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DARA

Mr. Rogers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civilian employees working for DARA at RAF St. Athan live in the Rhondda. [139584]

Mr. Spellar: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Road Fuel

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what stocks of road fuels are being held by Government and their agencies. [137530]

Mrs. Liddell [holding answer 9 November 2000]: No stocks of road fuel are held directly by the Government, other than those required by Departments for operational reasons. The Department of Trade and Industry does not collect statistics on such operational stockholdings.

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the value of ultra-low sulphur petrol sold as unleaded petrol in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [138776]

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Mrs. Liddell: Companies have been selling various different types of low sulphur fuel for some while; however, the agreement on a specific quality level for what is now regarded as ULSP was only set out on 24 March 2000. According to HM Customs and Excise data, around a third of petrol released for consumption in the UK is ULSP.

Mr. Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with petrol companies on the impact on prices at the pump of (a) the proposed reduction in fuel duty and (b) reductions in the price of oil on the world market. [139020]

Mrs. Liddell: The retail price of gasoline is set at the forecourts by competitive marketing between the petrol companies. The United Kingdom Petroleum Industry Association, which represents the major oil companies, has indicated that it expects that competitive pressure will result in the proposed reduction in fuel duty being passed on to consumers at the pump. The price of petrol at the pump is also influenced, in part, by the price of oil on the world market. World oil prices are now 8 per cent. below their October peak and, over the same period, wholesale gasoline prices have fallen by a similar amount.

Mr. Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the difference in price of fuel in rural and urban filling stations; and if he will make a statement. [139022]

Mrs. Liddell: The Department does not collect separate retail price data for rural and urban filling stations. Retail road fuel prices are a matter for individual companies to determine. Under UK competition law, it is the responsibility of the Director General of Fair Trading (DGFT) to investigate allegations of anti-competitive behaviour and possible abuses of market power. The DGFT can act if pricing levels are the result of anti-competitive behaviour but he has no powers to act in relation to prices as such.

Mr. Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with petrol companies on the timing of the introduction of ultra-low sulphur fuel in rural and urban petrol filling stations. [139021]

Mrs. Liddell: The rate at which ultra-low sulphur petrol (ULSP) can be made available is relative to the speed with which the whole supply chain from refinery to filling station can be switched over to the lower sulphur material. This will be achieved by dilution of the higher-sulphur product, and hence the sales of fuel relative to the size of storage at filling stations will determine the speed of changeover. In the slowest case this is unlikely to be greater than three months from the time of availability from the supply point. According to HM Customs and Excise data, ULSP currently constitutes around a third of petrol released for consumption in the UK. The proposed reduction in duty is conditional on there being nation-wide access to the fuel.

Petrol Undertakings

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will make a decision on the 1996 petrol undertakings. [139356]

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Dr. Howells: The Director General of Fair Trading has provided advice on whether the 1996 petrol undertakings should be removed, retained or amended. His advice is being given careful consideration and a decision will be announced in due course.

Plutonium

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what United Kingdom-origin plutonium (a) has been and (b) is planned to be manufactured in Belgium into lead test assemblies for customers in the United States of America. [138983]

Mrs. Liddell: There is no indication from the information available to the Department that United Kingdom-origin plutonium has been used to manufacture lead test assemblies in Belgium for customers in the United States. There are also no plans to do this in the future.

Odometers

Mr. Gorrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to make the clocking of motor vehicle odometers a criminal offence. [138808]

Dr. Howells: It is not a criminal offence to alter the mileage shown on an odometer where this is done for legitimate reasons--such as mileage correction where a new odometer has to be fitted to a vehicle. However it is an offence to sell or to offer for sale in the course of a business a vehicle with a false mileage reading. The key to stamping out illegal practice in this area is to provide prospective purchasers and enforcement authorities with more reliable information about the true mileage of second-hand vehicles. The Government intend to do this by making the recording of mileage on vehicle registration documents and on vehicle licence applications mandatory and by introducing a system for recording vehicle mileage during MoT tests. This will complement an industry initiative to record mileage at the time that vehicles are serviced.

False Trade References

Mr. Gorrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to introduce legislation to make the giving of false trade references a criminal offence. [138809]

Dr. Howells: I have no plans for such legislation. It would already be a criminal offence under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 for a trader knowingly or recklessly to mislead by misdescribing goods or services.

Consumer Protection

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to ensure that advertising standards to protect consumers are applied to internet retailing on the same basis as they are to other forms of retail business. [138842]

Dr. Howells: The 1988 Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations and the 1968 Trade Descriptions Act already apply to internet advertising in the same way that they apply to other forms of advertising. It is therefore illegal to apply a false or misleading description to goods or services advertised on

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the internet and the Director General of Fair Trading can seek an injunction to prevent the continued publication of a misleading advertisement on the internet. The Advertising Standards Authority is also able to rule on complaints about internet advertisements, and the Committee of Advertising Practice--the industry body which writes the British Codes of Advertising Practice and Sales Promotion--recently launched its admark scheme which will enable browsers to identify advertisements placed by advertisers who have agreed to comply with the Codes of Practice and to be bound by the ASA's rulings.

Fireworks

Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions his Department has held with the firework industry concerning the opening of shops dedicated solely to the sale of fireworks. [139143]

Dr. Howells: My Department has not held such discussions. However, we held full discussions with the fireworks industry over the nature and content of this year's firework safety campaign. We will be meeting with the industry again in December as part of the evaluation of that campaign.

MOX (Sellafield)

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of BNFL's business prospects for the Sellafield MOX plant since he was informed of the falsification of MOX data. [139287]

Mrs. Liddell: It is for BNFL to demonstrate that there remains a market for MOX manufactured by BNFL and that the economic case for operation of the Sellafield MOX Plant is sound. I am aware that BNFL is engaged in discussions with customers in both Europe and Japan on the supply of MOX to be manufactured at the plant.

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the damaged MOX fuel assemblier manufactured by BNFL which is in the possession of the Swiss nuclear company NOK will be re-imported to the UK; and if NOK is seeking compensation from BNFL. [139400]

Mrs. Liddell: These are matters for the companies concerned. I understand that NOK and BNFL are currently carrying out an investigation to identify what caused the failure of certain fuel rods contained in MOX assembliers manufactured at BNFL's MOX demonstration facility.

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the MOX fuel assemblier manufactured by BNFL which are in the possession of the German nuclear company Pruessen Electra will be re-imported to the UK; and if Pruessen Electra is seeking compensation from BNFL. [139399]

Mrs. Liddell: These are matters for the companies concerned. I understand that BNFL is engaged in discussions with E.On (which incorporates Preussen Electra) on a way forward on these matters.

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he has taken to ensure that the Sellafield MOX plant will be capable of producing

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MOX to meet the specification of its prospective customers, should an authorisation for full operation be granted. [139293]

Mrs. Liddell: The quality control measures necessary to ensure that fuel manufactured at the Sellafield MOX Plant meets the required specification are matters for agreement between BNFL and its customers. As part of the process of restoring confidence, BNFL will want to demonstrate clearly to customers--and the wider public--that the manufacturing process and quality control arrangements at the plant are rigorous and satisfactory.

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