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Post Offices (Scotland)

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post offices (a) opened and (b) closed in Scotland in each of the last three years. [9219]

Mr. Alexander [holding answer 23 October 2001]: I am informed by the Post Office Ltd. that historical data on the numbers of post office openings and closures are not maintained separately. The numbers of post offices operating in Scotland over the last three financial years were as follows:

End March 1998—2,051

End March 1999—2,026

End March 2000—1,999

End March 2001—1,936.

I am informed by the Post Office that an on-going revision of data has affected individual country totals. I also understand that, across the UK as a whole, of the closures in the year ending March 2001, the Post Office designate only four as permanent.

A £2 million fund to support relocation and refurbishment initiatives by volunteer or community groups to maintain or reopen post office facilities in rural areas where the traditional post office is closing received parliamentary approval in July.

Legal Action (Associated Newspapers)

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the cost met from public funds of the legal action taken by the previous Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Tyneside, North (Mr. Byers) against Associated Newspapers. [10146]

Ms Hewitt: No final bill for legal costs has yet been presented by the solicitors acting for my right hon. Friend the Member for Tyneside, North (Mr. Byers).

Public Telephones (Deaf People)

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the difficulties faced by the deaf population with regard to the use of public telephone kiosks, with special reference to the 999 emergency telephone service; and what plans she has to look at improvements which could be made. [9875]

Mr. Alexander: The regulation of telecoms operators is the responsibility of Oftel. Oftel is working with those operators that provide public call box services, such as British Telecom, and with disabled groups to ensure that more public text phones are made available to enable deaf people to have improved access to telecoms services, including 999 services. Oftel has also implemented

29 Oct 2001 : Column: 503W

regulations which require other operators of public call boxes to offer a text relay service. All textphones at public call boxes provide access to the emergency services through the dialling of a dedicated access code. The text is then relayed on to the emergency services. BT has installed 1,950 public textphones at airports, railway stations and motorway service centres too. These offer BT's newly launched text relay services called 'TextDirect'. A hearing customer will now be able to directly dial a customer who is deaf by using an access code and vice versa.

Transport and Telecoms Council

Mr. Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the outcome was of the Transport and Telecommunications Council held in Brussels on 15 October; what the Government's stance was on each issue discussed, including their voting record; and if she will make a statement. [9363]

Mr. Alexander: I represented the UK for the posts and telecoms aspects of the Transport and Telecoms Council in Luxembourg on 15 October.

The Council, with the support of almost all member states, reached political agreement on a common position on postal services liberalisation which would safeguard the continued provision of universal service and provide for UK licensing arrangements. The UK supported the political agreement having secured adjustments to meet these points. Under the agreement, the level of services that may be reserved will reduce to 100 grams in 2003, to 50 grams in 2006 but leave the final step in 2009 to a Council/European Parliament decision in 2006 following a Commission assessment of universal service.

The Presidency gave information on the proposed Communications Data Protection Directive. At the UK's initiative in the light of the measures announced by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on 15 October 2001, Official Report, column 923, member states discussed the implications of the directive for the retention of data for law-enforcement purposes following the recent terrorist attacks in the United States. It was agreed that there should be further consideration to ensure that the directive will not restrict member states from taking action against terrorism.

The Presidency also gave information on the proposed Framework, Access, Authorisation and Universal Service Directives arising from the 1999 Communications Review. These proposals are now undergoing second readings in the European Parliament following the Council's adoption of common positions in September.

The Council held a debate on Network and Information Security, on which the Presidency intends to present a Resolution at the Transport and Telecoms Council in December.

The Commission also presented a Communication on website accessibility for disabled users, part of the eEurope Action Plan, and a Communication on the Interchange of Data between Administrations (IDA) programme, aimed at improving working practices within the EU.

29 Oct 2001 : Column: 504W

First Class Mail

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of first class mail was delivered the next day by postcode for the most recent quarter for which figures are available. [8248]

Mr. Alexander: Operational issues are a matter for Consignia.

However, I have been advised by the company that postcode area performance for the first quarter of the current financial year 2001–02 is as follows:

Postcode area performance (April to June 2001)—first class stamped and metered

Postcode area	All posted
AB Aberdeen	91.3
AL St. Albans	81.1
B Birmingham	86.9
BA Bath	89.1
BB Blackburn and Burnley	83.2
BD Bradford	95.4
BH Bournemouth	88.3
BL Bolton	87.8
BN Brighton	91.8
BR Bromley	87.8
BS Bristol	86.4
BT Northern Ireland	86.9
CA Carlisle	87.9
CB Cambridge	88.7
CF Cardiff	87.6
CH Chester and Deeside	80.9
CM Chelmsford	85.3
CO Colchester	88.7
CR Croydon	89.0
CT Canterbury	90.5
CV Coventry and Warwickshire	91.7
CW Crewe	89.6
DA Dartford	88.1
DD Dundee	88.9
DE Derby	91.2
DG Dumfries	91.3
DH Durham	91.1
DL Darlington	91.2
DN Doncaster	93.1
DT Dorchester	88.7
DY Dudley	84.7
E London East	73.4
EC City of London	83.2
EH Edinburgh	88.2
EN Enfield	74.9
EX Exeter	87.9
FK Falkirk	87.2
FY Fylde	86.7
G Glasgow	85.4
GL Gloucester	86.6
GU Guildford	85.2
HA Harrow	78.5
HD Huddersfield	92.1
HG Harrogate	86.7
HP Hemel Hempstead	85.1
HR Hereford	87.0
HS Hebrides	79.6
HU Hull	89.0
HX Halifax	92.6
IG Ilford	86.1
IP Ipswich	81.2
IV Inverness	89.4
KA Kilmarnock	88.0
KT Kingston upon Thames	90.2
KW Kirkwall	84.2
KY Kirkcaldy	91.9
L Liverpool	82.4
LA Lancaster	86.0
LD Llandrindod Wells	88.5
LE Leicester	92.2
LL North Wales	80.8
LN Lincoln	91.5
LS Leeds	89.4
LU Luton	80.8
M Manchester	82.5
ME Maidstone	88.5
MK Milton Keynes	85.1
ML Motherwell	84.2
N London north	81.3
NE Newcastle	88.5
NG Nottingham	89.3
NN Northamptonshire	86.6
NP Newport	84.7
NR Norwich	88.2
NW London north west	79.5
OL Oldham	86.1
PA Paisley	86.0
PE Peterborough	83.7
PH Perth	89.7
PL Plymouth	87.7
PO Portsmouth	89.9
PR Preston	86.5
RG Reading	85.2
RH Redhill	89.6
RM Romford	87.7
S Sheffield	93.2
SA Swansea	90.7
SE London south east	81.7
SG Stevenage	89.6
SK Stockport	86.0
SL Slough	83.2
SM Sutton	92.4
SN Swindon	83.2
SO Southampton	87.9
SP Salisbury	83.4
SR Sunderland	93.2
SS Southend-on-Sea	82.1
ST Stoke-on-Trent	86.1
SW London south west	77.4
SY Shrewsbury and mid Wales	84.7
TA Taunton	86.6
TD Borders	90.2
TF Telford	86.9
TN Tonbridge	86.0
TQ Torquay	86.5
TR Truro	90.7
TS Teeside	92.2
TW Twickenham	91.4
UB Uxbridge	80.1
W London west	79.2
WA Warrington	87.8
WC London west central	79.8
WD Watford	78.2
WF Wakefield	86.6
WN Wigan	91.3
WR Worcester	90.3
WS Walsall	88.1
WV Wolverhampton	88.1
YO York	89.6
ZE Lerwick	85.6

29 Oct 2001 : Column: 505W

Icelandic Trawlermen (Compensation)

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many claims for compensation for Icelandic trawlermen have been rejected; and how many remain to be decided. [9977]

29 Oct 2001 : Column: 506W

Nigel Griffiths: At mid-October, 4,199 claims had been rejected and 1,781 were either on hold pending a decision about the 1979 cut-off date or awaiting further information, mainly from claimants themselves.

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the (a) number and (b) total amount of compensation claims paid to Icelandic trawlermen, broken down by port. [9980]

Nigel Griffiths: The information is given in the table.

Compensation scheme for former Icelandic water trawlermen—payments as at 16 October 2001

	Number of payments	Total amount paid (£)
Hull	948	11,046,030
Grimsby	334	2,585,995
Fleetwood	201	2,059,144
Blackpool	30	240,361
Cleethorpes	82	668,046
Newcastle	182	2,137,199
West Yorkshire	114	1,197,687
Aberdeen	38	245,313
Others	210	1,862,056

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many claims for Icelandic trawlermen's compensation are not yet dealt with; and what legal advice she has received on the validity of this delay. [9978]

Nigel Griffiths: All claims received have been scrutinised and entered into the special computer system established for the scheme. I am satisfied that there has been no undue delay.

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