| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
20 Jan 2003 : Column 5W—continued
Assisted Areas (Scotland)
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to revise the withdrawal of assisted area status from Arbroath by the implementation of the Assisted Area Order 2000. [91769]
Alan Johnson: The European Commission's approval of the Assisted Areas map in Great Britain lasts until the end of 2006. It is not possible to increase the coverage in one area without reducing it in another. This would be
20 Jan 2003 : Column 6W
likely to require an overall review of the map and new negotiations with the Commission, with no assurance that any particular area could be covered. The Government are therefore not planning to review the Assisted Areas map until it is necessary to develop proposals for the subsequent period.
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to revise the Assisted Areas map for Scotland through the Assisted Area Order 2000, prior to the expiry of that Act. [91770]
Alan Johnson: The Government have no plans to revise the Assisted Areas map before it is necessary to develop proposals for the period following the expiry of the European Commission's approval of the current map at the end of 2006.
BAE Systems (Financial Dynamics)
Syd Rapson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether she (a) directed and (b) approved UBS Warburg's engagement of Financial Dynamics to advise on matters connected with BAE Systems. [88854]
Ms Hewitt: The Government retained the services of UBS Warburg to provide specialist financial advice. Financial Dynamics was retained for a short period as part of this arrangement.
Business Links
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many Business Link partnerships there are; how many have closed in each year since 1999; and if she will make a statement. [91649]
Nigel Griffiths: There are 43 Business Link Operator partnerships covering 45 areas across England.
In April 2001, the network of Business Link Operators partnerships was rationalised from 80 to 43 in order to improve customer focus and divert more resources to front line services for SMEs.
Contractual arrangements remain in place with all Business Link Operators awarded contracts in April 2001.
Broadband (Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 8 January 2003 (ref 88014), how many of the grants for broadband satellite were placed in Sittingbourne and Sheppey; and if she will make a statement on the timing of the publication of information about SEEDA's broadband strategy. [90246]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 13 January 2003]: One grant application has been approved by Wired Sussex acting on behalf of SEEDA in each of Sittingbourne and Sheppey. Two further applications await processing in Sheppey.
Maximising access to, and take up of, broadband facilities forms Priority 14 of the Regional Economic Strategy which SEEDA are launching on 23 January 2003.
20 Jan 2003 : Column 7W
Associated Action Plans, currently under formulation, set out how SEEDA and Regional Partners will deliver specific programmes both with respect to broadband generally and as it applies on a sub regional basis.
Capita Group
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the contracts that have been awarded to the Capita Group by her Department. [89973]
Ms Hewitt: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 March 2002, Official Report, column 1W.
Cement Kilns
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total energy requirement of the United Kingdom's cement kilns (a) is and (b) is expected to be over the next 20 years; and if she will forecast the maximum quantity and types of waste these cement kilns can digest over this time period. [88568]
Mr. Wilson: The Government do not have information on the total current and future energy requirement of cement kilns. However, estimates from the British Cement Association suggest that in the short term (3–5 years) the potential use of waste in cement kilns, by a range of products, could be around 1–1½ million tonnes per year.
Correspondence
Mr. Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she intends to reply to the letter of 29 July 2002 from the hon. Member for Manchester, Central, regarding Mr. D.G., reference number 97657. [91111]
Ms Hewitt: A response to this letter was sent on 15 January 2003.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many full-time equivalent staff are employed in (a) the Department and (b) each of the agencies it sponsors; and what the figures were for 1997. [90666]
Ms Hewitt: I refer to the answer given by the Minister of State at the Cabinet Office on 16 January 2003, Official Report, column 697W.
Electricity Industry (Scotland)
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the Transmission Issues Working Group will publish its report on the modernisation of Scotland's grid infrastructure. [91925]
Mr. Wilson: The report is being finalised at the moment and my intention is to publish it as soon as possible.
20 Jan 2003 : Column 8W
Energy White Paper
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list (a) the target publication dates that Ministers have employed for the Energy White Paper and (b) when each target was first used. [91137]
Mr. Wilson [holding answer 16 January 2003]: The Energy Review published in February 2002 by the Performance and Innovation Unit indicated that the Government would set out its detailed response in an Energy White Paper later in the year. The Consultation document for the White Paper issued in May 2002 said the Government intended to issue a White Paper around the turn of the year. In a reply to a Parliamentary Question in October 2002 Ministers said that they planned to publish the White Paper in the new Year.
We plan to publish the White Paper shortly.
Export Credit Guarantees
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimates she has made of the number of UK jobs within the defence industry that depend on export credit guarantees; and if she will make a statement. [90337]
Ms Hewitt: The number of jobs in the defence sector that are created, secured or sustained as a result of export credit guarantees is difficult to estimate as the amount of ECGD support for particular industry sectors can vary widely from year to year. In UK Defence Statistics 2002 the Defence Analytical Services Agency estimates that total UK defence exports, only some of which have ECGD support—have on average supported around 100,000 jobs in the defence industry over the last five years.
External Consultants
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total cost to her Department was of the use of external consultants in 2002. [90503]
Ms Hewitt: Central records indicate that contracts for consultancy for a total of £43 million were awarded in calendar year 2002.
Iraq
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received from the Chairman of the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce on the effect of a war in Iraq on UK trade with the Arab world. [91154]
Ms Hewitt: No such representations have been received.
Job Creation Grants
Mr. Ronnie Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many grants for job creation her Department awarded in (a) Blyth Valley and (b) south-east Northumberland in 2002; and what the value was in each case. [91570]
Alan Johnson: The table sets out the numbers, value and job links for grants offered in 2002 under the Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) and Enterprise
20 Jan 2003 : Column 9W
Grants schemes for Blyth Valley and south east Northumberland (the local authority districts of Blyth Valley, north Tyneside and Wansbeck). From 1 April 2002 responsibility for RSA was transferred to ONE NorthEast, the regional development agency.
Details of individual RSA grants of over £75,000 are published in "Labour Market Trends" after the first payment of grant has been made.
| Blyth Valley | South east Northumberland | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of offers | 5 | 20 |
| Grant value | £344,671 | £5,327,460 |
| Associated jobs | 82 | 842 |
Logica
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the contracts awarded by her Department to Logica since 1 August 2002; and in each case what the (a) title, (b) total cost, (c) time scale and (d) terms of reference were. [90227]
Ms Hewitt: Central records indicate that only one contract has been awarded to Logica since 1 August 2002, for development work on the Immarsat Voice Roaming (IVR) project. The contract runs from October 2002 to April 2003 and the total cost is £160,000.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |