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17 Sept 2003 : Column 761W—continued
Transport Projects (Warrington)
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many projects his Department has supported in Warrington since 1997; and how much funding was allocated to each project. [129926]
Mr. McNulty: In April 1998 Warrington became a unitary authority; prior to that they were part of Cheshire. The funding figures for 1997 and 1998 are not readily available.
The Department for Transport has provided Warrington with funding £11.342 million over the last two financial years. The Department has accepted the urban traffic management control major project, and has provisionally accepted two other major projects, Bridgefoot environmental enhancement and Warrington town centre bus interchange.
Details of the schemes and spend can be found in Warrington's annual progress report.
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TravelSafe Scheme
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how he has measured the success of the TravelSafe scheme; and what the cost of the scheme has been to date. [130953]
Mr. Jamieson: TravelSafe is a local partnership initiative, led by the Merseytravel Passenger Transport Executive to deal with crime on public transport in their area. My Department has taken an interest in this and other anti-transport crime initiatives throughout the country as part of its on-going work commitment to reduce crime and the fear of crime wherever it occurs on the transport system. In February 2003, Merseytravel reported to the Government's Safer Travel on Buses and Coaches Panel on the successes of the initiative. The Department for Transport has not funded this initiative and we hold no information on its cost to date.
MINISTER FOR WOMEN
Public Appointments
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister for Women what progress she has made in increasing the proportion of women appointed to public bodies. [129453]
Ms Hewitt: The percentage of women on the boards of public bodies at 31 March 2003,was 35.7 per cent., up from 34 per cent. in March 2002. The Government remain committed to the aim that by the end of 2005, and for the majority of departments, women should hold 45–50 per cent. of the appointments to the bodies they sponsor.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
EU Enlargement
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received from EU non-applicant states bordering the enlarged EU on access to the Single Market after enlargement. [128175]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, met with the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Kudrin on 26 June this year, and also in October 2002. During both these meetings the issue of current and future Russian access to EU markets was raised.
Computer Viruses
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has for reducing the threat from computer viruses. [130197]
Mr. Timms: Malicious software—including viruses—is a global phenomenon. No one Government can eliminate the development and spread of malicious software but the Government are playing their part in a range of activities to minimise the impact on users. We are talking to vendors about improving the identification of vulnerabilities in software and the underlying protocols. We are working with industry to disseminate advice about the availability of solutions to the problems which are identified and how to deal with
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the difficulties posed by events, such as viruses, which exploit those vulnerabilities. The Department has taken a prominent role in the promotion of good information security management and has developed promotional material aimed at helping smaller companies understand and deal with common security problems. The detection and prosecution of those who create malicious software is the responsibility of the Home Office and Section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act already criminalises the unauthorised modification of the contents of any computer, which includes modifications caused by viruses. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is, however, reviewing the effectiveness of the Act and, as part of this process, will consider whether any further legislation is required to further deter those who write or knowingly disseminate computer viruses.
Departmental Computer Security
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been (a) budgeted and (b) spent by her Department since April 2002 on (i) combating computer fraud, (ii) preventing theft of computers and (iii) safeguarding the security of information held on computer; and if she will make a statement. [128782]
Ms Hewitt: It is not possible to separately identify the budgets and costs requested as they are spread across a number of areas including:
- The overall IT service cost from our outsourced IT services provider;
Individual project development and system operating costs;
Overall physical and building security costs;
IT systems and network (including firewall) management costs;
Overall Internal Audit effort;
Staff recruitment and training costs.
Electricity Generation
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much electricity has been used in the UK in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how much has been used in this year so far. [129941]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 16 September 2003]: The available information is shown in the following table.
| TWh | |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 345.4 |
| 1999 | 352.5 |
| 2000 | 360.1 |
| 2001 | 363.1 |
| 2002 | 364.7 |
| 2003(3) | 189.8 |
(3) First half
Source:
DTI Energy Trends
EU Tariffs
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the EU tariffs on textiles and clothing imports from (a) India, (b) Sri Lanka and (c) the United States; and if she will make a statement. [129167]
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Mr. Mike O'Brien: There are over 1,000 individual EU tariff lines covering imports of textiles and clothing so it is not possible to list them individually. These duties are applicable to all countries including USA, India and Sri Lanka and range from 0 per cent. to 12.2 per cent. Both India and Sri Lanka benefit from preferential arrangements with the EU that give lower duties for textile and clothing products.
Everything but Arms Agreement
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 14 June, Official Report, column 17W, on the Everything but Arms Agreement, what proportion of total trade exports to the United Kingdom are represented by (a) sugar, (b) oil, (c) tobacco, (d) cotton and (e) olive oil regimes for (i) least developed countries and (ii) non-least developed countries in sub-Saharan Africa. [128558]
Ms Hewitt: To obtain such information would require extracting information on a large number of commodity codes for 51 countries and therefore could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Export Control
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the feasibility of using (a) mutual and (b) multilateral legal assistance treaties to allow the UK Government to develop effective end-user controls of arms shipments from the UK. [129849]
Mr. MacShane: I have been asked to reply.
The Government have a system for the post-export monitoring of UK-origin arms. Where there is a case of diversion or fraud by a private individual, we look to co-operate with the authorities of friendly countries to bring the perpetrators to justice. Legal assistance treaties are of little use in cases of alleged misuse by Governments.
Export Licences
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the export licences that have been granted to Royal Ordnance for the export of TNT to the USA in the past three years. [129284]
Nigel Griffiths [holding answer 15 September 2003]: A list of all UK export licences is published in the Annual Report on Strategic Export Controls. However, details of export licence applications from particular companies are normally commercially confidential and exempt from disclosure under categories 13 and 14 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
Gangmasters
Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to introduce a system of registration for gangmasters to ensure minimum standards of health and safety training for the staff they provide. [124890]
Mr. Bradshaw: I have been asked to reply.
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The Government are working with organisations and businesses in the food chain to draw up a code of practice for gangmasters in the agriculture and fresh produce sectors and to devise a system of accreditation gangmasters who abide by this standard. The aim is to test whether a voluntary accreditation scheme combined with a readiness by businesses in the food chain to use accredited labour can achieve an improvement in employment practices in the sector. The option of a statutory registration requirement has not been ruled out if the accreditation approach proves insufficient. The proposed code of practice and the standard it will set would be a key element in either approach.
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