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30 Oct 2003 : Column 350W—continued
Oil and Gas Industry
Sir Robert Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the impact
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of the draft EU constitution on her Department's powers to regulate the exploitation of oil and gas reserves from the UK continental shelf. [R] [135323]
Mr. Timms: The Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the draft Constitution on the Department's powers to regulate recovery of hydrocarbons from the UK continental shelf. This assessment notes that Article III-157 of the draft EU Constitutional Treaty would give the EU competence in energy matters related to the establishment of the internal market, including natural resources, with voting by qualified majority. Also, that Article III-130(2)(c) provides for unanimity on:
- "measures significantly affecting a Member State's choice between different energy sources and the general structure of its energy supply".
Post Office
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her definition is of urban for the purpose of the Post Office's network reinvention scheme. [135406]
Mr. Timms: The decision to classify a post office branch as urban or rural is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. The company classifies as rural any post office within a community of less than 10,000 inhabitants. Above that the post office is classified as urban. I understand that the company has a geographical mapping model that enables it to adopt a consistent approach to classification across the country.
Printer Cartridge Recycling
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many sites there are in (a) the UK and (b) Wales where printer cartridges are recycled. [134714]
Mr. Timms: The Department does not hold this information, however, the UK Cartridge Remanufacturers Association report that there are over 100 remanufacturers in the UK. The Cartridge World refilling franchise has 174 branches in the UK, four of which are in Wales.
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of whether Article 4 of the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Directive (a) applies to the manufacturing of anti-reuse devices such as printer cartridges with clever chip technology and (b) will encourage manufacturers to design reusable cartridges. [134715]
Mr. Timms: The WEEE Directive applies to whole electrical and electronic products, not to individual components, sub-assemblies or consumables. Printer cartridges fall into this latter category.
The Government are currently planning UK implementation of the WEEE Directive, with the aim of publishing detailed proposals later this autumn for consultation. This will include consideration of reuse issues.
Redundant Workers (Re-employment)
Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many redundant workers over 41 years
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found employment within (a) one week, (b) one month, (c) three months and (d) six months after being made redundant in each of the last five years. [134934]
Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Michael Wills, dated 30 October 2003:
- As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question on people aged over 41 years who have been made redundant.
- The attached table gives estimates, from the Labour Force Survey, of the number of people aged over 41 years who were made redundant in the twelve month period ending August of each year from 1999 to 2003. The LFS does not collect information about the length of time it takes for people to become re-employed after being made redundant. However, the table also shows the proportion of people, made redundant in the three months prior to their LFS interview, who were in employment again at the time of interview.
| September to August | People made redundant (thousands) | Re-employmentrate (percentage)(11) |
|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 321 | 38.7 |
| 1999–2000 | 287 | 36.3 |
| 2000–01 | 275 | 41.8 |
| 2001–02 | 333 | 40.6 |
| 2002–03 | 286 | 40.3 |
(11) The proportion of people, made redundant in the three months prior to their Labour Force Survey interview, who were in employment again at the time of interview.
Note:
These LFS estimates have not been interim-adjusted to reflect the 2001 Census results
Source:
ONS Labour Force Survey
Solar Industry
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much income she estimates the delays in introducing new criteria to the clear skies grants has cost the UK solar industry; and if she will make a statement. [134542]
Mr. Timms: The Department needed to balance the early availability of grants against the need to adhere to European regulations. We endeavoured to keep stakeholders informed of any delays. It is not possible to put a financial estimate on this delay but preliminary evaluation of the scheme has shown that many people who were considering installation before they were aware of the grant availability still continued with their installation.
No such estimate has been made. Efforts were made to keep stakeholders informed of delays, which reflected the need to take account of European regulations.
Sub-post Offices
Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many sub-post offices closed in England and Wales in (a) 1998, (b) 1999, (c) 2000, (d) 2001, (e) 2002 and (f) 2003 to date. [134203]
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Mr. Timms: I am advised by Post Office Ltd. that details of net post office closures in the United Kingdom broken down by region/country are available only from March 2000 and were as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| England | |
| 2000–01 | 395 |
| 2001–02 | 204 |
| 2002–03(12) | 295 |
| Wales | |
| 2000–01 | 68 |
| 2001–02 | 26 |
| 2002–03(13) | 18 |
(12) Including 85 closures under the urban reinvention programme.
(13) Including nine closures under the urban reinvention programme.
Before March 2000, Post Office Ltd. maintained records of net closures on a nationwide basis only and were as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 243 |
| 1998–99 | 233 |
| 1999–2000 | 382 |
I understand that Post Office Ltd. produces information on post office closures on a quarterly basis. There were 248 net closures of post offices in England and 26 net closures in Wales to the end of June 2003, the latest quarter for which figures are currently available, of which 206 in England and 15 in Wales were under the urban reinvention programme.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Government are taking to maintain sub-postmasters' incomes at and above the rate of inflation; and if she will list the average increase in sub-postmasters' incomes in each of the last five years. [134852]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 28 October 2003]: The income of sub-postmasters is derived firstly from payments made to them by Post Office Ltd. for carrying out work on its behalf, and secondly, from the sales made by any private retail business, which they run alongside the post office.
Payments from Post Office Ltd. are typically split into two parts: a fixed payment irrespective of volumes of work handled, and product payments which are directly driven by volume of work in their branch.
The income a sub-postmaster receives therefore will be dependent not simply on rate increases, but also on volumes of Post Office Ltd. work handled and by the turnover of any private business.
The future ability of Post Office Ltd. to improve the payments it makes to sub-postmasters is dependent on the success of its current plan to turnaround the financial fortunes of the company. The steps the Government are taking to support this process include investment of some £480 million in banking technology to expand the capability of Post Office Ltd. and £450 million funding to support the rural network until 2006.
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I understand from the company that over the last five years, Post Office Ltd. has made awards to increase the rates at which the fixed payments are made as follows:
| Percentage | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | (14)2.1 |
| 2000–01 | 2.2 |
| 2001–02 | 2.3 |
| 2002–03 | 2.3 |
| 2003–04 | 3.0 |
(14) Lump sum payment.
In addition to this, there have also been a series of increases to individual product payment rates as well as the payment of various unconsolidated lump sums.
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