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Ministerial Visits

Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list her overseas visits since 7 June 2001. [46222]

Ms Hewitt: As Secretary of State, I have undertaken the following overseas visits since 7 June 2001.

United States of America


Italy


Spain


Qatar


Belgium


South Korea


Japan.

Quarries

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessments she has made of (a) the number of operational quarries in the UK (i) now and (ii) 10 years ago and (b) the percentage change in full-time quarrying jobs over the last 10 years. [45739]

Mr. Wilson: No special assessments of the quarrying industry have been made in order to determine the number of operational sites and the number of full-time employees. Each year, we conduct a survey of quarrying known as the Annual Minerals Raised Inquiry, which is sent to all quarries having extant planning permission, for the purpose of determining the amount of material being quarried. Over the period 1990 to 2000, the number of such quarries dealing with either stone or sand and gravel declined slightly from around 1,780 to around 1,710. However, over the same period, the number of people present within quarries and covered by the provisions of the Mines and Quarries Acts 1954 and 1969 declined in these quarries by some 40 per cent. from around 31,500 to around 18,000.

British Investment Projects

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what figures she has collated on how many British investment projects there have been into Japan in (a) 1996–97, (b) 1997–98, (c) 1998–99, (d) 1999–2000 and (e) 2000–01; what their size was; and how many of those projects were (i) engineering and (ii) manufacturing based. [46445]

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Nigel Griffiths: There is no requirement on companies to record British direct investment overseas on a project basis and there is no organisation in Japan that records inward investment in the way that Invest.UK does for the UK.

The Office for National Statistics publish figures for the value of UK net investment flows into Japan. Figures detailing flows for 1996 to 2000 are given in the table. The dramatic increase in investment in 1999 and 2000 is probably accounted for by investments by Vodafone and Cable and Wireless.

Year	£ million
1996	378
1997	383
1998	14
1999	1,929
2000	1,269

Source:

National Statistics MA4: Overseas Direct Investment

Sellafield

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the result of the investigations undertaken by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate into an accident on Friday 8 February in one of the magnox reactors at Calder Hall in Sellafield. [47037]

Mr. Wilson: The event on 8 February at Calder Hall did not warrant an NII investigation. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for North Down on 6 March 2002, Official Report, columns 356–57W for a statement on the event, which noted that defuelling at Calder Hall has been suspended until BNFL reports the outcome of its internal investigation and completes any requirements for remedial action. NII is now monitoring the implementation of the recommendations of BNFL's investigation.

British Nuclear Fuels

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate has given the necessary regulatory approval required by British Nuclear Fuels before it can return the faulty MOX fuel it has supplied to Japan; and if she will place a copy of the approval document in the Library. [46911]

Mr. Wilson: HSE's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate has informed BNFL that it has no regulatory objections on health and safety grounds to BNFL receiving and storing this fuel at its Sellafield site. I am arranging for copies to be placed in the Libraries of the House of its unconditional acknowledgement of BNFL's safety documentation, the formal means by which this was done.

Small Businesses

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her latest estimate is of the number of businesses in the United Kingdom which employ fewer than 200 people; and what proportion of all businesses in the United Kingdom they represent. [49485]

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Nigel Griffiths: In 2000 there were approximately 3.7 million businesses in the UK that employed fewer than 200 employees. This was equivalent to 99.8 per cent. of all UK businesses in 2000.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her latest estimate is of the percentage of the private sector work force which is employed by companies with (a) fewer than 200 employees and (b) fewer than 100 employees. [49488]

Nigel Griffiths: In 2000 there were approximately 22 million people employed in the private sector or public corporations. Of these 48.5 per cent. were in businesses with fewer than 100 employees. 53.5 per cent. were employed by businesses with fewer than 200 employees.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her latest estimate is of the share of national output produced by companies with (a) fewer than 200 employees and (b) fewer than 100 employees. [49487]

Nigel Griffiths: National output, or GDP, data is not collected by size of business. Two proxies for this measure are employment share and turnover share, which are collected by size of business. The table shows the figures for businesses with fewer than 200 and 100 employees:

	UK per cent.
Employees	Employment share	Turnover share
0–99	48.5	38.7
0–199	53.5	44.5

Source:

SME Statistics in the UK 2000

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her latest estimate is of the number of sole trader businesses in the United Kingdom; and what proportion of all businesses in the United Kingdom they represent. [49479]

Nigel Griffiths: In 2000 there were approximately 2.6 million businesses in the UK that were classified as having no employees. This figure includes sole proprietorships, partnerships comprising only the self- employed owner-manager(s) and companies comprising only an employee director. These 2.6 million equate to 69.6 per cent. of all UK businesses.

Electricity Industry

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will bring forward legislation to establish British electricity trading and transmission arrangements, as recommended by Ofgem. [50641]

Ms Hewitt: I have been working closely with colleagues in the Scotland Office and the Scottish Executive. We have concluded that the time is now right to join the separate markets in Scotland and England and Wales together to create a GB electricity market. The Government will bring forward legislation to achieve this when parliamentary time allows.

Minimum Wage

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the national minimum wage. [49988]

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Ms Hewitt: The Government said last year, following recommendations from the Low Pay Commission, that it would consider the economic circumstances at the time before deciding whether to increase the main and development rates of the minimum wage by 10 pence/hour in October 2002, to £4.20 and £3.60 respectively.

The Government have considered the latest evidence across the overall economy and in the key sectors most affected by the minimum wage. We have concluded that conditions in the autumn of 2002 can be expected to support increases of 10 pence/hour and will therefore make regulations implementing these increases later this year. We have placed a short paper on this subject in the Libraries of the House.

Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps have been taken to ensure that practical measures directed at the arms industry are in place for the enforcement of Part 12 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. [46296]

Beverley Hughes: I have been asked to reply.

Part 12 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 applies to the arms industry in the same way as it applies in other fields. Under these provisions, United Kingdom nationals and United Kingdom-registered corporate bodies are liable to prosecution in the United Kingdom for offences of bribery and corruption committed overseas. The provisions will be enforced by the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and (in appropriate cases) by the Serious Fraud Office.

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