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E-commerce
5. Dr. George Turner (North-West Norfolk): What action he is taking to ensure that changes in the price structures for high bandwidth telecommunications encourage the rapid development of e-commerce. [111534]
The Minister for Small Business and E-Commerce (Ms Patricia Hewitt): We want fast cheap internet access to be available to everyone. That is why I welcome the recent announcements from BT and Telewest. We are promoting greater competition in fixed and mobile telephones, which will give consumers more choice and lower prices.
Dr. Turner: I thank the Minister for the progress that is being made. Does she recognise that in the past, rural areas, which in many cases could benefit most from good IT communications, compensating in part for poor physical communications on occasion, have often been the last to see improvements in IT structure? Does she acknowledge that there is a strong case for the Government to put pressure on the regulator and on the companies to ensure that rural as well as urban environments have ready access to fast internet speeds?
Ms Hewitt: My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. I believe that when we release spectrum for fixed wireless access, as we will later this year, that will be of considerable benefit to rural areas, as will the development of new satellite services. Of course I will consider whether there is further action that we can take to roll out broad band quickly in the most remote rural areas.
Mr. David Ruffley (Bury St. Edmunds): Can the Minister confirm that the unbundling of the local BT loop before 1 July 2001 cannot take place without the agreement of both Oftel and BT? In the light of that, can the Minister tell us whether such agreement has been forthcoming?
Ms Hewitt: As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer made quite clear, it is a matter for agreement between Oftel and BT. The date of July 2001 has been agreed for local loop unbundling, and the Director General of Oftel has made it clear that if the practical problems can be resolved more quickly, that date will be brought forward.
Mr. Dale Campbell-Savours (Workington): My hon. Friend referred to recent announcements by BT. In fact, BT has promised nothing. It insists on maintaining its high charges for local calls; it says that it may be prepared to reduce them at some stage in the future. What are we
doing to make BT reduce its charges for millions of people in this country for internet use? It is blocking development in this area and should be stopped.
Ms Hewitt: BT has made two announcements recently, the most recent of which concerns an unmetered internet access subscription for £9.99 a month, giving unmetered access for evenings and weekends.
Ms Hewitt: It was available from yesterday. The other announcement is about the Surftime package. I am confident that BT and Oftel will be able to agree an early date for the introduction of Surftime on both a wholesale and a retail basis.
Mr. Alan Duncan (Rutland and Melton): Events this morning are unfolding which show that the Secretary of State is presiding over a Department in a complete and utter shambles. It is no wonder that word has it that he wants to leave. The first draft of the Electronic Communications Bill was the unsatisfactory product of a turf war between the Department of Trade and Industry and the Home Office. We are now seeing communications move rapidly from fixed wires to wireless technology. There is now a turf war between the DTI and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on who will regulate high bandwidth telecommunications.
Telecommunications has been taken out of the Utilities Bill, which is collapsing in disarray. Who will oversee high bandwidth telecommunications, and why were telecommunications removed from the scope of the Government's Utilities Bill?
Ms Hewitt:
The hon. Gentleman is talking nonsense. If he had read the joint statement made by my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Trade and Industry and for Culture, Media and Sport, he would know that the two Departments are working closely on a White Paper that will deal with future regulation of the converging industries.
6. Mrs. Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside):
What new measures he plans to introduce to assist entrepreneurs to set up new businesses. [111535]
The Minister for Small Business and E-Commerce (Ms Patricia Hewitt):
The new small business service will offer information and advice to anyone who wants to set up a new business through an internet-based gateway. We are creating a volunteer business mentoring programme, and we will support community finance initiatives to help people start businesses in disadvantaged areas.
Mrs. Ellman:
Will my hon. Friend meet me and others to discuss proposals for a community-based investment fund in Toxteth, Liverpool? Does she agree that every possible effort should be made to support entrepreneurship in the inner city?
Ms Hewitt:
I entirely agree, and I should be delighted to meet my hon. Friend and her colleagues who have
Mr. Nick St. Aubyn (Guildford):
One of the most important contributions to the start-up of new businesses is made by information technology consultants who may be employed on an occasional basis. Does the Minister share the view taken by the Secretary of State that consultants who order their affairs so that they accumulate capital in their business rather than paying out money as salary are tax dodgers and evaders, against whom, presumably, criminal sanctions should apply? Are those people not in fact exactly the sort of entrepreneurs we should encourage rather than driving them overseas?
Ms Hewitt:
IT contractors and others who are genuinely self-employed will continue to be treated as such. Those involved in tax avoidance will, however, be dealt with under anti-avoidance measures, and I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman does not support that.
Ms Debra Shipley (Stourbridge):
Does my hon. Friend agree that young people are the future of businesses in Britain? What words can she offer those leaving colleges and schools in Stourbridge to encourage them to go into business and, in particular, to go into business for themselves or set up new businesses?
Ms Hewitt:
My hon. Friend makes an important point. The new national enterprise campaign, which will be launched by the Confederation of British Industry and British Chambers of Commerce, will, I hope, attract many young people leaving college or university into self-employment and business start-up by showing them shining examples of entrepreneurs who have done just that?
Mr. Nick Gibb (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton):
What extra costs does the Minister believe that highly regulatory and interventionist measures such as the Utilities Bill will impose on entrepreneurs, particularly in the IT and telecoms sector? The Government have today announced the embarrassing withdrawal of all the telecomms sections of the Utilities Bill; would they also consider withdrawing the plethora of regulations that are costing business £5 billion a year and stealth taxes on business costing £25 billion?
Ms Hewitt:
No. Let me remind the hon. Gentleman of what the shadow Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Mrs. Browning), said recently. She said on regulation that:
as a Minister under the previous Government . . . We would be the first to say that we did not do very well.--[Official Report, 19 November 1999; Vol. 339, c. 250.]
The fact is that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development concluded in its report last December that after two and a half years of Labour Government, the United Kingdom had less economic and administrative regulation than any other OECD country, including the United States of America. We are continuing to improve the regulatory environment and to simplify conditions for businesses.
Airbus
7. Mr. Peter L. Pike (Burnley): When he will announce his decision on Government aid for the new Airbus project. [111536]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. Alan Johnson): Discussions with BAe Systems on launch investment to secure UK participation in the Airbus A3XX project are well advanced.
Mr. Pike: The Minister will be aware that the project is of importance not only to British Aerospace, but to the aerospace industry in my Lancashire constituency and, indeed, throughout the whole country. It is important that the project should go ahead; the industry is waiting for a decision on that and on two major military projects, which are essential for its future success.
Mr. Johnson: My hon. Friend is right. I have met representatives from BAe Systems and from the work force and am well aware of the ramifications, and of the fact that 20,000 jobs depend on the success of Airbus. Incidentally, last year the company secured more than 55 per cent. of the market for large, civil aircraft. We hope to make an announcement soon. We are well aware of the valid points made by my hon. Friend.
Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York): Will the Minister join me in paying tribute to Airbus and its contribution to employment and to the aviation industry? Will he please make an early decision on support for the new Airbus project? Will he also condemn practices pursued in other countries--notably the US, where the fly American policy means that all American personnel have to fly on American carriers?
Mr. Johnson: I agree with the points made about the value of BAE Systems and the success of Airbus. Last October, we announced DTI funding of £2.45 million for an important competitive initiative of which Airbus is an important part. There should be fair competition rules and we hope to make an announcement on the Airbus project soon. We realise that A3XX is crucial to the future of Airbus and to BAe Systems.
Madam Speaker: Questions 8 and 11 are deferred until 12.30.
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