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5 Mar 2003 : Column 1102W—continued

Regulatory Bodies

Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many inspection staff have been employed by (a) the Office of Fair Trading and (b) the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate in each year since 1997. [100213]

Miss Melanie Johnson: (a) The number of inspection staff employed by the Office of Fair Trading in each year since 1997 is as follows:

1997 0


1998 0


1999 0


2000 12


2001 12


2002 12


2003 15

(b) The number of inspection staff employed by Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate in each year since 1997 is as follows:

1997 9


1998 9


1999 9


2000 13


2001 13


2002 14


2003 14

For both sets of figures, the term inspection staff has been taken to mean investigations staff authorised to enter premises.

Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) staff and (b) inspection staff were employed by the Office of Telecommunications in each year since 1997. [99762]

Mr. Timms: The numbers of staff employed by Oftel since 1997 by financial year are set out below.

Year	Number of Staff Employed
1996–1997	161
1997–1998	176
1998–1999	181
1999–2000	195
2000–2001	208
2001–2002	232
2002–2003	235 (estimated)

Oftel does not employ any inspection staff.

5 Mar 2003 : Column 1103W

Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) staff and (b) inspection staff have been employed by the Office of Fair Trading in each year since 1997. [99764]

Miss Melanie Johnson: (a) The total number of staff employed by the Office of Fair Trading on 1 April each year since 1997 is as follows:

1997 413


1998 417


1999 428


2000 449


2001 461


2002 556


2003 (January) 645

(b) The number of inspection staff employed by the Office of Fair Trading on 1 April each year since 1997 is as follows:

1997 0


1998 0


1999 0


2000 12


2001 12


2002 12


2003 (January)-15

The term inspection staff has been taken to mean investigations staff authorised to enter premises.

Small Firms Loan Gurantee Scheme

Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many firms in Dumfries and Galloway made use of the small firms loan guarantee scheme in 2001–03; and what the total value of those loans was. [100161]

Nigel Griffiths [holding answer 4 March 2003]: Fifteen loans at a value of £486,500 have been guaranteed for small firms in Dumfries and Galloway between April 2001 and February 2003.

Special Purpose Vehicles (Offshore)

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will investigate how many UK companies trade through special purpose vehicles located in offshore financial centres. [100757]

Miss Melanie Johnson: I have no plans to do so.

St. Charles Site, Brentwood and Ongar

Mr. Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the future of the St Charles site in Brentwood and Ongar. [98446]

Hilary Benn: The Youth Justice Board (YJB) for England and Wales is responsible for commissioning and purchasing secure accommodation for juveniles from the Prison Service, private sector, and local authority secure children's homes, and for setting and monitoring standards.

5 Mar 2003 : Column 1104W

Planing permission was obtained last year to build a 40 bed secure training centre at the St Charles site. The project has been under review pending the final outcome of the last spending review, but I can confirm that it will go ahead. The Youth Justice Board hope to restart the bidding process in May 2003.

Tax Avoidance

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proposals she has to require companies to publish the details of tax avoidance schemes operated by them within their annual accounts. [100908]

Miss Melanie Johnson: None.

Timber (Burma)

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the value of imports of timber from Burma was in the past two financial years; and which companies imported the timber. [97220]

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.

HM Customs and Excise are the Department responsible for collecting and recording statistics on the movement of goods with other countries. Information on individual importers and consignments is recorded from customs documents submitted at import but cannot be disclosed for reasons of commercial confidentiality; Exemption 13 of the Open Government Code applies. The value of timber and wood imports from Burma, which is published in Overseas Trade Statistics and is available on Customs' website (www.uktradeinfo.com), is:

Apr 00—Mar 01	£3,434,228
Apr 01—Mar 02	£3,623,984

The above figures include timber and processed wood products such as plywood, but exclude made-up articles of wood.

Unfair Terms

Mr. Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 will affect tenancy agreements for local authority and housing association tenancies. [100331]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 require that unfair terms should not be used in standard contracts made between sellers or suppliers and consumers. An unfair term will not bind the consumer. The Director General of Fair Trading has a duty to consider complaints about unfair terms and can act to prevent their continued use. The Regulations apply to residential tenancy agreements including those used by local authorities or housing associations with their tenants.

5 Mar 2003 : Column 1105W

HEALTH

Air Fresheners

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research has been conducted into the impact upon (a) indoor air quality and (b) human health of the use of air fresheners; what advice has been given to the public relating to their use; and if he will make a statement. [99214]

Ms Blears : I am not aware of any research that has been conducted specifically on the impact of air fresheners on indoor air quality. The Buildings Research Establishment national representative survey on air quality found that 41.9 per cent. of households reported using air fresheners. The dominant determinant of total volatile organic compounds in the survey was painting and decorating. Volatile organic compounds are a wide range of different organic chemicals, some of which may be released into the indoor air by the use of air fresheners. However, there are also many other potential sources of the same or similar chemicals such as building materials, furnishings, environmental tobacco smoke and other consumer products.

The Avon longitudinal study of parents and children in Bristol has found associations between air freshener use and ear infections in infants, headache in mothers and depression in mothers. If these associations represent true effects, the mechanisms involved are not entirely clear. Further research is needed to confirm these findings.

No advice has been given to the public on air fresheners specifically.

Abortions

Mr. Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions were carried out in England and Wales in 2002 under the provisions of the Abortion Act 1967; what the commonest medical conditions were for which they were performed; what checks his Department carried out to determine the suitability of the medical conditions given; and if he will make a statement. [100326]

Ms Blears: Information for 2002 will not be available until later this year.

In 2001, 186,274 abortions were performed in England and Wales, of which 176,364 were on resident women. 97 per cent. were performed under Section l(la) of the Abortion Act 1967, as amended—that the pregnancy has not exceeded its twenty-fourth week and that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman — and the most common medical conditions reported were mental and behavioural disorders.

Under Section 2(2) of the Act, registered medical practitioners must notify the Chief Medical Officer of every completed termination of pregnancy they perform. The notification form contains detailed information relating to the procedure, including the doctors who certified there were grounds under the Act, gestation, method used and place of termination. Every

5 Mar 2003 : Column 1106W

form is checked and monitored by Departmental officials to ensure that the abortion was performed within the provisions of the Act.

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 3 February 2003, Official Report, column 100W, on abortions, if he will provide a breakdown of the figures by age of mother; and how many of the abortions in the answer were undertaken in private clinics in (a) Hampshire and (b) the Isle of Wight. [99332]

Ms Blears: The information requested is shown in the table. None of the abortions were undertaken in private clinics in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

NHS funded abortions for Isle of Wight residents, 1997–2001 by age of woman

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Under 15	3	1	0	3	0
15	1	3	3	8	5
16	12	9	11	11	9
17	12	14	11	14	23
18	18	17	8	10	18
19	8	13	14	19	19
20–24	44	31	36	32	62
25–29	27	30	32	45	33
30–34	21	43	24	24	27
35–39	26	22	18	16	24
40–44	9	8	9	12	6
45 and over	0	3	0	1	1
Total	181	194	166	195	227

Note:

Prepared by Statistics Division 3G, Department of Health.

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