| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
9 Jun 2003 : Column 626W—continued
Freedom of Information Act
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the electronic document and electronic record management systems which have been procured by the public authorities listed in Parts I to V of Schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for which she is responsible. [116390]
Ms Hewitt: The following electronic document and electronic record management systems have been procured by the public authorities for which I am responsible that are listed in Parts I to V of Schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000:
9 Jun 2003 : Column 627W
Home Safety
John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received on a statutory duty for home safety; and if she will make a statement. [116354]
Miss Melanie Johnson: I have received several representations from organisations involved in promoting home safety including RoSPA and the Institute of Home Safety.
Local Authorities may use their existing powers to promote safety in the home and work with the many other agencies with an interest, including Government Departments and RoSPA. I believe this is the right approach. To impose a statutory burden would result in considerable costs and could undermine the very positive work already in place without such a requirement.
John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the cost to public funds of home accidents, in each of the last five years. [116356]
Miss Melanie Johnson: No direct estimate of this has been made in any of the last five years.
Manufacturing
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on manufacturing industry in the Greater London area. [117149]
Alan Johnson: There are approximately 20,000 manufacturing firms in London directly employing some 300,000 people. London provides 10 per cent. of the UK's manufacturing output and £12 billion of GDP, larger than transport, distribution, education and hotel and catering. London's manufacturing productivity is 23 per cent. higher than the UK average.
The Government's Manufacturing Strategy, published last year, identified seven key areas of activity for Government and industry that are vital for manufacturing success. We are taking action in all of those areas—for example with the setting up of the Manufacturing Advisory Service—to help British manufacturers improve productivity in very difficult global conditions.
The London Development Agency is establishing a Production Industries Commission to develop a pan-London strategy to sustain and enhance the competitiveness of businesses in the production industries sector. The Commission, which will be business led, expects to meet for the first time in September.
National Minimum Wage
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people aged (a) between 18 and 21 and (b) over 21 years are receiving the national minimum wage in Scotland. [117095]
9 Jun 2003 : Column 628W
Alan Johnson: DTI analysis of low pay data from the Office for National Statistics suggests that a total of 120,000 workers in Scotland stood to benefit from the last major uprating of the National Minimum Wage in October 2001. Around 110,000 of these workers were aged 22 and over. A breakdown for 18 to 21 year olds is not possible due to small sample size.
Non-executive Directors
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what (a) discussions and (b) meetings her Department has had with the (i) chairman and (ii) members of the Financial Reporting Council concerning implementation of the recommendations contained in the Higgs review of the role and effectiveness of non-executive directors. [116819]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The responsibility for taking forward changes to the Combined Code as a consequence of Derek Higgs' report on the role and effectiveness of non-executive directors lies with the Financial Reporting Council. One of my officials is a member of the Council and attended the Council meeting on 14 May 2003 which discussed the Higgs review, as did the secretary to the Higgs review who is also a DTI official. The implementation of the recommendations contained in the report by Derek Higgs has also come up in a number of discussions between my Department and members of the FRC, including its Chairman.
Overtime
Mr. Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of employees who are forced to work unpaid overtime as part of their contract of employment; [117371]
- (2) what plans she has to introduce protection for employees not wishing to work unpaid hours overtime; [117372]
(3) what plans she has to oblige employees to pay their staff for all hours worked. [117373]
Alan Johnson: We have made no estimate of the numbers of employees who are required to work unpaid overtime.
Subject to the Working Time Regulations 1998 and the national minimum wage legislation, working hours and rates of pay, including any arrangements for overtime, are a contractual matter for negotiation and agreement between employers and employees (or their representatives). If workers do not receive a contractually-agreed rate of pay they can seek redress through the employment tribunals or the civil courts. Moreover, workers must be paid at least the national minimum wage on average for the period of time over which their wages are calculated. Employees are protected against dismissal for asserting their right not to suffer unlawful deductions from wages and enforcing their right to the national minimum wage.
9 Jun 2003 : Column 629W
Post Office
Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will grant funds from the support package for the rural post office network to maintain the North Cumbria Mobile Post Office in its present form. [118085]
Mr. Timms: I understand from Post Office Ltd. that arrangements are being made for a sub-postmaster to take over the staffing of the mobile post office instead of the loaned directly-employed staff. This is purely an internal operational change. The mobile office will cover the same route, at the same times and offer exactly the same level of service to customers in the same 37 communities in North Cumbria.
Pyramid Selling
Mr. Barnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many petitions she has received under the provisions of the Insolvency Act 2000 for the winding-up of companies for operating pyramid selling schemes; how many of these petitions included claims that the companies concerned were operating unlawful schemes under the provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1973 and its amendments, including the Trading Schemes Act 1996; and if she will make a statement. [116028]
Miss Melanie Johnson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry carries out fact-finding inquiries into the affairs of companies each year. Based upon the results of these inquiries the my right hon. Friend decides if it is in the public interest to petition the Court for an order to wind-up a company. These petitions are presented under section 124(A) of the Insolvency Act 1986. There is no information held centrally concerning the number of companies which operate pyramid selling schemes and which are wound-up by the Court. The list of companies wound-up by the Court on the petition of my right hon. Friend is published in the annual report on Companies. This document is available on the DTI website; is held by the DTI library and can be requested through the Libraries of the House or can be purchased from HMSO.
Quadripartite Committee
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her evidence before the Quadripartite Committee on 3 April, what assessment she has made of extraterritorial controls in the US, with specific reference to enforcement; and what her reasons are for concluding that the system does not work. [116300]
Nigel Griffiths: I refer my hon. Friend to the evidence given by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, to the Quadripartite Committee on 3 April, (Quadripartite Select Committee report (HC620) 'The Government's proposals for Secondary Legislation under the Export Control Act', section EV17Q107), which makes clear the Government's position.
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her evidence before the
9 Jun 2003 : Column 630W
Quadripartite Committee on 3 April, what assessment she has made of the report issued by the Fund for Peace on US export controls. [116302]
Nigel Griffiths: The Government's assessment was set out in the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry's evidence to the Quadripartite Committee on 3 April. (Quadripartite Select Committee report (HC620) 'The Government's proposals for Secondary Legislation under the Export Control Act', section EV17Q107).
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what correspondence she has had with the Fund for Peace following her evidence before the Quadripartite Committee on 3 April. [116303]
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |