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TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Brazilian Mahogany

Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to support the Brazilian Government's moratorium on trade in mahogany. [17837]

Nigel Griffiths: Brazilian mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) is listed in appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Its import into the United Kingdom is covered by annex C of EU regulation 338/97 and must be accompanied by an export permit or certificate of origin issued by the Brazilian Government's CITES management authority.

Omega, Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to assist the development of the Omega site in Warrington; and if she will make a statement. [17906]

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Alan Johnson [holding answer 26 November 2001]: The Omega site in Warrington is identified in the NWDA regional strategy as one of the 11 strategic sites for investment in the North-west.

English Partnerships and Warrington borough council are taking forward the development of this site. The North-West development agency has contributed £25,000 towards the Omega partnership, which was formed to co-ordinate and oversee all aspects of the project.

Economic Development (Lancashire)

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of (a) the number of jobs created, (b) the number of jobs created to be taken up by residents of communities in need and (c) the estimated cost per job created as part of the (i) Luneside East, (ii) Lancaster West Business Park, (iii) Heysham Business Park, (iv) Kingsway, (v) Mellishaw North and (vi) Luneside West developments included in the bid for an economic development zone by Lancaster City Council. [18253]

Alan Johnson [holding answer 26 November 2001]: Lancaster's bid for economic development zone status is currently being assessed, along with those of other EDZ contenders, by independent consultants appointed by the Government office for the north-west.

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received from the North-West development agency in relation to the bid put forward by Lancaster city council for an economic development zone. [18251]

Alan Johnson [holding answer 26 November 2001]: None.

Lune Industrial Estate

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received from the North-West development agency on access to the Lune industrial estate. [18250]

Alan Johnson [holding answer 26 November 2001]: No representations have been received from the North- West development agency on access on the Lune industrial estate.

Postal Services

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with Consignia on the proposal to charge customers for post and delivery before 9.30 am. [17421]

Mr. Alexander [holding answer 26 November 2001]: The Department has regular discussions with Consignia about a range of strategic issues facing the company. However, ideas about altering charging or delivery arrangements are operational issues for the company provided that it remains within the terms of the licence issued to it by the Postal Services Commission.

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the proposed abolition of the second postal delivery. [17419]

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Mr. Alexander [holding answer 26 November 2001]: Consignia's proposals in relation to second delivery are operational issues for the company provided that it remains within the terms of the licence issued to it by the Postal Services Commission.

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with the management of Consignia on charging for the second postal delivery. [17420]

Mr. Alexander [holding answer 26 November 2001]: The Department has regular discussions with Consignia about a range of strategic issues facing the company. Consignia's proposals in relation to the second postal delivery are operational issues for the company provided that it remains within the terms of the licence issued to it by the Postal Services Commission.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions she has had with Consignia; and if she raised the issue of industrial relations. [19470]

Mr. Alexander [holding answer 30 November 2001]: The Department has regular discussions with Consignia about a range of strategic issues facing the company. The handling of industrial relations and the resolution of any disputes are issues for the management of the company and the unions. The Government have encouraged the management and unions to work in partnership to implement the recommendations in the Sawyer report published in July 2001. Progress has been encouraging but a lot more still needs to be done.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the Government's policy on the ending of the second post, with special reference to rural areas. [19471]

Mr. Alexander [holding answer 30 November 2001]: Consignia's proposals in relation to the second delivery are operational issues for the company, subject to the regulatory powers and duties of the Postal Services Commission in respect of service standards.

Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many formal notices her Department has received in the last year from the parliamentary ombudsman expressing an intention to carry out an investigation; and in respect of each notice how long it took to respond. [18770]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 27 November 2001]: The Department has received two formal inquiries from the ombudsman in the last year (ie from 23 November 2000). In the first case, a full response was sent 26 days from the date of the inquiry, and in the second case 35 days from the date of the inquiry.

Employment Tribunals

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many applications to employment tribunals were (a) upheld, (b) dismissed and (c) withdrawn in the last year for which information is available. [19761]

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Alan Johnson: The following is the information.

Outcome of employment tribunal cases disposed of in 2000–01

	Number of cases
ACAS conciliated settlements	33,169
Withdrawn	27,502
Successful at hearing	13,640
Dismissed at hearing (out of scope)	1,884
Dismissed at hearing (other)	9,582
Disposed of otherwise	7,161
Total	92,938

Source:

Employment Tribunals Service

A claim may be brought under more than one jurisdiction or subsequently amended/clarified in the course of proceedings, but will only be counted once in the above table (against the main jurisdiction).

Transatlantic Radio Signal (Centenary)

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with her counterparts in Canada and the US in respect of arrangements to celebrate the centenary of the successful transmission of a transatlantic radio signal. [19573]

Mr. Alexander: My officials in the Department and the Radiocommunications Agency have had extensive discussions with Canadian Government officials about arrangements for the celebration of the centenary. At the end of September, a senior official represented the agency and contributed to the Wireless Vision Congress at St. John's Newfoundland which was part of the Canadian celebrations of the centenary. There have been no discussions with the US Government on this issue.

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what arrangements her Department has made to support the celebration of the centenary of the first transatlantic radio signal. [19572]

Mr. Alexander: I am due to host a reception at the Radiocommunications Agency on 12 December to mark this important achievement. There will be a link-up from the reception to agency officials who will be in Poldhu, where the agency has donated radio equipment to the Poldhu amateur radio club to commemorate the centenary. The agency has also produced a souvenir booklet, "Wireless over the Waves", which has achieved a wide circulation and is on its website.

Recruitment Industry

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what criteria were used to select the Recruitment and Employment Confederation as the main negotiator for the UK employment industry. [19855]

Alan Johnson: I have met the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, which is the main representative body in the private recruitment industry, to discuss the draft conduct of employment agencies and employment businesses regulations and other issues relating to the private recruitment industry. My officials and I have also discussed these matters with a number of other representative bodies in the industry and individual recruitment companies.

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Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average cost is for an information technology staffing agency to provide an IT professional to a client. [19868]

Alan Johnson: I have no estimate of the average cost to an information technology recruitment agency of providing an IT professional.

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of temporary information technology staff operate through personal service companies. [19865]

Alan Johnson: I have no estimate of the percentage of information technology temporary staff who operate through personal service companies.

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what evidence she has received that demonstrates that the quarantine period proposed in the draft of the conduct of employment agencies and employment business regulations 2001 has been set at an appropriate timescale for recruitment of information technology personnel. [19862]

Alan Johnson: The principles underlying our proposals on the quarantine periods to apply to the payment of transfer fees are in line with suggestions made by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, the private recruitment industry's principal trade association.

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she has completed a regulatory impact assessment on the proposed draft of the conduct of employment agencies and employment business regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement. [19860]

Alan Johnson: A regulatory impact assessment on the proposed new Employment Agency regulations has been produced and published on my Department's website.

Our objective in overhauling the existing regulations, which date from 1976, is simpler, clearer regulations, which are relevant to the market of today and of the future. The proposed new regulations are in many cases updated versions of existing requirements. They are designed to benefit recruitment agencies, those employed through them and hirers. They will remove unnecessary restrictions on agencies operations and the services they offer, while protecting the interests of work seekers and vulnerable groups.

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she is planning to undertake further consultation on the draft of the conduct of employment agencies and employment business regulations 2001. [19854]

Alan Johnson: I will be consulting further on the main changes we propose to the draft conduct regulations.

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many IT agencies operate in the UK; and what percentage of these have a turnover in excess of £2 million per annum; [19866]

(2) what information she has collated on the number of IT staffing agencies which are privately owned and managed small and medium-sized enterprises and if she will make a statement. [19867]

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Alan Johnson: I do not have full details on the information requested, but the Association of Technology Staffing Companies, the body representing the IT staffing companies, estimates that there are some 2,000 companies in the sector with a total annual turnover of almost £2 billion.

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions she has had with (a) representative organisations and (b) individual companies in the recruitment industry. [19858]

Alan Johnson: In recent months I have met a number of representative bodies and individual companies from the private recruitment industry to discuss the draft conduct of employment agencies and employment businesses regulations and other issues.

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if she will list the (a) companies, (b) organisations and (c) individuals who have been invited to discuss the proposed draft of the conduct of employment agencies and employment business regulations 2001; [19852]

(2) if she will publish the names of the (a) individuals and (b) organisations who have commented on the proposed draft of the conduct of employment agencies and employment business regulations 2001. [19857]

Alan Johnson: A list of the respondents to the last consultation exercise on the proposed draft conduct of employment agencies and employment businesses regulations has been placed in the Libraries of the House. I have also held discussions with a number of these.

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she has received representations from the IT industry about the proposed draft of the conduct of employment agencies and employment business regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement. [19859]

Alan Johnson: I received representations on the draft conduct of employment agencies and employment businesses regulations from the representative bodies, individual recruitment companies and workers within the IT industry.

Our draft conduct regulations are designed to benefit recruitment agencies, employment businesses, their clients and those seeking employment through them. They will remove unnecessary restrictions on organisations in the recruitment industry, including the IT sector, and the services they can offer, while protecting the interests of work seekers and vulnerable groups. I recognise that the IT sector plays an increasingly important role in the recruitment industry.

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what specific concerns prompted the review of the Employment Agencies Act 1973; [19853]

(2) if she will she make a statement on the aspects of the Employment Agencies Act 1973 which triggered a revision of the present legislation. [19863]

Alan Johnson: I have no plans to review the Employment Agencies Act 1973 at the present time. The Government consider that the existing Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 1976 do not meet the Better Regulation Taskforce's five central principles of good regulation:

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transparency, accountability, targeting, consistency and proportionality. Our objective in overhauling the existing legislative framework governing agency conduct, which dates from 1976, is simpler, clearer, regulations, which are relevant to the labour market of today and of the future.

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what studies have been conducted into the number of temporary employees who have taken up permanent employment in the (a) nursing, (b) secretarial, (c) information technology and (d) transport industries in the last 12 months. [19861]

Alan Johnson: The Recruitment and Employment Confederation estimates that about one fifth of temporary workers transfer to permanent employment each year. However, I have no breakdown by specific sectors.

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she last met the Association of Technology Staffing Companies; and if she will make a statement. [19864]

Alan Johnson: Although I have met a number of bodies representing the various sectors within the private recruitment industry over recent years, I have not yet had the opportunity to meet representatives of the Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCo). However, my officials have had a number of productive meetings with the ATSCo over the past year.

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry by what date she expects to lay the draft of the conduct of employment agencies and employment business regulations 2001. [19856]

Alan Johnson: I expect to lay the draft conduct regulations before Parliament early in the new year.

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