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PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL
"Charging with Care"
Mr. Burstow: To ask the President of the Council, pursuant to her oral answer of 11 May 2000, Official Report, column 1015, on the Audit Commission report "Charging with Care", what the basis was of her statement concerning the Commission's findings about Liberal Democrat councils. [138015]
Mrs. Beckett: I will write to the hon. Member shortly.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Departmental Policies (Gorton)
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effect on the Manchester, Gorton constituency, of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [136174]
Mr. Byers: My Department does not maintain statistical information down to constituency level.
Constituents in Gorton, like many others in Manchester, will have benefited from my Department's Employment Rights policies, which include the National Minimum Wage, the Working Time Directive, Part-Time Working Regulations and improved Maternity Leave.
The Ward of Gorton, North has been included in the revised Assisted Area map for Regional Selective Assistance and all of the Wards are included for the Enterprise Grant Scheme.
In the North-West we are also promoting regional innovation including the use of new technology, supporting small business, and developing Manufacturing Centres of Excellence.
Miners' Compensation
Mr. Alan W. Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many medical assessment procedures in respect of miners' compensation claims for chest disease were completed (a) in 1999, (b) January to June, (c) July, (d) August, (e) September and (f) October. [137072]
Mrs. Liddell: Since the beginning of 1999, Healthcall, the company contracted to carry out both the first stage medical assessments (spirometry) and the full Medical Assessment Process (MAP), have completed a total of 59,277 spirometry tests, and 6,059 MAP assessments broken down as follows:
| Spirometry | MAP | |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 37,169 | 2 |
| January to June | 17,887 | 1,163 |
| July | 1,878 | 714 |
| August | 2,154 | 942 |
| September | 1,440 | 1,408 |
| October | 1,324 | 1,830 |
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Post Offices
Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many mergers of sub-post offices are estimated by the Performance and Innovation Unit to result from its recommendation to create bigger outlets. [138043]
Mr. Byers [holding answer 13 November 2000]: The Cabinet Office Performance and Innovation Unit report on the Post Office network did not contain such an estimate.
Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many sub-post masters and mistresses are qualified and registered with the Financial Services Authority to offer financial advice on retirement pension provision. [138036]
Mr. Byers [holding answer 13 November 2000]: There are no proposals from the government or any other body including the National Federation of Subpostmasters for subpostmasters and mistresses to offer financial advice on retirement pension provision.
Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the formula proposed by the Post Office for calculating a social network payment for sub-post offices. [138038]
Mr. Byers [holding answer 13 November 2000]: The Post Office network submitted its business plan to me on 19 September. The plan contains commercially sensitive information and was submitted to me in confidence.
Mr. Page: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many representations he has received regarding modified post offices. [138417]
Mr. Alan Johnson [holding answer 14 November 2000]: Written representations regarding modified sub post offices have been received from four Members of Parliament and from 6 individual subpostmasters.
Mr. Page: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to ensure that those running modified sub-post offices receive (a) the minimum wage and (b) other employees' statutory rights, following the decision in the case of H. & V. Patel v. the Commissioner of Customs and Excise. [138410]
Mr. Alan Johnson [holding answer 14 November 2000]: It is the responsibility of the Post Office to ensure compliance with any employment legislation applicable to sub-postmasters.
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many parishes do not have a post office (a) in the latest year for which figures are available and (b) 10 years previously; and if he will place a list of those parishes in the Library. [139061]
Mr. Alan Johnson: I understand from the Post Office that they do not hold data at parish level.
Late Payment
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many invoices the Ministerial Parliamentary
20 Nov 2000 : Column: 72W
Support team paid in 1999-2000; and what percentage of these were paid within 30 days of receipt or from the date a supplier dispute was resolved. [138400]
Ms Hewitt: In 1999-2000, 93 per cent. of invoices for expenditure incurred by the Department, including the Ministerial and Parliamentary Support Team, were paid within 30 days.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will explain the reasons for the shortfall in performance against his departmental target of paying 100 per cent. of all currently presented bills in 1999-2000 within 30 days of receipt of goods and services or a valid invoice. [138399]
Ms Hewitt: The Department has been introducing a Resource Accounting and Budgeting system, including a new electronic measure of the bills received and paid. The transition to the new system has temporarily affected the bill paying process across the Department.
Waste Packaging Regulations
Mr. Nicholls: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the cost of the Waste Packaging Regulations to (a) consumers and (b) business. [138497]
Ms Hewitt: Assessments of the costs of these Regulations have been made at every stage of their development. In August 2000, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions published a consultation paper on the recovery and recycling targets in the Regulations. This paper included a draft Regulatory Impact Assessment which estimated that the cost to the UK for 2001 would be in the region of £150 million. It is for businesses to decide what proportion of these costs will be passed on to consumers.
IBM UK
Mr. Nicholls: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what support the Government provides in the form of (a) regional grant and (b) other measures to IBM UK. [138495]
Mr. Caborn: Since May 1997, IBM UK has received Regional Selective Assistance for new investment in Great Britain and assistance from the Renfrewshire Enterprise Company for training associated with that investment.
As an inward investor, IBM has also received advice from Invest UK and Locate in Scotland concerning their activities in the UK.
Biwater (Clay Cross) Ltd.
Mr. Barnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will refer to the Competition Commission for investigation under the Fair Trading Act 1973 the takeover of Biwater (Clay Cross) Ltd. by Saint Gobain. [137975]
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Mr. Byers [holding answer 16 November 2000]: The Director General of Fair Trading (DGFT) advised me on 21 June 2000 that I should not refer this merger to the Competition Commission under the Fair Trading Act 1973. I accepted this recommendation on 29 June 2000 and cleared the merger.
Subsequently, my hon. Friend and others raised issues which they felt amounted to material information which should lead to the case being re-opened and referred to the Competition Commission.
I submitted this information to the DGFT and asked him to consider whether it was material information.
The DGFT wrote to my hon. Friend on 23 October 2000 to say that he had concluded that the additional information provided was not material. Therefore he saw no grounds for re-opening the case.
After taking into account all the relevant considerations and the provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1973 I have accepted the advice of the DGFT.
Nissan, Sunderland
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with Nissan over the future of its car plant in Sunderland. [138690]
Mr. Byers [holding answer 16 November 2000]: The Department is in regular contact with senior executives from Nissan both from the UK and Japan to discuss issues affecting the development of the car plant in Sunderland. Officials are also working closely with the company to help secure the assembly of the new Micra model at the Sunderland plant.
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