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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Equal Opportunities
Jackie Ballard: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if an action plan for increasing the representation of women in public life has been (a) prepared by his Department and (b) published since November 1998. [94845]
Mr. Alan Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on 25 October 1999, Official Report, column 682.
Objective 2 Funding
Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he received from the Welsh Assembly on Objective 2 funding for Wales. [95741]
Mr. Caborn: The proposals for the Objective 2 map were prepared having regard to advice from the Assembly First Secretary and the Assembly Economic and Development Secretary. Their concern was to ensure, within a total population coverage agreed for Wales of 270, 000, that the best balance was struck between coverage of disadvantaged urban areas and rural areas.
Mr. John Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which areas were identified in the submission by the Welsh Assembly for Objective 2 funding in Wales. [95742]
27 Oct 1999 : Column: 905
Mr. Caborn:
The proposed Objective 2 map envisages coverage in Wales of parts of Powys, Newport and Cardiff. These proposals took account of advice from the Assembly First Secretary and the Assembly Economic and Development Secretary.
Mr. John Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the deadline for amendments to the draft map of areas of Objective 2 funding in Wales; and if he will make a statement. [95739]
Mr. Caborn:
The UK proposals for Objective 2 coverage have been submitted to the European Commission, and these are now the subject of discussion with the Commission. We hope to have agreement on the proposals by the end of this year.
Mr. John Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what criteria were used to allocate Objective 2 funding to areas of Wales. [95740]
Mr. Caborn:
The criteria that the Government used are set out in the document URN99/1021 "The Government's proposals for new Objective 2 areas", copies of which were sent to all hon. Members.
The criteria were based on levels of unemployment, in combination with measures of high dependency on industry or agriculture and a decline in those sectors. For urban areas, an index of local deprivation was used.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent steps he is taking to (a) promote and (b) safeguard the future of the UK textile industry. [95790]
Ms Hewitt:
The Government work closely with the textiles industry on a number of key areas, including trade policy, education and training, exporting and industrial sponsorship.
On the latter, the Department of Trade & Industry's Textile, Clothing and Footwear Unit is dedicated to assisting these industries to compete effectively. The Unit is currently funding over 20 projects targeting specific areas for future development, including product innovation, design, marketing, benchmarking and the development of supply chain partnerships.
My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State with responsibility for competitiveness met with the industry- led Textiles and Clothing Strategy Group on 13 October 1999 to discuss with them progress on the development of a national strategy for the industry.
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many requests there have been to his Department for placement of officials from Central, East European and CIS states as twins of his officials; how many such officials have been accepted as twins; and from which countries (a) those who were accepted and (b) those who were not accepted came. [94019]
Mr. Byers
[holding answer 25 October 1999]: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, East (Mr. Vaz) on 25 October 1999, Official Report, columns 739-40.
27 Oct 1999 : Column: 906
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to publish the report into the circumstances of the Mirror Group flotation, following the appointment of inspectors in June 1992. [95520]
Mr. Byers
[holding answer 25 October 1999]: The inspection is being conducted by independent inspectors.
They are still carrying out their work and consequentially they have yet to report to me.
Mr. Gibb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the regulations which a company manufacturing refrigerators and employing 1,500 people has to comply with. [95921]
Ms Hewitt:
The regulations applying to a refrigerator manufacturer, employing 1,500 people, include those deriving from company law, taxation, health and safety, land planing requirements and environmental legislation.
Regulatory information relating to the operational aspects of all types and size of business will be available through the Direct Access Government (DAG) INTERNET web site, which is currently being updated and will be relaunched as part of the Small Business Service.
The Government announced a tougher approach to regulatory control in the Modernising Government White Paper in March, with the aim of eliminating unnecessary regulation and minimising the burdens that necessary regulations impose.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimates his Department has made of the adjustment costs associated with the planned change in telephone dialling codes; and what proposals his Department has to assist charitable organisations which face exceptional costs in making the change. [95640]
Ms Hewitt:
The administration of the National Numbering Scheme is a matter for Oftel. Oftel has not carried out any specific research into the adjustment costs associated with the planned changes to telephone codes. The changes to geographic codes have been made in response to the views of consumers and businesses following "Phoneday" in 1995 in order to meet additional demand for numbers. In order to minimise the costs to businesses, Oftel has given long periods of notice of changes and put in place parallel running for old and new numbers and "changed number announcements". This enables businesses to plan for the future.
This Department has no proposals to assist charitable organisations with their exceptional costs in making the change. Grants may in certain circumstances be awarded to bodies in the health sector under Section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968, through a scheme administered by the Department of Health.
27 Oct 1999 : Column: 907
Mr. Peter Ainsworth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the effect on the London art market of introducing Droit de Suite. [95133]
Dr. Howells
[holding answer 25 October 1999]: An independent assessment of the potential risk carried out earlier this year concluded that, business could be lost to markets where droit de suite is not applied and that, by 2005, sales of works covered by droit de suite could fall by as much as 78 per cent., from £280 million to £61 million, resulting in lost earnings of £57 million per annum; and total sales could fall by £750 million or 23 per cent. (due to vendors unwillingness to spilt lots), putting many jobs at risk.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what criteria will determine whether the report in preparation on the business affairs of the hon. Member for Coventry, North-West (Mr. Robinson) will be published. [95557]
Mr. Byers
[holding answer 25 October 1999]: The criteria which determine whether information from an inquiry is made public are the nature of the case itself and other considerations such as the applicable law and commercial confidentiality. Subject to these constraints, I would wish to be as open as possible on these matters.
Mr. Baldry:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the National Export Strategy. [95465]
Mr. Caborn:
I hope to make a statement shortly.
Ms Kelly:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will break down the number of employers who have been reported by minimum wage inspectors for paying less than the national minimum wage by (a) region and (b) firm size. [95949]
Mr. Alan Johnson:
National Minimum Wage compliance officers have dealt with over 3,000 cases of suspected underpayment of the national minimum wage. The latest available figures of complaints by region and by employer size is provided in the following tables. These data and other information on enforcement activity will be included in the Government evidence to the Low Pay Commission which we will publish shortly.
Notes:
1. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
2. The reason for the large number of complaints that appear to have no geographical region is that anonymous calls cannot be identified by Government Office regions since precise addresses are not taken; the complaints are simply dealt with by the nearest IR compliance team.
Source
Inland Revenue
27 Oct 1999 : Column: 908
| Number | Percentage (rounded) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 10 | 320 | 46 |
| 11 to 100 | 291 | 42 |
| 101+ | 78 | 11 |
| Total | 689 | 100 |
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