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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many questions to his Department tabled for ordinary written answer during Session 1998-99 were answered (a) within two weeks of tabling, (b) within one month of tabling, (c) within three months of tabling and (d) after three months of tabling. [106492]
Mr. Byers: The information is as follows:
| Answered | Number |
|---|---|
| Within 2 weeks | 1,302 |
| Within 1 month | 53 |
| Within 3 months | 1 |
| After 3 months | 0 |
| Total | 1,356 |
Mr. Oaten:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many questions to his Department were tabled for written answer during session 1998-99; and
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how many of these he replied to (a) by means of a letter placed in the Library rather than by substantive answer in the Official Report, (b) by stating that a substantive answer could not be given due to information not being held centrally and (c) by stating that a substantive answer could not be given due to disproportionate cost. [106487]
Mr. Byers:
The information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Oaten:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many questions to his Department tabled for written answer on a named day during Session 1998-99 were answered (a) on or before a named day, (b) within one week of a named day, (c) within one month of a named day, (d) within three months of a named day and (e) after three months of a named day. [106481]
| Answered | Number |
|---|---|
| On day | 409 |
| Within 1 week | 483 |
| Within 1 month | 122 |
| Within 3 months | 9 |
| After 3 months | 0 |
| Total | 1,023 |
Credit Ratings
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the credit rating of companies seeking to tender for services provided by his Department is checked before the contract is awarded. [107745]
Dr. Howells: Procedure in DTI, as recommended in the Department's Procurement Manual and based on HM Treasury procurement guidance, is that financial appraisal of potential suppliers is undertaken where (a) contracts have a value of up to £10,000 and are critical, novel or contentious; (b) contracts have a value of £10,000 or more. Qualified accountants are required to report on a company's published accounts where contract values exceed £95,000.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how often the credit rating of companies supplying services to his Department is checked. [107750]
Dr. Howells: Procedure in DTI, as recommended in the Department's Procurement Manual and based on HM Treasury procurement guidance, is that financial appraisal of suppliers is undertaken pre-award where contract values are £10,000 or more, or are otherwise critical, novel or contentious. Where contract duration is more than one year, checks on financial viability may be undertaken at regular intervals.
Climate Change Levy
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what impact the climate change levy will have on the profitability and competitiveness of the wood particleboard and wood fibreboard industry. [107939]
Ms Hewitt:
The Government's goal remains to design and implement the levy in a way which safeguards competitiveness while maximising its environmental
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benefits. The wood particleboard and fibreboard industry, together with other sectors, will benefit from the proposals announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his 9 November 1999 Pre-Budget Report, including: the lower overall rates of the levy; the exemptions for electricity generated from new forms of renewable energy and good quality combined heat and power plants; and the trebling of support for energy efficiency measures under the levy package.
In addition, those wood particleboard and fibreboard industry sites that are covered by the Integrated Pollution Prevention Control Directive, as defined by reference to Part A of the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulation, will be eligible for an 80 per cent. discount from the levy if they sign up to a negotiated agreement to improve energy efficiency or deliver emissions reductions that meet the Government's criteria.
Dr. Harris:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer of 8 December 1999, Official Report, column 572W, what restrictions were placed on contractors carrying out research projects funded by his Department in 1999 in respect of them discussing their findings with journalists (a) before and (b) after publication. [108190]
Ms Hewitt:
The Department's standard terms and conditions of contract for services, placed in the Library of the House as indicated in my answer of 2 February 2000, Official Report, column 604W, require a contractor to obtain consent in writing prior to communicating information obtained in the course of work performed under the contract. Where this contract term applies, it would cover discussion of findings with journalists both before and after publication. Where this Department funds research projects as grants rather than service contracts, a similar clause would be applied but only for the purpose of protecting confidential information. In such a case the written consent of the Department and all parties to the project would be required before release. In any event, as I indicated in my earlier answer, the Department actively encourages the publication of results from the research it has funded.
Dr. Harris:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what restrictions have been placed on contractors carrying out research contracts funded by grants from the Research Councils during 1999 in respect of them discussing their findings with journalists (a) before and (b) after publication; and if he will place a copy of the standard research contract for each Research Council in the Library. [108188]
Ms Hewitt:
Each Research Council has its own terms and conditions that cover the actions of people and institutions in receipt of Research Council funds. None of them includes restrictions on discussing research findings with journalists either before or after publication. One of them, the Biotechnology and Biosciences Research Council (BBSRC), does request that grantholders notify them in advance of any media releases that refer to BBSRC funded research, so that they can, themselves, respond efficiently to any subsequent media inquiries. All Research Councils actively encourage grantholders to publish their research. They also advise them on the need to protect Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and not to
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jeopardise its future exploitation. However, the management of IPR generated by grantholders, and any resulting restrictions on discussions with journalists, are a matter for the institution in which the research is conducted and not the Research Councils. Copies of each Research Council's research grant terms and conditions will be placed in the Library of the House shortly.
Mr. Keetch:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what financial assistance his Department makes available to small businesses to convert equipment from imperial to metric measurement; and if he will make a statement. [108625]
Metrication has been under way in stages since 1965, with long lead-in times at each stage. In accordance with normal practice the Government do not generally provide financial assistance to business to meet the cost of legislative changes. These are taken into account by way of the Regulatory Impact Assessments when policy and lead-in times are formulated.
Mr. Chope:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much official time was spent considering export licence application 6078 between the date of its submission and the date of its refusal. [108476]
Dr. Howells:
The time spent on each export licence application varies according to a number of factors on which the assessment of the application is based. No record is kept within the Export Control Organisation of the amount of time afforded to each individual application. Export licence application 6078 was received on 21 September 1999 and refused on 24 January 2000.
Mr. Chope:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the average length of time during the past 12 months between submission of applications for licences to export goods to Iran and decisions on those applications. [108478]
Dr. Howells:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) on 11 February 1999, Official Report, column 404W.
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