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30 Jun 2003 : Column 73W—continued
GATS Negotiations
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what independent assessments of the impact of service liberalisation her Department has studied. [119589]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 18 June 2003]: Many studies have been published showing the potential impact of service liberalisation, including in developing countries. Some of these are referred to in the public consultation document my Department published on the GATS last year, which invited views on the current GATS negotiations.
The assessment of trade in services remains a standing item on the agenda of the WTO Council for Trade in Services. Studies and papers prepared for a WTO symposium on assessment are available on the WTO website. In the UK, the Department for International Development is working with the World Bank and UNCTAD to help inform the position of developing countries in the negotiations.
Government Aid
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate her Department has made of the amount of waste in the Government industrial grants system since 1997, in terms of (a) jobs created that would have been created anyway and (b) investment attracted to the UK that would have been made anyway; and if she will make a statement. [121902]
Jacqui Smith: The most recent evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of offers accepted under the regional selective assistance scheme was published in 2000 on offers made in the period 1991–95. This found that the net cost per net job was of a similar order of magnitude to the estimates produced using a similar methodology in previous evaluations. These evaluations took into account estimates of jobs and investment that would have been created, safeguarded and made anyway.
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Regional selective assistance was refocused in 2000 more on high quality, knowledge-based projects providing skilled jobs. There has not been time since the new policy was implemented for a sufficient number of projects to have been completed to make a new evaluation valuable.
LG Electronics Group
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much public aid has been given to the LG Electronics group since 1997; how many jobs were expected to have been created as a result; how many jobs have been created; and if she will make a statement. [121903]
Jacqui Smith: No payments of aid have been made to the LG Electronics group by the Department of Trade and Industry since 1 January 1997. However, I understand that, in Wales, regional selective assistance (RSA) has been paid to LG Electronics in relation to the company's investment at Newport. Responsibility for the RSA scheme in Wales now rests with the Welsh Assembly Government.
Middle East (Gas and Water)
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list British companies contracted to work in the natural gas and water industries in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. [121679]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department is aware that one British Company is involved in natural gas exploration offshore in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. We are also aware of three British companies who are contracted to work in the water industry in Israel. We are unable to list the names of the British companies involved under Exemption 13—Third Party's Commercial Confidences of the Code of Practice on access to Government Information. We are not aware of any British water companies working in the Palestinian Territories.
Oftel
Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry by what criteria Oftel decides to use (a) The Competition Act 1998 and (b) the Telecommunications Act 1984 when pursuing anti-competitive practices. [121529]
Mr. Timms: This is a matter for the Director General of Telecommunications, and I understand he will be writing to my hon. Friend to explain what criteria Oftel uses to decide how to pursue anti-competitive practices.
Pension Loss Model
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she expects the Pension Loss Model used by IRISC to calculate compensation for any loss of pension to former miners who died after 1 January 2001 to become operational. [122097]
Mr. Timms: It is anticipated that the Pension Model covering 80 per cent. of this cohort of claimants will be operational by August 2003. The remaining cohort will be covered by the second part of the Model, which is expected to be operational by the end of October 2003.
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However, in the meantime, the Department has put in place a procedure to calculate offers using a spreadsheet pensions loss calculator. This now includes claims where the ex-miner died after 1 January 2001.
Post Offices
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the names of those post offices which have closed in Northern Ireland in each year since 1998. [122356]
Mr. Timms: this is a matter that falls within the operational responsibilities of Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the post offices in Shrewsbury and Atcham; and if she will make a statement on disabled access to each one. [121860]
Mr. Timms: These are operational matters for Post Office Ltd and I have asked the Chief Executive to write direct to the hon. Member.
Regulatory Bodies
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the (a) number of staff employed by and (b) budget of each regulatory body for which her Department is responsible in each year since 1997. [117777]
Ms Hewitt: The DTI is responsible for the following regulatory bodies—the British Hallmarking Council, the Coal Authority and the Hearing Aid Council.
Staffing and budgetary information in respect of the British Hallmarking Council and the Coal Authority are published annually in "Public Bodies" which is available in the Libraries of the House.
Information for the Hearing Aid Council is set out below:
| Staffing | Budget £000s | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 4 | 158 |
| 1998 | 4 | 170 |
| 1999 | 4 | 183 |
| 2000 | 4 | 278 |
| 2001 | 4 | 363 |
| 2002 | 4 | 461 |
Regulatory Impact Assessments
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on her Department's Regulatory Impact Assessment procedure; and how many RIAs have been reviewed in respect of the Department over the last year. [120816]
Ms Hewitt: A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) must be completed for all policy proposals that have a potential impact on businesses, charities or the voluntary sector. It includes details of the arrangements for monitoring and evaluating policy proposals.
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From this year the National Audit Office (NAO) has a new role in independently evaluating a selection of RIAs. In their Annual Report, published in February 2003, the Better Regulation Task Force put forward suggestions of RIAs for the NAO to review.
The NAO review will focus on the quality of analysis in the RIAs and the thoroughness with which the RIAs have been undertaken. The findings and recommendations of best practice will be fed back to Departments. It will play a valuable part in driving up standards of RIAs.
Rolling Stock
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make representations to the European Commission about the method of procurement of railway rolling stock by the (a) Spanish, (b) French and (c) Italian Governments. [121990]
Mr. McNulty: I have been asked to reply.
Rolling stock procurement in Spain, France and Italy is subject to the same EU rules as apply to the United Kingdom and other member states.
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has made to Alston about the impact on jobs in the UK of its decision to manufacture London tube trains in France or Spain; and what response she has had. [121991]
Mr. Andrew Smith: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry met Alstom officials in May this year when they discussed the company's general restructuring plans. The decision to re-structure the Washwood Heath plant is a commercial one for the company and forms part of its global restructuring exercise. I fully understand that any job losses will be a blow to the individuals affected. Officials and regional teams will meet company representatives to discuss the re-structuring and work with local agencies and partners to develop a plan for responding to the changes.
Strategic Forum for Construction
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what benefits to public sector tendering have resulted from the Strategic Forum for Construction since 22 April 2002; and what role Constructionline has played. [119616]
Nigel Griffiths: The responsibility for tendering arrangements lies with individual procuring Departments or Agencies.
The Strategic Forum for Construction launched the 'Accelerating Change Consultation document' on 22 April 2002, followed by the publication of its final report on 12 September 2002. The public sector will benefit from improvements across the industry, including more integrated working, driven by the implementation of 'Accelerating Change'. Following on from your similar question of last year answered by the then Minister for Energy and Construction on 24 May 2002, Official Report, column 627W, I am pleased to report good progress and the latest Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) that were, demonstrate steady improvement across the industry.
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In terms of public sector tendering 'Accelerating Change' says, "The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has issued a series of guidance for central civil government clients. The OGC's 'gateway process' offers a highly relevant straightforward way to ensure that government clients are helped through the procurement process at all stages and that the principles of Rethinking Construction underpin this. The Forum congratulates OGC for taking the lead in this way."
Over the past 12 months Constructionline has been working with its clients to prevent duplicate information gathering; and with the Construction Health and Safety Assessment Scheme to ensure that their access to data through Constructionline reflects clients needs and the improvement agenda.
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