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29 Oct 2003 : Column 260W—continued
Chemicals
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the European Commission's draft proposals for the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals; and what assessment her Department has made of the likely impact of the proposals on the chemicals industry. [132860]
Jacqui Smith: The UK Government fully support the objectives set out in the Commission's White Paper on the new EU Chemicals Strategy. Following the Commission's consultations on draft legislative proposals in May to July this year, the Commission has indicated its intention of making a number of changes to the proposals. The Government welcome any changes intended to make the proposals more effective and workable, and will be considering the revised proposals in consultation with stakeholders. Once adopted, the Government will carry out a separate UK consultation, and that will be accompanied by a regulatory impact assessment.
Defence Export Licences
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in how many cases where a defence export licence was revoked in (a) 2000, (b) 2001 and (c) 2002 a defence export licence was subsequently granted to allow the export of the same items to an alternate destination. [134600]
Nigel Griffiths: This information is not readily available and would require both a computer and manual search of all records for the three years in question to determine whether there are identical matches and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Electricity Supply
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions she has had with National Grid Transco about the maintenance of the network, following the power cuts in August; and if she will make a statement. [134044]
Nigel Griffiths [holding answer 23 October 2003]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has not personally spoken with National Grid Transco on this issue—however she is being kept fully appraised of developments. I have spoken on a number of occasions with the CEO of NGT concerning the August power cuts.
To ensure that all the facts have been assembled about these incidents, and that the appropriate lessons learnt for the future, the Government in conjunction with the Regulator—Ofgem, commissioned a report employing independent consultants. DTI's Engineering Inspectorate is also investigating the circumstances around the power interruptions.
29 Oct 2003 : Column 261W
Employment Tribunals
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many employment tribunal cases there were in (a) south Tyneside, (b) Tyne and Wear, (c) the north-east and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. [134858]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The following table shows the number of tribunal applications registered by the Employment Tribunals Service in the UK since 1997. Statistical information for the geographical areas of south Tyneside, Tyne and Wear and the north-east is not readily accessible and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
| Registered tribunal applications | |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 98,617 |
| 2001–02 | 112,227 |
| 2000–01 | 130,408 |
| 1999–2000 | 103,935 |
| 1998–99 | 91,913 |
| 1997–98 | 80,435 |
| 1996–97 | 88,910 |
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average amount of an employment tribunal cost award was in (a) south Tyneside, (b) Tyne and Wear, (c) the north-east and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. [134859]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The following table shows the average amount of an employment tribunal cost award in the UK since 1997. We are unable to supply the average amount of an employment tribunal cost award for south Tyneside, Tyne and Wear and the north-east.
| Average cost award | |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 1,524 |
| 2001–02 | 983 |
| 2000–01 | 295 |
| 1999–2000 | 1,155 |
| 1998–99 | 743 |
| 1997–98 | 546 |
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average award for compensation in employment tribunal cases has been in (a) south Tyneside, (b) Tyne and Wear, (c) the north-east and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. [134860]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Employment Tribunals Service only collects compensation statistics for tribunal cases covering the jurisdictions of unfair dismissal, race discrimination, sex discrimination and disability discrimination. Therefore, the figures quoted in the following table illustrate the average award for compensation in employment tribunal cases for the UK since 1997 in relation to the aforementioned complaints. We are unable to supply separate information for south Tyneside, Tyne and Wear and the north-east.
29 Oct 2003 : Column 262W
| Average compensation award | |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 7,598 |
| 2001–02 | 7,306 |
| 2000–01 | 5,764 |
| 1999–2000 | 5,734 |
| 1998–99 | 4,449 |
| 1997–98 | 4,894 |
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many employment tribunal cost awards have been made against (a) respondents and (b) applicants in (i) south Tyneside, (ii) Tyne and Wear, (iii) the north-east and (iv) the UK in each year since 1997. [134861]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The following table illustrates how many employment tribunal cost awards have been made against respondents and applicants in the UK in the last two financial years. The Employment Tribunals Service did not breakdown the statistics for applicants and respondents prior to 2001–02. We are unable to supply information for south Tyneside, Tyne and Wear and the north-east.
| Costs awards against respondent | Costs awards against applicant | |
|---|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 307 | 691 |
| 2001–02 | 169 | 467 |
Energy Production
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average cost of producing electricity through (a) nuclear, (b) coal, (c) gas, (d) wind and (e) other renewable sources was; and what the average price paid by suppliers for electricity from each of the above generators was in the last year for which figures are available. [135001]
Nigel Griffiths [holding answer 28 October 2003]: This information is a commercial matter for the electricity generators and suppliers. Some indicative information on potential future prices for renewable sources, and for electricity produced from nuclear sources is given in "The Energy Review, a Performance and Innovation Unit Report, February 2002" available at www. number-10.gov.uk/su/energy/1.html, and in the "Long-Term Reductions in Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the UK" report prepared by an Inter-departmental Analysts Group, available at www.dti.gov.uk/energy/greenhousegas/index.shtml. Both reports are available in the Libraries of the House.
Export Controls
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 6 October 2003, Official Report, column 1068W, on export controls, what her reasons are for concluding that it would be impractical to maintain a register of arms brokers. [135099]
Nigel Griffiths: The Government have already made clear that it proposes to register information on all those applying for licences, both for exports and for arms trafficking and brokering activities, thus creating a
29 Oct 2003 : Column 263W
database available to be used for licensing and enforcement purposes, including as appropriate on an international basis. In addition, users of Open General Licences have to register to use the licence.
The Government believe that licence applications should be scrutinised on a case-by-case basis, with regard primarily to the nature of the transaction in question. Scrutiny and approval of individual transactions to areas of concern achieves a greater measure of control than simply a general assessment of companies' or individuals' reputation.
Industrial and Provident Societies
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what consideration was given in the company law review to bringing the audit requirements for industrial and provident societies in line with those of registered companies; [135114]
- (2) what consideration was given in the company law review to amending the requirement that obliges industrial and provident societies wanting to publish interim accounts to undertake a full audit. [135131]
Jacqui Smith: The remit of the company law review did not extend to industrial and provident societies.
The Treasury will consider the modernisation of industrial and provident society legislation in the light of the proposed reform of company law.
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