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Small Businesses
Mr. Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent measures he has taken to increase the ability of small businesses in the United Kingdom to trade competitively in European markets. [126018]
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Mr. Byers: The Government have been working closely with our European partners to improve the environment for small businesses within the European Union. The Lisbon Economic Summit in March made significant progress in this area when agreement was reached to:
- draw up a European Charter for Small Firms to respond specifically to their needs;
- simplify the regulatory environment at both national and community level;
- create a Community Patent which is simple and inexpensive to obtain; and
- update public procurement rules with the particular aim of making them more accessible to SMEs.
The DTI continues to focus much of its efforts on helping business, including small business, to access markets in Europe.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the base level is against which his Department's public service target for 2002 of increasing the productivity and profitability of small and medium sized enterprises assisted by the Small Business Service is to be measured. [125921]
Mr. Byers [holding answer 14 June 2000]: This Public Sector Target states that DTI will increase the productivity and profitability of Small Business Service 1 assisted small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) relative to all SMEs by 1 per cent. per annum from a base level of 12 per cent. for productivity and 14 per cent. for profitability.
- 1 This target relates to businesses assisted by the Business Links and was established on the basis of the findings of the Business Link Value for Money Evaluation (1998).
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what actions his Department is taking to achieve its key priority for 2000-01 of reducing the burden of regulation on small businesses; and what the criteria are for evaluating success. [125911]
Mr. Byers [holding answer 14 June 2000]: The Small Business Service (SBS) has a particular duty on behalf of small businesses to examine regulatory proposals put forward by Government Departments to ensure that they do not impose an unnecessary or disproportionate burden on small businesses. This will be achieved by promoting the "think small first" principle. The SBS will also ensure that compliance is made easier through the provision of comprehensible and accessible guidance and that the enforcement regime is appropriate.
By 2001, the SBS will establish a Regulation Index of the impact of regulation on small business. This will measure the cumulative burden of regulation on small businesses, will inform priorities for simplification and will determine the future criteria for minimising the burden of red tape.
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In addition, my Department will continue to look for opportunities to remove unnecessary burdens in the legislation for which we are responsible. For example we are increasing the statutory audit threshold for companies from £350,000 to £1 million. This will apply to financial periods ending on or after 26 July, and should benefit up to 150,000 companies.
BA-KLM Merger
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he plans to refer the proposed merger between BA and KLM to the competition authorities. [126218]
Dr. Howells: I understand that BA and KLM have announced that they were entering into provisional talks but that they have not yet reached any agreement. Until they do it is not possible to say which competition rules will apply.
Science Base
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the overall international ranking has been of the United Kingdom's science and engineering base in terms of quality, relevance and cost-effectiveness in each of the last four years. [125923]
Mr. Caborn [holding answer 14 June 2000]: Comparisons at an international level are complicated by the different organisational structure within each country corresponding to the UK Science and Engineering Base, and hence rankings have to be treated with some care. We are continuing to refine our data, but the currently available information in terms of the following measures for the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and US) is given in the table for the years 1994 to 1997, the latest year for which information is available for all the countries.
| Quality | Relevance | Cost effectiveness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 1995 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 1996 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 1997 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Notes:
1. Quality--total number of citations to papers originating from the UK, or having at least one author in the UK.
2. Relevance--Proportion of funds for Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) from non-Government sources.
3. Cost-effectiveness--papers published per £1 million of science base expenditure.
E-commerce
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the sectors in which e-commerce impact studies to help small businesses connect to the digital marketplace are to be carried out in 2000-01. [125969]
Mr. Byers [holding answer 15 June 2000]: Thirteen studies are under way, (steel; chemicals; aerospace; metal forming and finishing; downstream gas; upstream oil and gas; biotechnology; motor vehicle retailing; clothing supply chain; furniture; exhibitions and events; telecommunication services and electronics manufacturing).
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Further studies, in sectors still to be decided, will begin in the second half of the year.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the estimated cost is of the multi-channel marketing campaign to help small businesses connect to the digital marketplace; and when the campaign will be implemented. [125975]
Mr. Byers [holding answer 15 June 2000]: The budget has been agreed for the multi-channel marketing campaign for this financial year is £1.0 million. A similar amount has been earmarked for the following two financial years. Staff have recently been recruited to implement this campaign and are currently prioritising which channels DTI should be working with. The campaign will start to be delivered over the remaining months of this financial year through different channels as joint plans are agreed.
This activity results from one of 60 recommendations in the 'e-commerce@its.best.uk' report. Progress on these recommendations is published regularly on the e-envoy's website www.e-envoy.gov.uk and more detail is given under 'Marketing' on the Information Society Initiative website www.isi.gov.uk.
Animal Welfare
Mr. Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to ensure his European Union partners renegotiate WTO rules in respect of animal welfare; and if he will make a statement. [126515]
Mr. Caborn: The UK fully supports the EU approach, as set out in the conclusions of the General Affairs Council on 25 October 1999, that commits the EU to take forward the issue of farm animal welfare in WTO negotiations. The UK and EU will press for this objective in the work of the WTO, including the agriculture negotiations which have started this year.
Renewable Energy
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will (a) raise his target for electricity generated from renewable resources and (b) remove waste incineration from the Government's definition of renewable energy. [126275]
Mrs. Liddell: The Government have the target of obtaining 10 per cent. of UK electricity from renewable sources by 2010, against a current figure of just under 3 per cent., subject to the cost of this being acceptable to consumers. The target set is challenging, and the Government have no plan to raise it.
We do not intend to exclude energy from waste incineration from our definition of renewable energy. Wastes produced by households, industry and commerce pose a difficult problem. Our draft national waste strategy provides for waste reduction, materials recycling and energy recovery. Where there is no better alternative, using waste materials to produce energy can reduce environmental problems and at the same time save fossil fuels.
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Insolvency
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to introduce (a) legislation and (b) a code of practice that will prohibit accountants acting as a reporting accountants for banks from acting as receivers and liquidators of the businesses upon which they have reported. [126483]
Dr. Howells: The question of whether reporting or investigating accountants should be permitted to accept subsequent appointment as administrative receivers of the company concerned has been considered by the working group established to undertake a review of company rescue and business reconstruction mechanisms. The report of the working group will be published for further consultation in due course.
A bank does not have any inherent right to appoint a liquidator. Where the company is insolvent, this is usually a matter for the general body of the company's unsecured creditors.
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the fees collected by the receivers and liquidators of BCCI. [126491]
Dr. Howells: The liquidators of Bank of Credit and Commerce International SA in England and Wales make an annual report to the Secretary of State pursuant to Regulation 14 of the Insolvency Regulations 1994. The report is made up to the anniversary of the making of the winding up order against the company. The latest report submitted covers the period to 15 January 1999 and shows that the total liquidators' remuneration paid to that date was US$244.5 million. Such remuneration has been approved either by the court or the Liquidation Committee of creditors.
A report for the period to 15 January 2000 is expected to be submitted shortly. Copies of the liquidators' report are available to creditors of the company.
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