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Post Offices
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post offices and sub-post offices there were in England in May 1997, 1998 and 1999; and what the projected figure is for 2000. [106042]
Mr. Alan Johnson: I understand from the Post Office the numbers of directly operated post offices and of sub-post offices in England were as follows:
| Directly operated | Sub-post offices | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 1998 | 510 | 14,268 | 14,778 |
| March 1999 | 502 | 14,091 | 14,593 |
The Post Office does not have the comparable figures for years before 1998 and does not make forward projections of post office numbers.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post offices there were in the Salisbury constituency in each year from 1983 to 1999; and if he will make a statement. [106157]
Mr. Alan Johnson:
I understand from the Post Office that they do not hold historic information on the numbers of post offices in each parliamentary constituency and that such information cannot readily be compiled.
The Post Office advise that in October 1999 the number of post offices in the Salisbury constituency was 55.
Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the impact that switching payments from benefits and pensions books to bank transfers will have on local post offices and sub-post offices. [106076]
Mr. Alan Johnson:
The automation of the post office network, which is due for completion by the spring of 2001, will enable the Post Office to extend its arrangements with the high street banks to offer a range of banking facilities at post offices. This will mean that benefit recipients who wish to access their benefits in cash at post offices will continue to be able to do so, both before and after the migration of benefit payments to automated credit transfer from 2003, while other bank customers will benefit from the wider availability of banking facilities, particularly in rural areas.
Mr. Ashdown:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make available all information relating to the proportion of business income accounted for by Benefits Agency business for post offices within (a) Somerset and (b) the Yeovil constituency; and if he will make a statement. [104749]
Mr. Byers
[holding answer 20 January 2000]: The proportion of business income accounted for by Benefits Agency business for post offices varies from post office to post office.
24 Jan 2000 : Column: 46W
Dr. Starkey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the extent to which the objectives set out in the report of the Committee on Women in Science and Technology, The Rising Tide, have been met. [106051]
Ms Hewitt:
The Department's Unit charged with promoting science, engineering and technology (SET) for women, which was set up in response to one of "The Rising Tide" recommendations, continues to monitor progress on the other recommendations in that report.
There is a continuing problem with the under-representation of women in SET, especially in the physical sciences and engineering, and the Unit works with other organisations in the field to seek to redress this. Recent initiatives include the ATHENA project, a joint project with the Higher Education Funding Councils and the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals, targeted at addressing barriers to progression in higher education, and promoting a positive image for women in SET careers through the recent poster campaign targeted at 13-year-old girls. Further information and links to other relevant organisations are available via the Unit's website at www.set4women.gov.uk.
Mr. Streeter:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much debt service he estimates will be received from each of the heavily-indebted poor countries in the financial years (a) 1999-2000 and (b) 2000-01. [105745]
Mr. Caborn:
The UK has debt agreements with 32 heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs). The table shows payments due to ECGD under these agreements together with an estimate of amounts likely to be received by the end of each year, assuming the schedules remain unchanged. However a number of these HIPCs will benefit from further debt reduction and rescheduling in the current year under the enhanced HIPC Initiative. This provides for up to 90 per cent. debt reduction multilaterally, or more in the case of need. Additionally some will benefit from the Chancellor's recent announcement that the UK will unilaterally write off 100 per cent. of the debt in certain circumstances. The extent of further debt reduction and the timing thereof for each country depends on a number of factors. Consequently it is not yet possible to gauge with any accuracy the effect on the current estimates.
Note:
With the exception of Nicaragua for whom a Moratorium was agreed 'nil' is shown where countries have not been servicing debt. Liberia's final payment date was in 1998 therefore no payments are scheduled. However they have not paid for many years and there are arrears of some £15.7 million.
24 Jan 2000 : Column: 47W
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much total bilateral debt service was received by Her Majesty's Government from each of the heavily-indebted poor countries in the financial year 1998-99. [105738]
Mr. Caborn [holding answer 20 January 2000]: In the financial year 1998-99 a total of £39.628 million was received from heavily-indebted poor countries under bilateral debt agreements. The table shows a country by country breakdown.
Note:
Where 'nil' is shown the countries have not been servicing this debt.
24 Jan 2000 : Column: 48W
Information Technology
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to ensure the continued growth of the IT and communications infrastructure. [106090]
Ms Hewitt [holding answer 20 January 2000]: We will continue to work with Oftel and the European Commission to ensure that the regulatory framework promotes competition and investment in communications infrastructure and services. This year will see the grant of licences for third generation mobile and broadband fixed wireless services which will give a major boost to competition in broadband services. BT is also investing heavily in upgrading its local loop so that competing service providers can provide new broadband services from this Spring. Competing telecoms operators will also be able to provide such services over unbundled local loop from July 2001.
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