House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 29 Nov 2000 (pt 1)

29 Nov 2000 : Column: 597W

Written Answers to Questions

Wednesday 29 November 2000

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Overhead Power Lines

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to ban new overhead power lines; and if he will make a statement. [138779]

Dr. Howells [holding answer 17 November 2000]: I have no plans to do so. New overhead electric power lines already require development consent from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry under section 37 of the Electricity Act 1989.

Miners' Compensation

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many compensation claims for chronic bronchitic emphysema his Department has received from mineworkers since May 1997; and how many claims have been settled; [139289]

(3) how many claims submitted to his Department for compensation for chronic bronchitic emphysema are in respect of mineworkers who have since died. [139291]

Mr. Byers: A class action in this matter first began in 1992. No payments were made prior to May 1997 owing to the failure of the previous Administration and British Coal to concede liability in the court. On assuming the liabilities, we made this a priority and agreement was reached in September 1999. Since May 1997, 119,700 claims have been received and the Department has made over 26,000 individual payments to claimants in respect of compensation for respiratory diseases, totalling £86 million. The Department anticipates that the final costs on respiratory disease compensation could be about £1.5 billion, but the Government have always stated they will meet whatever the costs of compensating the valid claimants. 20,728 claims have been made in respect of miners who have died since 1992. Of these, 13,518 died between 1992 and 1998.

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Mr. Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many bereavement awards have been granted to the widows of former miners suffering from (a) chronic bronchitis and (b) emphysema; what are the maximum and minimum bereavement awards granted; and what is the average amount of bereavement awards granted to date. [140338]

Mr. Byers: This information is not available in the form requested.

Parental Leave

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will provide a breakdown of the number of days taken for maternity leave by (a) occupation and (b) earnings level since the introduction of the working time regulations. [140255]

Mr. Alan Johnson: No such information is available.

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will provide a breakdown of the take-up of parental leave by (a) gender and (b) occupation; and what is the average number of days leave taken broken down by (i) gender, (ii) occupation and (iii) earnings level since the introduction of the working time regulations. [140254]

Ms Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many parents (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) in Wales have taken statutory parental leave to date; and how many such parents were (i) women and (ii) men in (A) the United Kingdom and (B) Wales. [140373]

Mr. Alan Johnson [holding answer 27 November 2000]: We do not yet have specific evidence on the number of parents who have taken parental leave since the introduction of the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations. Research undertaken for the forthcoming Green Paper, "Work and Parents: Competitiveness and Choice", indicates that approximately 3 per cent. of the eligible population have taken parental leave. We are not able to break this down by gender, income, region or occupation.

Minimum Wage

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will provide a breakdown of the £2 million recovered by the Inland Revenue in underpaid minimum wages by (a) occupation, (b) industry, (c) gender, (d) ethnicity and (e) region. [140256]

Mr. Alan Johnson: The table gives a breakdown of the total arrears of wages (now almost £3 million) identified to end October 2000 by industry sector (from April 2000) and by region (from April 1999). There is no breakdown available by gender or ethnicity. The regions shown correspond to the Inland Revenue regional structure.

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£

East London Northern Ireland North North West Scotland South East South West South Yorkshire West Midlands and Wales Total

1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000

Total 120,997 140,702 76,318 142,009 65,271 65,134 188,102 67,078 253,418 123,402 1,242,431

1 April 2000 to 31 October 2000

Trade Sector

Clothing/Footwear 3,794 3,814 0 0 736 2,303 0 0 43,269 38,551 92,467

Retail 7,079 9,862 35,551 17,235 15,608 17,990 6,326 12,415 5,185 19,177 146,428

Hospitality 9,264 23,380 17,855 10,480 82,629 9,164 10,635 16,097 9,044 31,457 220,005

Hairdressing 10,950 7,990 14,221 12,275 23,272 19,128 3,863 1,877 10,221 22,232 126,029

Security/Cleaning 204 750 6,749 13,144 6,116 3,231 3,327 0 7,473 126 41,120

Social Care 1,691 104 4,966 4,170 14,072 1,829 21,800 5,342 7,606 7,185 68,765

Production/Construction 5,770 11,879 35,415 19,925 42,876 5,949 153,169 9,038 12,336 23,295 319,652

Market Service 9,220 10,075 3,069 96,680 9,916 2,819 4,087 17,450 15,057 74,888 243,261

Public Service 0 0 0 0 13,889 1,453 0 0 0 8,372 23,714

Other Services 36,172 26,192 37,190 5,516 1,772 14,299 116,843 21,154 24,591 13,273 307,002

Total 84,144 94,046 155,016 179,425 20,886 78,165 320,050 83,373 134,782 238,556 1,588,443

	East	London	Northern Ireland	North	North West	Scotland	South East	South West	South Yorkshire	West Midlands and Wales	Total
	1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000
Total	120,997	140,702	76,318	142,009	65,271	65,134	188,102	67,078	253,418	123,402	1,242,431
	1 April 2000 to 31 October 2000
Trade Sector
Clothing/Footwear	3,794	3,814	0	0	736	2,303	0	0	43,269	38,551	92,467
Retail	7,079	9,862	35,551	17,235	15,608	17,990	6,326	12,415	5,185	19,177	146,428
Hospitality	9,264	23,380	17,855	10,480	82,629	9,164	10,635	16,097	9,044	31,457	220,005
Hairdressing	10,950	7,990	14,221	12,275	23,272	19,128	3,863	1,877	10,221	22,232	126,029
Security/Cleaning	204	750	6,749	13,144	6,116	3,231	3,327	0	7,473	126	41,120
Social Care	1,691	104	4,966	4,170	14,072	1,829	21,800	5,342	7,606	7,185	68,765
Production/Construction	5,770	11,879	35,415	19,925	42,876	5,949	153,169	9,038	12,336	23,295	319,652
Market Service	9,220	10,075	3,069	96,680	9,916	2,819	4,087	17,450	15,057	74,888	243,261
Public Service	0	0	0	0	13,889	1,453	0	0	0	8,372	23,714
Other Services	36,172	26,192	37,190	5,516	1,772	14,299	116,843	21,154	24,591	13,273	307,002

Total	84,144	94,046	155,016	179,425	20,886	78,165	320,050	83,373	134,782	238,556	1,588,443

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Post Offices

Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to establish a formula for calculating a social network payment for sub-post offices. [140262]

Mr. Byers [holding answer 24 November 2000]: I am considering proposals from the Post Office for the establishment of a formula but have made no decision.

Oil

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the Reading University paper "World Oil Supply: New and Medium Term; the Approaching Peak in conventional oil production". [140594]

Mr. Byers: My Department keeps abreast of a wide range of expert opinion on future scenarios for global oil production. The projections of future oil production in Reading University's paper are among the most pessimistic. Many experts, including major oil companies and the International Energy Agency, believe that production will continue at significant levels well into the new century and it is likely that, in the longer term, the transition to alternative fuels will result in recoverable oil reserves remaining in the ground unused. The Government will continue to monitor opinions on this issue and factor them into energy policy.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the impact on British industry of a rise in the world oil price to (a) $40 and (b) $50. [140609]

Mr. Byers [holding answer 28 November 2000]: None.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of when (a) United Kingdom oil production and (b) world oil production will reach its peak. [140613]

Mr. Byers [holding answer 28 November 2000]: My officials have estimated that production of hydrocarbon liquids from the UK Continental Shelf will climb to a new peak later this decade. DTI does not produce its own estimates of future world oil production.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the need to develop energy sources other than oil. [140611]

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Mr. Byers [holding answer 28 November 2000]: The Government's broad energy policy is:

to ensure secure, diverse, and sustainable supplies of energy at competitive prices.

This is best achieved by competition in open markets, in which it is primarily for the energy companies to determine their energy inputs and to develop appropriate sources of supply. The Government's main role, therefore, is to address areas where the market is not working properly. The 1998 White Paper "Review of Energy Sources for Power Generation" (Cm 4071) reviewed the different sources of input energy available for electricity generation--coal, gas, nuclear, and renewables. For renewables specifically, the Government published in March 1999 a consultation paper on future support for the technologies, followed in January 2000 by a policy statement announcing the Renewables Obligation on electricity suppliers, and in October 2000 by a consultation paper on the form of the Obligation. In publishing the UK Climate Change programme on 17 November 2000, the Government recognised the importance of preparing for a low-carbon economy in the future, and announced in this context that they would be conducting a review of the options for longer-term energy choices.

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