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5 Nov 2003 : Column 665W—continued
Estate Agents
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable) of 11 September, Official Report, column 390W, on estate agents, what information her Department collates on the number of estate agents and their regulation. [136634]
Mr. Sutcliffe: According to the Office for National Statistics in June 2003 there were 8480 estate agent enterprises eligible for VAT in the UK.
The Estate Agents Act 1979 regulates the conduct of estate agents in the course of estate agency work. The Act gives the Director General of Fair Trading the power to issue warning or prohibition notices against those persons whom he considers to be unfit to carry on estate agency work.
Export Controls
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 16 September
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2003, Official Report, column 705W, on export controls, whether she has examined the impact that the Government's proposals for export control will have on the safety of UK military personnel. [136254]
Nigel Griffiths: By strengthening the strategic export control regime, the new controls will reduce the risk that goods or technology exported from the UK, or goods brokered from the UK, or in certain circumstances goods brokered by UK persons anywhere in the world, could be used against UK armed forces.
Inward Investment
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Government are taking to promote inward investment in the United Kingdom. [135474]
Ms Hewitt: The Government have expanded the inward investment function, home and overseas, within UK Trade & Investment (formerly Invest UK) to ensure that the UK maintains its place as the number one destination in Europe for inward investment in the EU. UK Trade & Investment works with the Regional Development Agencies and the development agencies of the Devolved Administrations to provide a tailored service to encourage inward investment.
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to promote the United Kingdom as a manufacturing base to foreign companies, with particular reference to the qualities of the workforce. [135503]
Ms Hewitt: In promoting the UK as the top inward investment location in Europe, UK Trade and Investment (formerly Invest UK) focuses on value added investment including in manufacturing.
UK Trade and Investment ensures that inward investors are aware of all the qualities the UK has to offer including our skilled and adaptable workforce.
Japan
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the reason was for the postponement of the Minister of State for Energy, E-Commerce and Postal Services' planned visit to Japan in November; and when it will now take place. [136723]
Mr. Timms: The build-up to the Japanese elections made it difficult to secure key ministerial meetings. The visit has therefore been postponed until early in 2004.
Loan Companies
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the practice of selling debts by loan companies to debt collection companies. [136174]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department has made no specific assessment of the practice of selling debts by loan companies to debt collection companies.
Lenders and debt collectors require a licence from the Office of Fair Trading under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The OFT issued its "Debt collection guidance—Response to consultation paper and final guidance on
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unfair business practices" on 14 July 2003. The guidance specifies certain behaviour which OFT would consider in relation to taking licensing action. The guidance makes it clear that lenders must not ignore the unfair practices of debt collectors acting on their behalf, whether in-house or external. Lenders should take care in the selection of third parties, investigate complaints and take action where appropriate. Failure to do so will call their own fitness to hold a licence into question.
The DTI is reaching the conclusion of its review of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Government proposals in this area will be set out in a White Paper due for publication in December. This will address issues such as the transparency of credit products, ensuring consumers are more aware of the terms and conditions of agreements they may wish to undertake.
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if she will take steps to make loan companies publish statements on their efforts to reduce harassment of clients whom they are pursuing for overdue loans; [136175]
- (2) if she will take steps to restrict the (a) days and (b) times of day that debt collectors can contact people they are pursuing for overdue debts; [136176]
(3) if she will take steps to restrict the number of (a) letters, (b) phone calls and (c) face to face visits debt collectors can make to people they are pursuing for overdue debts; [136177]
(4) what recent discussions her Department has had with consumer groups about harassment of borrowers by debt collection companies. [136178]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The OFT issued guidance for debt collectors on 14 July 2003 which is aimed at all consumer credit licence holders and applicants and applies to the collection of debt once an account is in default. It sets out the type of behaviour, such as harassment of debtors, that the OFT, which administers the licensing system, considers to be unfair and which could call into question fitness to hold a licence.
OFT guidance states it is an unfair business practice for a debt collector to be contacting debtors at unreasonable times and ignoring or disregarding debtors' legitimate wishes. Further to consultation on the guidance OFT decided not to prescribe specific times given debtors' differing circumstances.
The practice of debt collectors when recovering overdue loans has been considered in the context of my Department's review of the Consumer Credit Act.
The Consumer Credit White Paper that we will publish in December will outline our proposals to regulate the conduct of lenders and unfair credit agreements.
Microsoft (Licensing Fees)
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much was paid to Microsoft in licensing fees by her Department and its agencies in each of the last three years; and how much has been budgeted for (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05. [130680]
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Ms Hewitt: The provision of IT services for the Department of Trade and Industry is via a long term PFI contract with UNITAS, (a consortium of Fujitsu Services and Logica/CMG). Under this agreement all IT assets, hardware, software, (including Microsoft licensing fees), etc. are owned by UNITAS. Their provision and associated support are met through agreed bundled monthly service charges and it is not possible to identify specific costs for individual elements of these charges. The contract with UNITAS requires them to ensure that all software included as part of the services they provide to the Department are fully licensed with the appropriate supplier.
Miners' Compensation
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) interim and (b) full and final payments have been made to former miners suffering from (i) chronic bronchitis and emphysema and (ii) vibration white finger. [136097]
Nigel Griffiths: The figures as of 26 October 2003 are as follows:
| COPD | VWF | |
|---|---|---|
| Interim payments | 69,753 | 85,366 |
| Full and final payments | 85,735 | 75,648 |
Note:
Figures are readily available on the DTI website: www.dti.gov.uk/coalhealth and updated monthly.
Office Plants Document
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the cost of producing her Department's foliage strategy was; how many staff hours were spent on producing the document; and if she will make a statement. [135400]
Ms Hewitt [holding answer 30 October 2003]: The only cost involved in producing the Department's so called "foliage strategy" was staff time at an internal cost of around £600. The strategy was an integral part of a procurement process to rationalise the contractual arrangements for provision of plant maintenance throughout the DTI buildings. The new contractual arrangements have resulted in overall savings of about £6,000 per annum.
Precious Metals
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if, in the current EU Presidency working party discussions on the draft directive on articles of precious metal, she will propose that a high level of consumer protection secured by reliable third party verification should be a requisite in harmonised trade in such articles; and if she will make a statement on the stance adopted by other member states in the discussions. [136386]
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Mr. Sutcliffe: The Government believe that a system of independent third party checks provides a high level of consumer protection and are opposed to any measures that would reduce such protection in the UK.
Some member states have indicated support for the approach in the draft directive, while others have expressed reservations.
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she is making to her counterparts in other EU member states to encourage them to support the view that harmonised trade in articles of precious metal should have a high level of consumer protection secured by reliable third party verification. [136387]
Mr. Sutcliffe: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has written to potentially sympathetic member states urging them not to support the draft directive.
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