| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
India
6. Mr. Jim Cunningham (Coventry, South): What steps he is taking to encourage UK exports to India. [115665]
The Minister for Trade (Mr. Richard Caborn): India offers a wealth of opportunity for British trade and investment, and is therefore designated a campaign market for trade promotion by British Trade International. During the visit of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in January, he announced a target of a 20 per cent. increase in bilateral trade. Only last week, I hosted an extremely positive inaugural meeting of the Indo-British
Partnership's business council. The council members come from Rolls-Royce, PowerGen, British Airways, JCB and the financial services.
Mr. Cunningham: I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. Given that many of us have constituents with connections with India, what financial resources have the Government committed to trade with India?
Mr. Caborn: British Trade International has one of the key markets. I think that the investment level is about £800,000. With private sector involvement and joint ventures, we expect the total to be in excess of £1 million. That investment will be aimed very much towards medium-sized companies. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced global enterprise initiatives, and has set a target of 200 partnerships, especially with small and medium-sized companies, where we believe there is a tremendous opportunity in India within the next two years.
Mr. Eric Pickles (Brentwood and Ongar): Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that motor cars are a great potential export to India? Does he recognise that if we are to export them, we need a motor manufacturing industry, and that Rover is not the only problem? Setting aside nuances about what the Secretary of State heard or did not hear, will the right hon. Gentleman tell me when he last had discussions with Ford about the future of car production at Dagenham? What was the date, and what assurances did he receive about the future of--
Madam Speaker: Order. The export of cars to India is a good subject. I am sure that the Minister can reply to that question.
Mr. Caborn: It was two days ago.
Small Business Service
7. Mr. Michael Jabez Foster (Hastings and Rye): When the Small Business Service payroll facilities will be available to small businesses in Hastings and Rye; and if fees will be charged. [115666]
The Minister for Small Business and E-Commerce (Ms Patricia Hewitt): Following extensive consultation with small businesses last year, the Inland Revenue has expanded its new enterprise support initiative to provide a payroll service from April 2000, free of charge to small businesses.
Mr. Foster: I thank my hon. Friend for that response. In my constituency, small business has provided an enormous number of jobs over the past two and a half years, halving long-term unemployment and enabling two thirds of young people to be in work. That has all been achieved as a result of small business, because there is no big business in Hastings and Rye. Will the Inland Revenue be giving assistance with matters such as the working families tax credit within its payroll service?
Ms Hewitt: My hon. Friend is quite right. We have 100,000 more businesses now than we had in May 1997, and that is very welcome. The Inland Revenue will certainly be giving advice to small businesses on the
working families tax credit. Last week's Budget announced incentives to small businesses to go online, which will make it even easier for them to process their PAYE returns and to administer the working families tax credit and payroll generally.Euro
8. Dr. Julian Lewis (New Forest, East): What assessment he has made of the implications for small businesses of future British non-participation in the single European currency. [115667]
The Minister for Energy and Competitiveness in Europe (Mrs. Helen Liddell): I talk frequently to small and medium-sized enterprises and business groups as part of the Government's ongoing assessment of the impact of the euro on UK SMEs while the UK remains out. As euro use increases as we come nearer to the introduction of notes and coins on 1 January 2002 in the first wave, there will be increased pressure on UK SMEs because of increased price transparency. There will also be significant new opportunities for SMEs, and it is the aim of my Department to ensure that small firms benefit from them.
Dr. Lewis: Is the Minister aware that the result of the latest ICM poll, which was commissioned by the commonsense Conservative keep the pound campaign, shows yet again that more than 60 per cent. of the British people do not wish Britain to join the single currency and that only 28 per cent. do? Does the right hon. Lady realise that the proportion of the British people who are against joining the single currency is much higher than the average among small businesses? Why do she and the Government persist with their arrogant disregard for the opinion of small business men and the British people as a whole on this crucial issue?
Mrs. Liddell: The phrase "commonsense Conservative" is a contradiction in terms. The hon. Gentleman should reflect on the views of those on his own Front Bench. The hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr. Gibb) said on 17 June last year in the Standing Committee considering the Finance Bill:
- Whether our party changes its policy will depend on what the right policy is.--[Official Report, Standing Committee B, 17 June 1999; c. 659.]
The Government recognise that a single currency exists, and we will ensure that United Kingdom small firms get the full benefit of the opportunities that it offers, whether Britain is in or out. We will ensure that the people of this country get an opportunity to decide whether Britain should join a single currency when the economic circumstances are right.
Mr. Dale Campbell-Savours (Workington):
My right hon. Friend should ignore rigged Tory polls, which are what the hon. Member for New Forest, East (Dr. Lewis) cited. Business men in my constituency are making their position clear. They want to join the euro because they
Mrs. Liddell:
My hon. Friend makes a valid point. More than 40 per cent. of United Kingdom SMEs already export to the euro zone. There are significant opportunities for them in that zone, but it is important for the entire UK economy that we make sure that the economic preconditions are right before the Government recommend to the people of this country, in a referendum, entry to a single currency. The Government have the commonsense approach; the Opposition's attitude is increasingly turning into xenophobia.
Mr. Dafydd Wigley (Caernarfon):
I speak as president of a small business in my constituency which employs 130 people in the food manufacturing sector. Does the right hon. Lady accept that that sector, along with agriculture, from which we get our raw materials, and tourism, to which we sell a proportion of our product, are being undermined by the strength of the pound against the euro, and that there is a crying need for us to go into the euro at the correct rate, to give those sectors, along with sectors such as steel, the opportunity of a future in an export market?
Mrs. Liddell:
I am very interested to hear about small firms that have presidents--an unusual development in the British small firms sector. It would not help any company, large or small, for the Government to take decisions that were not based on the best economic preconditions. That is why my right hon. Friend the Chancellor has set five commonsense tests that will have to be met before the Government could recommend to the country that we should join a single currency.
In the meantime, the existence of the euro zone means that the United Kingdom's small and medium-sized enterprises must look to their marketing and the consequences of increased price transparency. That is why in my Department we are concentrating on exports, the euro and electronic commerce, so that SMEs know the benefits of all three.
9. Dr. Doug Naysmith (Bristol, North-West):
What support his Department has given the aerospace industry since May 1997. [115668]
The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. Stephen Byers):
I announced on 13 March that the Government would provide launch investment for the A3XX. Since 1997, the Government have made two other launch investment commitments, and we continue to support research and innovation.
Dr. Naysmith:
I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply and for the repayable launch aid for the A3XX project. That is of great value to my constituents in Bristol, North-West and to the rest of the UK, where firms in the supply chain will feed into that international collaborative project. What support and help can my right hon. Friend give to firms that want to contribute to that
Mr. Byers:
My hon. Friend raises an important point and I was pleased to visit Filton to see the excellent work being done at the plant. The aerospace industry is one in which Britain has a real lead in terms of worldwide development, which is one reason why we were prepared to make the launch investment available. We recognise how important and significant that is--it will safeguard about 62,000 jobs and create about 22,000 new ones. That is real investment and those are real jobs, which is what people want.
Mr. John Wilkinson (Ruislip-Northwood):
While I have every sympathy for the project and hope that it goes well--the A3XX should fill the biggest niche in the market--can the Secretary of State explain why he did not announce the loan aid to the House? It is the biggest provision of loan capital of its kind for years and it has major implications for the industry as a whole. Will he assure the House that he is still in a position to give launch aid to other companies in the aerospace sector, if appropriate, and that other projects, such as the A400M, are still worthy of consideration?
Mr. Byers:
I was unable to come to the House because the information was market sensitive and the stock market had to be informed first, which it was at 7.30 am. The reply to the parliamentary question was consequent on that. Those are the formalities that we had to complete and it is wholly appropriate that we did so. The hon. Gentleman raises an important point about a further order that may come to the Airbus consortium. Clearly he will be aware that there are strong arguments about why that project should be supported as well.
Mr. Barry Jones (Alyn and Deeside):
My right hon. Friend deserves great credit for obtaining massive sums for the industry, but does he know that 4,200 Airbus workers in my constituency are incandescent with rage at the refusal of a regional grant? Has he had any discussions with the First Secretary as to how he might disgorge a modest sum to ensure that 1,400 jobs remain in my constituency? He might know that that decision is the most careless in the history of government in Wales--a kick in the teeth. All north Wales is contemptuous of a wretched decision that will do no good for the Assembly in Wales.
Mr. Byers:
I understand my right hon. Friend's concerns. Yesterday evening, I met the First Secretary to discuss the situation in the light of his decision to refuse regional selective assistance. He has now agreed to meet the company and the representatives of the work force to try to identify whether there is a different way forward that can give support to the project from the Welsh Assembly, although not in the same way as originally proposed. I think that he now recognises the significant part that that can play and he is more than willing to have discussions with the company to identify a way forward.
Mr. Nick St. Aubyn (Guildford):
At Dunsfold, on the edge of my constituency, nearly 1,000 jobs are being lost as a result of the closure of British Aerospace's plant.
Mr. Byers:
When the hon. Gentleman has the chance to refresh his memory of the manufacturing figures, he will see that there is no return to the days of boom and bust and that manufacturing has underlying strengths, which are coming to the fore. It is not good for manufacturing when people like him talk manufacturing down. There is much that is good in United Kingdom manufacturing and I am sure that he knows as well as I do that it does not want a return to the Conservative days of boom and bust, when 1 million manufacturing jobs were lost just over 10 years ago.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |