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17 Nov 2003 : Column 507W—continued

Call Centres

Mr. Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will encourage large companies to keep their call centre bases in the United Kingdom. [135473]

Mr. Timms: Companies in the UK are operating in an increasingly competitive, global marketplace. It is a commercial matter for companies to decide where to locate their operations. In doing so companies will need to consider a number of factors including, inter alia, the strategic importance to the business of their call centre operations and the relative risks and benefits of transferring these overseas, the geographic distribution of their customer base and the need to be close to customers, location of their competitors, relative costs, and the ability to maintain service quality. The United Kingdom has by far the greatest number of call centre operations in Europe reflecting our expertise in call centre management and the wish by many companies to retain call centre bases here.

A protectionist approach would run the risk of forcing companies to locate completely out of the UK which would not be to our long term economic benefit.

17 Nov 2003 : Column 508W

We are, however, continuing to create a stable, competitive, economic environment in the UK for all companies to operate in. Our long term economic interest will be based on our ability to innovate to produce high value-added goods and services, supported by a highly skilled workforce, high calibre managers, forward looking unions and knowledgeable consumers.

Company Regulation (Cold Calling)

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to regulate companies which cold call customers. [138717]

Mr. Timms: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield (Mr. Sheerman) on 10 November 2003, Official Report, column 22W.

Competitiveness Council

Mr. Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the outcome was of the Competitiveness Council held on 10 and 11 November; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if she will make a statement. [138785]

Jacqui Smith: I represented the UK at the Competitiveness Council, Brussels on 10 November 2003. Andy Kerr MSP was also present.

There was an initial exchange of views over the proposed Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices.

The Council reached General Agreement on the Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive. This is designed to guarantee free movement of electrical equipment within the Internal Market, whilst ensuring that such equipment does not create unacceptable levels of electromagnetic disturbance.

The Council adopted a Resolution on the application of New Approach Directives.

The Commission presented its new proposal for a Chemicals Regulation, stressing its importance for European industry. There were differing views of the impact on downstream users, and the Commission stated that it would like to discuss this, and the question of impact assessment at a public meeting on 23 November.

The Presidency said that this was a priority issue in the Competitiveness Council agenda. There will be a policy debate at the next meeting on 26 and 27 November 2003. I asked for environmental and industrial interests to work together, and called for more effective prioritisation and simplification of the registration procedure, with one substance and one registration.

There was a discussion on Competitiveness Policy. The Commission recognised the need for its proposals to take competitiveness aspects properly into account. The Council and European Parliament would be able to see improvements in the extended impact procedure in the 2004 work programme.

17 Nov 2003 : Column 509W

I supported the idea of a competitiveness test and called for a better regulation 'expert' working group to be established as soon as possible to help assess the quality of impact assessments.

The Presidency concluded that the Competitiveness Council needed to work with other Council formations to ensure they took competitiveness into account in their work.

The Presidency asked for views on the Growth Initiative in the light of the October European Council's conclusions.

Several of the projects are in the field of Research and Development. Key areas were nanotechnology, space and high speed networks for research bodies. I stated that I wanted to see clear criteria for projects based upon project readiness and EU added value. I also confirmed that UK preferences were close to those of the Commission.

The Presidency concluded that the Council should agree a new list of priority projects on 27 November, for presentation to the December European Council.

The Council agreed a Resolution on Researchers' Careers.

There was a discussion over lunch on the EU candidate site for ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor).

Copyright Directive

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made with ensuring compliance with the EU Copyright Directive; and if she will make a statement. [137542]

Ms Hewitt: The Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI 2003 No. 2498) bringing UK law into full compliance with the EU Copyright Directive came into force on 31 October 2003.

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Debt Collection

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will take steps to prevent companies from using the same home visiting personnel both to sell loans and collect debts. [138598]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The practice of one agent both selling loans, and collecting the payments due, is extensively used in the doorstep lending sector. This practice has not been shown to be inconsistent with either fair dealing or responsible lending and there is some evidence that it is valued by many consumers. I therefore do not intend to take any action in this matter.

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will place in the Library the responses received to the Office of Fair Trading consultation on debt collection. [138237]

Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 13 November 2003]: The responses received to the Office of Fair Trading consultation on debt collection, other than those where the respondent requested confidentiality, are available for viewing at:

Office of Fair Trading

Fleetbank House

2–6 Salisbury Square

London

EC4Y 8JX

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many licences have been (a) granted and (b) revoked by the Office of Fair Trading to (i) debt collectors and (ii) lenders, (A) since the Consumer Credit Act 1974 was introduced and (B) in each year since 1997. [138238]

Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 13 November 2003]: The information is not available in the form requested. Information on licence revocations is not broken down by market sector and is not available for the early years. Disaggregated information is available on the issue of Minded to Revoke Notices (MTRs). There is no licence category which precisely corresponds to "lenders". "Consumer Credit Business" is likely to be wider and "Finance Companies" narrower. The available information is set out as follows:

Numbers of licences (a) granted and (b) revoked, to (i) debt collectors and (ii) lenders, (A) since 1974 and (B) each year since 1997

	(i) Debt collectors-Category E		(ii) Lenders-Category A ('Consumer Credit business')
	(a) Licences granted	(b) MTRevokes issued	(a) Licences granted covering Category A-i.e. 'Consumer Credit Business'	(b) MTRevokes issued to Finance Companies
A Cumulatively 1976-May 2003 (breakdown unavailable 1974–1976 and after May 2003)	102,876	Not available	205,352	Not available
B Annually since 1997
1997	8,176	20	10,778	12
1998	11,215	8	13,480	4
1999	10,723	24	12,644	9
2000	9,247	10	11,214	4
2001	8,586	3	10,223	4
2002	9,140	1	10,962	8
2003 (to end May)	3,996	0	4,797	7

Note:

A single Licence can cover more than one type of business category

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	Total number of Licences revoked
1997	34
1998	15
1999	25
2000	31
2001	21
2002	26
To 30 September 2003	10

Employers' Liability Insurance

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with the Department for Work and Pensions on the progress of the second stage report of its review of Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance. [130824]

Nigel Griffiths: I have had four meetings with colleagues on the review of Employers' Liability Insurance, and we will continue to meet to ensure good

progress on the second stage report.

A statement was made to the House before Recess, on 22 May 2003, and a first stage report published on 3 June 2003, which is in the Library of the House. The second stage report will be published in the autumn.

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