---

Cigarette Lighters

Mr. Bruce George: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what assessment he has made of the assistance which the introduction of a requirement for cigarette lighters to bear the identity of the manufacturer or importer would provide to the work of trading standards officers; and if he will make a statement; [70804]

(2) what representations he has received from (a) trading standards officers and (b) the BSI on introducing a requirement for the identity of the manufacturer or importer to be marked on each cigarette lighter; and if he will make a statement. [70790]

Dr. Howells: Apart from the recent correspondence from my hon. Friend and concerns raised by European lighter manufacturers about imported lighters, I have not received any recent representations from trading standards officers or the British Standards Institution about introducing a requirement for the identity of the manufacturer or importer to be marked on cigarette lighters. However, a requirement to provide for such traceability will be included in the revised European and international standard for lighters (BS EN ISO 9994). I believe that this requirement will help enforcement, although I have not made a formal assessment of this.

Fireworks

Mr. Nigel Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will estimate the number of people injured by fireworks in 1998; and if he will make a statement. [71065]

Dr. Howells: DTI is still collating the firework injury data and I do not believe that we should speculate when we are so close to having the final figures. I expect the detailed statistics to be available shortly and I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as they have been verified.

Foreign Inward Investment

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will provide data on foreign direct investment in the United Kingdom for each of the last 20 years, broken down into, (a) the stocks and flows of inward investment for each year, (b) the percentage

22 Feb 1999 : Column: 90

of foreign direct investment in mergers and acquisitions for each year, (c) the percentage of the labour force employed in foreign direct investment for each year, (d) the contribution of foreign direct investment to United Kingdom tax revenues for each year, (e) the total subsidies given to foreign investors for each year and (f) the total royalties paid to abroad by the United Kingdom on foreign direct investment for each year. [71561]

Mr. Wills: Available information is given in the tables. No official data are collected for tax revenues from foreign enterprises or total royalties paid to abroad by the UK on FDI.

(a) Table 1 shows the stocks and flows of foreign direct investment into the UK each year from 1978 until 1997, the latest year available. FDI covers not only the acquisition of fixed assets, stock building and stock appreciation but all other financial transactions, such as additions to, or payments of, working capital, other loans and credit, and acquisitions of securities. The figures cover transactions where the investor's purpose is to have an effective voice in the company, taken to be equivalent to a holding of 20 per cent. or more (10 per cent. in the 1997 figures). Stock figures are recorded at the end of the stated period. They are not cumulative totals of investment flows, but also take account of goodwill write-offs, revaluation of assets and exchange rate fluctuations.

Table 1: Foreign direct investment in the UK

		£ million
Year	Stocks	Flows
1978	11,098	1,261
1979	--	1,740
1980	--	2,541
1981	16,962	980
1982	--	1,137
1983	--	2,063
1984	38,484	-245
1985	--	4,417
1986	--	5,645
1987	58,430	8,986
1988	71,652	11,562
1989	93,554	17,405
1990	105,760	17,155
1991	111,373	8,418
1992	114,409	8,816
1993	121,005	9,871
1994	121,336	6,046
1995	128,885	12,654
1996	134,654	15,662
1997	156,969	21,751

Note:

Figures for stocks of FDI were collected only triennially before 1987.

Source:

Office for National Statistics

(b) Table 2 shows the percentage of FDI flows into the UK represented by mergers and acquisitions of companies. The value of acquisitions is the sum of the value of transactions where the foreign business takes their percentage share of the relevant UK target to over 50 per cent. Figures are available only from 1986.

22 Feb 1999 : Column: 91

Table 2: Percentage of FDI represented by acquisitions and mergers

Year	Percentage
1986	21
1987	26
1988	23
1989	62
1990	58
1991	51
1992	38
1993	42
1994	74
1995	88
1996	41
1997	53

Source:

Office for National Statistics

(c) Figures for the percentage of the labour force employed in foreign enterprises are available only for the manufacturing sector. This sector represents between 20 and 25 per cent. of total employees over the years shown. Comparable figures are not available for earlier years. In Table 3 foreign enterprises are defined as those controlled by companies incorporated overseas; this is different from the definition used in Table 1, where figures include all transactions where the investor's purpose is to have an effective voice in the company, taken to be equivalent to a holding of 20 per cent. or more.

Table 3: Percentage of employees in the manufacturing industry employed by foreign enterprises

Year	Percentage
1983	14.5
1984	14.8
1985	14.0
1986	13.0
1987	13.4
1988	13.1
1989	14.9
1990	16.1
1991	17.2
1992	18.1
1993	17.9
1994	18.6
1995	17.2

Source:

Office for National Statistics

(e) Table 4 shows offers of grant accepted by foreign owned businesses in GB under Regional Selective Assistance (RSA), the DTI's main investment grant scheme, in each of the last ten years. Figures for earlier years are not available:

Table 4

	£ million
Year	Grant
1989	141
1990	166
1991	79
1992	85
1993	157
1994	155
1995	133
1996	170
1997	364
1998	167

Source:

DTI

22 Feb 1999 : Column: 92

Dormant Companies

Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what changes have been made to the CHN21, Dormant Company Accounts booklet to ensure that directors of dormant companies are made aware of the DCA forms. [71136]

Dr. Howells [holding answer 15 February 1999]: A new version of CHN 21 is currently being printed. It makes reference to the availability of a form DCA for dormant companies that have not traded since incorporation. This is not a statutorily prescribed form. It is offered as a helpful aid for dormant companies and its use is entirely optional.

Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what publicity has been arranged for the Dormant Company Accounts form relating to the submission of annual accounts by dormant companies. [71135]

Dr. Howells [holding answer 15 February 1999]: The availability of the Dormant Company Accounts form was communicated via the Companies House Magazine for customers, "The Register". This is widely read by professional presenters, who submit accounts to the Agency on behalf of companies. It has also been publicised via Companies House User Groups and at their Road Shows. Companies House cannot readily target individual dormant company directors. The Companies House publicity budget does not allow it to do more than publicise the most important issues in national media and mail drops.

Departmental Staff

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he has taken to relocate staff in (a) his Department and (b) the agencies for which he is responsible to the regions of the United Kingdom with the highest levels of unemployment; and what plans he has further to decentralise the location of his Department and its agencies. [70458]

Mr. Byers [holding answer 15 February 1999]: The Department has 46 per cent. of its staff located outside London. This includes the Patent Office and Companies House, which relocated from London to Wales, a strong presence in the Government Offices for the Regions and the regional networks of the Insolvency Service, Employment Tribunals Service and Radiocommunications Agency. There has been no major decentralisation in recent years. The scope for further relocation is limited by operational requirements.

---