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27 Jan 2003 : Column 594W—continued
Post Office Raids
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what representations she has received concerning security for local post offices against armed hold-ups in rural sub-post offices; and if she will make a statement; [93008]
- (2) what representations she has received from sub-post office masters about recent raids on local post offices in North Yorkshire. [93009]
Mr. Timms: There have been no representations. Security arrangements at all post offices are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. in conjunction with sub-postmasters.
Post Offices (Shropshire)
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what financial support is available to rural post offices in Shrewsbury and Atcham. [93016]
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Mr. Timms: Rural post offices across the UK will benefit from the £450 million package of financial support for the rural post office network that I announced on 2 December 2002.
The package is underpinned by the appointment of rural transfer advisers by POL and a £2 million fund to support community post office initiatives.
The rural network also benefits from investment in the network generally. The rural network benefits from the considerable investment in the network's IT, and in new products, including universal banking services. On automation alone, the Government have made the largest ever investment in the Post Office—£480 million--much of it on the rural network.
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) urban and (b) rural post offices closed in (i) Shrewsbury and Atcham and (ii) Shropshire in each year since 1997. [93074]
Mr. Timms: I am informed by Post Office Ltd. that current and historic data on the post office network is not held on a parliamentary constituency or county basis.
Power Cuts
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with energy regulators to ensure energy companies receive lists of vulnerable people who are a priority for reconnection in the event of a power cut. [93319]
Mr. Wilson: Ministers and officials meet the Energy Regulator regularly and discuss a wide range of issues.
The licence for Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) require them to maintain a register of customers who have special communication needs or depend on electricity for medical reasons, and who require advance notice of planned interruptions to supply. This ensures that the DNOs are aware of vulnerable customers, and can prioritise accordingly. The DNOs are also required to give advice via a code of practice (provision of services for persons who are of pensionable age or disabled or chronically sick).
Press Releases
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many press releases have been issued by her Department in each (a) year and (b) quarter from 1995–96 to 2002–03; and if she will make a statement. [92471]
Ms Hewitt: The number of DTI press releases issued since April 1995 were as follows:
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Not available | 195 | 224 | 246 | 665 |
| 1996 | 265 | 231 | 224 | 245 | 965 |
| 1997 | 287 | 142 | 194 | 252 | 875 |
| 1998 | 212 | 217 | 194 | 272 | 895 |
| 1999 | 232 | 258 | 180 | 239 | 909 |
| 2000 | 213 | 200 | 181 | 191 | 785 |
| 2001 | 175 | 109 | 160 | 185 | 629 |
| 2002 | 184 | 193 | 177 | 217 | 771 |
These quarterly statistics include a number of statutory type announcements (merger clearance, power
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station consents and company winding up petitions) that the Department is required to issue when individual decisions are made.
Regulatory Impact Assessments
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the Regulatory Impact Assessments produced by her Department since 1 May 1997; and if she will make a statement. [88836]
Ms Hewitt [holding answer 16 January 2003]: Regulatory Impact Assessments were first introduced in August 1998. The Cabinet Office, in a bi-annual Command Paper, publishes lists of all Departments' Regulatory Impact Assessments, and their predecessors, Compliance Cost Assessments. Copies of the Command papers are available in the Libraries of the House.
Regulatory Impact Assessments published by my Department since July 2002, for which a Command Paper is yet to be published, are as follows:
- The Offshore Installations (Emergency Pollution Control) Regulations 2002
- The National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999 (Amendment) Regulations 2002
- Wireless Telegraphy (Licences charges) Regulations 2002
- The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002
- The Directors' Remuneration Report Regulations 2002
- The Maternity and Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2002
- The Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations 2002
- The Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay (Weekly Rates) Regulations 2002
- The Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002
- Industrial Development (Financial Assistance) Bill
- The Flexible Working (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 2002
- The Community designs (Fees) Regulations 2002
- Communications Bill
- Communications Bill—Media Ownership Rules
- Communications Bill—TV and Radio Services
- Communications Bill—Spectrum Trading
- Communications Bill—Newspaper Mergers
- Communications Bill—Setting up OFCOM as a Single Regulator
- Enterprise Act
- Enterprise Act—Competition Reform
- Enterprise Act—Consumer Protection
- Enterprise Act—Insolvency Provisions
- EC Directive 1999/44/EC on certain aspects of the sale of Consumer Goods and Associated Guarantees
- The Electricity (Approval of Pattern or Construction and Installation and Certification) (Amendment) Regulations 2002
- The Measuring Instruments (EC Requirements) (Electrical Energy Meters) (Amendment) Regulations 2002
- The Gas (Calculation of Thermal Energy (Amendment) Regulations 2002
- Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2002
- Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2002
Rural Transfer Advisers
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what plans she has to review the effectiveness of the Rural Transfer Advisers referred to
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in the report by the Scottish National Rural Partnership of November 2002, Section B.13 of Implementing Services in Rural Scotland; [93193]
- (2) where the six Rural Transfer Advisers referred to in the report by the Scottish National Rural Partnership of November 2002, Section B.13 of Implementing Services in Rural Scotland, are; and what progress they have made in preserving rural post offices. [93199]
Mr. Timms: The employment and effectiveness of Rural Transfer Advisers are operational matters for Post Office Ltd. I have therefore asked the chief executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Scottish Post Offices
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which post offices in Scotland referred to in the report by the Scottish National Rural Partnership of November 2002, Section B.13 of Implementing Services in Rural Scotland, received funding from the Sub Post Office Start Up Capital Subsidy Funding; how much each has received; and what proportion this represented of the successful applications from throughout the UK. [93194]
Mr. Timms: I understand from Post Office Ltd. who operate the Sub Post Office Start Up Capital Subsidy Fund on behalf of the Department that 13 applications from Scotland had been approved, out of a total of 133 approved for the UK, as at end December 2002. As at that date, the amounts approved and paid in respect of applications from Scotland were as follows:
| Approved | Paid | |
|---|---|---|
| Achnasheen | 20,000 | 289 |
| Almondbank | 17,750 | 17,750 |
| Arnisdale | 1,810 | 1,657 |
| Bernisdale | 11,131 | 8,880 |
| Bowden | 5,000 | 2,184 |
| Drinishader | 4,550 | — |
| East Mains of Carseburn | 315 | 315 |
| Glenboig | 17,500 | 17,500 |
| Glencoe | 10,307 | 10,307 |
| Laxay | 2,213 | 1,664 |
| Ollaberry | 3,411 | 3,411 |
| Strathkinness | 17,963 | — |
| Struan | 3,898 | 3,898 |
Sickness Absence
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many days were lost due to sickness absence in the Department in 2002. [90547]
Ms Hewitt: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) on 20 January, Official Report, column 12W.
Sizewell
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) which organisations were responsible for security at Sizewell B at 6.00 am on 13 January 2003; and what their responsibilities are; [93219]
27 Jan 2003 : Column 598W
- (2) pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Llew Smith) of 20th January 2003, Official Report, column 9, what lessons were learnt from the Greenpeace UK incursion to Sizewell B in October 2002; and what actions were taken as a result of those lessons; [93220]
(3) pursuant to her oral statement of 14 January 2003, Official Report, column 547, on the Sizewell security breach, when the Government's preliminary conclusion from the inquiry will be acted upon. [93254]
Mr. Wilson: The Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS), the security regulator, is reviewing security following the incursion into Sizewell B nuclear power station on 13 January by demonstrators organised by Greenpeace. Some security enhancements have already been identified and any others arising during the review will be implemented as soon as practicable. An earlier review was conducted following the incursion in October 2002 and action taken.
Responsibility for security at the Sizewell B nuclear power station lies with British Energy, the site licensee. Site management comply with the company's security plan in respect of the site as required by the Nuclear Generating Stations (Security) Regulations 1996 (SI 1996 No. 665). OCNS, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, advises site management about security threats, specifies the security standards to be followed, approves the security plan and monitors compliance. OCNS had already required the station to implement several additional measures in response to the heightened terrorist threat.
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