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Rural Awareness
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) when her Department will have rural proofing embedded in policy-making procedures as set out in the Countryside Agency's report, "Rural Proofing in 2001–02"; [54432]
- (2) when her Department will establish rural targets and monitoring as part of overall rural proofing measures as set out in the Countryside Agency's report, "Rural Proofing in 2001–02"; [54411]
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(3) when her Department will introduce measures to raise rural awareness through staff (a) training, (b) development and (c) secondments as part of overall rural proofing measures set out in the Countryside Agency's report "Rural Proofing in 2001–02". [54421]
Alan Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to this question by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 9 May 2002, Official Report, columns 273–74W.
Refrigerants
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received concerning the equity of international standards-setting guidelines for refrigerants; and if she will make a statement. [54628]
Mr. Wilson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has received several representations from manufacturers of hydrocarbon refrigerants.
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has made concerning United Kingdom Government policy on HFCs to the international standards-setting body responsible for refrigeration standards. [54627]
Mr. Wilson: None. The standardisation process is independent of governments: representation is made through national standards bodies which, for the UK, is the British Standards Institution.
Milk
Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will refer the matter of the sale of milk to the competition authorities. [54222]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 7 May 2002]: Under UK competition legislation the Director General of Fair Trading is responsible for monitoring markets and investigating allegations of anti-competitive behaviour. Any evidence of anti-competitive behaviour should be sent directly to the Office of Fair Trading.
Directory Inquiries
Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the market for directory inquiries services will be open to new entrants. [54823]
Mr. Alexander: The opening of the market for Directory enquiries is a matter for Oftel. New Codes facilitating the introduction of competition in this area will be introduced from October 2002.
Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry by what method directory inquiry calls will be routed after the market is opened to new entrants. [54820]
Mr. Alexander: The regulation of the market for directory inquiries services is a matter for the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel). The Director General of Telecommunications will write to the hon. Member with details of how directory inquiry calls will be routed after the market is opened to new entrants.
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Chronic Bronchitis and Emphysema Claims
Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will set out the policy issues which need to be resolved to enable final settlements to be made to chronic bronchitis and emphysema claims. [55004]
Mr. Wilson: The Department has now agreed a revised version of Schedule 10 of the Claims Handling Agreement (CHA) with the claimants' solicitors. Schedule 10 determines the level of special damages to which a claimant is entitled. In addition, small cohorts of claimants are affected by on-going negotiations on surface dust and coal-mining related co-defendants.
Consignia
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to her answer of 1 May 2002, Official Report, column 792W, what discussions between Consignia and parties other than the Dutch post office regarding a possible sale of, merger with, or equity investment in, Consignia have taken place in the last 12 months. [55012]
Mr. Alexander: Apart from the negotiations with TPG about a possible merger as set out in my answer on 1 May 2002, Official Report, column 792W, the Department have not been notified, during the last 12 months, about any discussions between Consignia and other parties regarding a possible sale of equity, merger or equity investment.
Universal Bank
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made with discussions with the European Commission on the EU rules which forbid the Governments of member states from subsidising banks in relation to the proposed universal bank project. [55005]
Mr. Alexander: The European Commission has decided not to raise any objections to universal banking services. It informed the Government in February 2002 that it considers the measures notified to it to be compatible with the common market.
Export Credits Guarantee Department
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been spent by the administration section of the Export Credits Guarantee Department under code B4 (Grant and transfers: current) in the appropriation accounts on IT expenditure in the last five financial years; how much was paid to each IT company; what the nature of the project was; and if she will make a statement. [54361]
Ms Hewitt [holding answer 8 May 2002]: Details of amounts of money paid to individual companies are commercially confidential. I have listed ECGD's total spend on IT for each financial year 1997–98 to 2000–01 and broken the total down into five areas of expenditure. Copies are available in the Library. Also provided are the names of the companies employed by ECGD to provide IT services in those years and an outline of the services provided. I have not included figures for 2001–02 as these have yet to be audited.
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Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been spent by the administration section of the Export Credits Guarantee Department under code B4 (Grant and transfers: current) in the appropriation accounts on consultancy fees in the last five financial years; how much was paid to each consultancy company; what the nature was of the project in each year; and if she will make a statement. [54358]
Ms Hewitt [holding answer 8 May 2002]: Details of amounts of money paid to individual companies are commercially confidential. I have listed ECGD's total spend on consultancy for each of the financial years 1997–98 to 2000–01, the names of the companies or individuals employed by ECGD as consultants in those years and an outline of the service provided. Figures for 2001–02 have not been included as these have yet to be audited.
| Company or individual | Service provided |
|---|---|
| C.O.I. | Publications |
| CDR International | Training |
| Coda plc | Accountancy |
| Doyle Clutton Associates | Accountancy |
| Four Acre Accountants Ltd. | Accountancy |
| French Thornton | Change Management Consultancy |
| Hays Accountancy Personnel | Recruitment |
| Idon Ltd. | Training |
| KPMG CHAPS | Recruitment |
| Marketing Improvements Group plc | Customer Survey |
| Pricewaterhouse Coopers | Review of Aircraft Finance Practice |
| Record Currency Management Ltd. | Training |
| Standard and Poors NY | Corporate Risk Consultancy |
| Company or individual | Service provided |
|---|---|
| David Parker | Translation |
| Emslie Phelps | Training |
| Environmental Resources Management | Environment Policy Consultancy |
| French Thornton | Change Management Consultancy |
| IBM UK Ltd. | IT Services |
| KPMG | Internal Audit Consultancy |
| Lavant Consulting Ltd. | Business Adviser |
| Marketing Improvements Group | Customer Survey |
| Rimell Associates | IT Services |
| Standard and Poor's Rating Group | Risk Management Consultancy |
| Standard and Poor's NY | Risk Management Consultancy |
| Company or individual | Service provided |
|---|---|
| CMG (UK) Ltd. | IT Services |
| David Parker | Translation |
| Deloitte and Touche | Accountancy |
| Emslie Phelps | Training |
| Ernst and Young | Risk Management |
| Jean Caines | Press and Public Relations Consultancy |
| KPMG | Risk Management Review |
| National Economic Research Assocs. | Economic Rationale Review |
| Record Currency Management Ltd. | Financial Risk Management |
| Standard and Poors Rating Group | Training |
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