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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Professional Statisticians
Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many staff by grade are employed as professional statisticians in his Department; how many of these staff have been accepted as fast stream by the Civil Service Selection Board; and how many have been granted chartered statistician status by the Royal Statistical Society. [81193]
Mr. Byers: Statistical work is undertaken by a range of specialisms such as Research Officers, Social Survey Officers and Economists. Within this Department there are 1 :
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Three of our "professional" Statisticians have been granted Chartered Statistician Status by the Royal Statistical Society.
Mr. Chope:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the assisted areas map was submitted to the European Commission; and if he will make a statement. [80589]
Mr. Wills:
[holding answer 13 April 1999]: Further to the reply I gave the hon. Member and the hon. Member for Torbay (Mr. Sanders) on 16 April 1999, Official Report, column 367, proposals for the assisted areas map have not yet been sent to the Commission. The Government are considering the proposals they will make. They will submit these as soon as it is ready to do so.
Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what were the results of his Department's August 1998 consultation exercise on the criteria to be applied in the designation of Objective 2 areas. [81914]
Mr. Wills:
As part of the on-going consultation process throughout the Structural Fund negotiations, the Government asked regions and local areas informally, in July 1998, for an indication of their priorities for Objective 2 eligibility. Over fifty local and regional partnership organisations provided information, as well as national bodies and interested Departments.
Two broad conclusions emerged from the responses to the consultation exercise. First, for areas of real need to be targeted, the provisions covering Objective 2 in the Structural Funds regulation must be sufficiently flexible to encompass a wide variety of circumstances. Secondly, there was a degree of similarity in the broad priorities put forward, including employment and labour market measures, the degree of social cohesion, geographical issues, and measures of poverty.
Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry by what means he plans to achieve a target population in compliance with the four strands within Objective 2. [81918]
Mr. Wills:
The UK population for Objective 2 is set by the safety net which maintains two-thirds of the existing Objective 2 and 5b coverage. Within the safety net, the Government will seek to target Objective 2 on the basis of need.
A maximum of 18 per cent. of the European Union's population will be covered by the new Objective 2. The breakdown by strand for Objective 2 of 10 per cent. to industrial areas, 5 per cent. to rural, 2 per cent. to urban and 1 per cent. to fisheries is indicative at EU level, not Member State level.
Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reasons the consultation paper issued by his Department on 30 March, on the criteria to be applied in the designation of Objective 2 areas, asks the same questions as the consultation exercise in August 1998. [81919]
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Mr. Wills:
The informal consultation launched in July 1998 was to gain local and regional views to assist the Government in developing their policy for negotiations for Objective 2 funding.
The consultation paper issued on the 30 March seeks views from interested parties on the designation of eligible UK areas under Objective 2. These should include comments on the geographical area; the NUTS level; and the criteria that might be used. This consultation is to assist the Government in determining a list of eligible areas for objective 2 funding post--1999.
Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will list the areas submitted to the EU Commission at the end of March for consideration as assisted areas; [81917]
Mr. Wills:
Proposals for the Assisted Areas map have not yet been sent to the Commission. The Government are considering the proposals they will make. They will submit these as soon as it is ready to do so.
A consultation paper on the review of the Structural Funds was issued on 30 March, seeking views from interested parties on the designation of eligible UK areas under Objective 2. The final date for comments is 25 May. Ministers will then have to decide on the proposed areas to be submitted to the Commission. Until this time we are not in a position to say what the final Objective 2 Structural Funds map will be, and therefore what differences there will be between the Assisted Areas and Objective 2 maps.
Ms Drown:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much debt was owed to the Export Credits Guarantee Department by each individual debtor country on 31 December 1998. [82004]
Mr. Wilson:
As at 31 December 1998, the amounts, including arrears, owed to ECGD under Bilateral Debt Agreements stemming from Paris Club reschedulings were:
3 Senior Civil Servants
In addition our Department employs:
4 Grade 6s
25 Grade 7s
13 Assistant Statisticians employed as "professional" Statisticians all of whom have been recruited via CSSB.
7 Statistical Officers
These figures do not include staff on loan, secondment, career break or unpaid special leave.
1 Grade 7 undertaking statistical duties.
1 For the purposes of fair comparison DTI's original grading system has been used in this answer.
(2) what differences there will be between the Assisted Areas map and the Objective 2 map in the UK for 1999 to 2004. [81916]
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Thorne Lighting Plants
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what (a) grants and (b) subsidies are available to the two current Thorne Lighting plants, at Hereford and Spennymore; and if he will make a statement. [81563]
Mr. Wills: The main DTI programme for supporting companies is Regional Selective Assistance, under the Industrial Development Act 1982. The plant in Spennymoor is in a Development Area and is eligible to receive such assistance. The Hereford plant is not in an Assisted Area, and is therefore not eligible for support under the Regional Selective Assistance Scheme.
Motor Vehicle Fuel
Dr. Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the quantity of (a) petrol and (b) diesel fuel used in the UK by all motor vehicles in each of the last 10 years. [82437]
Mr. Battle: The data are given in the table.
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Telecommunications Council
Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish the agenda for the EU Telecommunications Council of 22 April. [79573]
Mr. Wills: The agenda read as follows:
Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive on a common framework for electronic signatures: Common Position.
"Year 2000 Computer Problem": Council Resolution.
State of the EU Telecommunications Market: Debate.
Commission Communication on Convergence of Telecommunications, Media and Information Technology Sectors, and the Implications for Regulation--Results of Public Consultation and Proposed Actions: Commission presentation and Council Conclusions.
Commission Green Paper on Radio Spectrum Policy: Information from Commission on Public Consultation.
Commission Green Paper on Access to Public Sector Information: Commission presentation.
Globalisation and the Information Society: Information from the Commission.
Internet Domain Names: Information from the Commission.
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