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Coal Industry

Mr. Denis Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what has been the total amount paid in operating aid to the UK coal industry under the current scheme; and if she will give details of how it is allocated. [24450]

Mr. Wilson: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood (Paddy Tipping) on 13 November 2001, Official Report, column 653W. The details in that reply are still up to date.

9 Jan 2002 : Column: 870W

Sellafield

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) when Commission Regulation 3227/76 on nuclear facility safeguards came into force in the United Kingdom; and if she will make a statement on how it has been implemented in respect of Sellafield, with particular reference to the oversight of civil nuclear materials; [25176]

(2) in what year the Euratom Safeguards Directorate first inspected the mixed civil military reprocessing plant at Sellafield; what verification Euratom has made of net loss of quantity or quality of the nuclear materials subject to Euratom safeguards in the period since the first inspection; and if she will make a statement. [25177]

Nigel Griffiths: Commission Regulation (Euratom) No. 3227 came into force in 1977. The first Euratom safeguard inspection visit to the BNFL Sellafield facility took place in 1973 but, as was announced to Parliament in 1986, on 4 June 1986, Official Report, columns 594–95, the simultaneous processing of civil and non-civil material meant that, until then, Euratom safeguard inspectors had not had access to mixed civil/non-civil areas of the facility. However, the co-processing of civil and non-civil material was ended in 1986, since when safeguards procedures have been in place to enable Euratom safeguard inspection of all civil material at the Sellafield facility. The verification activities involved are designed to detect the possible diversion of civil nuclear material from its declared use. There are regular inspections to confirm that information provided by the facility operator pursuant to Commission Regulation (Euratom) No. 3227 is correct (i.e. that the facility, its inventories of nuclear material and changes in these inventories are as reported). Euratom safeguard inspection activities at places such as Sellafield include access to confirm the facility's design, extensive access to and evaluation of plant and process operational data, and independent verification of the nuclear material itself—either by means of direct sampling and/or measurement, or by the application of "containment" and "surveillance measures" (e.g. sealing containers or stores of material, or video surveillance of plant areas) to confirm that previously measured material remains unchanged.

Ofgem

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to her answer of 5 December 2001, Official Report, column 303W, on Ofgem, if he will place copies of the consultation responses in the Library. [22354]

Mr. Wilson: I have placed a list of those who responded in the Libraries of the House. The responses can be viewed in the library of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Central Asia Pipeline Ltd.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the United Kingdom companies which hold an interest in the Central Asia Pipeline Ltd. (CentGas) Consortium. [24415]

Mr. Wilson: I am not aware of any UK company involvement in the proposed Central Asia Pipeline Ltd. consortium.

9 Jan 2002 : Column: 871W

Small Businesses

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the progress of the "Think Small First" strategy for supporting small businesses. [25728]

Nigel Griffiths: All Government Departments have been encouraged to 'Think Small First'. The Small Business Service (SBS) has consulted across Whitehall to ensure all Departments consider the impact their actions have on small businesses. Significant progress has been made in the Government's three priority areas of:

(i) entrepreneurial culture and environment;


(ii) regulatory framework for business; and


(iii) support for business.

Examples of progress are as follows: an independent cross-departmental Review of Enterprise and the Economy in Education, led by Sir Howard Davies. The review is expected to report by the end of January 2002; enterprise and entrepreneurial skills are now included in the national curriculum; the launch of the Enterprise Insight "Enterprising Schools" initiative which encourages businesses to get involved in enterprise programmes; SBS consulted at an early stage by all Government Departments when UK regulatory policy issues affecting small businesses are being considered and their comments included in the final Regulatory Impact Assessment; implementation periods introduced for new legislation, which will give business clear guidance on new legislation 12 weeks before it comes into force; the Business Link Operator network re-structured and the national information and advisory service launched to provide a more consistent and customer focused service to small businesses. SBS working with other Government Departments to promote the Business Link Operator network as the route to market for business support services; 'NHS Plus' launched, which will enable a national network of NHS Occupational Health Departments to provide services specifically to small businesses.

SBS have developed a range of performance indicators to measure the impact and benchmark the success of "Think Small First" (available on the website www.sbs.gov.uk/consultations.) SBS intend to publish the initial findings early this year.

BNFL

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what arrangements she is proposing for the transfer of contracts held by BNFL to the Liabilities Management Authority; and if she will make a statement. [25408]

Mr. Wilson: The proposals outlined by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on 28 November 2001, Official Report, column 990, will not affect BNFL's existing contractual commitments to its customers in any way. Details on how the Liabilities Management Authority is expected to operate in practice will be set out in the White Paper to be published next spring on the Government's overall approach to discharging the UK's public sector civil nuclear liabilities.

9 Jan 2002 : Column: 872W

Specific Interest Swap Transactions

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on what date and on whose advice the decision was taken by the Export Credits Guarantee Department to purchase the interest swaps referred to in paragraphs (i) and (ii) of the introduction to the Export Credits Guarantee Department Winter Supplementary Estimates. [25213]

Nigel Griffiths: ECGD began to purchase the interest rate swaps referred to in paragraph (i) in 1986 and for (ii) in March 2001.

ECGD has an agreed risk management policy for managing and controlling interest rate risk. All of these swaps were transacted in accordance with this policy.

ECGD assesses its own hedging requirements and enters into or unwinds interest rate swaps through an auction process with banks with an investment grade of AA- or better.

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will provide a breakdown of the details of the specific interest swap transactions which were used to hedge the cost of interest make-up on fixed rate export finance loans, as referred to in paragraph (i) of the introduction to the Export Credits Guarantee Department Winter Supplementary Estimates. [25212]

Nigel Griffiths: Individual details of swap transactions are commercially confidential, but in summary we have 128 dollar interest rate swaps and 34 sterling swaps currently outstanding with a total notional value of US$4.6 billion and £804 million respectively.

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will provide a breakdown of the details of the specific interest swap transactions which were used to hedge potential interest make-up costs on pipeline large aircraft sector understanding cases, as referred to in paragraph (ii) of the introduction of the Export Credits Guarantee Department Winter Supplementary Estimates. [25211]

Nigel Griffiths: Individual details of swap transactions are commercially confidential, but in summary we have transacted 53 interest rate swaps with a total notional value of US$935 million of which US$325 million is currently outstanding.

Tanzania

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on what basis the decision was made to grant an export licence to BAE Systems for its Military Air Traffic Control system to be sold to the Tanzania Government; and if she will make a statement. [25830]

Nigel Griffiths: All relevant export licence applications are considered on a case by case basis against the Consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria. I refer the hon. Member to the reply from my right hon. Friend the Member for Neath (Peter Hain), the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Laura Moffatt) on 26 October 2000, Official Report, columns 199–203W.

9 Jan 2002 : Column: 873W

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment has been made of the World Bank's study into the technology of the Military Air Traffic Control System; and if she will make a statement. [25829]

Nigel Griffiths: The Department of Trade and Industry's Export Control Organisation considers all relevant information available at the time when assessing export licence applications against the Consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria. Where appropriate, this includes considering the views of international organisations like the World Bank.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with other Government departments regarding the sale by BAE Systems to the Government of Tanzania of an air traffic control system. [24975]

Nigel Griffiths: The Department of Trade and Industry's Export Control Organisation circulates all relevant export licence applications to other Government Departments with an interest as determined by those Departments in line with their policy responsibilities. These include the Department for International Development, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the Ministry of Defence.

Details of discussions with other Government Departments are exempt from disclosure under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

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