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Energy White Paper

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on what date she will issue the Energy White Paper. [34048]

Mr. Wilson: Energy policy issues will be further canvassed in the PIU report. No decision has yet been taken on the form of any responses to that review.

Staff Payments (Commercial Negotiations)

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what advice Ministers in her Department have sought from the head of her Department regarding the propriety of members of their personal staff receiving payments from companies that are involved in commercial negotiations with her Department; and if she will make a statement. [34420]

Ms Hewitt: It is the responsibility of Ministers to ensure that no conflict of interest, or apparent conflict of interest arises between their personal affairs and their ministerial responsibilities, as set out in the Ministerial Code. Details of advice given by officials to Ministers are not disclosed.

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Mineworkers' Compensation

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much compensation was paid to former mineworkers in Nottinghamshire in respect of (a) chronic bronchitis and emphysema and (b) vibration white finger in (i) December 2001 and (ii) January 2002. [34689]

Mr. Wilson: The following table details compensation paid in Nottinghamshire:

£ million

	(i) December 2001	(ii) January 2002
(a) Respiratory disease compensation	1.8	0.9
(b) Vibration White Finger compensation	2.4	4.8

Retail Fuels Market

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the size of the road transportation retail fuels market in each nation of the UK was in (a) ultra low sulphur diesel, (b) unleaded petrol, (c) four star petrol and (d) liquefied petroleum gas in (i) 1998, (ii) 1999 and (iii) 2000. [35068]

Mr. Wilson: Not all of the information requested is available. The available data are given in the table.

Retail sales of road transportation fuelsThousand tonnes per annum

Fuels	England and Wales(36)	Scotland	Northern Ireland	United Kingdom
1998
DERV fuel	5,916	564	122	6,602
Of which:
ultra low sulphur diesel(37)	n/a	n/a	n/a	702
Unleaded petrol	15,355	1,148	338	16,841
4-star/lead replacement petrol(38)	4,301	225	69	4,595
Liquid petroleum gas(39)	n/a	n/a	n/a	4
1999
DERV fuel	6,478	566	93	7,137
Of which:
ultra low sulphur diesel(37)	n/a	n/a	n/a	6,066
Unleaded petrol	17,253	1,247	281	18,781
4-star/lead replacement petrol(38)	2,478	117	34	2,629
Liquid petroleum gas(39)	n/a	n/a	n/a	8
2000
DERV fuel	6,925	462	76	7,463
Of which:
ultra low sulphur diesel(37)	6,925	462	76	7,463
Unleaded petrol	18,048	1,094	269	19,411
4-star/lead replacement petrol(38)	1,394	51	17	1,462
Liquid petroleum gas(39)	n/a	n/a	n/a	22

⁽³⁶⁾ Separate data on retail sales in Wales are not available.

⁽³⁷⁾ Data are not available on retail sales of ultra low sulphur diesel (ULSD) in 1998 and 1999 broken down by nation. These years cover the period when it was replacing, and co-mingling with, ordinary diesel or DERV fuel at retail stations. By 2000 all supplies entering the retail market were of ULSD.

⁽³⁸⁾ Four-star leaded petrol was phased out at the end of 1999. As such, the data provided include sales of lead replacement petrol as it was replacing, and co-mingling with, leaded petrol at retail stations.

⁽³⁹⁾ Although increasing rapidly, the use of liquid petroleum gas as a road fuel is still relatively minor at the moment, and so a breakdown by nation is not available.

Source:

Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics: Energy Trends, September 2001 edition.

Oil Suppliers and Retailers

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the steps her Department takes to monitor the fairness of the contractual relationship between oil suppliers and retailers in non-competition issues. [35069]

Mr. Wilson: My Department does not monitor contracts between oil suppliers and retailers.

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More generally, however, I am discussing with the oil industry whether and how relationships in the supply chain might be improved.

Road Transport Fuels

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to her answer of 10 December 2001, Official Report, column 669W, on rural petrol stations, when she expects to announce the more effective mechanisms for the supply of road transport fuels. [35191]

Mr. Wilson: As I said in my earlier answer of 10 December 2001 to my hon. Friend, I am considering whether there is a case for putting in place more effective mechanisms to support the objectives discussed by my hon. Friend. This is a complex matter, on which it is likely to take some time to reach a conclusion.

Fair Trade Goods

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to her answer of 20 November 2001, Official Report, column 169W, on Fair Trade goods, (1) if she will review during Fair Trade Fortnight the amount of fairly traded goods used in her Department; [35455]

(2) pursuant to her answer of 26 November 2001, Official Report, column 682W, if she will review and increase the amount of fairly traded goods purchased by her Department during Fair Trade Fortnight. [35917]

Ms Hewitt: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith (Mr. Lazarowicz) on 6 February 2002, Official Report, column 969W.

Building Firms

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if there is a professional organisation that has a list of building firms that are reputable. [34688]

Mr. Wilson: The DTI has developed the Quality Mark scheme to enable householders to quickly and easily identify reputable and competent construction firms. The scheme ensures that Quality Mark tradesmen are technically competent, possess relevant qualifications and display financial probity and registers them for the public to use.

The Quality Mark scheme includes various customer care measures, such as a code of practice and an effective complaints system. There is also a scheme warranty that provides protection against defects in workmanship for six years after completion of works.

Pilots are operating in Birmingham and Somerset and the scheme has been extended to contractors in Leicestershire and east Kent. So far 138 builders have been awarded the Quality Mark and over 200 are in the assessment pipeline. The scheme is currently undergoing evaluation, and a report will be made to Ministers shortly.

DTI's national register, Constructionline, is operated under a public-private partnership by Capita Business Services Ltd. It was set up to reduce the cost to both firms and clients of repeated information handling at the initial stage of tendering for work. Public and commercial sector clients who use Constructionline gain access, free, to a single, nationwide list of approved construction firms.

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Constructionline assesses firms against commercially accepted standards to show that they have the capacity and capability to carry out the types and size of work for which they wish to tender. Firms pay a fee, close to cost, for registration and annual review on a sliding scale based on turnover. There are more than 10,000 firms registered with Constructionline and 13,330 licensed clients. Client access to the data, whether to individual firms' records or to source a project list of approved firms, rose by 73 per cent. in the year to January 2002.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Road Accidents

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) deaths and (b) serious injuries were caused by road crashes in the Metropolitan Police area in 2001; and at what estimated cost to public funds. [31018]

Mr. Jamieson: I have been asked to reply.

In 2000, the most recent calendar year for which figures are available, there were 292 deaths and 5,847 serious injuries on roads in the Metropolitan police area.

An estimate of the full cost to public funds is not available. However, it is estimated that accidents involving death or serious injury in the Metropolitan police area in 2000 resulted in around £60 million of hospital, ambulance and police costs. This estimate includes any costs related to less seriously injured casualties in these accidents. Costs to public funds will also include social security payments and damage to public property which cannot be estimated.

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