---

23 Jun 2003 : Column 566W—continued

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Envirowise

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the European Commission confirmed to her Department that Envirowise operates in full compliance with EU state aid laws; and if she will make a statement on the basis of such compliance. [120520]

Jacqui Smith: The Envirowise Scheme was not formally notified to the Commission for state aid approval. The Department considered that the programme was designed in such a manner that it should not require such approval.

EU Programmes and Initiatives

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much money from mainstream EU programmes and special EU initiatives has been allocated to (a) Cleethorpes, (b) Great Grimsby, (c) Scunthorpe and (d) Brigg and Goole in each year since 1997. [119112]

Jacqui Smith: The information is as follows.

£

	Goole/Brigg	Cleethorpes	Grimsby	Scunthorpe	Total
1997	105,348	0	4,893,815	11,201	5,010,364
1998	412,329	0	1,778,439	167,679	2,358,447
1999	1,093,623	347,251	3,598,965	1,863,168	6,903,007
2000	574,030	477,819	3,572,045	3,900,021	8,523,915
2001	416,822	319,912	4,159,965	541,826	5,438,525
2002	182,081	37,500	2,778,180	474,406	3,472,167
2003	88,970	50,000	3,129,706	843,773	4,112,449
2004	0	50,000	1,346,565	387,530	1,784,095
2005	0	0	54,339	2,000	56,339
Total	2,873,203	1,282,482	25,312,019	8,191,604	37,659,308

Note:

The amounts include funds from Objective 2 ERDF and ESF, Objective 3 ESF, PESCA (community initiative to assist the fishing industry 1997 to 2000) and RESIDER (community initiative to help steel industry 1997 to 2000).

23 Jun 2003 : Column 567W

GDP (North-East)

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what contribution the north-east economy made to the UK GDP in percentage terms in each of the last two financial years. [120734]

Jacqui Smith: Provisional estimates have been released for the UK GDP up to Quarter 1 of 2003, but no regional GDP figures have been released since 1999. Figures for 1998 and 1999 where regional data have been published are:

	North-east contribution (percentage)
1998	3.5
1999	3.4

Post Office Card Account

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to simplify the application process for Post Office card accounts; and what representations she has received from postmasters about the administrative process. [119723]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 18 June 2003]: DTI Ministers and officials regularly receive representations from postmasters on a range of issues, including many aspects of universal banking. The Government are keen to ensure that customers receive a good service and would be willing to consider changes to the present arrangement should that prove to be necessary. At the present time, however, we are satisfied that the application process for a Post Office card account is operating satisfactorily in the interests of customers.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the prospects for the remanufacture of laser and inkjet printer cartridges industry, with special reference to changes in European law. [121014]

Mr. Timms: Contrary to some recent newspaper reporting, there have been no changes in European law aimed at this sector. Data provided by the refill and remanufacture industry suggest there are over 100 refill business in the UK and that business is growing.

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what plans she has to prevent manufacturers from inhibiting recycling of computer parts, with particular reference to ink and toner cartridges; [120965]

(2) what plans she has to re-classify ink and toner printer cartridges as printer parts; [120966]

(3) what action she proposes to take to support the EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive concerning the recycling of computer parts, including ink and toner cartridges; and if she will make a statement. [120967]

Mr. Timms: The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive must be transposed into UK law by summer 2004. This will require higher

23 Jun 2003 : Column 568W

treatment standards and greater recycling levels to be achieved from the summer of 2005. Computers, printers and a wide range of other products fall within the scope.

The UK considers ink and toner printer cartridges to be consumables for the purposes of the WEEE Directive, as does the European Commission. The Directive's recovery requirements therefore only apply to these goods when discarded as part of a printer.

Contrary to some recent newspaper reports, the WEEE Directive in no-way prevents the refilling and recycling of ink and toner cartridges which the Government are keen to see continue.

Regeneration Funding

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the regeneration funding that has been granted by the Government and regional development agencies for projects, partnerships and investments involving the supermarket chains (a) Asda and (b) Tesco over the last five years, including for each one the (i) funding stream, (ii) the type of funding, (iii) the date, (iv) the amount, (v) the location and (vi) the title. [119074]

Jacqui Smith: As far as I am aware, neither the DTI nor the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have awarded any regeneration funding to Asda or Tesco over the last five years. Specifically, neither firm has received any regeneration funding support from the DTI in the form of Regional Selective Assistance, and neither firm has received any support from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in the form of grant aid. My officials have consulted with the Regional Development Agencies and the LDA and have been advised that none of these agencies has awarded any funding to the two retailers during the last five years.

Renewable Energy

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her policy is on (a) wind farms and (b) single windmills adjacent to residential areas. [120736]

Mr. Timms: Chapter 4 of the Energy White Paper sets out the Government's policy for the promotion of renewable energy, including wind energy, as part of a move towards a low carbon economy.

The annex to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Policy Planning Guidance Note 22 (PPG22) contains guidelines on various factors to be taken into consideration in relation to wind turbine location, including suggestions about turbine separation distances from residential dwellings. PPG22 is currently being reviewed, and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister plans to consult on draft revised guidance later this year.

Rural Post Offices (Morecambe and Lunesdale)

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding has been made available to protect rural post offices in the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency. [120458]

23 Jun 2003 : Column 569W

Mr. Timms: A number of measures are in place to maintain the network of rural post offices. These include the formal requirement placed on the Post Office in November 2000 to prevent any avoidable closures. We also have a £2 million rural post office capital start up fund to support volunteer and community initiatives to maintain or re-establish a rural post office facility where the traditional post office is under threat of closure or has recently closed. Under this scheme, grants of up to £20,000 are available to support the costs of relocating or refurbishing alternative premises. At the end of May 180 grants had been approved, totalling £1,335,173, and payments of £1,073,067 had been made nationally. I understand from Post Office Ltd. that the company is yet to receive any applications under this scheme from sub-postmasters in Morecambe and Lunesdale.

Rural post offices will also benefit from the £450 million package of financial support for the rural post office network that I announced on 2 December 2002. And the rural network also benefits from investment in the network generally. For example, the rural network benefits from the considerable investment in the network's IT, and in new products, including universal banking services. On automation alone the Government has made the largest ever investment in the Post Office network—£480 million—much of it on the rural network. There is no breakdown of the proportion of this funding that has been spent on supporting rural sub-post offices in the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency.

Standards for Promotions Inspectorate Ltd.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) when the first complaint was made to the Department concerning SFT; [120068]

(2) when departmental officials questioned the Directors of SFT. [120069]

Mr. Sutcliffe: A Winding-up Order was made against Standards for Promotions Inspectorate Ltd. ("SPI") (which the hon. Member refers to as SFT) on 14 May 2003. This Order was made on a petition that was presented to the court by the Secretary of State on 2 April 2003 and followed an investigation under S447 of the Companies Act 1985 by the Department of Trade and Industry's Companies Investigations Branch.

Complaints made to the Department of Trade and Industry about limited companies, and any statutory inquiries that follow, are confidential. Those taking part in the process do so on the understanding that this confidence will be respected and criminal sanctions apply to the unauthorised release of any information so gathered.

---