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15 Jul 2003 : Column 160W—continued
Post Office
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the (a) gross and (b) net marginal cost to the Government is of the opening of (i) 1, (ii) 100, (iii) 1,000 and (iv) 100,000 post office card accounts. [125278]
Mr. Pond [holding answer 11 July 2003]: I have been asked to reply.
Our working assumption is around 3 million post office card accounts will have been opened by 2005. However, there is no cap on numbers and anyone who wants to open an account can do so. Present indications are that the final number will be significantly above three million. The precise cost at any given level of take-up is commercial in confidence to Post Office Ltd. and is not released in line with paragraph 13, part 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government information.
Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which urban post offices in the North East of England (a) have closed in each of the last three years and (b) are being proposed for closure. [126063]
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 my right hon. Friend.
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many Post Office Card Accounts have been (a) applied for and (b) opened in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the North East and (iv) the UK. [125728]
Mr. Timms: The information is not available in the format requested. National figures only are available.
I understand from Post Office Ltd. that by 20 June 2003, 57,000 Post Office card accounts had been opened. By that date I further understand from the Department for Work and Pensions that 430,000 customers had opted for a Post Office card account.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will provide a full reply pursuant to the holding answer she gave on 18 June 2003 regarding post offices, ref 119723. [126154]
Mr. Timms: I replied in full to the hon. Member's question on 23 June 2003, Official Report, column 564.
Renewable Energy
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what studies she has conducted into the comparative costs and uptake of renewable energy throughout the European Union. [124819]
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Mr. Timms: The take up of renewable energy in the different states of the European Union is well documented (e.g. in the statistics compiled by the International Energy Agency). In addition, the European Wind Energy Association has recently published Wind Force 12, a report which assesses the current state of the European Wind Energy Market, and its potential growth. This report is available at www.ewea.org/doc/WF12.pdf. The Department has not carried out studies into the comparative costs of renewables in the different member states.
Royal Mail
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has held with (a) executives of Royal Mail and (b) other ministerial colleagues over the decision by Royal Mail to forego the use of rail transport for the carrige of mail; what assessment she has made of the decision; and if she will make a statement. [125985]
Mr. Timms: The department meets Royal Mail on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues including progress on the transport review. That review envisaged a continuing role for rail freight. Royal Mail has, following protracted negotiations with EWS, concluded that it cannot now proceed on the basis it originally intended, for reasons of cost.
The Government regret the loss of business for rail freight but stands by its policy that Royal Mail must have the freedom it needs to operate genuinely commercially.
Shareholder Votes
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what penalties she plans to impose on companies who mislay a significant proportion of shareholders' votes. [124731]
Jacqui Smith: I have no plans to impose penalties on companies. I regard the effective operation of the shareholder voting process as an essential part of the corporate governance framework. The process involves a number of parties and I am glad to see that they are working together to analyse the process in order to make it more efficient. The Department will be monitoring developments in this area closely.
Shipyards (Assistance)
Mr. Burnett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assistance is available from (a) the Government and (b) its agencies for shipyards in (i) England and (ii) Scotland competing for orders to construct ships. [125562]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 14 July 2003]: Financial support is available to help UK shipyards win new orders through my Department's Home Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme (HSCGS). The HSCGS provides soft credit finance facilities to UK resident purchasers of ships in the form of loan guarantees of up to 80 per cent. of contract value for the construction and conversion of vessels. The HSCGS is currently under appraisal, in line with the DTI's wider review of existing business support schemes.
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Timber
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what requirements there are on timber merchants to identify the source of timber imported into the UK. [125152]
Nigel Griffiths: None. The Timber Trade Federation operates a code of practice and organisations like the WWF 1995 Plus Group have been set up to encourage merchants and retailers to promote business methods that are consistent with sustainable forestry practices.
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry from which countries the UK imports timber; what percentage of the total timber import comes from each country; what percentage is from unidentified sources; and what steps the Government takes to ensure the timber is from sustainable sources in each country. [125153]
Nigel Griffiths: Data on the UK's imports of timber are given in the following table.
Statistics on UK imports of goods are compiled by HM Customs and Excise. The information is published on the basis of the country of consignment: which is normally the last country in which a commercial transaction takes place. Information on the country of consignment is comprehensive for countries outside the European Union (EU). Within the EU detailed information is collected from all but very small traders. Overall, small traders are estimated to account for 2–3 per cent. of the value of UK trade with the EU, or about half that for total UK trade in goods. HM Customs and Excise do not collect from importers information relating to the precise origin of the timber, ie. whether or not the timber was forested from a legal and sustainably managed source, other than the country of consignment.
Comprehensive data, by country of origin are not available. The free flow of goods within the Single European Market means that information on the country of origin is not always available when goods are first imported into another European Union country and then consigned to the UK.
The Government have shown leadership in its strong encouragement of the European Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) process. This is part of the EU's wider objective to encourage sustainable forest management and ensure that timber entering the EU is sustainably sourced. The Government are broadly supportive of the Commission's recently published FLEGT action plan and will work with other member states to ensure the Commission is able to make rapid progress.
Note:
Timber is defined as headings 247 and 248 of the Standard International Trade Classification, Rev 3 (SITC).
Source:
Compiled by DTI from HM Customs and Excise data
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