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Energy Policy
18. Mr. Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the Government's energy policy. [100544]
Mrs. Liddell: The Government's overall energy policy objective, as set out in last year's White Paper, "Conclusions of the Review of Energy Sources for Power Generation and Government Response to fourth and fifth Reports of the Trade and Industry Committee" (Cm 4071), is
"to ensure secure diverse, and sustainable supplies of energy at competitive prices".
British Coal (Equal Pay)
19. Mr. Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action his Department is taking to achieve a settlement of the equal value pay case for British Coal canteen workers. [100545]
Mr. Alan Johnson: This litigation is a matter for British Coal.
Bankruptcy
21. Mr. Beard: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has for reviewing the charges to small businesses and individuals arising from bankruptcy proceedings. [100547]
Ms Hewitt: The Working Party on the remuneration of insolvency office holders, chaired by Mr. Justice Ferris, submitted an initial report in July 1998 and, subsequently, the Society of Practitioners of Insolvency issued interim guidance on the information to be provided to creditors on applications for remuneration. A final report from Mr. Justice Ferris's Working Party is expected to be published in the new year.
Balance of Trade
22. Mr. St. Aubyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the latest announcement on the balance of trade. [100549]
Mr. Caborn: In the three months to September, the deficit on trade in goods and services was at its narrowest for almost a year. The volume of goods and services exported grew by over 6 per cent., the fastest rate of growth for 20 years.
EH101 Helicopter
23. Mr. Wilkinson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the royalties to be received by his Department as a result of Launch Aid upon sales of the EH101 helicopter. [100550]
9 Dec 1999 : Column: 611W
Mr. Alan Johnson:
Launch investment returns depend on the level of sales of each product in which the Government have invested. Information about possible levies arising from individual projects is commercially confidential.
Levies have not yet been received on the civil version of the EH101 helicopter.
24. Mr. Baldry:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress he has made in his discussions with the Treasury over proposals to regulate the private recruitment industry. [100551]
Mr. Alan Johnson:
Discussions with HM Treasury and other Departments on the proposed revision of the regulations governing agency conduct are continuing. We will make an announcement in due course.
25. Mrs. Organ:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement about the prospects for profitability and volume of exports of the manufacturing sector. [100552]
Mr. Caborn:
In 1998 the profitability of manufacturing companies was at the highest level for 30 years and surveys by British Chambers of Commerce show confidence in manufacturing profitability at its highest level for over two years. Export growth has picked up sharply, with the latest figures showing that export volumes in the third quarter rose by 9.6 per cent., the fastest rate of growth for 20 years. Most economic forecasters expect this improvement to continue into next year.
29. Mr. Kidney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he last met the Staffordshire chamber of commerce and industry to discuss the manufacturing industry. [100557]
Ms Hewitt:
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry had a very useful meeting on 15 November 1999 with the North Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce, of which the Staffordshire Chamber is a division.
During his visit he had wide-ranging discussions covering manufacturing industry and also visited two manufacturing businesses in the county.
27. Mrs. Betty Williams:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action he is taking to improve child safety in the home. [100554]
Dr. Howells:
The safety of toys and other articles used by children feature prominently in product safety standards, and the regulations which my Department administers.
In addition, the DTI produces and distributes safety awareness materials free of charge to local authorities and other safety professionals on a wide range of home safety topics, many of which are designed to help to reduce accidents to children.
9 Dec 1999 : Column: 612W
I launched the first in a series of child safety magazines on 24 November, jointly produced by Government, business and the voluntary sector, for expectant parents and parents of babies and young children and strongly featuring child safety in the home.
I also launched Child Safety Week in June 1999, an initiative aimed at reducing accidents to children which DTI helped fund, run by the Child Accident Prevention Trust.
28. Dr. Gibson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to ensure that cluster development is evenly distributed across the UK. [100556]
Ms Hewitt:
None. The Government attach considerable importance to clusters and recently announced new mechanisms for taking forward the development of their clusters policy. These include a new Clusters Policy Steering Group to be chaired by my noble Friend Lord Sainsbury, the Minister for Science; a full mapping study of cluster activity in the UK and the identification and promotion of emerging clusters in the RDA's regional economic strategies. The Government believe that clusters are market driven. As such, the Governments's key role is to create the conditions, in all parts of the UK, which encourage the formation and sustainable growth of clusters and enable and nurture progress.
30. Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to monitor implementation of EU directives relating to trade and industry matters in other member states. [100558]
Mrs. Liddell:
The Department monitors the implementation of EU Single Directives in other member states through the European Commission's publication "The Single Market Scoreboard" and through contacts with UK industry and the Commission . The Scoreboard is published twice a year and is a very useful monitoring mechanism on the health of the Single Market. The Scoreboard, which is available in the House of Commons Library, includes a section covering rates of transposition of Directives in all EU states. The Scoreboard is regularly discussed at the Internal Market Council. We also, through our action Single Market unit, pursue individual complaints from UK industry with the member state in question and with the Commission.
33. Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what evidence he has assessed that temporary to permanent fees discourage employers from offering a permanent job to a temporary worker. [100562]
Mr. Alan Johnson:
The Department has received representations from work-seekers, unions, employment agencies and employers that these fees can discourage employers from taking on temporary workers permanently.
34. Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will review the level of the national minimum wage. [100563]
9 Dec 1999 : Column: 613W
Mr. Alan Johnson:
I am keeping the operation of the national minimum wage legislation under review with the help of the independent Low Pay Commission. As with its introduction, any future change to the level of the minimum wage will be made sensibly, taking account of the economic circumstances prevailing at the time.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many anonymous calls have been made to the minimum wage hotline giving information relating to breaches of the minimum wage legislation. [101479]
Mr. Alan Johnson:
The National Minimum Wage Helpline does not disaggregate calls between anonymous and non-anonymous calls. All calls are followed up. In addition, a number of employers are phoning the helpline to tell us about their competitors who are paying below the national minimum wage. These calls are also followed up.
Mr. Gapes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the future of international postal services. [100553]
Mr. Alan Johnson:
With increased globalisation, the international market in postal services is forecast to grow much faster than domestic markets. Success in these areas will depend on ability to develop and sustain high quality, competitively priced products and services in response to changing and fast-moving customer demand, developments in new technology and ever-increasing competition. That is why this Government have made it a priority to give the Post Office the greater commercial freedom it needs to be a world-class service provider in the twenty first century.
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