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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Post Office Closures
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer to the hon.
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Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole (Mr. Fraser) of 30 October 2000, Official Report, column 224W, if he will provide a breakdown of the 1,183 sub-post office closures by (a) region and (b) urban/rural status. [136707]
Mr. Byers: A detailed Post Office check of their original estimate of post office closures in the first half of their current financial year has confirmed that the actual figure is 34 less than their estimate. Accordingly the net total of post office closures since the end of March 1997 is 1,149.
The 1,149 closures between the end of March 1997 and the end of September 2000 comprised 823 rural offices (defined as offices located in communities of less than 6,300 inhabitants) and 326 urban offices.
Since the end of March 2000 the Post Office network is no longer organised on the basis of regions but on the basis of territories.
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list, by region, the number of sub-post office managers and proprietors who, during the past three months, have submitted notice of their intention to close their sub-post office; what the corresponding number was in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [137939]
Mr. Byers: I am informed by the Post Office that closure decisions are not taken by sub-postmasters.
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many sub-post offices closed in Suffolk (a) from May to December 1997, (b) in 1998, (c) in 1999 and (d) from January. [138414]
Mr. Alan Johnson [holding answer 14 November 2000]: I understand from the Post Office that figures are not available in the form requested.
Postal Workers
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many postal workers were employed by Royal Mail in delivering mail in Suffolk in (a) 1997, (b) 1998 and (c) 1999. [138403]
Mr. Alan Johnson: I understand from the Post Office that figures for the number of people employed by Royal Mail are not held centrally on a county basis.
Mobile Phone Transmission Equipment
Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what regulations govern the installation of mobile phone transmission equipment on telephone masts. [138716]
Ms Hewitt: Operators who have been assigned the Telecommunications Code, set out in Schedule 2 of the Telecommunications Act 1984, have permitted development rights under the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995. Under its permitted development rights an operator can install mobile phone transmission equipment on a mast of 15 metres or less in height without the need for a planning application. However, developments undertaken in this way are subject to a prior approval procedure. Under this procedure a planning authority has 42 days in which to comment on the siting and appearance of a mast and can
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refuse approval where it believes the development would pose a serious threat to amenity. Conversely, the installation of masts above 15 metres in height requires a planning application, as does the installation of any masts in a designated area such as a National Park or an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Least Developed Countries
Mr. Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has made to the EU to remove rice from the EC Trade Directorate's Least and Less Developed Country products draft regulation; and if he will make a statement. [139344]
Mr. Caborn: None. The UK supports the Commission's proposal for tariff and quota-free access for all remaining products (except arms) from the Least Developed Countries including a short transitional period for three sensitive agricultural products.
This is in line with the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister when he made clear during his Mansion House speech on 22 November 1999 that the Government support duty-free access for all goods from the Least Developed Countries.
Social Enterprises
Mr. Gareth R. Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what further action he is taking to promote social enterprises. [139261]
Ms Hewitt: Through the Small Business Service, the Department of Trade and Industry is taking a number of measures to promote social enterprises. The measures include:
- Ensuring that Business Links meet the needs of all types of businesses in their localities, including social enterprises;
- Working with the British Bankers Association and Social Enterprise London to produce guidance on the sector for business support organisations and banks;
- Supporting the development by Social Enterprise London of a pilot set of training modules to help business advisers provide better support for social enterprises;
- Promoting the role of businesses, including social enterprises, in tackling social exclusion through the Phoenix Fund. The Fund, which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry announced in November 1999 and which has an initial budget of £30 million over three years, seeks to promote enterprise in disadvantaged communities. It has four parts:
- A Development Fund to promote innovative ways of supporting enterprise in deprived areas.
- A national network of mentors to pre and early stage business start-ups through the Business Volunteer Mentors Association.
- A Challenge Fund to help resource Community Finance Initiatives (CFIs).
- Loan Guarantee to help co-finance commercial and charitable lending to CFIs.
In addition, the Small Business Service will be undertaking a mapping exercise to assess the current and potential economic impact of social enterprises.
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Memo Leak
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Mrs. Browning) of 6 July 2000, Official Report, column 250W, if he will publish the findings of the inquiry into the leaking of a memo from Mr. Andrew Fraser. [139248]
Mr. Byers: It has not been the practice under successive administrators to publish the findings of internal inquiries of this kind.
Departmental Payments
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was (a) the average and (b) the longest period taken by his Department to pay its bills in the past year. [139277]
Mr. Byers: The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Minimum Wage
Mr. Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which companies in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK have been prosecuted for violating the National Minimum Wage legislation. [139425]
Mr. Alan Johnson: There have been no criminal prosecutions. The National Minimum Wage Act provides both civil and criminal powers of enforcement. The Inland Revenue has issued:
- Enforcement notices: (a) 25 in Scotland and (b) 278 in the United Kingdom.
- Penalty notices: (a) five in Scotland and (b) 38 in the United Kingdom.
- The Inland Revenue has taken (a) one Scottish and (b) 23 United Kingdom companies to employment tribunals to recover arrears of pay.
Mr. Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list those companies in Scotland which have been investigated for failure to pay the National Minimum Wage. [139427]
Mr. Alan Johnson: No. This information is confidential and cannot therefore be disclosed.
Mr. Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many individual complaints have been received in Scotland from employees who have not received their legal entitlement to the National Minimum Wage. [139428]
Mr. Alan Johnson: Since April 1999, 366 formal complaints have been made to the Inland Revenue from workers in Scotland who have not been paid the National Minimum Wage.
Radio Frequencies
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on protocols that exist between this country and other EU member states on the allocation of digital radio frequencies; and what
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reduction of available frequencies in regions of the UK in close proximity to other EU member states he expects. [139581]
Ms Hewitt: The Radiocommunications Agency is responsible for the allocation of spectrum for broadcasting services and for ensuring that the UK's use of radio frequencies, including for digital radio, does not cause interference within the UK or in other countries and that other countries' transmissions do not interfere with UK services. The international co-ordination of frequency use is ordered by the decisions of the International Telecommunication Union. An international agreement, known as the Wiesbaden Plan (1995), which was agreed by the European radio administrations, set the parameters within which the UK and neighbouring countries may co-ordinate bilaterally their respective frequency plans for digital radio.
It is too early to consider the outcome of the international negotiations on the sharing of spectrum for individual radio stations given the current state of the planning and international co-ordination processes within Europe, including the prospect that further frequencies for digital radio may become available for this service in the next few years arising out of a European Planning Conference set for 2002.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has (a) to conduct a national audit of radio frequencies and their usage and (b) to increase the number of frequencies open for new local radio stations. [139575]
Ms Hewitt: The Radiocommunications Agency, supported by the Radio Authority and the BBC, commissioned a survey of the current use of the FM spectrum, the efficiency with which it has been planned and the scope for planning additional services. The report was published in June 2000 and is available on the Radiocommunications Agency website at www.radio.gov.uk and copies will be placed in the Libraries of the House shortly.
In recent years, additional spectrum has been made available for radio broadcasting in the FM Band. In addition, spectrum has been made available in the VHF band to enable the launch of Digital Radio. Further frequencies may become available for local digital radio services as a result of a European Planning Conference in 2002.
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