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Sellafield
Ms Jenny Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer of 15 December 1998, Official Report, column 453, on Sellafield, if the relevant emergency planning officers were informed of the two shipments of mixed oxide fuel. [69765]
Mr. Battle: The relevant Home Office Chief Constables, rather than relevant Local Authority emergency planning officers, are given advance notification of such shipments. This is because it is for the police to initiate and take charge of the implementation of well rehearsed emergency plans in the unlikely event of any safety incident involving nuclear material.
Consequently, only key nuclear operations personnel, the police and appropriate security authorities need to be or are informed of such movements in advance.
Tacis Programme
Sir Sydney Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action he is taking in response to the recent representations from the Association of Consulting Engineers on the payment of invoices from United Kingdom companies under the EU Tacis Programme. [70092]
Mr. Wills: We share the concerns over the late payment of invoices from United Kingdom companies under the EU Tacis programme. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development on 10 February 1999, Official Report, columns 280-81.
Redundancy Payments
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on minimum levels of redundancy payments. [68906]
Mr. Ian McCartney: Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, an employer is obliged to pay only the statutory minimum redundancy payment to employees. This is based on age, length of service and rate of pay and is subject to a maximum (currently £220 per week).
The amount of any redundancy payment over and above the statutory minimum is a matter between the employer and the employees, or their representatives. However, the Government hope that employees would adopt a consistent approach when determining redundancy payments regardless of where the employees are situated.
11 Feb 1999 : Column: 410
Mr. Dafis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will propose the establishment of common environmental standards among the G8 nations in respect of these countries' export credit agencies. [69525]
Mr. Wilson:
At their meeting in May 1998, G8 Foreign Ministers concluded, inter alia, that
Mr. Dafis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the export credits guarantees and insurance agreements reached with British firms in each year since 1995-96. [69578]
Mr. Wilson:
The Export Credits Guarantee Department has issued 653 guarantees in support of exports of capital goods and services since 1995-96 as follows:-
"building on efforts in the OECD on taking environmental factors into account when providing official export credits, we encourage further work by the OECD to this end and ask for a report back next year".
The UK will continue to support the OECD initiative, including through the 1999 G8 process.
| Date | Number |
|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 171 |
| 1996-97 | 162 |
| 1997-98 | 199 |
| 1998-99(28) | 121 |
(28) to 31 December
Details of many of these guarantees can be found in ECGD's Annual Report and Trading Accounts for each of the years in question, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House.
ECGD does not report individual guarantees without consent of the firms concerned and, in view of the number of guarantees involved, disproportionate cost would be involved in obtaining this.
Mr. Dafis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what environmental and sustainable development safeguards are employed in granting export credit guarantees and insurance to British exporters; if he will place the relevant documents in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [69523]
Mr. Wilson:
Consistent with the Government's policy on the environment, the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) is supporting multilateral moves in
11 Feb 1999 : Column: 411
the OECD to establish common principles, to be adopted by Export Credit Agencies, to take account of environmental factors in export credits.
ECGD takes account of environmental factors, particularly in its assessment of large project finance cases, and is undertaking further work, in consultation with environmental consultants and its customers, to determine the best means of further enhancing its policy and procedures, and of raising the awareness of UK exporters, investors and overseas buyers on its approach to environmental issues. Relevant documents will be placed in the Library of the House when this process is complete.
It would be premature for me to make a statement at this point in time.
Mr. Dafis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what environmental and social impact studies have been required by the Export Credit Guarantee Department in respect of the granting of export credit insurance to Balfour Beatty arising from that company's involvement in the Ilisu Dam project in Turkey. [69524]
Mr. Wilson:
ECGD is working with a number of other Export Credit agencies (ECAs) on this project.
The Swiss ECA (ERG) supporting the Swiss led contracting consortium for the Ilisu Hydro Electric project, commissioned an expert review of the full Environmental Impact Assessment study produced by Hydro Concepts Engineering, Switzerland in March 1998. This review was made available to the other participating ECAs, including ECGD, in July 1998. ECAs have held a number of discussions on the environmental aspects, including the social impact, of the project as well as the monitoring arrangements during construction.
Mr. Stevenson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action the Government are proposing to help those bodies which are having to wait for payment of European Union structural funds grants due to delays in receiving some of the funds from Europe. [71251]
Mr. Wills:
The reform that I can announce is good news, particularly for charities, small businesses, local authorities and other bodies implementing projects vital to local communities. They have previously had to wait months or even longer to receive the final instalment of funding, even though their projects have been completed.
From now on the Government will pay all Structural Funds claims that have been properly prepared once they have undergone appropriate checks and processing, even where the Funds have not yet been received from the European Commission.
The Government have been well aware of the difficulties these delays are causing and their impact on local partners implementing Structural Funds projects. That is why we are taking action to protect them.
11 Feb 1999 : Column: 412
Dr. Starkey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made on the launch of the Science Enterprise Challenge. [71252]
Mr. Byers:
I am launching the Science Enterprise Challenge today. This meets one of our key commitments in the recent White Paper to further strengthen exploitation of the science base. This £25 million Challenge is open to UK universities, to compete for funds to endow up to eight new Science Enterprise Centres. Centres will bring the teaching of entrepreneurship and business skills into the science curriculum and be centres of excellence for the knowledge transfer process.
The Challenge is in two stages; applicants are invited to submit an outline business plan for Stage 1 by 14 April. Those who succeed in Stage 1 will be invited to submit a more detailed business plan in Stage 2. I hope to announce winners in the summer. The lead applicant must be a university. However collaborative bids can include, for example, other higher educational institutions. Copies of the Guidelines for Stage 1 have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Mr. Ian Stewart:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement about the external financing limit of British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. for 1998-99. [71253]
Mr. Byers:
BNFL's External Financing Limit has been tightened by £115.5 million from £178.91 million to £63.41 million. This reflects adjustments in the profile of payments from the UKAEA to BNFL for decommissioning and waste management of UKAEA liabilities at BNFL sites, and correction of historical imbalances between the relative shares the parties pay to Nirex. Provision for UKAEA expenditure has been increased accordingly in the Spring Supplementary Estimate for Class V Vote 1. The adjustments do not require any increase in public expenditure.
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