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Environmental Protection (State Aid)

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish the European Commission's guidelines for granting state aid to firms that promote environmental protection; and if he will make a statement. [149136]

Mr. Alan Johnson: When the guidelines are finalised, they will be published in the Official Journal. I will arrange for an English Language version to be placed in the Library of the House, and I will also send one to the hon. Member.

Electricity

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what he estimates the cost of delay will be to consumers and industry if the New Electricity Trading Arrangements are not implemented by 27 March. [146951]

Mr. Hain: While we have already seen some of the benefit of the New Electricity Trading Arrangements (NETA) through lower forward prices over the past year, clearly the full benefit of NETA will not be realised until it is actually introduced. The priority is therefore to ensure that NETA is implemented on 27 March, as the target implementation date confirmed by Ofgem on 31 January.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what measures Ofgem are carrying out to ensure that the new electricity trading arrangements will be implemented by 27 March; [146949]

(2) when he will announce whether the new electricity arrangements are on course to go live on 27 March. [146948]

Mr. Hain: When the revised timetable for the implementation of the New Electricity Trading Arrangements (NETA) was announced last October, it was the result of a comprehensive replanning exercise

6 Feb 2001 : Column: 466W

undertaken by Ofgem. Since then, Ofgem have closely monitored the progress of the project against a series of key milestones. The programme is now moving into the final phase of testing, known as Unified Pre-production and, subject to the successful outcome of this, NETA remains on course for implementation on 27 March.

I also refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton (Mrs. Gilroy) on 31 January 2001, Official Report, column 188W.

BAE Marine

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what communications he has had relating to the Type 45 proposal submitted by BAE Marine; and if he will make a statement. [149086]

Mr. Alan Johnson: I have received communications from ministerial colleagues, hon. Members and other interested parties.

The Government's response to BAE Systems's unsolicited proposal for the T45 Destroyers was set out by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 20 December 2000, Official Report, column 238W.

Crop Protection Chemicals

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the joint industry submission, "Minimising the Environmental Impacts of Crop Protection Chemicals", revised proposals February 2001. [148863]

Mr. Alan Johnson: The November 2000 pre-Budget report announced that, in the run up to Budget 2001, the Government wished to see the Crop Protection Association make further improvements to the package of voluntary measures that the industry has been developing over the last year. This latest submission from the CPA, and a number of other stakeholders involved in the supply and use of crop protection products, was received by the Government on 29 January. It is currently being evaluated and a further statement will be made in the Budget report.

Ilisu Dam

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the most recent estimate of the number of Kurdish people who will be displaced from the banks of the River Tigris as a result of the Ilisu Dam project; and if he will make a statement. [148537]

Mr. Caborn: We do not yet have a final estimate of those affected by the project. A number of estimates have been made at different times and 78,000 has been suggested as an upper estimate of the number of people possibly affected in any way. We expect this to be clarified by the Environmental Impact Assessment Report and the Resettlement Action Plan when they become available.

Not all of the affected people would need resettlement, and the effect on some would be quite minor. Nevertheless, the interests of all affected people must be taken into account.

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Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the environmental assessment relating to the Ilisu Dam project will be published. [148507]

Mr. Caborn: We expect that a presentation on the Environmental Impact Assessment Report will be made to the export credit agencies shortly, and that the Environmental Impact Assessment Report will be made publicly available after this presentation, and before any decision is taken regarding export credit support from the UK. As we are not the owners of the reports we cannot be more specific about timing.

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate was included of the number of homeless Kurdish people in the plans to create the Ilisu Dam when it was first brought to the attention of his Department; and if he will make a statement. [148538]

Mr. Caborn: When the Export Credits Guarantee Department was first approached, it was advised that in the region of 15,000 people might be affected by the Ilisu Dam.

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what compensation will be offered to the Kurdish people displaced to accommodate the Ilisu Dam project; and if he will make a statement. [148539]

Mr. Caborn: Compensation for those displaced or otherwise affected by the project is one of the issues we expect to see addressed in the Resettlement Action Plan.

Human Rights (Turkey)

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has held with the Government of Turkey regarding human rights, specifically with regard to the Kurdish people. [148548]

Mr. Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has had no recent discussions with the Government of Turkey on this subject. However, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and my hon. Friend the Minister for Europe regularly raise human rights issues in routine bilateral contacts with the Turkish government.

Petroleum Discoveries

Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress PILOT has made in identifying clusters of petroleum discoveries with potential for development. [149588]

Mr. Hain: The formal invitation for companies to apply for licenses for blocks 113/28 and 113/29 in the Eastern Irish Sea has now appeared in the Official Journal. These blocks contain gas discoveries that have been identified by PILOT's Undeveloped Discoveries Workgroup, as having potential for development. I am pleased that the efforts of the Workgroup have led to this invitation being made.

There is tremendous potential on the UKCS for the development of existing oil and gas discoveries. The Workgroup has made good progress in identifying a number of discovery 'clusters' that will benefit from being developed as a group rather than being assessed as individual projects.

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The decision to offer these blocks for licence was taken after consultation with a number of organisations including the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and English Nature. In the event that licences are awarded, activities carried out under them will be subject to a separate approvals process that will take account of the requirements of relevant environmental legislation.

Mivan Ltd./Kier International

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will place details of his Department's accounting officer's note of dissent relating to Mivan Ltd. and Kier International to construct housing and provide water services in Romania in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [148287]

Mr. Caborn: I have considered this request under the terms of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information and concluded that providing this information would harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion within Government. The request therefore falls within the terms of exemption 2 of the Code of Practice.

Hinduja Brothers

Mr. Ian Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the dates of (a) the meetings and (b) other contacts made by Ministers with the Hinduja brothers, indicating which (i) Ministers and (ii) other hon. Members were present and which hon. Members arranged the meeting. [148620]

Mr. Byers [holding answer 5 February 2001]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 2 February 2001, Official Report, column 336W, to the right hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widdecombe).

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