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Post Office Closures

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many proposed post office closures under the Urban Reinvention Programme have been reversed following public consultation. [133507]

Mr. Timms: Decisions on post office closure proposals under the urban reinvention programme following public consultation are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. and I have asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Unsolicited E-mail

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to protect British businesses from unsolicited e-mails; and if she will include measures to protect businesses when the relevant EC Directive is implemented later this year. [132850]

Mr. Timms: The EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications has been implemented in the UK by the Privacy-and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (SI 2003 No 2426), which come into force on 11 December this year. The Regulations will introduce opt-in consent requirements for unsolicited e-mail marketing to individual subscribers, including sole traders and some partnerships. The Government decided not to extend the opt-in consent right to corporate subscribers (including limited companies) because of concerns about the impact on business to business marketing, but the Government's response to consultation on the new rules has made it clear that we are prepared to review this in the light of working experience of the new rules.

Subscribers of all kinds will benefit from a requirement in the Regulations not to send commercial e-mail which disguises or conceals the identity of the person on whose behalf it is sent, or does not provide a valid address to which a request that communications cease may be sent.

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Tariffs

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 16 June 2003, Official Report, column 50W, on trade tariffs, what strategic controls are placed on British exports to non-EU countries. [133318]

Nigel Griffiths: The Strategic controls that are routinely placed on British exports to non-EU countries are set out in:

1. The Export of Goods (Control) Order 1994, as amended.


2. Council Regulation (EC) No. 1334/2000, as amended.


3. The Dual Use Items (Export Control) Regulations 2000, as amended.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Goods Directive

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the likely effects of the introduction of the WEEE Directive on small retailers; what estimate she has made of the number that are likely to be put out of business because of the Directive; and how many retailers have contacted her Department to express their concern. [132865]

Mr. Timms: The Government are concerned to implement the WEEE Directive with a light regulatory touch, consistent with achieving its environmental goals. We would not expect small retailers to be put out of business because of this Directive.

The Government consulted widely on this Directive earlier this year following its entry into force and received responses from a range of organisations and individuals, including 54 retailers or their representative organisations.

The UK successfully negotiated flexibility in the Directive's provisions on retail takeback and the Government are now considering how to take advantage of this in its implementation. In this context, it is in discussions with retailers, including the British Retail Consortium.

The Government intends to publish its proposals for implementation of the Directive, including retail take-back, later this autumn for consultation. After this, it will issue draft implementing Regulations for consultation next spring.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to increase UK military support for the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Mazar-e-Sharif and the five surrounding provinces in Afghanistan consequent to United Nations Resolution 1510. [133163]

Mr. Ingram: I anticipate the UK-led Provincial Reconstruction Team based in Mazar-e Sharif will increase slightly in size by the end of the year. This expansion is part of the planned evolution of the Provincial Reconstruction Team and is coincidental to UNSCR 1510.

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Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many rounds of depleted uranium ammunitions have been fired in Afghanistan by UK troops; how many rounds of depleted uranium ammunition have been recovered during UK-led clean-up operations; and if he will make a statement. [133714]

Mr. Ingram: Depleted uranium (DU) ammunition has not been used by Allied Forces in recent operations in Afghanistan and hence there has been no need for clean-up. I do not have information on its use by other nations or forces in past conflicts in Afghanistan.

Military Deaths

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the statement made by Surrey Police on the conclusion of their investigations and his Answer of 16 September 2003, Official Report, column 705W, on Deepcut and Catterick barracks, if he will order an independent public inquiry into the way that unnatural deaths at Catterick and Deepcut barracks have been investigated; and if he will make a statement. [133398]

Mr. Ingram: Responsibility for investigating unnatural deaths at army barracks lies with the appropriate civil police authorities. The Surrey Police have suggested, in the context of their investigation of deaths at Deepcut, that a broader inquiry into army deaths may be warranted. Her Majesty's Coroner has yet to complete his work in relation to the Deepcut deaths and the Surrey Police have yet to produce their final overarching report. The case for a public inquiry will need to be considered in the light of these events and other studies already completed.

Defence Fire Service

Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people are employed in his Department's fire service. [133428]

Mr. Ingram: Within the Ministry of Defence there are currently around 2,370 military and civilian personnel employed in fire fighting and related duties in both the UK and overseas. Precise details of current day-to-day manning levels are not held centrally as personnel below the officer grades in the civilian defence fire service are locally recruited.

Gulf War Syndrome

Mr. Tyler: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the letter from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence to Lord Morris of Manchester of 9 October, on vaccines used for UK troops deployed in the 1990–91 Gulf War; and what steps he is taking to prevent recurrence of the problems identified. [132897]

Mr. Caplin [holding answer 20 October 2003]: The text of the letter (reference: D/MIN(DP)/WB/13/1/2/3) was published in the House of Lords on 9 October 2003, Official Report, columns WA 67–79. A copy of the letter was placed in the Library of this House on 10 October.

Subsequent analysis of the 1990–91 Gulf Conflict revealed shortcomings at the time in medical record keeping and medical preparedness. In October 2001 the

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Ministry of Defence published the paper: "Medical Records in the Gulf" which explained how the Service medical documentation system was used during that conflict and the generic reasons why a medical record may no longer exist. The paper is available on the internet at: http://www.mod.ukyissues/gulfwar/info/m

Since that conflict, we have made significant improvements in medical record keeping through the introduction of a new operational medical record. This does ensure that health events while on deployment are more systematically recorded than in the past. Care is taken to ensure that accurate records are maintained by recording all vaccinations on individuals' medical records. Further improvements in medical record keeping will be achieved over the next few years with the progressive introduction of new information technology systems. A number of personnel were not up to date with their Service standard vaccinations. Our policy guidance has been modified to ensure that all troops are now immunised routinely. In June 2002, we announced that our Voluntary Immunisation Programme against anthrax would be expanded, in phases, to the whole of the Armed Forces, including reserves and those essential civilians who were likely to deploy on operations, beginning with those units that were held at the highest readiness. This takes account of lessons identified post the 1990–91 Gulf Conflict.

Hutton Inquiry

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) for what reason he authorised the creation of an environment intended to simulate that of hearings of the Hutton Inquiry at the Civil Service College at Sunningdale; on what date the authorisation was given; and what the cost of the exercise was; [133112]

(2) how many officials who appeared at the Hutton Inquiry were given coaching and training prior to their public appearance; and at what cost. [133113]

Mr. Hoon: I did not authorise the creation of any facility, at Sunningdale or elsewhere, to simulate the hearings of the Hutton Inquiry, and no Ministry of Defence officials were given coaching or training prior to their giving evidence to the Inquiry.

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