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Departmental Vehicles

Mr. Pearson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) cars and (b) commercial vehicles operated by his Department were manufactured (i) in the UK, (ii) in the EU and (iii) elsewhere. [122253]

Dr. Howells [holding answer 17 May 2000]: Other than hire cars and vehicles supplied by the Government Car and Despatch Agency, for which my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office responded on 17 May 2000, Official Report, column 141W, my Department operates 19 cars, manufactured as follows:

UK: 13

UK or EU: 2 ¹

EU: 2

Elsewhere: 1.

¹ Due to some models being simultaneously manufactured in more than one country, it is not possible to be more specific without unjustifiable expense.

Post Offices

Mr. Ashdown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when his Department plans to bring forward proposals for developing the future business potential of the Post Office network; and if he will make a statement. [121310]

Mr. Byers: Completion of the installation of the Horizon system, a modern automated IT platform, throughout the Post Office network in 2001 will provide the potential to develop a range of new business opportunities. In addition to automated network banking on an agency basis, Horizon would provide an important part of the infrastructure for a universal bank offering basic banking services accessible at post offices. We also see opportunities for post offices to develop a key role in e-commerce services and scope for a further development of their role as one-stop shops for many Government services and transactions. We are also looking at the role post offices may be able to play in fulfilling our objective of making the Internet accessible to all by 2005.

Mr. Ashdown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to support the development of a post office universal bank; and if he will make a statement. [121308]

Mr. Byers: The Government strongly support co-operation between the banks and the Post Office to develop a universal bank offering basic banking services to all. The Horizon project to equip the post office

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network with a modern on-line IT platform, towards which the Government are contributing nearly £500 million, has the potential to provide an important part of the infrastructure for such a bank. A universal bank accessible through post offices would complement the agency network banking service which the Post Office already provides under arrangements with Girobank/ Alliance and Leicester, LloydsTSB, Co-operative and Barclays Banks.

Mr. Ashdown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he plans to bring forward detailed proposals relating to subsidies for post offices; and if he will make a statement. [121309]

Mr. Byers: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Competitiveness, on 11 May 2000, Official Report, column 439W.

Green Transport

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the key buildings for which his Department (a) submitted and (b) did not submit green transport plans by March. [122561]

Dr. Howells: In line with the target set in the Integrated Transport White Paper for the introduction of green transport plans for key government buildings we have completed plans for the Department's three key buildings--Atholl House, St. Mary's House and Westfield House.

Petrol

Ms Jenny Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he has taken to facilitate a meeting between representatives of petrol retailers and petrol wholesalers to discuss a code of practice. [122361]

Dr. Howells: I said during the petrol retailing debate in January that I was happy to broker a meeting if the concerned parties wished to meet and were prepared to compromise where necessary. Such a meeting has not yet been requested, but I intend to take the initiative and invite relevant parties to meet. However, it is sensible to receive advice from the Director General of Fair Trading on the future of the 1966 undertakings first. I expect to receive this soon.

Climate Change Levy

Mr. Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the impact of the climate change levy on the competitive position of the United Kingdom's horticultural industry. [120805]

Ms Quin: I have been asked to reply.

It is not possible to say with precision what the effect of the climate change levy will be on the competitive position of the United Kingdom's horticultural industry. This will depend, among other things, on the extent to which individual sectors and firms within the industry are exposed to international competition, the future energy

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use of the industry and the extent to which the industry takes up the various incentives offered under the levy to improve energy efficiency.

The Government have sought to design the climate change levy in a way that maximises its environmental effectiveness while protecting the competitiveness of UK firms. With respect to the horticultural industry the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in Budget 2000 that the Government intend to introduce a package of measures to help protect its competitiveness. Subject to State Aids clearance from the European Commission this will include:

A special package of support for horticulture allocated from the energy efficiency fund. This package will aim to improve energy efficiency across the sector and will include activities such as the provision of site specific advice for individual businesses;

An extension to the list of investments qualifying for enhanced capital allowances to include thermal screens. This will provide a further fiscal incentive for horticultural businesses to invest in energy saving technologies, and;

A temporary 50 per cent. discount on the levy for a period of up to five years to the horticulture sector while the energy efficiency measures targeted at the sector take effect.

DEFENCE

Biological Warfare

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the (a) role of the 1 Field Laboratory Unit that operated a biological warfare agent detection facility during the 1990-91 Gulf conflict and (b) work of that unit in detecting biological warfare agents. [123219]

Mr. Spellar: The 1997 "Gulf Veterans Illnesses: A New Beginning" policy statement set out a number of commitments to help address the health concerns of Gulf Veterans. One of these commitments was to review specific incidents of suggested biological warfare exposures and the activities of 1 Field Laboratory Unit. As part of this commitment I am today publishing a paper entitled, "A Review of the Activities of the 1 Field Laboratory Unit and Suggested Biological Warfare Agency Detections During Operation Granby".

As a result of our review of the available information we assess that UK troops were not subject to attack by or exposed to biological warfare agents during the Gulf conflict. There were alarms on some detectors, many of which were recognised to be false by the system operators at the time. On one occasion, a biological substance was detected and samples returned to the UK for testing. The tests concluded that this was not caused by a biological warfare agent. Our review re-examined this incident and concludes that the evidence suggests that the detection was caused by natural biological material.

Defence Aviation Repair Agency

Mr. Olner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what performance targets have been set for the Defence Aviation Repair Agency for 2000-01. [123220]

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Mr. Spellar: Key Targets have been set for the Chief Executive of the DARA for financial year 2000-01. The targets build on the progress already made by the Agency since it formed in April 1999 and are as follows:

Key Target 1--Quantity
To achieve 95 per cent. of the agreed programme of work weighted by value.
Key Target 2--Cost
To keep within the approved full operating cost budget, within a tolerance of +1 per cent. while delivering the agreed programmes of work.
Key Target 3--Timeliness
To meet 95 per cent. of the agreed Turn-Round-Times for fixed wing and rotary aircraft within a tolerance of +5 per cent. or five working days, whichever is the greater.
Key Target 4--Quality
To achieve a customer standard index rating of 75 points or higher, made up from:
A. To achieve 98 per cent. acknowledgement of Customer Concerns within two working days--20 points.
B. To achieve 95 per cent. of Investigations and Response to Customer Concerns within 56 days or as agreed--40 points.
C. To achieve a 5 per cent. reduction from the FY99-00 baseline of DARA Attributable Customer Concerns, as a percentage of quantity--15 points.
Key Target 5--Efficiency
Efficiency 1: The development of the appropriate basis and measurement system for reporting efficiency as a Trading Fund--such as an indexed measure of the contribution of DATA to the DLO Lean Support Initiative.
Efficiency 2: To achieve a 15 per cent. increase in repayment work revenue from a FY99-00 outturn baseline.

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