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Stakeholder Pensions
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he intends, under the draft stakeholder pension regulations, the no penalty requirement (exemptions from employer access, Part IV) to relate to the contributions made on behalf of the member by the employer; and if he will make a statement. [117599]
Mr. Rooker: The draft regulation seeks to ensure that a personal pension which is to provide exemption from the employer access requirement does not impose additional penalties on members because they transfer out of the scheme or stop paying into it. It will relate to the total amount in the fund at the time of transfer or cessation.
Computers
Mr. Ian Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what effect 3COM's announcement that they are to quit the high-end networking market will have on his Department's existing and planned computer systems. [R] [117622]
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Angela Eagle
[holding answer 4 April 2000]: This Department has purchased 3COM products through a procurement channel and uses major Service Providers for their day by day support. The Department has been advised that existing products will have at least two years' ongoing support and 3COM are looking to other third parties to supply for a further three years. The Department will work with existing and future direct service providers to manage this and to plan for alternative supply through initiatives already under way.
Laura Moffatt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he will introduce pension sharing. [118217]
Mr. Rooker:
We have decided that pension sharing will be available in respect of divorce and nullity proceedings that begin on or after 1 December 2000. The necessary regulations will be laid before Parliament shortly.
Fujitsu Plant
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much Government aid was given to the north-east to deal with the effects of job cuts at the Fujitsu plant; and how much this was per worker facing redundancy. [116285]
Mr. Caborn: £415,000 was made available through the rapid response fund to help those facing redundancy from Fujitsu quickly to take up new jobs or training, where no alternative provision is already available.
The allocation of £415,000 was not on a per head basis but resulted from a bid by the Fujitsu Response Group to provide job search and training beyond that available through the Employment Service and Durham Training and Enterprise Council.
The number of employees made redundant was 576.
Mr. Chaytor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has received a copy of the Kansai Electric Interim report on the MOX fuel data published on 1 March; and if he has ordered a translation of the report. [116442]
Mrs. Liddell:
Kansai Electric's interim report on its investigation into the falsification of quality assurance data for MOX manufactured by BNFL was made publicly available in Japan on 1 March 2000. The report is in Japanese. A formal English translation has not been produced by Kansai. For their own internal use, BNFL arranged for an unofficial English translation of the report. A copy of that English language text has been passed to officials in my Department.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer of 28 February 2000, Official Report, column 49W, what types of goods are
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covered, broken down by category of equipment, by the ECGD guarantees issued in respect of contracts with Turkey in 1999-2000. [117073]
Mr. Caborn:
The ECGD cover for defence business with Turkey in 1999-2000 relates to the supply of air defence missiles.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on what basis he set the target for an increase in favourable media coverage of the activities of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority contained in the authority's corporate aims and objectives programme. [117071]
Mrs. Liddell:
The UKAEA target for favourable media coverage is based on industry established monitoring methodologies. The target set for this year improves on what they achieved last year. It is at a level which is challenging and attainable. This measure is part of the framework to monitor UKAEA performance on safety, environment, value for money and public acceptability.
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of the combined heat and power capacity where planning consent has been given over the last 15 months is under construction. [117766]
Mrs. Liddell:
Since the publication of the White Paper, "Conclusions of the Review of Energy Sources for Power Generation", in October 1998, 14 combined heat and power schemes have been approved. Implementation of those approvals is a commercial matter for the developers concerned and not a matter for my Department, although my Department has no information to suggest that any of the approved projects will not go ahead.
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received on net metering from (a) business, (b) environmental groups and (c) others; and how he intends to enable domestic producers of renewable and clean energy to gain access to the grid. [117709]
Mrs. Liddell:
The Government have received a number of representations on net metering from industry, particularly solar energy companies, environmental organisations and private individuals. Many of the issues in those representations have been debated in the House--most notably in the Standing Committee debate on Clause 30 of the Utilities Bill, held on 14 March 2000.
The Government are keen to ensure that all renewable generation, including that produced by domestic customers, is treated in an equitable fashion and receives full and fair value for energy exported to the distribution system. To this end, the DTI last year mounted an internal review of a wide range of issues associated with embedded generation and a consultation paper which set out the outcome of this review was issued in December.
Many informative and helpful responses to the consultation document were received from the renewable industry, distributors and other interested parties. A joint
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industry-OFGEM-Government working group has now been established to take the process forward, and this will report before the end of the year. The working group represents a major opportunity to resolve a number of long-standing issues relating to the treatment of renewable and other embedded generation and to ensure access to the distribution networks on an equitable and fair basis.
Mr. Gardiner:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list all those goods requiring export licences which have been licensed for export to Sri Lanka since 1 December 1999. [117646]
Dr. Howells:
The entry in the relevant legislation under which the export of goods is controlled is known as their rating. The Export Control Organisation's computer databases have been interrogated. Between 1 December 1999 and 24 March 2000, 11 Standard Individual Export Licences (SIELs) and one Open Individual Export Licence (OIEL) were issued covering the export to consignees or end-users in Sri Lanka of goods subject to export control by being listed in Part III of Schedule 1 to the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1994, commonly known as the Military List. Individual licences may cover a range of goods with various ratings (and OIELs may also cover a range of countries). Where this is so, the licence is included in the table in the total for all of the relevant ratings.
| Rating | Number of SIELs issued covering goods with this rating | Number of OIELs issued covering goods with this rating |
|---|---|---|
| ML2 | 2 | 0 |
| ML3 | 1 | 0 |
| ML4 | 1 | 0 |
| ML5 | 0 | 1 |
| ML6 | 2 | 0 |
| ML10 | 1 | 0 |
| ML11 | 2 | 0 |
| ML15 | 1 | 1 |
| ML22 | 1 | 0 |
| PL5017 | 2 | 0 |
| PL5031 | 1 | 0 |
This information does not cover any Media OIELs that may have been issued during this period. Media OIELs authorise the export to all destinations of protective clothing, mainly for the protection of aid agency workers and journalists, when working in areas of conflict.
Information on export licensing decisions in 1999, including details of the military equipment licensed, will be set out in the 1999 Annual Report on Strategic Export Controls, which will be published later this year. Similar details of the military equipment licensed in later years will be set out in the relevant Annual Reports.
This information should be considered in light of the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Kingswood (Mr. Berry) on 27 July 1999, Official Report, columns 307-08W.
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