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Commonwealth Development Corporation
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate the Commonwealth Development Corporation has made of the number of employees at (a) the (i) Abosso gold and (ii) Satellite gold fields in Ghana and (b) the East Africa gold mines in Tanzania. [92151]
Mr. Foulkes: Abosso gold and satellite gold fields in Ghana have, respectively, around 400 and 330 employees. The East Africa gold mines in Tanzania, where work is still in the exploration stage, has about 40 employees.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the current portfolio of Commonwealth Development Corporation investments together with the estimates of their current value and annual income. [92149]
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Mr. Foulkes:
The Commonwealth Development Corporation's (CDC) Report and Accounts for 1998 list all the enterprises in which CDC had debt or equity investments at 31 December 1998.
Information on the value and annual income of individual investments is commercially sensitive. In total, the cost of CDC's investments before provisions, as published in the Report and Accounts for 1998, was £1,520.6 million. Provisions of £319.2 million bring the net portfolio at cost less provision down to £1,201.4 million. These figures take no accounts of surpluses in value over cost on any of CDC's equity investments as CDC's accounts are based on the historic cost convention. However, as part of the process of moving towards valuation accounting, CDC valued its equity portfolio as at 31 December 1998 in accordance with the British Venture Capital Association guidelines and this showed an unrealised surplus in valuation of £99 million.
The group revenue account confirmed portfolio loan investment income of £105.0 million and portfolio equity investment income of £31.5 million, giving an annual investment income for 1998 at £136.5 million.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the firms which have provided advice to her Department on the Commonwealth Development Corporation and the public- private partnership process together with the fees paid to those advisers to date. [92150]
Mr. Foulkes:
We have received advice on preparation of the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) public private partnership from Credit Suisse First Boston (and before their merger, BZW) Allen and Overy, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Information on fees paid to individual companies while work is in progress is commercially sensitive. In total, costs to the Department for financial and legal advice in preparation of the CDC public private partnership (including costs of advice from the Treasury Solicitors Department) totalled £1.6 million as at 30 June 1999.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans she has to provide (a) loans and (b) other assistance to help (i) electrification and (ii) other projects in Bangladesh; what matters she discussed with the Bangladesh Prime Minister during his recent visit; and if she will make a statement. [91760]
Clare Short:
Our development assistance for Bangladesh is provided on grant terms. We have given considerable support in the past to the Dhaka Electricity Supply Authority; however, we have no plans to make further investment until the high level of system losses has been tackled. Technical assistance has been offered on this issue. A new project has recently been agreed which aims to facilitate public/private partnerships. This will help in the power sector among others. This technical assistance will be geared primarily towards the establishment of appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks and the development, marketing and tendering of projects suitable for private sector participation.
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We have a substantial development programme in Bangladesh, spending more than £65 million in 1998-99 on development projects, and on relief and rehabilitation activities following the floods of 1998. The programme has a strong emphasis on poverty reduction, in particular on primary health and education services, and help for sustainable livelihoods for the poor. Discussion with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, focused on how to assist her Government's plans to improve public service management and target the needs of the poor.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many export licences have been (a) requested, (b) granted and (c) revoked for arms to Indonesia since May 1997; and how many Hawk Fighter bombers were covered by these licences. [91215]
Dr. Howells
[holding answer 13 July 1999]: Further to my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Preston (Audrey Wise) on 2 July 1999, Official Report, columns 313-14, concerning licences issued between 2 May 1997 and 18 June 1999 for the export of military equipment to Indonesia; none of these licences covered the export of Hawk aircraft.
Open Individual Export Licences (OIELs) routinely cover exports to a number of countries. Any country initially specified on an OIEL application but not included as a permitted destination on the licence is not recorded on the Export Control Organisation's computer databases. Accordingly, the number of applications for OIELs covering exports to any particular country could be established only by manual examination of the paper records of all of the applications made in the period, which would entail disproportionate cost.
Between 2 May 1997 and 18 June 1999, 114 applications were received for Standard Individual Export Licences (SIELs) covering the export to consignees or end-users in Indonesia of goods subject to export control by being listed in Part III of Schedule 1 to the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1994, the so-called Military List. None of these applications covered Hawk aircraft. In the same period, no Standard or Open Individual Export Licences covering such exports were revoked.
Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what factors underlay the time taken to publish the report of the Competition Commission on Milk Marque. [91312]
Dr. Howells:
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State explained the position to the House. He said:
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Mrs. Brinton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the size of community which would be served by a 100 MW tidal energy power plant. [91647]
Mr. Battle:
A 100 MW tidal energy barrage might be expected to produce electricity equivalent to the annual consumption of 40,000 to 50,000 domestic customers assuming a capacity factor for the plant in the range 0.2 to 0.3 and average sales of 4,300 kWh/yr to domestic customers. While feasibility studies for such plants have been conducted in the UK no project is known to be in early prospect.
Mr. Love:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn) of 12 July 1999, Official Report, column 43, on the Edmonton incinerator, when he expects to announce his decision; and if he will make a statement. [91785]
Mr. Battle:
My Department is still awaiting the formal views of the London Borough of Enfield, the relevant planning authority. Until the views of the relevant planning authority are known it is too early to say when a decision on the application will be taken.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has made to BP concerning the safety and maintenance of the Alaskan pipeline; and if he will make a statement. [91423]
Mr. Battle
[holding answer 15 July 1999]: There have been no representations made; the safety and maintenance of the Alaskan pipeline are matters for the State Government and relevant local authorities of Alaska to pursue directly with BP. As a matter of general policy, the UK Government would always encourage conformity to the highest standards.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer of 12 July 1999, Official Report, column 42, concerning public textphones, for what reasons BT's plans have been superseded; and how many public textphones he estimates will be in service in 2000. [91946]
Mr. Wills
[holding answer 19 July 1999]: BT's plans for public textphone provision are a matter for the company and for Oftel. I understand, however, that usage of the existing public textphones has been disappointingly low.
It would be premature at this stage to estimate actual provision in 2000, which may be affected by a number of factors including use of existing public textphones, and any new measures which the Government decide to introduce.
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"It was not an easy decision, as it is not usual to disagree with a clear recommendation from the MMC. It is one reason why the report took longer to publish than I would have liked; I understand the concerns expressed by many right hon. and hon. Members this afternoon and by the farming community, particularly the dairy farmers, about the delay in its publication. I wanted to publish the report as soon as possible and I have done that. I would have liked it to be sooner, but I wanted to make sure
when it was published and I had put on record my decision that all avenues had been properly investigated."--[Official Report, 7 July 1999, column 1091.]
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