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Extra-territorial Control

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 16 May 2003, Official Report, column 463W, what assessment was made of the section of the Home Office report Raising Standards, Upholding Integrity: The Prevention of Corruption which states that the Home Office guidelines on extra-territorial control are not mandatory. [130177]

Nigel Griffiths [holding answer 16 September 2003]: I am aware that the Home Office guidelines on the application of extra-territorial jurisdiction are not mandatory.

Food Expenditure

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much was spent on food by her Department and by each agency for which it is responsible in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03; what proportion of that food by value was produced in the United Kingdom; what guidance she has issued to encourage the procurement of home-grown food; and if she will make a statement. [129381]

Ms Hewitt: Approximately 85 per cent. of food purchased on behalf of my Department is provided by our in-house catering contractors, as follows.

Year	£000
2001–02	751
2002–03	1,037

65 per cent. of this was spent on food produced in the United Kingdom.

Acquiring similar information on the rest of the food purchased, which is provided by a large number of lesser supplies, would entail disproportionate cost.

DEFRA guidance on sustainable good procurement has been circulated to the appropriate directorates in DTI and to our agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

I have asked the Department's executive agencies to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Letter from Roger Heathcote to Mr. Lidington, dated September 2003:

You tabled a question on 9 September to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry asking her how much was spent on food by her Department and by each Agency for which it is responsible in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03; what proportion of that food by value was produced in the United Kingdom; what guidance she has issued to encourage the procurement of home-grown food; and if she will make a statement.

The direct purchase of food and drink by the Employment Tribunals Service (ETS) consists solely of convenience refreshments for training events and meetings and was as follows:

	£
2001–02	9,597
2002–03	7,868

Since the supplies in question are provided by an external retail supplier we have no knowledge of the provenance of the food and drink involved.

ETS has not issued guidance on the procurement of home-grown food.

Letter from Desmond Flynn to Mr. Lidington:

The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply to you on behalf of The Insolvency Service in respect to your question (2002/3851) requesting information on how much was spent on food by each Agency in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03; what proportion of that food by value was produced in the United Kingdom; what guidance has been issued to encourage the procurement of home-grown food.

Expenditure on food in The Insolvency Service is generally limited to official hospitality provided by The Service in 2001–02 was £37,000 (including the cost of the closure of our London canteen facility) and in 2002–03 was £23,000. This took the form of buffet style services supplied by numerous small catering organisations across the country.

The Agency does not hold any information on how much was grown or produced within the United Kingdom.

Letter from Claire Clancy to Mr. Lidington:

I am responding to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on behalf of Companies House, which is an Executive Agency of the DTI.

The total amount spent on food by Companies House in the year 2001/02 was £212,000 and in the year 2002/03 it was £221,000, of which approximately 55% was produced in the United Kingdom.

The majority of our costs are recovered in the prices charged in the staff restaurant.

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Letter from Dr. J. W. Llewellyn to Mr. Lidington:

The Secretary for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply on behalf of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) to your question on how much was spent on food by her Department and by each agency for which it is responsible in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03; and what proportion of that food by value was produced in the United Kingdom

National Weights and Measures Laboratory has spent (a) £5.8k in 2001–02 and (b) £5.2k in 2002–03 on entertainment. This covers the purchase of catering services for Agency events, biscuits, coffee and tea for meetings, consumables for working lunches and entertaining customers. Records are not kept in such a way that the amount spent on UK produce can be identified.

Letter from R. J. R. Anderson to Mr. Lidington:

The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply on behalf of the Radiocommunications Agency to your Parliamentary Question about expenditure on food.

Agency expenditure (ex-VAT) on food is as follows:

FY 2001/02 £121,922 of which £75,592 was spent on UK produced goods (62%).

FY 2002/03 £139,560 of which £87,913 was spent on UK produced goods (63%)

We have been assured by our caterers Baxter and Platts that it is their Policy to purchase food in accordance with UK and EC legislation and to satisfy their clients requirements. The Agency encourages all its suppliers to procure all goods and services competitively and to deal with all parties in a fair and reasonable manner.

Letter from Alison Brimelow to Mr. Lidington:

House of Commons Parliamentary Question: 2002/3851.

I am replying to this parliamentary question, tabled on 9 September 2003, about expenditure on food.

Expenditure on food in the Patent Office is generally limited to the provision of official hospitality, some of which is supplied under a contract with an external food supplier. This contract is administered by the Office for National Statistics with whom we share a site. Our recorded expenditure is:

	£
2001–02	38,000
2002–03	46,000.

Whilst no analysis of country of origin is available, it is estimated that the greater part of the food supplied was produced in the United Kingdom.

Graffiti

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions her Department has had with representatives of the statutory undertakers about graffiti on their street furniture or other property; and if she will make a statement. [118087]

Mr. Sutcliffe: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 1 July 2003, Official Report, column 249W by my hon. Friend the Minister for Crime Reduction, Policing and Community Safety.

Mineworkers' Compensation

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much money the Government has paid to Vernside Ltd. in legal costs for processing vibration white finger and respiratory coal health claims. [129207]

14 Oct 2003 : Column 150W

Mr. Timms: In total the Department has made over 315,000 payments to VWF and respiratory disease claimants in full and part settlement, totalling £1.68 billion.

Minimum Wage

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many successful prosecutions for failure to pay the national minimum wage there have been in Crosby. [129508]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 contains a number of provisions empowering enforcement officers to take civil action against non-paying employers and the Inland Revenue always uses these in the first instance.

In 2002–03, 1,996 employers in the UK were found by the Inland Revenue not to be complying with the minimum wage regulations. The north-west region accounted for 181 of these employers.

In addition, the Inland Revenue identified over £3.5 million in arrears. The majority of employers complied without further action being needed and only 26 enforcement notices were issued. To date there have been no criminal prosecutions in relation to underpayment of the minimum wage.

Model/Photographic Agencies

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many spot check inspections on model agencies and photographic agencies were carried out by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate in each year since 1997; and how many prosecutions took place in each year. [129053]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The total number of inspections and prosecutions undertaken by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate since 1997 are as follows:

	Inspections	Prosecutions
1997–98	1,325	14
1998–99	1,360	3
1999–2000	1,319	3
2000–01	1,124	2
2001–02	854	8
2002–03	950	8

Data broken down by sector of the private recruitment industry are not available for these years.

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to introduce regulation in the child model agency and child photography industry, with particular reference to a requirement for compulsory registration with the Criminal Records Bureau. [129054]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Government have no plans to introduce a requirement for compulsory registration with the Criminal Records Bureau for the child model agency and child photography industry. However, a review of the legislation covering the private recruitment industry is currently under way and we propose to introduce revised regulations covering the conduct of all employment agencies and employment businesses.

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