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Energy Supplies

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of Beacon Gas's practices in respect of taking over consumers' gas supplies. [121444]

Mrs. Liddell: It is for the Director General of Gas and Electricity Supply to monitor the performance of individual suppliers.

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what guidance he has given to Ofgem about its treatment of companies that take over consumers' energy supplies without their consent. [121446]

Mrs. Liddell: In 1998, the Government worked with Ofgem in introducing a licence condition governing the sales and marketing practices of gas and electricity suppliers. Under the condition, suppliers are, among other things, required to make all reasonable efforts to confirm that individual customers wish to proceed with a change of supplier. Ofgem recently renewed the condition for a further two years, and is currently consulting on enhancing it by requiring suppliers to have effective management of their sales agents; ensuring that gas, as

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well as electricity, suppliers provide customers with copies of the terms and conditions of contracts entered into over the telephone; extending coverage of the condition to sales undertaken in public places and to certain sales over the internet; and requiring suppliers to take steps to ensure that the customer understands that he has entered into a contract.

The Government support these proposals to give additional protection to consumers. The Utilities Bill currently before Parliament would allow Ofgem to impose financial penalties for breaching the licence condition, including infringements relating to involuntary transfer.

Electricity Trading Arrangements

Mrs. Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on progress in implementing the new electricity trading arrangements. [122510]

Mr. Byers: Implementation of the new electricity trading arrangements is planned to take place this autumn in the period following the change from British Summer Time to Greenwich Mean Time on 29 October. The project remains on target. A contract with Logica for the central computer systems has now been agreed which specifies 21 November 2000 for the new market to be implemented.

Parental Leave

Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received on the introduction of paid parental leave. [120974]

Mr. Alan Johnson: From the start of the consultation on the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations on 4 August 1999, we have received over 300 representations in support of paid parental leave.

As announced in the Budget speech, we will be undertaking a review of parental leave and maternity pay. The findings of the review will contribute to our future thinking on this issue.

Minimum Wage

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the change in the total number of (a) full-time equivalent employees and (b) hours worked due to the introduction of the minimum wage; and if he will make a statement. [121745]

Mr. Alan Johnson: The second report of the Low Pay Commission, published in February 2000, looked at these matters but found no indication so far of significant effects on the economy as a whole as a result of the introduction of the national minimum wage. Some sectors have been affected more than others and this is dealt with in detail in the report.

The Low Pay Commission continues to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the national minimum wage and is due to report again by July 2001.

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Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the (a) absolute and (b) proportional gross impact of the minimum wage on hourly wage rates for employees who were previously paid below the minimum wage; and if he will make a statement. [121744]

Mr. Alan Johnson: According to the second report of the Low Pay Commission, the average increase in hourly earnings in the year to April 1999 for those earning below minimum wage rates in April 1998 was between 18 and 31 per cent.

Domestic Fuels

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what price elasticities of demand for domestic fuels were used in the document entitled "Energy Projections for the UK, Working Paper, March 2000"; and if he will make a statement. [121747]

Mrs. Liddell: The long run price elasticities of demand for domestic fuel implied in the working paper "Energy Projections for the UK, March 2000" are given in the table. This paper represents work in progress, on which comments have been invited.

Fuel	Price elasticity
Electricity	-0.29
Gas	-0.35
Oil	-0.22
Solid fuel	-1.46

The table is interpreted in the following way:

The electricity price elasticity implies that, in the long run, for a 10 per cent. increase in the price of electricity, demand for electricity would be expected to decrease by 2.9 per cent.

Civil Servants (Relocation)

Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which relocation companies his Department has used when relocating civil servants since May 1997. [122295]

Dr. Howells: Since May 1997, the Department has used only one company for relocating civil servants, Bradford and Bingley Relocation Services (before March 1999, known as Black Horse Relocation Services).

Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme

Mr. Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to improve access to finance for small businesses through the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme. [122074]

Ms Hewitt: David Irwin, Chief Executive of the Small Business Service, will be taking a close look at the problems faced by small businesses in accessing finance and what improvements might be made to existing forms of financial support provided by the Small Business Service, including the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme. To assist this work the Small Business Service will shortly be setting up a dedicated finance division.

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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

UK Veto

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those areas of policy where the United Kingdom would lose its veto if the Commission proposals in Com(2000)34 were adopted. [120812]

Mr. Vaz [holding answer 5 May 2000]: The Commission's opinion Com(2000)34 is not an agenda for the intergovernmental conference. Only member states can make changes to voting procedures in the Treaty. The Government will consider the possible extension of qualified majority voting on a case-by-case basis. When it is in Britain's interests to support QMV, we shall do so. However, where key national interests are at stake--such as on treaty changes, border controls, social security, taxation, own resources and defence--we shall insist on retaining unanimity.

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the areas of policy where the United Kingdom has a veto over EU proposals. [120813]

Mr. Vaz [holding answer 5 May 2000]: There are 73 articles and sub-articles subject to unanimity in the main EU Treaties. I have placed a complete list in the House of Commons Library.

"Your Britain, Your Europe"

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what level of response was anticipated to the questionnaire on the "Your Britain, Your Europe" campaign; and what plans he has to issue further questionnaires. [121513]

Mr. Vaz: Although we distributed almost 7,000 copies of the "Your Britain, Your Europe" leaflet, we have no level of anticipation on the response numbers. We have no plans to issue any further questionnaires in the near future.

EU Postcards

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many copies of the postcard, "50 years of solidarity, property and peace" have been printed by the European Union; for what purpose; at what cost; and if he will make a statement. [121495]

Mr. Vaz: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the office of the European Commission in London.

Belarus

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Government policy towards human rights in Belarus; and what representations he has made to the Government of Belarus on this issue. [121494]

Mr. Vaz: Her Majesty's Government regularly raise our concerns over the human rights situation in Belarus with the Belarusian authorities. Our Embassy in Minsk is in close contact with human rights groups, trades unions and members of the Belarusian opposition. Embassy officials have been attending trials of members of the Belarusian opposition including the ongoing trial against

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Mr. Chigir, former Prime Minister. During 2000, we have funded visits to the UK by two members of the Belarusian Independent Trade Unions. Mr. Vyachorka, Chairman of the BPF-Renewal party, will visit the UK next week for a series of meetings. Mr. Sharetsky, Speaker of the 13th Supreme Soviet (former Parliament disbanded by President Lukashenko in 1996), is planning to visit the UK in early June and will have meetings with senior officials.

EU policy towards Belarus is based around the General Affairs Council Conclusions of September 1997 which substantially restrict relations pending demonstrable improvements on constitutional and human rights matters. The EU has made a number of representations to the Government of Belarus including, most recently, a Declaration deploring the use of force by the Belarusian authorities to suppress an opposition-organised march in March 2000 and a formal representation on human rights concerns in April 2000.

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