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26 Nov 2002 : Column 227W—continued

Nuclear Safety Directorate

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) whether the Nuclear Safety Directorate has formal contingency arrangements in the event that a site operator is declared insolvent or put into administration; and if she will place a copy of these arrangements in the Library; [82506]

Mr. Wilson: Nuclear site licences contain no provisions regarding the insolvency of a site operator and HSE does not have formal contingency arrangements in the event that a site operator is declared insolvent or put into administration. I understand that HSE is considering how it might increase its surveillance of the safety of nuclear operations and monitor developments on affected sites in such circumstances. My officials are continuing to work closely with the Health and Safety Executive's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate to ensure the overriding priority of the safe operation of British Energy's nuclear power stations.

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the licence agreements that the Nuclear Safety Directorate negotiates with site operators contain provisions to deal with the accumulation and storage of nuclear waste material; and whether renegotiation of a licence agreement would be required where a site operator implemented a change of policy on nuclear waste material. [82505]

Mr. Wilson: A Xlicence agreement" is not a recognised instrument of the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (as amended). However, the Act does allow the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to attach conditions to nuclear site licences in the interests of safety or with respect to the handling, treatment and disposal of nuclear material and within the arrangements made by licensees under those conditions the HSE does use formal Xagreements" to effect its permissioning role. Any activity on a licensed site requiring HSE's permission is subject to there being an adequate safety case.

Any changes, on the part of a licensee, relating to the storage of nuclear waste at the site would be subject to the acceptance of a revised safety case by HSE. Such changes would need to meet Licence Condition 32, which specifically addresses the accumulation of radioactive waste within the standard set of 36 conditions,. In enforcing this and other licence conditions, HSE's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate takes into account Government policy on radioactive waste management, as set out in Cm2919.

Additionally the licensee's policy on the management of radioactive waste is reviewed through the quinquennial review process, as required by Government policy. Changes in licensee's policy will be identified by this process and assessed by HSE. The results of HSE's

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assessments and the full set of licence conditions are available on the HSE website http://www.hse.gov.uk/nsd/index.htm.

Offshore Oil and Gas Industry

Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made by the offshore oil and gas industry in implementing the requirements of the Working Time Directive for the sector, with particular reference to the issues of (a) holiday pay, (b) annual leave, (c) paid travel time, (d) work cycles, and (e) health and safety for offshore workers. [82769]

Alan Johnson: The Horizontal Amending Directive (HAD) (2000/34/EC) entitles workers in the offshore sector to the full provisions of the Working Time Directive (93/104/EC). The HAD was formally adopted on 1 August 2000 and is required to be implemented by 1 August 2003.

The Government is consulting on its proposals to implement the HAD through amendments to the Working Time Regulations. The consultation which can be found on the DTI website: http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/work time regs/handconsulthtm began on 31 October 2002 and will run until 31 January 2003.

Priority Areas

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 20 November, reference 81766, which wards in Sittingbourne and Sheppey have been selected as priority areas. [83463]

Mr. Timms: For its investment in broadband provision SEEDA prioritises those parts of the region where provision is relatively poor. In general terms, these are areas, including Kent, in the eastern part of the region and rural areas across the region as a whole. The investment is not prioritised on a ward basis.

Small Firms Loans Guarantee Scheme

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what conclusions she has reached as a result of her review of the small firms loans guarantee scheme; and whether it will be extended to (a) services and (b) those with limited work or credit records. [83462]

Nigel Griffiths: I am considering improvements to the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme. A review of this scheme has been completed and an announcement will be made shortly.

Tear Gas Exports

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent export licences have been granted to (a) Paines Wessex and (b) other companies for the export of tear gas to Zimbabwe. [82260]

Nigel Griffiths : I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my hon. Friend, the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Paul Farrelly) on 14 November 2002. A copy of my letter was placed in the Libraries of the House.

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ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Coffee Imports

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to ensure that coffee products sold in the UK are labelled to indicate coffee quality. [80946]

Ms Blears: Specific quality claims are not required for coffee products and there are no plans to make them so. Where voluntary claims are made they must comply with the provisions on misleading or false descriptions or claims set out in the Food Safety Act 1990 and the Trade Descriptions Act 1968.

XDon't Bring Back More Than You Bargained For"

Campaign

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been spent on the XDon't Bring Back More Than You Bargained For" publicity campaign since 8 July 2001, broken down by country. [82409]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 21 November 2002]: Approximately £421,000 has been spent on the XDon't Bring Back More Than You Bargained For" campaign, launched on 8 July 2002. Some of this money was spent on preparatory work and research prior to the launch.

The campaign deliberately targeted British travellers and holidaymakers, and was not aimed at specific third countries. Therefore there are no costs broken down by country. Our posts abroad have been helping, for example by displaying some posters and distributing leaflets with visa applications.

20-day Rule

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received on the 20-day rule. [82221]

Mr Morley : Industry organisations and individual farmers have made a number of representations about the impact of the 20 day standstill. Ministers and officials regularly meet industry representatives to discuss their views on the current animal movement controls.

Air Pollution

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Government spent in the last year for which figures are available, on monitoring air pollution. [80849]

Alun Michael: Spending by Government in 2001–02 was divided between ambient air quality monitoring (£4.79 million) and air quality monitoring in relation to regulated industrial processes in England and Wales undertaken by the Environment Agency (£2.40 million). Around £2.09 million was recovered by the Agency from process operations in 2001–02.

Airport Security

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which (a) seaports

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and (b) airports are being targeted by her Department for additional checks on passenger baggage and freight for illegal imports; and what assessment she has made of the work done in the last 12 months. [82411]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 21 November 2002]: Additional checks began at two major seaports at the beginning of October this year, and at a third seaport at the beginning of November. Teams have been recruited and are currently in training at two major airports. They are expected to be operational before the end of November. One of these teams will also operate at other airports around the country.

Specific details of staff and ports of operation could benefit potential smugglers.

It is too soon to make an assessment of the impact of these additional checks.


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