---

16 May 2003 : Column 459W—continued

Deregulation

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when her Department will deliver its annual report on deregulation performance; and if she will make a statement. [112446]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 12 May 2003]: The Department reports annually on progress in its Expenditure Plan Report. The report for 2002–03 will be published in August. The published reports are available on the departmental website www.dti.gov.uk.

Downstream Oil Industry Forum

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the results of the work of the Downstream Oil Industry Forum; and what its future plan of work is. [113278]

Mr. Wilson: The Downstream Oil Industry Forum met twice in 2002 where it identified two important areas for priority attention:

Oil products supply infrastructure


Service to motorists in rural areas

16 May 2003 : Column 460W

The Forum has enabled a fruitful exchange of differing perspectives, which has enhanced understanding of these issues; discussions are continuing on issues, at a working level, which are aimed at benefiting all areas of the downstream oil industry.

Environmental Impact Assessments

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment is made of the environmental impact of a business, its products and services prior to the provision of a grant by one of her Department's schemes for business; who makes that assessment; and whether the assessments are published. [113220]

Ms Hewitt: Environmental issues affecting businesses, their products and services are part of the criteria for a number of support schemes promoted by DTI. Such support includes promoting sustainable development, such as capital grants for renewable energy projects.

EU Committees

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list (a) the names, titles and grades of the officials who sit on the EU committee on security of information systems, (b) the number of times, and the dates, on which it has met since January 2002, (c) the agenda items it has considered since January 2002, (d) the decisions it has made since January 2002 and (e) the means used to communicate the decisions to the House. [110291]

Ms Hewitt: I refer to my answer on 22 May 2002, Official Report, column 385W. The committee has not met since that response and currently there are no plans for it to reconvene.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list (a) the names, titles and grades of the officials who sit on the EU advisory committee on restrictive practices and dominant positions, (b) the number of times, and the dates, on which it has met since January 2002, (c) the agenda items it has considered since January 2002, (d) the decisions it has made since January 2002 and (e) the means used to communicate the decisions to the House. [110304]

Ms Hewitt: The Advisory Committee on Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions is the body through which the European Commission carries out its duty to consult member states on decisions and amendments to EC competition law which it proposes to adopt. Office of Fair Trading officials represent the UK at these meetings, but may be accompanied by officials from Government Departments and other regulators where they have a particular interest.

Since January 2002, there have been 21 meetings of this Committee, as a result of which the European Commission adopted 16 decisions (10 prohibiting and fining cartels, one prohibiting and fining companies involved in restricting trade between member states and five granting exemptions for agreements or practices which would otherwise be prohibited under Article 81 of the EC Treaty). The process is transparent. The Commission issues a press release when it adopts a decision, and the full version of the decision is published

16 May 2003 : Column 461W

in the Official Journal of the European Communities, as well as being made available on the Commission's website. Significant legislative changes which arise from meetings of the Advisory Committee are subject to the usual Parliamentary scrutiny process.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list (a) the names, titles and grades of the officials who sit on the EU advisory committee on standardisation in the field of information technology, (b) the number of times, and the dates, on which it has met since January 2002, (c) the agenda items it has considered since January 2002, (d) the decisions it has made since January 2002 and (e) the means used to communicate the decisions to the House. [110306]

Ms Hewitt: I refer to my answer on 21 May 2002, Official Report, column 237W. The Committee has not met since that response and currently there are no plans for it to reconvene.

Export Licences

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) pursuant to her answer of 8 April 2003, Official Report, column 165W, what reasons underlie the decision not to grant extraterritorial controls to the (a) sale and (b) brokering of sales in military and paramilitary equipment; [112382]

(2) pursuant to her evidence before the Quadripartite Committee on 3 April, what Home Office guidance would be broken by the extension of extraterritorial control to the licensing of military and paramilitary equipment. [112381]

Nigel Griffiths: The Home Office guidance recommends that extra-territorial jurisdiction should only be considered in cases of serious offences subject to international condemnation, for which an offender could reasonably be expected to be aware that an offence has been committed. Trafficking and brokering of military equipment to a non-embargoed destination does not come into this category as the vast majority of transactions will consist of legitimate business by UK defence companies carried out accordingly to the laws of the appropriate country.

Holiday Industry

Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what advice she is issuing to holiday companies following the ruling of His Honour Judge Graham Jones on 7 May 2003; [113193]

(2) what plans she has to issue warnings to holiday makers about the extent of liability of air carriers for the health, welfare and psychological well-being of air passengers; [112981]

(3) what advice she is issuing to holiday makers following the ruling of His Honour Judge Graham Jones on 7 May 2003; [113194]

(4) what assessment she has made of the impact of the ruling in Cardiff County Court by His Honour Judge Graham Jones on the holiday industry. [113192]

16 May 2003 : Column 462W

Miss Melanie Johnson: A copy of the full judgment by Judge Jones on 7 May 2003 is not yet available. When this is issued we will consider whether or not there are wider implications for consumers and the holiday industry and if it would be appropriate to revise the advice we provide.

Insolvency Service

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been spent promoting the Insolvency Service Directors' hotline in each year since its inception. [113286]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 14 May 2003]: The only cost directly promoting the Disqualified Directors hotline since its inception was £568 incurred in the year ended 31 March 2003.

Internet (Spam E-Mails)

Mr. Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Government has taken to encourage internet service providers to screen and prevent abusive and pornographic spam e-mails. [112826]

Ms Hewitt: We strongly support the work that internet service providers are doing to help their subscribers protect themselves against unwanted e-mail of all kinds, including unsolicited commercial e-mails which promote pornographic content, by advising subscribers about the steps they can take to protect themselves and by making filtering and blocking services available.

Mental Health

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many sick days were lost in the last year by her Department through staff mental health problems. [112069]

Ms Hewitt: In the financial year 2001–02 7,326 days were lost as a result of sick leave attributed to mental health problems.

Miners' Compensation

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many former miners in Amber Valley have (a) claimed and (b) received payments in compensation for (i) chronic bronchitis and emphysema and (ii) vibration white finger. [113390]

Mr. Wilson: The number of claims made in the Amber Valley, as of 31 March 2003, for respiratory disease is 2,098. Of this total, 511 claimants have received interim payments and 624 have had their claims settled. The total amount of compensation paid for respiratory disease is £4.4 million.

The number of claims made for Vibration White Finger (VWF) is 1,404. Of this total, 561 claimants have received interim payments and 462 have had their claims settled. The total amount of compensation paid for VWF is £4.9 million.

Note:

Constituency figures can be found on the Department's website: www.dti.gov.uk/coalhealth. The information is compiled in the middle of the month and shows the figures for the end of the previous month.

16 May 2003 : Column 463W

---