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Nuclear Installations (Safety)
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer of 24 March 2000, Official Report, column 720W, what information he has sought from the European Commission in respect of the prospective publication date of the report of the Commission's Euratom Safety team visit to Dounreay in March 1999. [116972]
Mrs. Liddell: The report of the Commission's verification visit in March last year to Caithness (Dounreay) is a matter for the Scottish Executive which has the lead for environmental matters in Scotland. I understand from the Scottish Executive that finalisation of this report might be expected within the next three months.
Atomic Energy Constabulary
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on how many occasions the United
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Kingdom Atomic Energy Constabulary has conducted investigations into alleged criminal malpractice in each year since 1990. [116999]
Mrs. Liddell:
The UKAEA Constabulary is responsible for the policing of the nuclear licensed sites operated by BNFL, UKAEA and Urenco, including the protection on site and in transport of nuclear material. They therefore are responsible for investigating all the normal range of criminal offences on those sites, e.g. theft (the vast majority) and car crime. The figures are published in the UKAEA Constabulary's Annual Reports, copies of which are available in the Library of the House. The total figures for 1999-2000 (to date), which are not yet published, are 206 offences of which some 155 are theft.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make it his policy to assess the merits of the report, Fundamental Deficiencies in the Quality Control of Mixed-Oxide Fuel, released by Green Peace International on 27 March. [116987]
Mrs. Liddell:
I have not received a copy of the report. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has independently investigated and reported on the MOX fuel quality assurance data falsification issue on 18 February. A copy of this detailed report is available in the Library of the House. The Government consider that BNFL should respond to HSE's recommendations constructively, fully and by the 18 April deadline set by HSE.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will meet a delegation from the Socialist Environment Resources Association to discuss the future of British Nuclear Fuels. [117000]
Mrs. Liddell:
If I receive a request from the Socialist Environment and Resources Association for a meeting I will give it due consideration.
Ms Perham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) e-mails, (b) letters and (c) other responses he has received on the issue of car pricing from members of the (i) public, (ii) consumer groups and (iii) industry since September 1999. [117713]
Dr. Howells:
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has received a large number of representations on the issue of car pricing, primarily from members of the public, but also from car manufacturers, car dealers and consumer groups.
Mr. Robertson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to issue a statement informing retailers of the legal requirements regarding the sale of goods in imperial and metric measures; and if he will make a statement. [117660]
Dr. Howells:
Under legislation made in 1994, goods sold loose by weight--mainly fresh foods--have been required to be priced and weighed in grams and kilograms from I January 2000.
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The Government have publicised this in a number of ways:
In total over 275,000 "selling metric" retailer leaflets (including over 6,000 in languages other than English), over 860,000 "shopping metric" consumer leaflets (including 30,000 in languages other than English) and over 140,000 wallcharts have been issued. In addition information is available in Braille and audio form.
Mr. Godsiff:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action he plans to take in the light of the recent consultations on the statutory audit requirements for smaller companies and other simplifications of small company accounting requirements. [117867]
Mr. Byers:
The consultation on the statutory audit showed wide support for a significant increase in the threshold below which companies were not required to have a full statutory audit of their accounts.
I intend to raise the audit exemption threshold to the maximum level allowed under EU law--£4.8 million turnover. This will be achieved in two stages.
I shall lay an Order before both Houses as soon as possible which would raise the threshold to £1 million this year. This will bring the benefits to the majority of small companies as soon as possible. It has the potential of relieving up to 150,000 small companies from the burden of the statutory audit. We estimate the potential savings as up to £180 million a year.
I intend at a later date to lay a further Order to raise the threshold to £4.8 million, in the light of the conclusions of the independent Company Law Review on small companies. The Review group is considering whether, for companies in the range of £1 million to £4.8 million turnover, the audit should be replaced by a lighter, less costly form of assurance. I shall take their final recommendations into account before proposing what, if any, statutory requirement should replace the full audit for companies in that size range.
In addition, I have decided to simplify and reform the law on dormant companies, following a separate consultation. These proposals will relieve the regulatory burdens placed upon dormant companies. The key changes are to:
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will be made as part of the implementation of wide- ranging proposals on small companies which we expect to emerge from the Company Law Review.
Mr. Gardiner:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much his Department has spent to promote British trade and investment in Sri Lanka annually since 1997. [117645]
Mr. Caborn:
British Trade International (since 1999--previously the Department of Trade and Industry) has given financial support to British companies going on trade missions to Sri Lanka, as follows:
(i) holding roadshows for local authority trading standards officers and providing stocks of DTI leaflets for use in the local authority education programme for retailers
(ii) a publicity campaign in the summer of 1999 consisting of the issue of free leaflets for traders and consumers and wall charts showing weight comparisons
(iii) the placing of advertisements in the trade press in the period just before Christmas 1999 aimed largely at small retailers
remove the requirement for dormant companies to have to pass a special resolution not to appoint auditors;
require dormant companies which act as agents for other companies to disclose that fact in their annual accounts;
disregard the payment of certain statutory fees for the purposes of claiming dormancy.
I have also decided that the current thresholds in the Companies Act which define small and medium companies for accounting purposes should be changed to the maxima allowed under EU law. However, this change
| Number of: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Missions | Companies participating | Expenditure (£) |
| 1997 | 5 | 109 | 70,200 |
| 1998 | 2 | 42 | 27,600 |
| 1999 | 4 | 84 | 54,000 |
| Year | Expenditure on Southern Asia | Of which expenditure on Sri Lanka |
|---|---|---|
| 1997-98 | 214,916 | 29,660 |
| 1998-99 | 177,086 | 50,413 |
| 1999-2000 | 160,639 | 39,017 |
Gas-fired Power Stations
Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will review the stricter consents policy on the construction of gas-fired power stations. [117227]
Mrs. Liddell: As the Government made clear in their October 1998 Energy Sources White Paper, the stricter consents policy is a temporary measure to protect diversity and security of supply while distortions in the electricity market are removed. The Director General of Electricity Supply is keeping my Department informed of progress in addressing the competition issues and the Government expect that the policy will be relaxed as soon as they conclude, on the basis of that advice, that the reform programme is under way and the distortions removed.
Oil Fabrication (Scotland)
Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to meet the work force of the Barmac oil fabrication yards in the north of Scotland. [101437]
Mrs. Liddell
[holding answer 6 December 1999]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no plans to do so at this time.
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