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27 Jan 2003 : Column 598W—continued
Space Industry Club
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the British National Space Centre's Best Practice in the Space Industry Club is self financing; how many United Kingdom companies are committed to the Club; and if she will make a statement. [91655]
Ms Hewitt: The Space Industry Best Practice Club is working towards achieving self-sufficiency. Including associates, it now has 60 members.
I welcome the activities of the Club. It was set up under a joint commitment by the British National Space Centre and the United Kingdom Industrial Space Committee, and was launched by my hon. Friend the Minister for Science in 1999. Since then, it has worked hard to improve the competitiveness of British companies working in the space sector and has developed relationships with other sectors and within the European Space Agency.
Transco
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many British Gas employees were qualified to purge and relight domestic premises affected by a major gas supply failure in 1994. [91408]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: I have been asked to reply.
I am advised by the Health and Safety Executive that this information is not available.
27 Jan 2003 : Column 599W
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many Transco employees are qualified to purge and relight domestic premises affected by a major gas supply failure. [91409]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: I have been asked to reply.
I have been advised by the Health and Safety Executive that on 16 January 2003, Transco's statutory registration by the Council for Registered Gas Installers (CORGI) covered work by 2,707 emergency service operatives holding valid certificates of competence under one of the three recognised assessment schemes: the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) scheme; the Nationally Accredited Certification Scheme (ACS); and the aligned National Vocational Qualification.
Transco is also able to contract other CORGI-registered installers if additional resource is considered necessary due to the scale of the failure.
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what tests her Department has conducted to establish the capacity of Transco to respond to a major gas supply failure without requiring the closure of power stations. [91410]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: I have been asked to reply.
The Department has carried out no such tests. However, I am advised by the Health and Safety Executive that Transco, in its capacity as the national Network Emergency Co-ordinator, has duties to test its arrangements for responding to a major gas supply failure and minimising its effects. Arrangements are also in place for activating a Government/industry Joint Response Team to co-ordinate action should a major supply failure occur, and these arrangements are periodically tested by means of joint exercises.
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what capacity Transco (a) is required by regulation to maintain and (b) has to purge and relight domestic premises affected by a major gas supply failure. [91411]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: I have been asked to reply.
The Gas Safety (Management) Regulations 1996 (GSMR) require Transco as a gas conveyor to prepare a safety case which (a) demonstrates how it will minimise the risk of a gas supply emergency; and (b) gives particulars of the procedures it has established to restore safely the gas supply to consumers, should a supply failure occur.
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what contracts are in place between Transco and other companies to supply suitably qualified engineers to purge and relight domestic premises affected by a major gas supply failure. [91412]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: I have been asked to reply.
This commercial information is not available. The requirement of Schedule 1 of paragraph 21 of the Gas Safety (Management) Regulations 1996 (GSMR) is for Transco as a gas conveyor to describe the particulars of the procedures that it has established to restore safely the gas supply to consumers following an interruption of supply.
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Westport Private Equity Limited
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what independent audits have taken place of Westport Private Equity Ltd.; whether these audits are available to Members; and if she will make a statement. [91651]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Westport Private Equity Ltd. has filed audited annual accounts at Companies House on a regular basis. The audited accounts for the year ended 31 December 2001 were filed on 15 May 2002. The accounts are available for public inspection.
TREASURY
Employment Statistics
Mr. Forth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were employed in (a) central Government, (b) local and regional government, (c) agencies of government, (d) the services sector and (e) manufacturing in (i) June 1997 and (ii) December 2002. [92673]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from L. Cook to Mr. Eric Forth, dated 27 January 2003:
- As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question about how many people were employed in (a) central government, (b) local and regional government (c) agencies of government, (d) services sector and (e) manufacturing in (i) June 1997 and (ii) December 2002. (92673)
- The latest information is given below. The Office for National Statistics does not use the term 'agencies of government', so, for completeness, total public sector employment is shown:
| June 1997 | June 2001 | September 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central government | 870 | 874 | not available |
| Local authorities | 2,593 | 2,732 | not available |
| Public non-financial corporations | 1,491 | 1,557 | not available |
| Total public sector | 4,954 | 5,163 | not available |
| Total services (seasonally adjusted) | 21,152 | 22,922 | 23,158 |
| Manufacturing (seasonally adjusted) | 4,493 | 4,054 | 3,835 |
Source:
Economic Trends, June 2002 issue, ONS
Labour Market Trends Table B.I8, ONS
Estimates of workforce jobs are based on the results of regular sample surveys of employers which count the number of employee jobs. Full information on public sector employment is published once a year; data for 2002 will be published in an article in Economic Trends in June 2003.
The Cabinet Office publication 'Civil Service Statistics 2001' shows civil servants in main departments and Next Step agencies separately and a separate Cabinet Office publication, 'Public Bodies 2001' gives details of employment in Non-Departmental Public Bodies. Both these publications are available from the House of Commons Library.
Advertising Campaigns
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will place in the Library evaluation
27 Jan 2003 : Column 601W
reports on advertising campaigns conducted in each of the last five financial years by (a) National Savings and (b) the Office for National Statistics. [92830]
Ruth Kelly: The information is as follows:
National Savings and Investments
Every advertising campaign run by National Savings and Investments is monitored and evaluated.
All press advertisements are media coded. Calls generated through advertising are monitored, and associated sales are monitored and evaluated in terms of return on investment to ensure the cost effectiveness of campaigns.
Brand awareness and perception of the brand
A continuous tracking study measures awareness of the brand and advertising campaigns and associated changes in the perception of the brand and consideration to save with us.
All advertising spend is audited quarterly by independent auditors to ensure value for money is achieved in buying press space and TV airtime.
As regards to placing the evaluation reports in the Library, much of the information contained in these reports is commercially sensitive. We operate in a commercial marketplace to ensure value for money is achieved in buying press space and TV airtime. Making public the information on our advertising effectiveness would allow media owners the competitive advantage in negotiations and so jeopardise our ability to secure favourable terms for advertising in the future.
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics advertising expenditure for 1998–99 and 1999–2000 was £3,000 and used to promote the availability of statistics.
Expenditure on advertising in 2000–01 and 2001–02 was £1,272,000 and £1,770,000 respectively. The spend in these two years covered the campaign to raise awareness of the 2001 Census. It aimed to encourage the population of England and Wales to take part.
Evaluation was by results. These demonstrated that 98 per cent. of households completed and returned their Census form.
A review of the Census publicity campaign has been published on the National Statistics website. The web address for the report is www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/proj_pub.asp.
No advertising expenditure was incurred by ONS in 2002–03.
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