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Ilisu Dam

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on progress made on the full environmental impact assessment report for the Ilisu Dam. [120264]

Mr. Caborn: Work is proceeding on the Environmental Impact Assessment Report; however the Report is now not expected to be complete until July 2000 at the earliest. The overall project timetable is similarly delayed.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with the Turkish Government concerning consultations with those directly affected by the Ilisu Dam. [120265]

Mr. Caborn: While I have had no direct contact with the Turkish Government concerning the consultations, I understand that consultations are on-going with those who are affected by the Ilisu Dam and that detailed surveys of the local population are to take place.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with Balfour Beatty concerning the provision of export credit for the Ilisu Dam. [120272]

Mr. Caborn: I have had no discussions, although my officials do continue to discuss details of the case with Balfour Beatty and the other interested Export Credit Agencies concerning the provision of export credit for the Ilisu Dam. No decision has been taken regarding the availability of ECGD support for this project.

Regional Assistance

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many applications have been submitted in each of the years since 1993 to date for (a) regional selective assistance and (b) enterprise grant in each region; and how many have been successful. [120653]

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Mr. Caborn: This information is published in the Industrial Development Act 1982, Annual Report, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.

Employment Tribunals

Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) women and (b) black people applied to be lay advisers in the last round of appointments for the employment tribunals in England and Wales; and how many of those in (i) and (ii) applied to serve on the Cardiff tribunal. [120374]

Mr. Alan Johnson: In the 1999 exercise to recruit new lay members to the employment tribunals in Great Britain, applications were received from 3,728 women and 336 people who described their ethnic origin as black-African or black-Caribbean. No separate figures are available for England and Wales. There were 85 women and three black-African or black-Caribbean applicants to serve on the Cardiff employment tribunal.

Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) women and (b) black people serve on employment tribunals in England and Wales; and how many serve on Cardiff tribunals. [120373]

Mr. Alan Johnson: 644 women and 51 people who describe their ethnic origin as black-African or black- Caribbean serve on the employment tribunals in England and Wales. 43 women and one black-African/black- Caribbean serve at the Cardiff employment tribunal.

P. W. Allen and Company

Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will make a decision on whether to allow Export Licence Application QX 96/00 to P. W. Allen and Company in Tewkesbury. [120614]

Dr. Howells: Export licence application QX 96/00 has been approved, and the licence was issued on 20 April 2000.

Milk Marque

Mr. Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the prospects for vertical integration available for the three organisations that replaced Milk Marque. [120327]

Mr. Byers: Following the voluntary decision by the members of Milk Marque to break up into three independent successors, I asked the Director General of Fair Trading (DGFT) to monitor the operation of the market this winter, and report his conclusions by Easter.

That advice has now been received. The DGFT has advised that Milk Link, Axis and Zenith, the three successors to Milk Marque, have been operating independent arrangements for the marketing and selling of their members' milk this winter.

I can announce today that, on the basis that the assurances given last year of independent operation will continue to be observed, I can see no reason why Milk Link, Axis and Zenith should not establish or extend their processing activities if they choose to do so.

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The assurances given were that all policy making and selling of milk would be carried out independently by each of the successors with no joint ventures between the new businesses in marketing or processing milk, with no common directors and no shareholdings by any one of the new businesses in either of the others. Milk Marque also stated that they would not supply to the successor bodies, after 31 March 2001, central services which could not be split prior to the reorganisation which took place last year.

Should the new businesses choose to extend their processing activities through acquisition they will of course be subject to the merger provisions under competition law in the same way as any other company. In addition, Milk Link, Axis and Zenith must, like all undertakings, operate their businesses in accordance with both domestic and European competition law.

Gordon and Innes Ltd.

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the financial accounts for Gordon and Innes Ltd. of Huntly, Aberdeenshire were due for filing; and if they have been received. [120647]

Dr. Howells: The accounts due to 31 October 1998 for Gordon and Innes Ltd., now registered at 8 West Street, Fochabers, IV32 7DJ, were due to be filed by 30 November 1999, but to date they have not been received.

The company has been reminded of its obligations to file its accounts and the consequences if they are not received.

Sudan

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with BP Amoco concerning its investment with Talisman Energy and the China National Petroleum Corporation operating in Sudan. [120269]

Mr. Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has not had the opportunity to meet with BP Amoco to discuss their investment with Talisman Energy and the China National Petroleum Corporation operating in Sudan.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with (a) Weir Pumps of Glasgow, (b) Allen Power Engineering of Bradford and (c) Angus Fire of Oxfordshire concerning the manufacturing of parts for oil exploration in Sudan. [120268]

Mr. Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has not had the opportunity to meet any of the aforementioned companies to discuss the oil industry in Sudan.

My Department, in conjunction with our colleagues at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, have offered, and will continue to offer, full and frank advice to British companies who are interested in the oil industry in Sudan.

Internet

Mrs. Ray Michie: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to protect the names of cities, towns, villages and private houses from being registered as Internet domain names by

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commercial organisations for trading purposes without permission of the legitimate bearers; and if he will make a statement. [120263]

Ms Hewitt: Domain Names in the UK are managed by Nominet UK, an independent not-for-profit body. The Government are discussing with Nominet the way forward on this issue. Nominet is consulting with the Scottish Parliament on this subject, and will shortly be consulting with other regional bodies. Civic organisations and other non-profit groups who wish to register domain names incorporating place names should be able to do so in the org.uk Second Level Domain. They can do this by contacting an Internet Service Provider or if necessary they can contact Nominet directly at www.nominet.org.uk.

TREASURY

Tax System

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what (a) initiatives relating to and (b) reviews of, the tax system he has launched since May 1997; on what dates each (i) was completed and (ii) is expected to be completed; and if he will make a statement. [118857]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 17 April 2000]: The information has been placed in the Library.

Cancer Statistics

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will (a) list and (b) make a statement on the incidence of and death rates from (i) cervical cancer, (ii) breast cancer, (iii) prostate cancer and (iv) testicular cancer in each of the last three years in each health authority. [119728]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Alan Goldsmith to Dr. Jenny Tonge, dated 2 May 2000:

The Director for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to reply to your recent question asking for a statement and list of death rates for (a) cervical, (b) female breast, (c) prostate and (d) testicular cancer by health authority for the three latest years available. I am replying in the Director's absence.
The data relates to all the 99 health authorities in England, the tables are very large and so will not appear in the Official Report. I will arrange for a copy to be made available in the House of Commons Library.

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