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10 Mar 2003 : Column 9W—continued

Controlled Goods

Mr. Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what records she holds of offsets arranged by UK companies as part of the conditions of sale of controlled goods to overseas buyers; and if the details of these offsets are publicly available; [101710]

(2) what records she holds of arrangements entered into by UK companies to license the production overseas of controlled goods; and whether the details of these arrangements are publicly available. [101711]

Nigel Griffiths: Since information is held only if it was contained in documents provided in support of an export licence application. Such documents are not normally publicly available.

An export licence is not a requirement from the Department of Trade and Industry's Export Control Organisation to manufacture items outside the UK. However, where the product to be manufactured under commercial licence has a potential military use, the UK exporter might require an export licence before the goods and technology necessary for the establishment and operation of the licensed production facility can be supplied from the UK.

10 Mar 2003 : Column 10W

Deloitte & Touche

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the matters upon which her Department and the public bodies sponsored by her Department have obtained recent advice from Deloitte & Touche. [100523]

Ms Hewitt: Deloitte & Touche have provided advice to the Department and its NDPBs on the following issues:

Tax advice to various NDPBs


Audit work for various NDPBs


Risk management


Management information system


Electronic submission framework


Administration strategy


Wind up of the Pension scheme of Inward


Access to Finance—SMEs


Data Protection Act review and Performance Management Framework


Work-Life Balance Challenge Fund


Royal Mail including the Post Office network


National Debtline pilot evaluation


BNFL PPP Advisors


Financial Systems development


Inward Investment Overseas and in UK

The Department's Executive Agencies will be responding directly.

Letter from Roger Heathcote to Mr. Austin Mitchell, dated 10 March 2003:

You tabled a question on 27 February 2003 to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, asking if she will list the matters upon which her Department and the public bodies sponsored by her Department have obtained recent advice from Deloitte & Touche. I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Employment Tribunals Service(ETS) which is an executive agency of the DTI.

The Employment Tribunals Service have obtained no advice from Deloitte & Touche in the calendar year 2002.

Letter from Alison Brimelow to Mr. Austin Mitchell, dated 10 March 2003:

I am replying to your Parliamentary Question, tabled on 27 February 2003, about matters upon which the Department of Trade and Industry has received recent advice from Deloitte & Touche.

The Patent Office has received no advice from Deloitte & Touche.

Letter from Dr. J. W. Llewellyn to Mr. Austin Mitchell, dated 10 March 2003:

The Secretary for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply on behalf of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) to your question if she will list the matters upon which her Department and the public bodies sponsored by her Department have obtained recent advice from Deloitte & Touche.

National Weights and Measures Laboratory have not obtained recent advice from Deloitte & Touche.

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Letter from Claire Clancy to Mr. Austin Mitchell, dated 10 March 2003:

I am responding to your recent Parliamentary Question on behalf of Companies House, which is an Executive Agency of DTI. I can confirm that Companies House has received no recent advice from Deloitte & Touche.

Letter from Martin Wyn Griffith to Mr. Austin Mitchell, dated 10 March 2003:

You asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, if she will list the matters upon which her Department and the public bodies sponsored by her Department have obtained recent advice from Deloitte & Touche.

I am writing to confirm that the Small Business Service has not called upon the services of Deloitte & Touche in the last calendar year.

Letter from Mike Goddard to Mr. Austin Mitchell, dated 10 March 2003:

I have been asked to reply in respect of the Radiocommunications Agency to your recent Parliamentary Question about advice from Deloitte & Touche.

This Agency has no recent contracts with Deloitte & Touche.

Energy White Paper

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to paragraph 2.27 of the Energy White Paper, Cm 5761, what areas of liaison she expects to develop with the European Parliament to implement the proposals on emissions trading. [100079]

Mr. Meacher: I have been asked to reply.

The Department takes the lead in negotiations on the EU Emissions Trading Directive. Political agreement was reached on the proposed Directive at Environment Council on 9 December 2002. The European Parliament will begin its second reading shortly. Officials from my Department have had meetings with the rapporteur for the Directive in the European Parliament and a number of Members of the Parliament to discuss the agreement reached in Council and the prospects for the Parliament's second reading. I expect further discussions with the European Parliament to take place during the second reading process. The trading scheme is due to begin in 2005. There is provision for the European Commission to bring forward proposals to amend the scheme, including extending its scope to cover other sectors and gases, before the start of the second phase in 2008. Any proposals would be subject to agreement between Council and Parliament, and I would expect these to lead to further discussions with the European Parliament.

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage improvement in energy efficiency would be required to deliver from the household sector the (a) 5 MtC saving between 2002 and 2010 and (b) the 6 MtC saving between 2010 and 2020 identified in the Energy White Paper. [100783]

Mr. Meacher: I have been asked to reply.

Assuming continuation of past trends for the growth in household demand for energy, an additional annual saving of 5 MtC by 2010 would correspond to an energy efficiency improvement of approximately 20 per cent. relative to the year 2000. This represents broadly a doubling of the average rate of improvement seen in the 1990s.

10 Mar 2003 : Column 12W

A further 4 to 6 MtC of annual.savings by 2020 would correspond to an efficiency improvement compared with 2010 of around 18 to 22 per cent.

HMX

Mr. Frank Cook: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what conditions were attached to the recent licence for the export of HMX to Iran; and if she will make a statement. [101298]

Nigel Griffiths: There were no special conditions attached to the licence since the Government is satisfied that the HMX pellets, specifically designed for cutting collars and perforating tubes, are intended for only legitimate purposes as part of the process of drilling oil and gas wells.

Internet

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make it a requirement for the internet sites of companies registered in the United Kingdom to carry the registered address of their company. [101337]

Mr. Timms: In June 2002, the European Commission published a proposal to update the First Company Law Directive, which sets out basic safeguards for the protection of shareholders, creditors and other third parties dealing with limited companies, to reflect technological developments since the Directive was originally agreed in 1968.

A provision within the Commission proposal was that companies should be required to include basic statutory information, including information sufficient to identify the public file relating to the company and the location of its registered office, in electronic documents and on any company website. The UK supports this proposal as an important protection for those dealing with companies via the internet.

It is hoped that agreement to the final text can be achieved in the near future. Early consideration of the legislative steps necessary to achieve the objectives of the Directive in the UK will then take place

Miners' Pensions

Mr. Ronnie Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on progress in reinstating pension rises for miners sacked as a result of the 1984 industrial dispute. [101812]

Mr. Wilson: Following my announcement in December 2001, a scheme was launched in April 2002 to handle applications from those miners dismissed in connection with the 1984–85 strike, and not subsequently re-employed by British Coal.

The closing date for the scheme was 31 December. The Department is currently assessing the applications which have been received, and we hope to be able to inform those who are eligible for the enhancement of their pension in the near future.

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