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Inward Investment
Mr. William Ross:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Irish Development Board sponsored visits of prospective incoming (a) foreign and (b) United Kingdom investors there have been to each council area in each of the last five financial years and the current year to date; and how many were carried forward to investment. [94833]
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Mr. McFall:
Visits arranged by IDB to Northern Ireland District Council areas for potential investors in the four years to 31 March 1998 are detailed in the following table. The details for 1998-99 will be made available with
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the publication of the IDB Annual Report in mid- November. Separate figures for prospective foreign and United Kingdom investors are not available for 1994-95 and would involve disproportionate costs to extract.
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| 1994-95 | 1995-96 | 1996-97 | 1997-98 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Overseas | UK | Overseas | UK | Overseas | UK | |
| Antrim | 26 | 13 | 5 | 26 | 8 | 18 | 3 |
| Ards | 5 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Armagh | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Ballymore | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Ballymoney | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Banbridge | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Belfast | 65 | 38 | 17 | 48 | 14 | 65 | 17 |
| Carrickfergus | 13 | 6 | 1 | 21 | 1 | 15 | 0 |
| Castlemagh | 1 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Coleraine | 5 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Cookstown | 4 | 15 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| Craigavon | 12 | 16 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 1 |
| Derry | 18 | 29 | 1 | 27 | 5 | 14 | 0 |
| Down | 10 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Dungannon | 13 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Fermanagh | 3 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Larne | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Limavady | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Lisburn | 19 | 36 | 5 | 30 | 1 | 23 | 0 |
| Magherafelt | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Moyla | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Newry and Mourne | 15 | 12 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Newtownabbey | 17 | 18 | 1 | 21 | 1 | 20 | 0 |
| North Down | 4 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Omagh | 2 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Strabane | 2 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 265 | 260 | 37 | 282 | 37 | 235 | 25 |
Notes:
1 Via elements for other than inward investment purposes, such as visits to tourists attractions, are excluded.
2 General visits to Northern Ireland not involving a specific area are excluded.
3 Total District Council visits may exceed total visits to Northern Ireland as companies may visit more than one District Council area.
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| New | Expansion | |
|---|---|---|
| 1994-95 | 7 | 29 |
| 1995-96 | 10 | 25 |
| 1996-97 | 11 | 24 |
| 1997-98 | 12 | 29 |
| 1998-99 | 21 | 16 |
| Total | 61 | 123 |
Equality Commission
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the effect of (a) the retirement of senior officials in the Disability Directorate and (b) the delay in forming the Equality Commission on the Commission's ability to enforce rights by April 2000 under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. [95179]
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Mr. George Howarth:
None. A number of members of the former Disability Council have been appointed to the Equality Commission and several others have agreed to act in a consulting capacity to the Commission. It is intended that a draft Order-in-Council to confer the necessary disability rights enforcement powers on the Equality Commission will be laid before Parliament shortly. The Commission is making preparations to recruit and train staff to ensure that these powers are given effect from April 2000.
Mr. Barnes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total cost of the production of the report of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland. [95896]
Mr. Ingram:
The Independent Commission on Policing (the Patten Commission) issued its report, "A New Beginning: Policing in Northern Ireland", on 9 September 1999. The Commission arranged for 30,000 copies of the report to be printed at a cost of £90,000--£3 per copy.
Mr. Barnes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many copies of the report of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland have been requested by members of the public. [95888]
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Mr. Ingram:
It is difficult to put a precise figure on the number of copies requested by members of the public as the initial distribution was handled by the Patten Commission before it disbanded. In addition to the 21,000 copies distributed to libraries and each of the district councils, and each police officer and civilian members of PANI, approximately 5,000 copies were issued by the Commission to members of the public. Since 30 September there have been 404 requests from members of the public to the freephone number announced by the Secretary of State on 9 September 1999. The whole report is also available on the internet.
Mr. Barnes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many armoured landrovers the RUC has. [95890]
Mr. Ingram:
The RUC currently have 434 armoured landrovers.
Mr. Barnes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what research, and at what cost, is currently being carried out in Northern Ireland into less potentially lethal alternatives to the plastic baton round. [95893]
Mr. Ingram:
There is currently no formal research programme into alternatives to plastic baton rounds in Northern Ireland. The report of the Independent Commission on Policing recommended such a programme should be established and this will be addressed in the Government response to the report.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the impact of proposals for the regulation of the private recruitment industry (URN: 99/774) published by the Department of Trade and Industry on those buying care privately. [96060]
Mr. Alan Johnson:
The consultation document published on 31 May on revised regulations to govern the conduct of the private recruitment industry contains a regulatory impact assessment covering possible cost consequences to those hiring staff through bureaux, including those buying care privately.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if his officials have contacted Mrs. Gifford of Able Community Care Norwich, concerning the costs attributed by her to the VAT charges arising from the introduction of regulations for the private recruitment industry (URN: 99/774); and on what basis those calculations were made. [96062]
Mr. Alan Johnson:
My officials wrote to Mrs. Gifford on 22 July and 12 August 1999. A meeting was held on 19 August and officials also spoke to her at a conference
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on 13 October. We do not accept that the costs which she calculates would in fact result from the proposed amendments to private recruitment industry regulation.
Mr. Fabricant:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the working of the national minimum wage in the United States. [94273]
Mr. Alan Johnson:
The independent Low Pay Commission in its First Report on the national minimum wage examined the operation of the minimum wage systems in a number of countries, including the United States.
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what further measures are proposed to ensure compliance with the minimum wage legislation. [94285]
Mr. Byers:
Enforcement powers are set out in the National Minimum Wage Act 1998. National minimum wage inspectors (comprising officials from the Inland Revenue and the Agriculture Departments) follow up complaints from workers and third parties. Since August, inspectors have also been carrying out targeted inspections throughout the United Kingdom based on risk assessments, which identify where underpayments are most likely to occur.
Dr. Godman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has held with representatives of the ACP banana-producing countries concerning matters relating to the European Union's banana regime and the Lome commitment; and if he will make a statement. [95821]
Mrs. Liddell:
The Government had a number of discussions with ACP banana producers and others about further reform of the EU's banana regime in the course of this year. It is however for the European Commission to come forward with a formal proposal for changing the EU's banana regime consistent with the rules of the World Trade Organisation and with Lome commitments. The UK has made clear that we would like to see a proposal as soon as possible which will end this dispute and address the needs of the vulnerable banana producers.
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