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4 Jul 2003 : Column 515W—continued
Royal Mail Deliveries
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she was first informed that the Royal Mail would terminate their contract for deliveries of mail by rail with EWS from April 2004.[R] [123772]
Mr. Timms: The Department had been aware for some time that negotiations between Royal Mail and EWS were proving difficult. Royal Mail informed the Department on 2 June that while the final outcome was not yet settled, it expected to make an announcement about the termination of EWS rail services later in the week.
Negotiations between EWS and Royal Mail are a commercial matter for the companies concerned.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received on the transfer of Royal Mail deliveries from rail to road; and what model has been used for Royal Mail deliveries in its transfer.[R] [123773]
Mr. Timms: The Department has received a number of representations about Royal Mail's decision to withdraw from rail. These include the rail unions and the all party Rail Group.
Decisions about transport operations are a matter for the Royal Mail Board. Royal Mail has advised that its model is based on a model developed by New Zealand Post. This software was modified to meet Royal Mail's specific needs, including the potential use of rail transport as part of its network.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the impact of the Working Time Directive on delivery of mail by road from April 2004. [123822]
Mr. Timms: Compliance with the Working Time Directive is an operational matter for the Royal Mail Board. I understand that Royal Mail has fully assessed the impact of the Working Time Directive on its future transport network. Where necessary Royal Mail will take appropriate measures, such as trailer swaps, vehicle swaps and dual manning of vehicles, to ensure compliance.
Unfair Dismissal
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to extend employment protection rights in respect of unfair dismissal to people over 65. [123299]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 3 July 2003]: Under current legislation employees cannot generally complain of unfair dismissal if they have reached their employer's normal retirement age for their job, or, if there is no normal retirement age, the age of 65. The
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public consultation on age discrimination launched on 2 July, 'Equality and Diversity: Age Matters', proposes changing these provisions so that employees who believe they have been unfairly dismissed can seek redress at any age, but retirement at a justifiable retirement age will be a fair reason for dismissal. A final decision will be made in the light of responses to consultation.
Waste Management
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the Minister of State for Energy and Construction has visited facilities which extract energy from municipal waste in the past two years; and what plans he has for such visits. [122506]
Mr. Timms: My hon. Friend the then Minister for Energy and Construction visited CPS Civic Ltd.'s energy from waste plant in Sheffield in March this year. He also met with representatives from Compact Power in London in March.
I have no immediate plans for such visits, although I am always interested to hear the industry's views. However my officials have regular meetings with representatives of the waste management industry, and have played an active role in the development of good practice initiatives by the National Resource and Waste Forum.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Media Training
Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost was to her Department of media and voice training for Ministers and officials in each year since 1997. [123139]
Mr. Caborn: The Department does not provide training for Ministers.
DCMS ran a leadership programme in 2001–02 which covered the use of the voice. The programme cost £20,531.
In 2002–03, DCMS ran courses on presenting with confidence, which also covered use of the voice. These cost a total of £6,350.
Sport England
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to her answer of 20 June 2003, Official Report, column 447W, on Sport England, from which budget money for redundancy and early retirement of Sport England staff in 2003–04 will come. [122156]
Mr. Caborn: 40 per cent. will come from Sport England's grant in aid and 60 per cent. will come from Sport England's Lottery income. This reflects the current payment of salaries from each budget.
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SCOTLAND
Special Advisers
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many special advisers were employed in the Scotland Office on 11 June 2003. [123575]
WALES
EU Regulations
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many Regulations originating from the EU have been implemented by his Department in each of the last five years. [120743]
Peter Hain: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on 7 May 2003, Official Report, column 728W.
Fire Service
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he gave evidence to the Bain Inquiry into current working practices in the Fire Service; and if he will make a statement. [123419]
Peter Hain: No. My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister submitted written evidence on behalf of the Government.
Media Training
Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the cost was to his Department of media and voice training for Ministers and officials in each year since 1997. [123123]
Peter Hain: The Wales Office was created in July 1999 and has incurred no expenditure on these forms of training.
Richard Commission
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he will give evidence to the Richard Commission. [123418]
Peter Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 1 July 2003, Official Report, columns 257–58.
Sunset Clauses
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to include a sunset clause in all new legislation unless a specific case can be made to exclude a sunset clause. [120745]
Peter Hain: The revised Regulatory Impact Assessment guidance, "Better Policy Making: A Guide to Regulatory Impact Assessment", was published on 28 January 2003. It advises policy officials to consider time limiting or sunsetting at an early stage of policy development and gives specific examples of where sunsetting may be appropriate.
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The Wales Office actively promotes the better regulation agenda and the use of sunsetting where appropriate.
Sunsetting will not always be appropriate. When we do regulate, we aim to do so in a light touch way. We are not going to apologise for introducing the minimum wage, bringing in parental leave, giving millions of employees the right for the first time to paid holidays, or tackling discrimination.
Tourism
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met representatives of the tourist industry in Wales to discuss current issues; and what discussions he has had with the First Secretary on this subject. [117524]
Peter Hain: I last met with Mr. Philip Evans, the Chairman of the Wales Tourist Board, in January 2003 and was briefed on the then current position of tourism in Wales. The First Minister and I have regular bilateral meetings, and tourism is one of the many subjects we discuss.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Benefits (Scotland)
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) pursuant to his answer of 11 June2003, Official Report, columns 925–26W, on housing benefit, how much money was claimed in council tax benefit in Scotland in 2002–03, broken down by local authority; [120131]
- (2) pursuant to his answer of 10 June 2003, Official Report, columns 786–87W, on housing benefit, how much money was claimed in housing benefit in Scotland in 2002–03, broken down by local authority. [120133]
Mr. Pond: The information is not available.
However, national estimates of housing benefit and council tax benefit expenditure during 2002–03, as well as details of expenditure by local authority in 2001–02 can be found in "Budget Report 2003: Benefit Expenditure Tables", a copy of which is in the Library.
British Sign Language
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his statement of 18 March 2003, Official Report, column 41WS, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive regarding support for British Sign Language; and what proportion of the funding announced will be used to support the use of British Sign Language in Scotland. [122174]
Maria Eagle: The Department is in regular contact with the Scottish Executive over a range of issues.
We have said that all parts of Great Britain will benefit from the initiatives to be funded from the additional £1 million we have made available to support the statement on British Sign Language. We have established a BSL working group with representatives from key organisations of and for Deaf people with
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remits across Great Britain. They are charged with ensuring that initiatives reflect needs across GB including Scottish interests.
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