| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
27 Mar 2003 : Column 319W—continued
East of England Development Agency
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many employees work in the East of England Development Agency; and what the employment costs including national insurance were in the last year for which figures are available. [104888]
Alan Johnson: Information on the income and expenditure of each of the Regional Development Agencies, including the average numbers of staff employed during the relevant year and details of salaries and wages, are set out in an annual report. Copies are placed in the Libraries of House and are available on the internet.
According to the most recent annual report and accounts of the East of England Development Agency, which is available on the internet at http://www.eeda.org.uk, the average number of staff
27 Mar 2003 : Column 320W
employed by the Agency during the year ending 31 March 2002 (including all agency and seconded staff) was 103.
For the same period the cost of staff salaries and wages was £3,992.000.
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the administrative cost for the East of England Development Agency was in the year ending (a) April 2001, (b) April 2002 and (c) April 2003. [104889]
Alan Johnson: Information on the income and expenditure of each of the Regional Development Agencies, including administrative costs, are set out in annual report. Copies are placed in the Library and are available on the internet.
According to the most recent annual account, which is available at http://www.eeda.org.uk, salaries and wages and other administrative costs of the East of England Development Agency were £5.5 million in the year ending 31 March 2001 and £7.0 million in the year ending 31 March 2002. I understand that the total is forecast to be £7.6 million in the year ending 31 March 2003.
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many board members of the East of England Development Agency previously worked for (a) Peterborough City Council and (b) local authorities in Hertfordshire. [104891]
Alan Johnson: Of the current board of the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) one board member, Dr Roger Ali, previously worked for Peterborough City Council. I understand that, in 1999–2000, Mr Ali was employed by the Council for one day per week in the Community Development Section to help establish a new African and Caribbean Community Centre/New Millennium Centre.
No other members of the current board of EEDA have previously worked for any Hertfordshire local authority.
Electricity
Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how she intends to attract long term investment for the construction of new electricity generating equipment. [104830]
Mr. Wilson: The Energy White Paper has set a long term framework for energy markets including electricity generation, with energy markets a cornerstone of energy policy. Such a framework is necessary to give companies the confidence to invest.
Given current levels of capacity, including mothballed plant, and our expectations of growing renewables generation and energy efficiency improvements over the coming years, we are unlikely to need significant new investment in non-renewable power stations over the next five years or possibly longer. The UK market provides strong financial incentives for suppliers to contract for sufficient power. Incentives for investment in renewables will come mainly through the Renewables Obligation.
27 Mar 2003 : Column 321W
At the same time, DTI and OFGEM will continue and expand our monitoring of energy security and we will look to OFGEM vigorously to apply and enforce licence conditions on industry participants relating to security.
Employers' Liability Insurance
Mrs. Roe: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 13 March 2002, Official Report, column 362W, on employers' liability insurance, if she will make a statement on the income of workplace contacts; what estimate she makes of the number of construction and allied trade companies there are in the UK; and how many health and safety inspectors there are; and what priorities she has set for these duties. [104913]
Mr. Wilson: The Department does not have specific remit for health and safety matters. The Health and Safety Executive comes under the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions. HSE advises that it employs staff at pay band 5 to act as Workplace Contact Officers, their average salary cost is £19,883 (outside of London).
The latest Construction Statistics Annual shows that, as of September 2002, there were approximately 166,000 construction and allied trade companies in the UK.
HSE has increased the number of inspectors working in the construction industry from 118 to 150 over the last year as a result of its redirection of resources to HSE's Priority Programmes and the setting up of a new national HSE Construction Division. HSE's Construction Division has published an intervention strategy which identifies its key priorities for the medium term. This is available at www.hse.gov.uk/press/2002/construct.htm. It aims to:
- encourage greater commitment to achieving improved health and safety performance targets from all those in the construction procurement and supply chain;
encourage better communication and co-operation between all those involved in delivering a safe and healthy work environment; and
promote the development of a competent workforce at all levels.
- Reducing the incidence of cement dermatitis
Reversing the increased incidence of hand arm vibration syndrome
Reducing exposure to noise
Reducing worker exposure to the risk of musculo-skeletal injury
Workplace transport
Work at height
Slips, trips and falls
Employment Tribunal Service
Mr. Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will require the Employment Tribunal Service to include size of company by work force in the statistics on applications to employment tribunals. [104899]
27 Mar 2003 : Column 322W
Alan Johnson [holding answer 25 March 2003]: The Employment Tribunals Service (ETS) does not currently receive details of company size from respondents submitting their notice of appearance to an employment tribunal.
A requirement to provide such information is currently being considered as part of plans to revise the present notice of appearance form and will be included in a public consultation exercise in due course.
Mr. Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will ask the Employment Tribunal Service to add data on the size of companies to statistics they collect on applications to employment tribunals. [104139]
Alan Johnson [holding answer 26 March 2003]: The Employment Tribunals Service (ETS) does not currently receive details of company size from respondents submitting their notice of appearance to an Employment Tribunal.
A requirement to provide such information is currently being considered as part of plans to revise the present notice of appearance form and will be included in a public consultation exercise in due course.
LPG
Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received on the future growth of the market for automotive liquid petroleum gas. [98643]
Alan Johnson: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 26 February 2003, Official Report, column 560W.
Lucky Goldstar
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the (a) dates and (b) amounts of payments of regional selective assistance to Lucky Goldstar since 1 May 1997. [105183]
Alan Johnson: No payments of regional selective assistance have been made to Lucky Goldstar by the Department of Trade and Industry since 1 May 1997. However, I understand that in Wales Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) has been paid to LG Electronics in relation to the company's investment at Newport. Responsibility for the RSA scheme in Wales now rests with the Welsh Assembly Government
Ministerial Travel
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list internal flights made by Ministers in her Department in 2002, including in each case the (a) cost, (b) departure location and (c) destination; and of these how many were (i) first class, (ii) business class and (iii) economy class. [103592]
Ms Hewitt: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, on 22 January 2003, Official Report, column 334W.
27 Mar 2003 : Column 323W
Nuclear Power Stations (Terrorist Attacks)
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps her Department has taken to protect nuclear power stations from terrorist attack; and if she will make a statement. [105096]
Mr. Wilson: The UK's civil nuclear sites apply stringent security measures regulated by the Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS), the security regulator. The security regulator works closely with the Health and Safety Executive, the safety regulator, which provides advice on the safety implications of events, including external hazards such as plane crashes, at nuclear installations. Security at nuclear sites is kept under regular review in the light of the prevailing threat and has been significantly enhanced since the terrorist attacks in the USA on 11 September 2001. It is not Government policy to disclose details of these measures, which could potentially be of use to terrorist under Exemption 1—Defence, Security and International Relation, of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |