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9 Jun 2003 : Column 620W—continued

Company Auditors

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many auditors have been presented by her Department as a result of criticisms by her Department's inspectors in the last 10 years. [114909]

Miss Melanie Johnson: In relation to criticisms in reports of investigations by inspectors under sections 431, 432 and 442 of the Companies Act 1985 published since 1993, there have been six cases where auditors were specifically criticised by the inspectors:

	Publication date
Astra Holding plc	17 June 1993
The Bestwood plc/Atlanta Fund Managers Ltd.	20 January 1994
Atlantic Computers plc/Atlantic Computer Systems plc	21 July 1997
James Ferguson Holdings plc/Barlow Clowes Gilt Managers Ltd.	6 July 1995
Chancery plc	17 December 1998
Mirror Group Newspapers plc	30 March 2001

None of the auditors concerned were prosecuted by the Department but there have been a number of disciplinary actions by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales ("ICAEW") and the Accounts' Joint Disciplinary Scheme ("JDS") as regards auditors and accountant directors.

Construction Industry

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her latest estimate is of her Department's

9 Jun 2003 : Column 621W

direct financial support for the construction industry in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05; and if she will make a statement. [115593]

Mr. Wilson: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member on 20 February 2003, Official Report, column 67W.

Correspondence

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will reply to the letters from the hon. Member for West Chelmsford of 18 November 2002 and 3 February 2003 concerning his constituent, Mr. Robert Jones; and if she will make a statement on the delay in replying. [117663]

Ms Hewitt: My hon. Friend the Minister of State for Energy and Construction, replied to the hon. Member's letter of 18 November 2002 on 20 December 2002.

I have sent a copy of the letter to the hon. Member's office in the House.

My Department have no record of a further letter of 3 February 2003. If this letter still requires a response please send a copy to my office and I will ensure that it is dealt with as soon as possible.

Electronics Design Programme

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much funding has been allocated to

9 Jun 2003 : Column 622W

the Electronics Design Programme in each year for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [117276]

Mr. Timms: Funding allocated to the Electronics Design Programme since its inception is as in the following table.

	£000
1999–2000	1,694
2000–01	1,346
2001–02	1,067
2002–03	1,285
2003–04(11)	692
Total	6,084

⁽¹¹⁾ To May 2003

I would refer the hon. Member to the statement contained in Parliamentary Question No. 117279 answered today.

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many small businesses have received assistance from the Electronics Design Programme in each year for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [117279]

Mr. Timms: The management statistics for the Electronics Design Programme (provided by the Support Centres) show the following results for each year that the Programme has been in operation:

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003 (to May)	Total
Companies making inquiries about the programme	1,481	1,200	1,239	915	242	5,077
Companies receiving pre-project advice from local Support Centres	406	501	577	397	130	2,011
Companies who started projects with local Support Centres	48	107	145	102	47	449

The Programme has been in operation since 1999 and was extended for two years beyond its original plan. It will cease at the end of 2003. A recent survey of a number of companies who have used the Programme showed that their revenues grew by 163 per cent., average profit grew by 141 per cent., productivity grew by 150 per cent., employment grew by 30 per cent. and revenue from new products rose to 48 per cent. of total. Some of the local Support Centres are in discussions with other agencies including the Manufacturing Advisory Service about how to exploit the valuable infrastructure that this Programme has created.

Following the Department's review of Business Support and in response to business concerns, the Department is replacing the large number of existing schemes with fewer, broader and more flexible products concentrating on key drivers of productivity.

Export Controls

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what co-operation the DTI department responsible for export controls has with other (a) European and (b) North American countries. [117018]

Nigel Griffiths: The Department of Trade and Industry's fully co-operates with export licensing authorities in European and North American countries primarily through multilateral fora like the European Union and the international non-proliferation regimes.

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what formal mechanisms there are for maintaining contact between the DTI department responsible for export control and the security services. [117020]

Nigel Griffiths: The Department of Trade and Industry's Export Control Organisation does not comment on any contacts with the security services.

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 16 May 2003, Official Report, column 463W, on export licences, if she will cite the Home Office guidance to which she refers. [117070]

Nigel Griffiths: This Home Office guidance on extra-territorial jurisdiction can be found in the July 1996 Steering Committee Report on the Review of Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction as published by the Home Office.

9 Jun 2003 : Column 623W

Export Credits Guarantee Department

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if she will place in the Library a copy of the letter sent by the ECGD to the companies who have been implicated in the bribery scandal in Lesotho in relation to the Lesotho Highlands Water Project requesting more information from them; [116776]

(2) if she will place in the Library a copy of the replies by Balfour Beatty, Kier International and Sterling International to the ECGD's letter with regard to corruption allegations in the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. [116777]

Ms Hewitt: ECGD's Chief Executive wrote to these three companies with regard to allegations of bribery and corruption in respect of the Lesotho HWP. Two of them replied in writing to assure ECGD that they were not involved in any such activity. The third communicated the same response during a meeting. The letters will not be published under Part II Exemption 14(b) (Information Given in Confidence) of the Code of Practice of Access to Government Information.

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what sources the ECGD uses to check the track record of a company it is considering giving support to. [116778]

Ms Hewitt: ECGD uses a wide range of sources of information, tailored to reflect to nature of the risks being assessed. Much of the information is available in the public domain and includes analysis of company accounts, rating agency reports and business information from reputable information sources.

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the ECGD's procedures for examining whether there is a genuine cause for concern when allegations of corruption are made include contacting investigating authorities in the home country and requiring the company to provide detailed accounts and relevant documents. [116779]

Ms Hewitt: ECGD is obliged—like any other Government Department—to report any allegation of bribery and corruption it becomes aware of about any project in which it is involved to the National Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS). NCIS are, in turn, responsible for reporting any allegation worthy of investigation to the authorities in the jurisdiction concerned.

ECGD may also make its own inquires, depending on the nature and circumstances of the allegation. These may involve accessing various sources of information, mainly in the public domain, contact with overseas posts, relevant authorities and the exporter.

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the ECGD is entitled to pass on documentation that it receives from companies to investigatory authorities. [116780]

Ms Hewitt: ECGD is obliged—like any other Government Department—to report any allegation of bribery and corruption it becomes are of about any project in which it is involved to the National Criminal

9 Jun 2003 : Column 624W

Investigation Service (NCIS). It undertakes to co-operate with any further investigation deemed necessary and if, as a result, ECGD is required by law to provide information to any investigatory authority, then ECGD will do so.

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many staff there are in the ECGD's Internal Audit and Assurance Department. [116781]

Ms Hewitt: The Internal Audit service is provided by a combination of 6.5 members of staff and a contract with an external service provider.

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many companies have had their books examined by the ECGD's Internal Audit and Assurance Department in the last five years. [116782]

Ms Hewitt: ECGD's Internal Audit and Assurance Division does not examine company accounts. The department has a Financial Analysis Unit, which is responsible for analysis of company accounts and assessing bank and corporate risk. This unit has assessed over 2,000 company accounts, mostly of overseas enterprises in the last five years.

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many visits to exporters and how many site visits the ECGD's Internal Audit and Assurance Department made in each of the last five years. [116783]

Ms Hewitt: In the last five years ECGD's Internal Audit and Assurance Division has made 49 visits to exporters. The aim has been to review approximately 10 cases each year.

This has also involved two project site visits overseas and a number of visits to manufacturing plants.

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many times ECGD has refused cover because of evidence of corruption in the last five years. [116784]

Ms Hewitt: ECGD's procedures are designed to alert applicants to the seriousness of our commitment to combat bribery and corruption. There have been no occasions in the last five years where cover has had to be refused by ECGD due to allegations, suspicions or evidence of corruption.

However, we continue to maintain our vigilance over the life of all cases.

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many projects were subject to post-issue monitoring by the ECGD's Guarantee Management Branch after September 2001. [116785]

Ms Hewitt: Since its establishment, the Branch has carried out post issue monitoring on about 200 project cases.

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of projects covered by the ECGD since September 2001 have proceeded on time and within cost. [116786]

9 Jun 2003 : Column 625W

Ms Hewitt: For projects where the cover has been made available since September 2001, ECGD understands all are so far proceeding within the original cost. About 8 per cent. have required a time extension.

It is not unusual for the complex projects which ECGD supports to depart from the original timetable envisaged in the contract. Cost overruns or contractual delays are matters primarily to be resolved between the contractual parties, though ECGD may, as a result of such resolution, be asked to amend the terms of its support. ECGD does not, therefore, monitor this aspect across the whole range of its portfolio. However, ECGD does require notification of any such changes on individual cases, which might possibly affect the risk.

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much agent's commission the ECGD covered on the sale of Hawk jets to South Africa; what percentage of the contract the commission represented; and where payment was made. [116787]

Ms Hewitt: ECGD's application process requires certain details of agents' commission to be disclosed to ECGD in order that it can follow its due diligence procedures. In this case such due diligence procedures were followed and no irregularities were detected. For reasons of commercial confidentiality specific details of the commission paid cannot be revealed.

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of ECGD debt is interest payments. [116788]

Ms Hewitt: As at 31 March 2003 sovereign debt owing to ECGD under rescheduling agreements negotiated under the auspices of the Paris Club amounted to £9.6 billion. This debt portfolio consisted of £5.4 billion original debt £3.5 billion of capitalised interest and £700 million interest in arrears. Interest therefore accounts for some 44 per cent. of the total debt.

Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the ECGD gave investment insurance to (a) RP Godavari Power Ltd., (b) Rolls Royce Industrial Power and (c) Rolls Royce Plc for its investment in the Godavari Power Plant India. [116789]

Ms Hewitt: ECGD has not provided investment insurance to:

(a) RP Godavari Power Ltd;


(b) Rolls Royce Industrial Power; or


(c) Rolls Royce Plc

for its investment in the Godavari Power Plant, India.

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 12 May 2003, Official Report, column 16W, on the ECGD's Underwriting Committee, if she will make a statement on the two high potential impact cases which have received final approval from the Underwriting Committee, including (a) the location and (b) the project type in each case. [117082]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 5 June 2003]: The two high potential impact cases that received final approval from ECGD's Underwriting Committee referred to in my previous answer were:

9 Jun 2003 : Column 626W

Project	Location	Type
Nigeria LNG Plus—additionof trains 4 and 5	Bonny Island, Nigeria	Oil and gas
Marlim Sul Oilfield Project—supply of flexible pipe	Marlim Sul Oilfield, Brazil	Oil and gas

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 12 May 2003, Official Report, column 15W, on the ECGD's sensitive cases mechanism, if she will make a statement on the two cases which have received final approval, including (a) the location and (b) the project type in each case. [117083]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 5 June 2003]: The two cases that have been approved under ECGD's sensitive cases mechanism referred to in my previous answer were:

Project	Location	Type
Nigeria LNG Plus—additionof trains 4 and 5	Bonny Island, Nigeria	Oil and gas
Marlim Sul Oilfield Project—supply of flexible pipe	Marlim Sul Oilfield, Brazil	Oil and gas

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 12 May 2003, Official Report, column 16W, on the covenants and conditions included in the ECGD loan agreements, if she will make a statement on the three cases which were issued guarantees with covenants and conditions relating to environmental and social impacts, including (a) the location and (b) the project type in each case. [117084]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 5 June 2003]: The three cases in which covenants and other conditions relating to environmental and social impacts were included referred to in my previous question were:

Project	Location	Type
Nigeria LNG Plus—additionof trains 4 and 5	Bonny Island, Nigeria	Oil and gas
Marlim Sul Oilfield Project—supply of flexible pipe	Marlim Sul oilfield, Brazil	Oil and gas
Offshore exploration drilling	Brazilian coast	Oil and gas

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