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Warsaw Convention

Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to amend the Warsaw Convention in light of recent court judgments in England and Australia. [112982]

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Mr. Jamieson: At present there are no plans to amend international agreements on air carrier liability.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Anglian Water Group

Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on her action to monitor the compliance of Anglian Water Group with consumer standards regulations; and what the results of her monitoring were. [112884]

Mr. Morley: I have been asked to reply.

The Director General of Water Services (Ofwat) monitors the performance of water companies as part of his duty to ensure that the interests of water customers are protected.

Each year the water companies in England and Wales provide information to Ofwat on their performance against various aspects of service. In 2001–02, Anglian Water Group were ranked sixth out of the ten water and sewerage companies, in their overall delivery of services to customers.

Information on company performance is available in the Ofwat report, Levels of Service for the Water Industry in England and Wales 2001–02, available in the Library of the House and on Ofwat's website.

Broadband

Mr. Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of households in (a) Birmingham, Erdington, (b) the West Midlands and (c) the UK have taken up broadband connectivity. [112996]

Alan Johnson: According to Oftel (Internet and Broadband Brief) 7 per cent. of households in the UK had broadband connections by the end of April 2003. These data are not available for Erdington and the West Midlands.

Construction Industry (Liability Insurance)

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the work being carried out by Davis Langdon Consultants on insurance in relation to the construction industry; and when Davis Langdon Consultants will be reporting their findings to her Department. [112833]

Mr. Wilson [holding answer 12 May 2003]: Following representations received from the construction industry about the difficulties being experienced in obtaining insurance, as part of its sector sponsoring role within DTI, Construction Sector Unit (CSU) commissioned Davis Langdon Consultancy (DLC) to:

establish the nature and extent of the difficulties contractors face in obtaining a range of different types of insurance;


provide a clearer understanding of the reasons for the problems facing construction firms in terms of both insurance market aspects, operational practices and developments within construction itself, and;


suggest how the industry could better represent its approach to risk assessment, management and control to the insurance industry, in ways that would help insurers better assess premiums.

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DLC was awarded the project following competitive tender. The project brief was designed as a 'scoping study' to provide a broad overview of the issues relatively quickly, rather than an in-depth analysis. Commenced in mid November 2002, DLC's report was submitted to the Department on 19 February 2003. The timing of the delivery of the report was in part dictated by the deadline for contributions to the DWP Review of Employers Liability Compulsory Insurance (ELCI). Copies were issued to study participants, and officials leading on insurance matters at the OFT, DWP and Treasury, and since then to inquirers on request. Some minor amendments on points of detail have since been made in response to requests from two study participants and an amended version will be lodged on the DTI website in the next few days.

The Department welcomes the report as providing a perspective on construction—specific aspects adding value to the work of the other studies in the area, and concurs with its general thrust. It is not intended, and should not be taken as pre-judging the outcome of the DWP and OFT reviews which are due to be completed shortly.

My officials are considering whether further focus on construction-specific aspects might be appropriate in conjunction with industry contacts. A secondee with specialist expertise in insurance risk management has been appointed for a six month period to help with this work.

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the number of businesses in the construction industry which are operating without employers' liability insurance cover. [113224]

Mr. Wilson: Responsibility for the enforcement of Employers Liability (Compulsary Insurance) (ELCI) lies with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). I understand that non-compliance is monitored by means of checks undertaken by HSE's Workplace Contact Officers and Health and Safety Inspectors.

Prosecutions for all employers, not just construction, under ELCI is low at less than 1 per cent. HSE's estimate for non-compliance is based on the level of Enforcement Notices to Produce served for evidence of ELCI certificates. During the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 there were two Notices to Produce served on construction companies and two prosecutions.

Domestic Energy (Mis-selling)

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many cases of energy sales mis-selling there were in each local authority area in the last year for which figures are available; if she will list for each authority the total number of incidents; and if she will make a statement on energy sales mis-selling. [112983]

Mr. Wilson: From April 2002 to March 2003, the Gas and Electricity Consumer Council (Energywatch) received 109,500 complaints, of which 12,954 were

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about mis-selling to domestic consumers. Energywatch does not collect figures on a local authority basis. The complaints received by its regional offices were:

Regional office	Number of complaints
Central	2,501
Southern	1,324
London and South East	3,367
North West	2,007
North East	2,015
Scotland	897
Wales	843

I have made it clear to the industry that it must address the continuing problems of mis-selling. Over the past year, it has made considerable efforts to do so, and has introduced the EnergySure staff training scheme and a Code of Practice on direct selling. The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), which regulates the sales activities of energy suppliers, may take investigative and enforcement action, including levying financial penalties, against any supplier that breaches the terms of its supply licence. In November 2002, Ofgem fined London Electricity £2 million for mis-selling under its own brand aid that of Virgin Energy.

Electricity Industry

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what compensatory measures to other electricity generators are contained within the British Energy restructuring package submitted by the Secretary of State to the European Commission on 7 March. [109527]

Mr. Wilson: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Llew Smith) on 13 March 2003, Official Report, column 360W.

In restructuring aid cases, the question of whether there should be compensatory measures is a matter for the Commission to assess based on a variety of factors including characteristics of the market and the extent of any distortion of competition.

Employment Rights

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans her Department has to prevent foreign citizens who are not based in the UK from making a tribunal claim under the Employment Rights Act, following the repeal in 1999 of section 196 of the Act; and if she will make a statement. [113499]

Alan Johnson: None. The repeal of territorial limits in the 1996 Act ensured that the UK fulfils its EU obligations and removed an obstacle to fair treatment in a few cases. For the Act to apply to any particular case there must first be some proper connection with Great Britain.

End of Life Vehicles Directive

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the End of Life Vehicles Directive. [113307]

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Mr. Wilson: Draft regulations to implement a number of provisions in the End of Life Vehicles Directive were published for consultation on 7 March. There will be further consultation in due course on draft regulations covering those provisions in the Directive which do not take effect until 2006 and beyond.

LPG

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many liquefied petroleum gas outlets there were in the UK (a) in 1997, (b) in 2001 and (c) on the latest date for which figures are available. [113281]

Mr. Wilson: The Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association (LPGA) informed the Department of the following figures on the LPG outlets:

End of 1997	End of 2001	2003
100	1,000	1,260

The latest figure of 1,260 was taken from the LPGA website (last updated on 24 April 2003).

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