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Regional Aid
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he plans to announce his policy on regional aid. [86860]
Mr. Wills: Reviews of the Assisted Areas and Structural Funds maps are currently underway. We will announce the proposals which we will send to the Commission shortly.
Proposals for the re-focusing of the Regional Selective Assistance scheme, as announced in the Competitiveness White Paper, are still under consideration and the changes will be announced in due course.
Trade Union and Employment Law
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he last met the Institute of Directors to discuss trade union and employment law reform. [86840]
Mr. Ian McCartney: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry met representatives of the Institute of Directors in February, March and May to discuss various matters.
ICL/Pathway Consortium
Mr. Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the ICL/Pathway consortium will be liable for losses arising from fraud when the Post Office barcode technology is in use. [85859]
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Mr. Ian McCartney:
The exact details of the contracts between the Post Office and ICL/Pathway are commercially confidential but I understand that there will be penalties built into the contracts for failure to perform.
Mr. Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what modifications have to be made to the computer terminals installed in post offices as part of the Horizon project to make them compatible with (a) smart card and (b) barcode technology. [85865]
Mr. Ian McCartney:
The system is already fully compatible with both smartcard and barcode technology.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what communications he had with the relevant United States authorities in respect of the relevance of the United States Government's threat assessment to the sea shipment of plutonium prior to concluding the safety and security plan for such shipments from the United Kingdom to Japan. [85822]
Mr. Battle:
During preparation of the transport plan, a number of meetings took place between officials from the Governments of Japan, France, the United Kingdom and the United States to discuss all aspects relating to the arrangements for the sea shipment of MOX fuel from Europe to Japan, including safety and security considerations.
Mr. Gareth R. Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action he is taking to promote environmental and social reporting by British companies; and if he will make a statement. [86864]
Mr. Battle:
There are a number of related issues in this area. For example, the DTI is working with the DETR to meet the objectives of the national Sustainable Development Strategy to develop standards and guidance for environmental reporting and to encourage all UK companies to report publicly on their environmental performance.
In March 1998, the DTI launched a fundamental review of company law which is being taken forward by an independent Steering Group. The Steering Group is considering a wide range of issues concerning the company's relationship with its wider interests, including the potential for company law to promote corporate transparency. The role of non-financial reporting, including on environmental and social issues, forms part of this consideration.
Refrigerants (NHS)
Mrs. Brinton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will estimate the total reduction in greenhouse gas emissions if hospitals and other NHS facilities in Wales used not-in-kind refrigerants. [86167]
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Mr. Jon Owen Jones:
Information from which to estimate the total reduction in greenhouse gas emissions if NHS bodies used not-in-kind refrigerants is not collected centrally.
The Welsh Office is fully supportive of the Government's commitment to running its operations and buildings in accordance with best environmental practice as an integral part of its contribution to the UK's sustainable development strategy.
Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.
Mr. Rowlands:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many disciplinary hearings have been heard under Welsh Health Circular WHC(96)22 Disciplinary Procedures for Hospital and Community Medical and Dental Staff; what has been the length of time taken to hear and resolve each of the cases; and how many such cases were discontinued. [86276]
Mr. Jon Owen Jones:
Records of the number of disciplinary hearings held under WHC(90)22 are not held centrally. There is no requirement to notify the Welsh Office of any case unless the proceedings exceed 6 months. The Department has been notified of only one such case, which took over 4½ years to reach a negotiated settlement.
Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.
Ms Perham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what performance targets have been set for the Defence Medical Training Organisation for 1999-2000. [87142]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
Key Targets have been set for the Chief Executive of the DMTO for financial year 1999-2000 as follows:
Key Target 1--Academic Success (Quality and Quantity)
To achieve the following academic success rates:
| Percentage | |
|---|---|
| Common Core Course (CCC) | 94 |
| Specialist Registrars (SpR) | 96 |
| Pre Registration Nurses (Pre Reg Nurses) | 96 |
(1) Remainder within 6 weeks
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Key Target 2--Academic Success (Timeliness)
The following percentage of trainees achieving academic success to be delivered on time agreed with the customer:
Percentage
CCC (1)96
SpR 96
Pre Reg Nurses 98
Key Target 3--Individual Medical Services Training
Establish and agree with customers the baseline requirement for external medical services training by 31 march 2000.
Key Target 4--Agree Annual Training Requirement
To achieve 1.5 per cent. efficiency gain in matching capacity to the Agreed Annual Training Requirement.
Key Target 5--Systems Approach to Training
To ensure comprehensive application of the Systems Approach to Training, to a minimum of 33 per cent. of all appropriate courses.
RAF Signals Engineering Establishment
Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the quinquennial review of the Royal Air Force Signals Engineering Establishment will start. [87143]
Mr. Doug Henderson: The Performance Evaluation phase of Quinquennial Review of the Royal Air Force Signals Engineering Establishment (RAFSEE) started on 17 May 1999 and is expected to be complete by 30 July 1999. This phase will review the performance of the Agency since its launch in November 1994. The forward- looking Options Phase will start today and is expected to be complete by 29 October 1999. The Options Phase will consider RAFSEE's role and core functions against the background of the formation of the Defence Logistics Organisation, of which RAFSEE is now part. This phase will assess whether Agency status remains appropriate for each of the functions undertaken by RAFSEE or whether there are other more cost effective means of delivering RAFSEE's outputs.
Comments and contributions from those with an interest in RAFSEE and its work would be welcome and should be sent to, Air Commodore K. J. M. Procter, RAFSEE Review Team, Room G50, Headquarters Logistics Command, RAF Brampton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE18 8QL.
Satellite Dishes
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 8 June 1999, Official Report, column 211, on satellite dishes, for what reason there will be a 12-hour delay between transmission and viewing by ships' crews. [86874]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
The transmissions are received by RN ships using existing military satellite communications equipment, which was not designed to take video transmissions. The band width required for normal video transmission is considerably greater than that available on our military satellite system. However, recent developments in transmission technology now allow for the broadcast of compressed video transmissions over such systems. The time taken to transit the information in this way is dependent on the available band width. The drawback of this system is that the images cannot be viewed until all the video information has been received. On occasions where there is heavy use of the system for military communications, which have priority, only a reduced band width is available for video transmission. This means that there could be delays of up to 12 hours before one hour of material for viewing can be made available to the ships' crew. The advantage of utilising the military satellite system is that coverage is achieved over sea and land, whereas commercial satellite transmissions are generally directed towards land only. Large satellite dishes can provide limited coverage for vessels at sea, such as cruise ships, but there is no room to fit such dishes on frigates.
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