olds in Wales receive free, at least part-time, education in the maintained sector. This provision is at the discretion of individual local authorities and is funded from their available resources, essentially the annual local government revenue settlement.
The question of provision for all three year olds will be a matter for the National Assembly.
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BSkyB/Manchester United
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which papers relating to BSkyB's takeover of Manchester United that were brought to his predecessor's attention and details of the meetings he attended with either BSkyB or Manchester United management will be published. [65643]
Mr. Byers [holding answer 14 January 1999]: My predecessor saw relevant papers. The policy of successive Secretaries of State has been not to hold meetings with interested parties on merger cases while matters are under consideration by the Director General of Fair Trading or the Secretary of State. My predecessor did not attend any meetings with either BSkyB or Manchester United management.
Export Licences
Mr. Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will list the export licences granted to Alvis Vehicles Limited or Alvis subsidiary companies for the export of Saracen and Saladin armoured vehicles to Indonesia; [68327]
- (2) if he will list the export licences granted to Alvis for the transfer of ammunition, machine guns and larger calibre guns to Indonesia since 1988. [68328]
Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will list the (a) open individual export licences which have been given to Alvis for the export of armoured vehicles to (i) Indonesia, (ii) Kenya, (iii) Belarus, (iv) Colombia, (v) Turkey, (vi) Sri Lanka, (vii) Malaysia, (viii) Singapore and (ix) Nigeria and (b) equipment that has been exported under such licences, since 1988; [68779]
- (2) if he will list the export licences granted to (a) Alvis and (b) GKL Group for the transfer of (i) ammunition, (ii) machine guns and (iii) larger calibre guns to Indonesia since 1988; [68782]
(3) if he will list the licences granted for (a) Alvis and (b) GKL Group for the export of (i) armoured vehicles, (ii) components and (iii) weapons to Singapore since 1988; [68781]
(4) if he will list the licences granted to Alvis Vehicles Ltd. or Alvis's subsidiary companies for (a) the export of Saracen and Saladin armoured vehicles and (b) the supply of upgrade packages for Saracen and Saladin armoured vehicles to Indonesia since 1988. [68792]
Dr. Howells: Inquiries are being made under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. Where confidential information is involved, the parties concerned may be asked if they consent to its disclosure, and this can take some time. I will write to my hon. Friends as soon as possible, and place a copy of that letter in the Library of the House.
Intellectual Property Rights
Mr. Levitt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the impact of the proposed EC copyright directive on rights of intellectual property in this country. [70112]
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Dr. Howells
[holding answer 9 February 1999]: The draft copyright Directive seeks to harmonise basic rights and exceptions to rights, and to implement a number of international obligations resulting from two new treaties in the copyright field (World Intellectual Property Organisation). United Kingdom copyright law, the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, already meets most of the requirements of the draft Directive and the new treaties, but some amendments will be needed. In particular, changes to UK law would be necessary to comply with the regime of compulsory and permitted exceptions in Article 5 of the Directive. Amendments would also be needed to give performers exclusive rights to control "on-demand" transmissions of recordings of their performances, to cater for the fact that protection of technical systems in Article 6 extends beyond what is currently provided in UK law, and to provide for the protection of electronic rights management information as set out in Article 7 of the draft Directive.
Mr. Wigley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will introduce legislation to protect consumers from unduly-aggressive doorstep sales techniques on behalf of utilities companies following deregulation of the domestic electricity and gas markets. [69676]
Dr. Howells:
Misleading and over-aggressive doorstep selling practices are unacceptable. In relation to the gas and electricity markets, I have made my concerns clear to the Regulators and the industry on numerous occasions. In both sectors licence conditions have been put in place to help regulate the doorstep selling and marketing activities of gas and electricity suppliers. Also, the Association of Energy Suppliers have modified their code of practice so that members' sales representatives calling on the doorstep provide to consumers, on request, clear written information in relation to prices.
In addition, I have recently strengthened the Regulations governing doorstep selling, to improve the protection for vulnerable consumers. The amended Regulations came into force on 31 December 1998.
These give consumers greater protection because consumers who agree to a trader visiting following an unsolicited doorstep selling approach retain the right to cancel the contract within seven days. In addition, it is now a criminal offence for a trader not to give the consumer written notice of their right to cancel, (subject to exceptions, including where the agreement is cancellable under the Consumer Credit Act 1974).
I will shortly launch an information campaign informing consumers of their rights and warning them about the practices of unscrupulous doorstep sellers.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the value of the order for arms exports is recorded at the time when licences are applied for; and if the value is shown on the licences. [70146]
Dr. Howells:
Applicants for standard individual export licences are required to record on the application form the value of the goods for which a licence is sought; this information is recorded on ECO's computer databases.
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However, where a licence is issued, the value of the goods covered by that licence may be less than the value of the goods covered by the original application. Exporters sometimes mistakenly apply for a licence to export goods for which no licence is required. In addition, goods are sometimes withdrawn from the coverage of an application during the licensing process, for example at the exporter's request or the value may change during the time taken to process the application because of changes in exchange rates. However, as it would in any case be misleading (because some licences are used only in part or not at all), the value of the goods licensed for export by each individual licence is not recorded on ECO's computer databases, although it is shown on the licence itself. HMC&E is responsible for the compilation of statistics on UK trade in goods.
Open licences allow the exporters concerned to make multiple shipments of the specified goods to the specified destinations in accordance with the licence conditions. While such licences do not normally impose any limit on the volume of exports that may be made under the licence, exporters are required as a condition of the licence to maintain records of all controlled exports for a minimum of three or four years depending on the goods. While these records may be examined by compliance officers in the course of routine compliance visits, the Export Control Organisation does not compile any central record.
Mr. McNamara:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list (a) the 10 companies which exported most, by volume, from Great Britain to the Republic of Ireland and (b) the 10 companies which exported most, by volume, from the Republic of Ireland to Great Britain, in the last financial year for which figures are available. [69709]
Mr. Wilson:
The information requested is not available from any official sources. It is unlikely to be available from any other source.
Mr. Redwood:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the impact on industrial costs resulting from (a) a 1 per cent. revaluation of the pound and (b) a 1 per cent. increase in interest rates. [69812]
Mr. Byers:
The tough and decisive action taken by the Government on macroeconomic policy, including giving the Bank of England independence, will bring benefits to industry through long-term stability, in sharp contrast to the damaging cycle of boom and bust that cost industry so dear under the last Government.
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