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Post Office (Casual Workers)
John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what checks were carried out by the Post Office on (a) agency and (b) directly recruited casual workers employed in 2001. [65045]
Mr. Timms: These are matters that fall within the day to day responsibility of Consignia and I have therefore asked the chief executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.
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Subpostmaster Vacancies
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many subpostmaster vacancies there were in each year since 1997, including 2002 to date. [68356]
Mr. Timms: Subpostmaster vacancies are an operational matter for the Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the chief executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Vibration White Finger
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many former miners suffering from vibration white finger who had mixed employment with both British Coal and other mining contractors have received their compensation; and how many claims are outstanding. [69460]
Mr. Wilson: There have been around 3,700 settlements of general damages compensation in co-defendant cases. We estimate that there are around 17,000 claims outstanding.
Departmental Staff (Scotland)
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many and what percentage of (a) civil service, (b) executive agencies and (c) non- departmental public body jobs under the remit of her Department are located in Scotland; and how many of each have been relocated to Scotland since May 1997. [56314]
Ms Hewitt: A number of the activities carried out by DTI and its agencies are the responsibility in Scotland of the Scottish Executive, so that direct comparisons are inappropriate. Bearing in mind that caveat, the following table sets out the numbers of staff in DTI and its executive agencies who are located in Scotland.
| Organisation | Staff based in Scotland | All staff | Percentage of staff based in Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| DTI Headquarters | 166 | 5,178 | 3.21 |
| ETS—Employment Tribunals Service | 70 | 934 | 7.49 |
| INSS—Insolvency Service | 6 | 1,385 | 0.43 |
| NWML—National Weights and Measures Laboratory | 0 | 57 | 0.00 |
| PATS—Patent Office | 0 | 801 | 0.00 |
| R—Radiocommunications | 12 | 607 | 1.98 |
| SBS—Small Business Service | 0 | 279 | 0.00 |
| CH—Companies House | 42 | 1,193 | 3.52 |
| Grand Total | 296 | 10,434 | 2.84 |
Information about NDPBs and the number of posts relocated since May 1997 cannot be answered without incurring disproportionate cost.
Company Takeovers
Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the operation of Section 429(4) of the Companies Act 1985 and Schedule 12 to the Financial Services Act 1986. [66590]
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Miss Melanie Johnson: Schedule 12 to the Financial Services Act 1986 introduced Part XIII A into the Companies Act 1985 which is designed to deal with the problems of residual minority shareholdings following a successful takeover bid. The principal provisions are:
- (a) Rights enabling a successful takeover bidder which has acquired not less than 90 per cent. in value of the shares to which the offer relates to compulsorily acquire the remaining residual minority shareholding (known as "squeeze-out" rights); and
- (b) Equivalent rights to a minority shareholder to require the successful bidder in these circumstances to acquire the shares owned by the minority shareholder ("sell-out" rights).
To ensure that these rights are not abused, important safeguards are in place (including strict time limits during which squeeze-out rights and sell-out rights may be exercised, a requirement that the price offered to minority shareholders must be the same as that of the original offer and the right to apply to court in exceptional circumstances).
Section 429(4) of the Companies Act lays down the mechanisms by which a successful takeover bidder may exercise squeeze-out rights.
Small Business Service
Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures the Small Business Service is taking to ensure that regulations do not impose unnecessary burdens on small businesses. [70100]
Nigel Griffiths [holding answer 15 July 2002]: The Small Business Service is taking a number of steps to mitigate the effects of regulation and to reduce the burden on small businesses. The SBS has:
- produced clear guidance on a number of complex regulations.
made help and advice available through the Business Link website www.businesslink.org. This is now attracting 80,000 users per month—and businesses can register to receive alerts about regulations automatically.
established close working links with the Small Business Council.
secured (as a result of its "Think Small First" strategy) the right to be consulted on all new regulations to ensure that the impact on small businesses is not disproportionate. Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIAs) have to be produced for all regulations setting out clearly the costs and benefits with full recognition of small business concerns.
secured for small businesses a 12 week period between regulations being agreed and implemented, allowing small businesses time to adapt to the new regulations.
regularly brought together groups of small businesses to express their views directly to policy officials such as for Patrick Carter's review of payroll administration, a copy of which is in the Libraries of the House.
we have also set up an independent office to represent the views of small firms to the European institutions, headed by Ben Butters, which takes its lobbying lines from small firms in the United Kingdom.
the OECD assessment of regulatory barriers ranks the UK as having the fewest barriers.
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legislation as well as how to ensure all policy makers fully consider alternatives to regulation at the outset of the policy making process.
Mine Workers Compensation
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been paid in England and Wales by the Government in recompense for legal fees to solicitors in respect of industrial compensation claims for (a) vibration white finger and (b) chest disease for former mine-workers, (i) in total and (ii) broken down by (A) individual legal practices and (B) parliamentary constituency. [68875]
Mr. Wilson: The information is as follows:
| COPD | VWF | |
|---|---|---|
| Total costs paid to solicitors | 66 | 52 |
I have placed details of the breakdown by (A) individual legal practices and (B) parliamentary constituencies in the Libraries of the House.
Renewable Energy
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what percentage of energy consumed in the UK in each of the last five years came from renewable sources; [68237]
- (2) what proportion of UK energy consumption she expects being derived from renewable sources in each of the next five years. [68236]
Mr. Wilson: The percentage of total UK inland energy consumption that was accounted for by all renewable sources in each of the last five years was as follows:
| Total use of renewable sources(16) | Total inland energy consumption(17) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| thousand tonnes of oil equivalent | Percentage | ||
| 1997 | 2,326 | 226,814 | 1.0 |
| 1998 | 2,583 | 230,785 | 1.1 |
| 1999 | 2,757 | 231,353 | 1.2 |
| 2000 | 2,957 | 233,423 | 1.3 |
| 2001 | 3,099 | 237,727 | 1.3 |
(16) includes non-biodegradable wastes and renewables used to generate heat
(17) non-energy uses of gas and oil are excluded; energy consumption is expressed in terms of primary energy inputs (i.e. electricity's contribution to consumption is measured by the energy content of the fuel used to generate the electricity).
Source:
Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics 2002
On the same basis, the available projections, published in Energy Paper 68, "Energy Projections for the UK", are for 2005 and 2010. These projections give percentages for 2005 of 2.3 or 2.4 per cent. of UK energy consumption being met from renewable sources, depending on the scenario, and for 2010 between 4.3 and 4.8 per cent. These figures reflect the projected increase in the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources which is planned to reach 10 per cent. by 2010.
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