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Regional Selective Assistance

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reason the planned expenditure on regional selective assistance for 2000-01 given on page 62 of Cm 4611 differs from total provision given on page 201. [121002]

Mr. Byers: The total gross provision for regional selective assistance in 2000-01 given on page 201 of Cm 4611 (£125.25 million) includes provision for the Enterprise Grant scheme. The figures on page 62 have been separated into individual lines on the Enterprise Grant scheme (£9.0 million) and the main Regional Selective Assistance programme (£116.3 million).

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how much of the difference between total provision of, and estimated outturn spending on, regional selective assistance in 1999-2000 results from the delay in agreeing a legal regional selective assistance map; [121003]

(2) for what reason the estimated outturn spending on regional selective assistance given on page 62 of Cm 4611 differs from the total provision given on page 201. [121001]

Mr. Byers: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to footnote (a) on page 62 of Cm 4611 which states that the difference resulted from a number of large projects failing to reach their trigger points for grant because of slower than expected progress.

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many of the offers of regional selective assistance cited on page 59 of Cm 4611 have been delayed by the absence of a legal regional selective assistance map. [121005]

Mr. Byers: None.

Nuclear Industry

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent estimate he has made of the cost of returning unused plutonium MOX fuel from Japan; which Government Departments are responsible

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for making arrangements for such a return; and what storage facilities exist at (a) Sellafield and (b) other UK nuclear facilities to store such fuel. [120254]

Mrs. Liddell: A decision on the future of the MOX fuel in Japan remains to be agreed with the Japanese Government.

Electricity Generation

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the impact on carbon emissions of the Restricted Consents Policy for new gas-fired electricity generation (a) for the last two years, and (b) for the next two years. [119677]

Mrs. Liddell: No such calculations have been made.

Our White Paper, "Conclusions of The Review of Energy Sources for Power Generation and Government response to fourth and fifth Reports of the Trade and Industry Committee", Cm 4071, stated that it was not possible to quantify the impact of the new energy framework on emissions. This is because the aim of the policy is not to achieve any particular outcome in terms of fuel mix in generation, but to create a level playing field so that all forms of generation can compete equally and as a temporary precautionary measure to ensure the artificial encouragement for new gas plant that has arisen from distortions to the electricity market does not artificially undermine security and diversity of supply.

I announced on Monday 17 April that I would be lifting the stricter consents policy in October 2000 as soon as the new electricity trading arrangements were in place. The Government are determined to meet the UK commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 12.5 per cent. below 1990 levels in 2008-12. The stricter consents policy and the timetable for its lifting are entirely consistent with meeting that target, and with moving towards our goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent. on 1990 levels.

Assisted Areas (North-East)

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will state (a) the resident unemployment and (b) the number of existing manufacturing jobs in each of the electoral wards of the North-East Region which were (i) included in and (ii) excluded from the European-aid approved map in recent changes. [120206]

Mr. Caborn: The information on resident unemployment counts has been placed in the Library of the House. Due to commercial confidentiality the majority of the information on manufacturing jobs is not available at individual ward level. Where such information is available, it has been incorporated within the tables on unemployment.

Trading Losses

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the policy of (a) the EU and (b) the United Kingdom Government towards paying grant for trading losses by manufacturing businesses. [120860]

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Mr. Byers: Any grants paid by the EU Governments to manufacturing companies must fall within the EU State aid rules, which are detailed in Volume 2a of "Competition Law in the European Community", a copy of which is in the Library of the House.

TRW/Lucas Varity Filtronics

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the grants to TRW/Lucas Varity Filtronics, mentioned on page 59 of Cm 4611, have been delayed in payment. [121004]

Mr. Byers: There have been no delays in making payment.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Omagh Bombing (Police Investigation)

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many RUC detectives are engaged in the investigation into the deaths of 29 people in Omagh on 15 August 1998. [114716]

Mr. Ingram: The number of officers actively engaged in this investigation has varied at different times to meet the needs of inquiries. All appropriate resources have been made available throughout the investigation. I am advised that there are currently 20 detective officers working full-time on the inquiry team.

Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the cost to the latest available date of the RUC investigations into the Omagh Bomb. [114894]

Mr. Ingram: This information is not readily available and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Websites

Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his Department's policy is on (a) advertising and (b) acknowledging company sponsorship on the websites of his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies; which companies (i) have placed advertisements and (ii) are acknowledged as sponsors on those websites; how much revenue has been received for each financial year since 1997 from such advertisements and sponsorship; and if that revenue has been retained within the budget of his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies. [119555]

Mr. Ingram: The Northern Ireland Civil Service policy on web advertising and sponsorship has not yet been published but will follow the line which has been developed by the Central Information Unit in the Cabinet Office which is as follows:

Government sites are permitted to carry advertising. In designing pages, departments and agencies should ensure that advertisers' branding does not detract from the effectiveness and appearance of their own branding or that of the government as a whole. Particular attention should be given to avoid any implication of endorsement of products or services or of contradiction between government messages and those of advertisers.

Only two Northern Ireland departmental websites carry the logos of companies. The Roads Service traffic camera site contains the logo of Peregrine Associates; and the

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Greenmount Agricultural College web page carries logos of the Northern Bank Group, Richardsons Fertilizers, Thompsons and United Dairy Farmers.

No revenue was, or is being, received from the inclusion of these logos.

Harland and Woolf

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on how many occasions Ministers in his Department have met (a) representatives of trade unions at Harland and Woolf shipyard, (b) officials of the Department of Economic Development and (c) lay members representing the trade unions at Harland and Woolf to discuss the future of the shipyard; when the last such meeting was held; and what future meetings are planned. [120497]

Mr. Ingram: Since October 1999 Ministers, including those in the Northern Ireland Executive, have had three main meetings with representatives of trade unions at Harland and Woolf and a series of meetings with Departmental officials to discuss matters in relation to the shipyard.

The most recent Ministerial meeting with trade unions was on 23 March 2000. Ministers receive written briefings from officials on at least a weekly basis and meetings with officials will take place as required. Future meetings with trade unions and officials will take place as necessary.

Investment and Finance Working Group

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what date the report of the Investment and Finance Cross Sector Working Group was placed on the Strategy 2010 web site; on what dates (a) the summary of that report and (b) the report of the Inward Investment sub-group were removed; and for what reason the latter document was removed. [120587]

Mr. Ingram: The report of the Investment and Finance Working Group, which includes an executive summary, was placed on the website in November 1999.

The Inward Investment report was an interim discussion document produced by the Exports and Marketing Working Group. It was replaced by the Group's final report in November 1999.

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