| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Wages Councils
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list for each wages council in each year from 1970 to their abolition, the years when wage awards were not uprated. [111326]
Mr. Alan Johnson: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Low Pay Commission
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Low Pay Commission is established on a permanent basis; and if he will make a statement. [111659]
Mr. Alan Johnson: The Low Pay Commission was placed on a statutory base in November 1998 following the commencement of provisions of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998. The Government have announced that they will ask the Commission to monitor the national minimum wage and produce a further report, including whether there is a case for an increase and if so to what level, by July 2001. Professor George Bain has accepted the Prime Minister's invitation and agreed to continue to chair the Commission.
Miners Pension Scheme
Mr. Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many trustees of the Miners Pension Scheme are employees of his Department; and what reports they have submitted to him concerning the current actuarial review of the scheme. [111574]
Mrs. Liddell: Five of the 10 members of the corporate trustee body of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme (MPS) are appointed by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in his role as guarantor to the Scheme. One of these five Secretary of State appointees is a Departmental official. I have received no reports on the actuarial review of the MPS which, I understand, is still under way.
Mr. Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will use his powers under the Miners Pension Scheme to enable the scheme's trustees to reduce the retirement age of working miners to the age of 50. [111507]
Mrs. Liddell: The Trustees of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme are currently awaiting the results of a recent actuarial valuation. They will no doubt consider a wide range of options for allocating any surplus which emerges for distribution to beneficiaries. These could include retirement terms for all deferred members of the Scheme including working miners. I shall consider any proposals that the Trustees may make.
Broadcasting
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on his Department's responsibilities in respect of matters where telecommunications and broadcasting issues converge. [111496]
Ms Hewitt
[holding answer 22 February 2000]: The forthcoming Communications White Paper will deal with the changes in regulation required as a result of the
28 Feb 2000 : Column: 49W
convergence of the telecoms and broadcasting industries. The Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport have joint and equal responsibility for this work.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list, for each year from 1997 to 1999, (a) those countries in receipt of defence-related contracts covered by the ECGD, (b) the United Kingdom companies involved in each of these contracts, (c) the goods covered by each contract and (d) the financial value of each contract. [108765]
Mr. Caborn
[holding answer 7 February 2000]: The second table contains details by country and value of the cover which ECGD has provided in support of defence business in each of the last three years.
| April 1997-March 1988 | April 1998-March 1999 | April 1999-January 2000 (provisional) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aircraft | 31.0 | 60.0 | 27.5 |
| Ancillary | 1.3 | 2.0 | 0 |
| Artillery/Missiles | 16.4 | 1.0 | 42.0 |
| Naval vessels | 0.3 | 35.0 | 0 |
| Radar/Communications | 15.0 | 1.0 | 10.9 |
| Vehicles | 36.0 | 1.0 | 19.6 |
The further detail the hon. Gentleman requires is a commercial confidence.
| 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000(10) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Botswana | 12 | -- | -- |
| Brazil | -- | 29 | -- |
| Brunei | -- | 580 | -- |
| Chile | -- | -- | 2 |
| Egypt | 9 | -- | -- |
| Germany | 1 | -- | -- |
| Greece | 19 | -- | 5 |
| India | -- | 14 | -- |
| Indonesia | 17 | 9 | -- |
| Italy | -- | 2 | -- |
| Korea, Rep. of | 62 | 20 | -- |
| Kuwait | 56 | -- | 30 |
| Lithuania | 3 | -- | -- |
| Malaysia | -- | 15 | 123 |
| Oman | 1 | 21 | 204 |
| Qatar | 183 | -- | -- |
| Saudi Arabia | 225 | 1,000 | -- |
| Singapore | 19 | -- | -- |
| Sweden | -- | 4 | -- |
| Thailand | 27 | -- | -- |
| Turkey | 36 | -- | 208 |
| UAE | 10 | -- | -- |
| United States | -- | 7 | -- |
(10) to 31 January
28 Feb 2000 : Column: 50W
Renewable Energy
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to exclude renewables which produce below 500 kw from regulations that currently apply to larger producers of power. [111492]
Mrs. Liddell [holding answer 22 February 2000]: Companies which generate and supply less than 500kw of electricity from any source, including renewable sources, are not subject to licensing requirements under the Electricity Act at present. We are currently consulting on changes to the relevant Order to relax the present requirements.
International Price Comparisons
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reasons the survey results of international price comparisons were not published on 11 February; and if he will make a statement. [111631]
Mr. Byers [holding answer 22 February 2000]: The survey on International Price Comparison was commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry. The publication of the report was not subject to Parliamentary protocol. The report was published on Sunday 13 February and copies were made available from the Department.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which journalists attended the briefing session at his Department on 11 February about the results of the survey on international price comparisons. [111636]
Mr. Byers [holding answer 22 February 2000]: Consumer and Lobby journalists from the national Sunday papers, the Press Association, BBC, ITN, Sky and IRN.
Austria
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what change (a) his Department and (b) British Trade International has introduced as a result of the Government's new policy towards bilateral relations with Austria. [111633]
Mr. Caborn [holding answer 22 February 2000]: As a result of sanctions imposed by the 14 EU member states, Ministers will have no bilateral contact with the Austrian Government. There will be no bilateral ministerial visits to or from Austria. Ministers will not receive the Austrian Charge in London. Along with our other EU partners, the UK will not support Austrian candidates for positions at international organisations.
These are bilateral measures by the 14 individual countries. The agreed measures are not intended to affect trade.
North Sea Oilfield
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the membership of the Government task force on the tax and employment aspects of North Sea oilfield decommissioning; when the task force began its work; and when it will report. [111350]
Mrs. Liddell
[holding answer 22 February 2000]: The Government have not set up a task force on North Sea oilfield decommissioning. However, the oil and gas
28 Feb 2000 : Column: 51W
industry has set up a North Sea Decommissioning Group to take forward a range of industry cooperation and other issues which emerged from the conclusions of a number of workgroups set up by the Oil and Gas Industry Task Force which reported in September 1999. The Decommissioning Group's membership, which comprises representatives from a number of industry bodies including the UK Offshore Operators Association and the Oil and Gas Producers Association, includes representation from my Department. No deadline has been set for the Group to complete its work. General matters of taxation and employment are being considered by workgroups within PILOT (the second phase of the Oil and Gas Industry Task Force) which will continue to meet during the year. More information about the ongoing work of PILOT can be found by accessing the PILOT website at: www.dti.gov.uk/ogitf.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |