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Arms Exports
Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the circumstances in which it is possible to revoke arms export licences. [110167]
Dr. Howells: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Crosby (Mrs. Curtis-Thomas) on 14 July 1999, Official Report, columns 155-56W.
Post Offices
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many of the ATMs earmarked for post offices have been installed; and if he will list their whereabouts. [110175]
Mr. Alan Johnson: I understand from the Post Office that the first of the ATMs under the new partnerships will be installed during the summer. The sites are still being agreed but they will be located at post offices across the whole of the UK, in both rural and urban areas.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what criteria will be used to decide the location of the ATMs to be sited at sub-post offices. [110174]
Mr. Alan Johnson:
I understand from the Post Office that all offices in the Post Office network will be considered for an ATM. The selection process and criteria used for selection are commercial and operational matters for the Post Office and its partners.
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Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the Post Office and banks concerning (a) the criteria to be used for locating ATMs in post offices and (b) the additional income to sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses ATMs are planned to generate. [110176]
Mr. Alan Johnson:
These are commercial and operational matters for the Post Office.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in each year since 1979, how many sub-post offices have closed; and how many of that number closed because no-one was prepared to take the business over following the (a) death and (b) retirement of the sub-postmaster or sub-postmistress. [110177]
Mr. Alan Johnson:
I understand from the Post Office that the numbers of sub-post offices which have closed in each financial year since 1978-79 are as follows:
| Number of sub-post offices | Closures in the year | |
|---|---|---|
| 1978-79 | 21,213 | 21 |
| 1979-80 | 21,056 | 157 |
| 1980-81 | 20,894 | 162 |
| 1981-82 | 20,832 | 62 |
| 1982-83 | 20,734 | 98 |
| 1983-84 | 20,499 | 235 |
| 1984-85 | 20,110 | 389 |
| 1985-86 | 19,796 | 314 |
| 1986-87 | 19,708 | 88 |
| 1987-88 | 19,572 | 136 |
| 1988-89 | 19,537 | 35 |
| 1989-90 | 19,532 | 5 |
| 1990-91 | 19,471 | 61 |
| 1991-92 | 19,141 | 330 |
| 1992-93 | 19,041 | 100 |
| 1993-94 | 18,982 | 59 |
| 1994-95 | 18,826 | 156 |
| 1995-96 | 18,761 | 65 |
| 1996-97 | 18,645 | 116 |
| 1997-98 | 18,407 | 238 |
| 1998-99 | 18,175 | 232 |
No detailed records are kept on reasons for closure. In many cases closure would have been the result of no one being prepared to take over the business.
Paper and Timber Products
Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he has taken to ensure that paper and timber products purchased by his Department come from a sustainable source. [110149]
Dr. Howells: The Department's Estates and Facilities Management Directorate has established an Environmental Management System. This system requires all timber products to be purchased from a sustainable source.
The Department encourages staff to purchase recycled paper where practicable; at present recycled paper accounts for some 44 per cent. of consumption.
Small Businesses
Mr. Salmond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he has taken since 1997 to reduce the administrative burden on small businesses. [109562]
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Ms Hewitt
[holding answer 14 February 2000]: One of the key steps has been to establish the Small Business Service, which is to be formally launched in April this year. One of the primary functions of the Small Business Service will be to find ways of reducing the regulatory burden encountered by small business, by eliminating unnecessary regulations wherever possible and ensuring that the "Think Small First" principle is applied across Whitehall to all new regulations. The Small Business Service will also encourage Government Departments to make information on regulations more comprehensible and accessible, including through an SBS gateway.
Other important measures taken by the Department include exempting small shops from the EU requirement to unit price pre-packaged goods in fixed quantities and exempting employers with 20 or fewer employees from the trade union recognition procedures in the Employment Relations Act 1999. In addition we have recently consulted on proposals to increase the threshold below which companies are not required to have their accounts independently audited.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what quantity of nuclear fuel containing reprocessed uranium has been (a) licensed for export and (b) subsequently exported by BNFL to South Korea for use in the Hanaro research reactor at Daeduk; and what bilateral nuclear co-operation agreements are in force between the United Kingdom and South Korea. [109908]
Mrs. Liddell:
An export licence was granted on 11 November 1997 for the export of up to 50kg of recycled low enriched uranium powder to the Republic of Korea for research and development on nuclear fuel. My officials have been informed by the company that a shipment of 43.7kg of uranium was made under this licence in 1998. I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
The UK has an agreement with the Republic of Korea for Co-operation in the Peaceful uses of Nuclear Energy which was presented to Parliament in June 1992 (cmnd 1961).
Dr. Starkey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list those firms participating in the BRITECH initiative in (a) Israel and (b) Britain. [109540]
Ms Hewitt:
The BRITECH Foundation Ltd., which administers the BRITECH Fund, has recently been established. The Foundation has not yet made any grants from the Fund to UK or Israeli firms.
Mr. Ian Stewart:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans the Government have to ratify ILO Convention No. 177 on Home Work; and if he will make a statement. [110381]
Mr. Alan Johnson:
The Government are committed to fair and decent minimum standards for all workers, including those who work from home. Our approach is fully in line with the principles of the ILO Convention
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which calls for policies to promote equality of treatment between homeworkers and other workers. The Government White Paper published in December 1997 makes it clear that we are working towards ratification of the Convention, on a basis which does not impose excessive burdens on business.
Mr. Gibb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many requests there have been for the Director General of Fair Trading to examine agreements under section 12 of the Competition Act 1998. [110365]
Dr. Howells:
None. Parties cannot make use of the notification provisions in Part I of the Act until the Act itself comes fully into force on 1 March 2000. The transitional arrangements in schedule 13 of the Act allow parties to agreements made between the time the Act received Royal Assent (9 November 1998) and 1 March 2000 to notify those agreements to the Director General for guidance. To date (15 February) there have been 10 such notifications.
Shona McIsaac:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on Hydro-Agri's plans to restructure their UK operations. [110209]
Mr. Caborn
[holding answer 15 February 2000]: I am aware that discussions are taking place concerning the future of Hydro-Agri's fertiliser manufacturing plant at Immingham. However, as it is a commercial matter for the company, it is not an issue on which it would be appropriate for me to comment.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what identifiable operational difficulties were caused to (a) nuclear power stations and (b) other nuclear facilities as a result of computer and other malfunctions arising from the Year 2000 millennium bug. [110651]
Mrs. Liddell:
No identifiable operational difficulties occurred at any of the nuclear installations in the UK because of Y2k difficulties.
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