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10 Jul 2003 : Column 889W—continued
Landfill Directive
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what cost benefit analyses her Department has undertaken to identify the net effect on total (a) employment and (b) economic activity in the United Kingdom of compliance with the Landfill Directive; and what the main conclusions of such analyses were. [121212]
Mr. Morley: I have been asked to reply.
A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) of the Landfill Directive in England and Wales was published with the Second Consultation Paper on Implementation of Council Directive (199/31/EC) on the Landfill of Waste. This is available on the Defra website (www.defra.gov.uk). A base case was established and various policy mixes were costed against that base case. The additional costs of the policy mixes that reflect the levels of recycling, composting and recovery needed to meet the waste strategy targets amounted to a range of between £3.4 billion and £7.7 billion (net present value) over the 20 year period 2000–20.
The RIA recognised that many of the potential benefits cannot be quantified but believes that a number will be of local significance where they result in a reduced impact of existing landfills. These benefits relate principally to reducing health and environmental risks and by promoting more sustainable options such as waste minimisation, re-use and recycling.
The RIA also draws attention to benefits from investment in treatment technologies and rising landfill standards that could result in new economic and employment opportunities.
As was also recognised by the Strategy Unit Report "Waste Not, Want Not", there are economic opportunities to be realised from improving the way
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that waste streams are managed. For example, less wasteful product design and manufacturing processes will translate directly into cost savings for business. New waste technologies and services can also provide new markets for UK businesses and generate significant revenue. If local authorities are to meet their recycling and landfill targets, for example, investment will be needed in alternative recycling/treatment facilities.
National Minimum Wage
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what plans the Government has to increase the national minimum wage; [124459]
- (2) what plans the Government has to extend the national minimum wage to those aged 18–21. [124460]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Government accepted the increases to the minimum wage rates recommended by the independent Low Pay Commission in their fourth report earlier this year. Regulations to increase the adult rate of the minimum wage from £4.20 to £4.50 and the youth rate (paid to workers aged 18 to 21 inclusive) from £3.60 to £3.80 in October 2003 were recently laid before Parliament and will be debated before the summer recess.
Matthew Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what she estimates the financial cost to UK business would be if 16 and 17-year-olds received the same level of minimum wage as those 18 and above. [125183]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Government have agreed that the Low Pay Commission should look at the possible advantages and disadvantages of a minimum wage rate for 16 to 17-year-old workers, and to report on this issue by the end of February 2004.
The cost to business will be one of the many issues the Commission will want to consider. The Commission will be conducting their work in parallel with a wider Government review (led by the Treasury) which will be looking at education and training policy and the system of financial support for young people. The Commission will work closely with relevant Departments, so that the two pieces of work can inform each other and the Government will obviously be looking at this issue very carefully next spring.
Post Boxes
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received about the proposed replacement of signs on post boxes with ones that do not indicate whether the last collection from each post box has happened; and if she will make it her policy to convey those representations to the Royal Mail. [124057]
Mr. Timms: A number of Members of Parliament have written to me about the changes to the information shown on collection plates on post boxes. These changes are an operational matter for Royal Mail Group plc. I have asked the Deputy Chairman of Royal Mail to reply direct to the hon. Member about these changes.
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Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what she estimates the cost will be of the replacement by the Royal Mail of the information signs on post boxes brought about by the requirements of the Discrimination Disability Act 1995. [124058]
Mr. Timms: The changes to the information signs on post boxes to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is an operational matter for Royal Mail. I have, therefore, asked the Deputy Chairman of Royal Mail to reply to your question direct.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what changes the Post Office has made to the number of collections from post boxes each day in the past two years. [124191]
Mr. Timms: This is an operational matter for Royal Mail Group plc and I have therefore asked the Deputy Chairman to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Rail Network
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the cost to business of the change in performance of the national railway network since 1999; and if she will make a statement. [124734]
Jacqui Smith: I have made no such estimate though the Department remains keenly interested in business views on all aspects of infrastructure.
Research and Development
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures she is taking to increase research and development in the manufacturing sector. [124462]
Jacqui Smith: We are helping to increase research and development (R&D) in the manufacturing sector through the introduction of a R&D tax credit for small and medium sized companies, and more recently a R&D tax credit for large companies. DTI, HM Treasury and the Inland Revenue will shortly be consulting on an improved definition of R&D, and further simplifications and improvements to the R&D tax credits.
Solar/Clear Skies Funds
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the uptake of (a) the DTI solar fund and (b) the clear skies fund since their introduction. [124817]
Mr. Timms: The PV Major Demonstration Programme has, in Streams one and two, grants committed totalling £10.14 million.
Stream 1–298 grants offered with a committed value of £2.35 million, of which 108 installations have been completed at a total cost of £754,000.
Stream 2–66 grants offered with a committed value of £7.8 million.
The Clear Skies initiative has just approved 22 Community grants with a committed value of £490,000.
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Individual householder approved grants total 237, with a committed value of £169,900.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to extend the scope of the (a) DTI solar fund and (b) the clear skies fund. [124818]
Mr. Timms: Both the PV Major Demonstration Programme and Clear Skies are schemes that have role to play in helping to breakdown barriers to public acceptability of renewable technologies, by providing local residents with a direct benefit from renewable developments.
The extensive interest and take-up of both schemes indicate the great strides already achieved by both. Further consultation and evaluation will be taking place in the lifetime of each to inform any decision on the extension of either or both schemes.
Trade Rules
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Government has taken to secure (a) fairness, (b) transparency and (c) democracy in the application of trade rules. [124374]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The UK Government is committed to ensuring that the multilateral rules-based international trading system, embodied in the World Trade Organisation (WTO),continues to work on a fair, transparent, and democratic basis.
All decisions within the WTO are already taken on the basis of consensus. That means that if any one of the WTO's 146 members opposes any proposed change it cannot be implemented.
The UK played a major part in pushing for changes to the way WTO negotiations were conducted after the Seattle Ministerial Conference in 1999. The UK also supports greater external transparency for the organisation, and important steps to achieving this have been taken through the earlier release of documents.
We recognise that developing countries may need assistance in order to be able to participate more effectively in the WTO-based system. The UK has therefore committed £45 million for trade-related technical assistance and capacity building initiatives since 1998.
The UK also recognises that not all WTO members can implement all WTO rules now. This is why we support an approach to the current round of trade negotiations which recognises that WTO members are at very different stages of development and have different capacities to implement WTO rules. To help countries to manage their commitments under the WTO, we are pressing for Special and Differential Treatment provisions within the WTO Agreements to be real and binding, and for any new WTO rules to reflect countries' implementation capacities.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many of the members of the World Trade Organisation are from developing countries; and how many developing countries are seeking to join the organisation. [124375]
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Mr. Mike O'Brien: The World Trade Organisation (WTO) currently has 146 Members. 106 of those countries can be defined as Developing Countries (based on the World Bank's definition—there is no single agreed definition of 'Developing Country' within the WTO Agreements). Least Developed Countries (LDCs) account for 30 of those 106 countries.
On the same basis, 25 of the 27 countries currently negotiating to join the WTO can be defined as Developing Countries. 10 of these are LDCs.
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