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Internet Access
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what plans he has to encourage flat-rate pricing to reduce the cost of access to the internet; [97995]
- (2) what steps are being taken to reduce the cost of access to the internet through flat-rate pricing. [97971]
Ms Hewitt: The Government are committed to ensuring the wide availability of fast and affordable internet access and believe that competition is the best way to deliver this. We want to see operators responding to these competitive pressures by offering a broader range of internet tariff options to allow heavy e-commerce users and light users to choose the optimum package for their usage profile. There are no regulatory barriers to prevent operators from including unmetered tariffs in this range of tariff options. I have discussed these points with Oftel, BT and the Campaign for Unmetered Telecommunications and will continue to encourage operators to respond positively so that the cost of internet access can be reduced.
Objective 1 Funding
Mr. Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the cross-department co-ordination of plans for EU Objective 1 matched funding. [96779]
Mr. Caborn: Objective 1 programmes for the new Structural Funds period 2000-06 have been prepared by the area partnerships. Responsibility for identifying match funding is a matter for those in the area who will make applications for projects to the programmes. The draft programmes should therefore include a realistic assessment of the opportunities to deliver effective projects, including the availability of match funding.
EU Regulations
Mr. Gibb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list changes since 1 May 1997
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to United Kingdom law in areas covered by his Department's responsibilities which have been directly legislated by EU Regulations; and if he will list these regulations. [97950]
Mrs. Liddell:
The Department does not collect this information in this form. All Explanatory Memoranda for EU Regulations covering the DTI's areas of responsibilities are available in the House of Commons Library, and the six-monthly "Command Paper of RIAs'" (Regulatory Impact Assessments), also available in the Library of the House, lists all EMs with a major impact on the UK.
Mr. Gibb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what procedures his Department has to ensure that British industry is not put at a competitive disadvantage compared with industry in other EU member states from the timing and implementation of EU directives. [97951]
Mrs. Liddell:
Consultation with UK business is a key priority for the DTI, both when taking forward negotiation of EU directives and, once they are agreed, in deciding how to implement them. Such consultation concerns both the substance of any directives and the timing of the implementation. The "Guide to Better European Legislation", issued by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office and made available to all MPs, is the key source of advice for officials dealing with EC legislation and this sets out the requirements for the completion of regulatory impact assessments to identify the likely impact of any legislative proposal, and offers practical advice on implementing EC legislation in an effective, timely and proportionate manner. We support initiatives to improve regulation such as SLIM (Simpler Legislation in the Internal Market), aimed at simplifying the business environment, and the Business Test Panel, aimed at improving consultation with business on the likely impact of selected legislative proposals.
Mr. Todd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made in establishing procedures to compensate sufferers of diminished lung function from the former mining industry; how much compensation has been paid to date; and if he will make a statement. [97814]
Mrs. Liddell:
We signed the Handling Agreement with the solicitors representing the miners, which sets out the procedures for settling 100,000+ expected respiratory disease claims on 24 September. As at 31 October we had made bereavement awards, and interim and expedited payments totalling some £39 million.
We have developed a programme of screening spirometry to prioritise claimants proceeding through to the next stage of the process and to make interim or expedited offers where possible. 70 per cent. of the 43,000 live claimants identified in May have now been invited to screening spirometry throughout the UK. We expect to complete virtually all of the spirometry by early next year.
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On 5 October the contract to deliver the full Medical Assessment Process was awarded to Healthcall. The first full medical assessments should begin in the next month.
Mr. Todd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made in establishing procedures to compensate sufferers of vibration white finger from the former mining industry; how much compensation has been paid to date; and if he will make a statement. [97815]
Mrs. Liddell:
We signed the Handling Agreement with the solicitors representing the miners, which sets out the procedures for settling the 50,000+ expected VWF claims on 22 January. As at 31 October we had made interim and general damage payments totalling some £45 million.
I announced in July that we had awarded a contract to Sema Group for the delivery of the medical assessment process. Tests began in September, six centres are now open, and they plan to have 12 centres in operation across the mining regions by January.
Mr. Boswell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consultation he has had with the higher education sector about the implications of the EU Copyright Directive; and if he will make a statement. [97750]
Dr. Howells
[holding answer 8 November 1999]: We have consulted a number of organisations in the educational field on the draft EC Directive on copyright and related rights in the Information Society, including bodies representing the higher education sector such as the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals of the Universities of the United Kingdom and the Standing Conference of National and University Libraries. We have received many submissions from individual institutions in the sector as well as from representative bodies, and we fully appreciate their concerns about the draft Directive, particularly as regards its provisions on exceptions to rights for the benefit of users of copyright material. From the outset, we have seen these provisions as unnecessarily prescriptive and restrictive, and we are continuing to press strongly for greater flexibility in the Directive in order to allow a fair and reasonable balance to be maintained between the interests of rights owners and those of educational and other users.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) which inspectors previously assigned to investigate the case of share dealing in Anglia TV by Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare are involved in the present investigation; [97383]
Mr. Byers
[holding answer 4 November 1999]: Solicitors representing Lord Archer have provided details to "The Economist" of Lord Archer's transactions involving shares in Anglia TV and the reason why he
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purchased them. I have drawn this information to the attention of my Permanent Secretary. He will decide what action, if any, should be taken.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what restrictions apply to the public disclosure of information on the nature of the interview, by persons interviewed by his Department's inspectors in connection with an investigation under section 177 of the Financial Services Act 1986. [97363]
Mr. Byers:
Inspectors appointed under Section 177 of the Financial Services Act 1986 are independent and are masters of their own procedures. The Department published in 1990 general guidance in the Investigation Handbook ISBN 0-11-515260-1 and Section 179-180 of the FSA restricts disclosure subject to a gateway regime. Common law duties of confidentiality may also apply.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what quantities of reprocessed uranium have been exported to the United States since 1969; under what treaty arrangements such uranium was sent; and when such transfers took place. [96468]
Mrs. Liddell:
This is an operational matter for BNFL and UKAEA respectively. I have asked the Chair of those companies to write to my hon. Friend setting out details of any such exports and will arrange for a copy of these letters to be placed in the Library of the House.
(2) when he expects to receive the results of the further investigation into the allegations of insider dealing by Lord Archer of Weston Super Mare in respect of shares in Anglia TV. [97253]
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