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Nuclear Reprocessing

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to the oral statement by the Minister of State, the hon. Member for Neath, (Mr. Hain) of 3 May 2000, Official Report, column 84WH, on what dates each of the UK's nuclear reprocessing plants, including those used to process military nuclear materials, were (a) put under Euratom safeguards and (b) made liable to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency. [121978]

Dr. Howells: Civil nuclear material at UK reprocessing facilities became subject to the safeguards provisions of the Euratom Treaty on 1 January 1973. Such material became subject to the terms of the United Kingdom's safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Euratom (INFCIRC/263) when that agreement entered force on 14 August 1978. All reprocessing in the UK since March 1996 has been performed under Euratom safeguards and been liable to inspection by the IAEA under the terms of the INFCIRC/263 agreement.

Banana Dispute

Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his latest estimate of the number of British jobs lost as a result of the banana dispute between the EU and the US. [121711]

Mr. Caborn: The number of jobs lost within UK companies in the targeted sectors will depend on a number of factors, including the length of time that the retaliatory measures remain in place, and the ability of affected companies to find alternative customers for their goods. I have received many representations from UK companies affected by the US retaliation and recognise that there is a real risk of damage to UK companies in terms of both lost trade and jobs.

Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the Council of Ministers will next meet to discuss the banana dispute between the EU and the US. [121709]

Mr. Caborn: I understand that Commissioner Lamy intends to report to the General Affairs Council on 22 May.

Motor Industry

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what initiatives he is pursuing to safeguard jobs in the motor components industry which may be under threat from the sale of Rover; and if he will make a statement. [121728]

Mr. Alan Johnson: The sale of Rover cars to the Phoenix consortium is the best outcome to safeguard jobs in the supply chain for the models produced at Longbridge and the R75.

15 May 2000 : Column: 23W

In the longer term, the Government will continue their efforts to help the industry to improve its competitiveness. The DTI is providing a total of over £18 million of support for initiatives such as the SMMT Industry Forum and the Foresight Vehicle programme, as well as undertaking activity to attract new investment and develop exports.

Coal

Mr. Heseltine: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many deep mine coal pits are operating in Great Britain; and what percentage of national electricity generation is fuelled by coal. [121448]

Mr. Byers: There are currently 17 major deep mine coal pits in operation in the UK.

There are also a number of smaller deep mines, each producing less than 100,000 tonnes of coal per year.

In 1999, coal accounted for 29 per cent. of national electricity generation.

Sub-post Offices

Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list those documents and publications produced by his Department and its Agencies, including the Royal Mail but excluding the Post Office, that are available at sub-post offices. [121628]

Mr. Alan Johnson: I understand from the Post Office that the information requested is not readily available in the form sought. However, they have supplied their list of stores items available to be sent to sub-post offices. I have arranged for a copy of this information to be placed in the Libraries of the House. The Post Office has advised that changes to the list can occur on a weekly basis as items are withdrawn and new items added.

New World Trade Round

Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what will be the objectives of the European Union in respect of its initiating a further new world trade round; and what problems the Commission seeks to resolve in respect of specific market problems referred to in paragraph 1.2 of its work programme. [121636]

Mr. Caborn: The EU objectives for a future round of trade negotiations remain as set out in the October 1999 General Affairs Council Conclusions. This was confirmed at the Porto Informal Ministerial for EU Trade Ministers which I attended on 17-18 March. A copy of these Conclusions has been placed in the Library of the House and is also available on the European Commission's website at: www.europa.eu.int/comm/trade/pdf/agr15en.pdf.

The Commission has an ongoing programme to secure the removal of a wide variety of obstacles to EU exports in a range of third country markets by various means, including resort to the WTO disputes settlement procedure.

Miners' Compensation

Mr. Alan W. Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in the action for miners' compensation for chest disease, how many claims

15 May 2000 : Column: 24W

questionnaires have been sent out by his Department's solicitors; and how many of them have been returned by miners' solicitors in each week from 1 January to the present. [121523]

Mrs. Liddell: In total, to date, the Department's claim handlers have issued 27,372 claims questionnaires to solicitors in England, Wales and Scotland, and of these 11,722 (42.8 per cent.) have been returned. Detailed weekly statistics separately for Claims Questionnaires back to January are not readily available. But the return of full claims packs (consisting of Claims Questionnaires, Financial and Other Loss Questionnaires and Mandates) is monitored. From levels of 200 a week in the early part of the year, these have now risen to around 700 a week currently. This needs to rise to about 1,000 a week as the Medical Assessment Process becomes fully operational.

Mr. Alan W. Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish for each medical assessment centre set up by Healthcall Services Ltd. for handling miners' compensation claims for chest disease (a) its location and whether it is a hospital, (b) the number of chest consultants employed at the centre in full-time equivalents, (c) the capacity of the centre in terms of the number of medical assessment procedures per month and (d) the total number that have to date undergone medical assessment procedures at the centre. [121522]

Mrs. Liddell: The information is as follows:

Centre	Centre type	Whole time equivalents	Capacity of tests per month
Enfield	Healthcall	0.2	35
Newcastle	Healthcall	1.0	156
Nottingham	Healthcall	0.6	90
Sheffield	Healthcall	0.7	105
Newport	Healthcall	1.1	175
Swansea	Healthcall	1.1	175
Mountain Ash(3)	NHS	0.0	(4)72
Mansfield	Union	2.6	400
Glasgow	Healthcall	1.3	210
Lochore	Union	1.3	210
Coventry	Healthcall	0.4	60
Deal	Union	1.0	160
Chesterfield(3)	Union	0.0	(4)72
Mexborough	NHS	0.4	70
Pontefract	NHS	0.4	70
Stoke	Union	0.7	105
Manchester	Healthcall	0.9	140
Huddersfield	Healthcall	0.3	55
Cannock	Union	0.3	55
Durham	Union	0.8	130
Bristol	Healthcall	1.0	160
Barnsley	NHS	0.3	55
Edinburgh	Healthcall	0.9	140
Wrexham	Union	0.6	90
Ayr	Other	1.1	175
Unallocated(5)	--	3.1	413
Floaters/Holidays only(6)	--	2.8	363
Total		24.9	3,941

(3) Floating/unallocated consultants will be used here

(4) Estimate

(5) Consultants who have agreed to do sessions and will work in their holidays

(6) Consultants trained or to be trained and will work in their holidays

15 May 2000 : Column: 25W

Total number of MAP assessments completed

	Number
Newport	97
Swansea	83
Mountain Ash	2
Domiciliary	40
Deceased	26

Mr. Alan W. Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish for each company of solicitors involved in the claims for miners' compensation for chest disease in South Wales (a) the total number of claims questionnaires sent to date, (b) the total number of completed questionnaires returned to date and (c) the percentage of those sent that have been returned. [121524]

Mrs. Liddell: The information is as follows:

Solicitors in South Wales	Questionnaires issued	Questionnaires returned (percentage)	Incomplete questionnaires referred back to the solicitor (percentage)
Hugh James	6,542	1,544 (23.6)	149 (9.7)
Thompsons	3,158	2,275 (72)	378 (16.6)
Randall Saunders	354	77 (21.7)	13 (16.9)
Morgan Cole	233	139 (59.6)	7(5)
TS Edwards	212	149 (70.2)	15(10.1)
Thomas and Company	155	87 (56.1)	6 (6.9)
Gabb and Company	23	1(4.3)	0(0)
Osborne Jones	2	1(50)	0(0)
David W. Harris	2	2(100)	0(0)
Leo Abse and Cohen	1	0(0)	0(0)
Total	10,682	4,275(40)	568(13.3)

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