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17 Nov 2003 : Column 511W—continued
Employment Regulations
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will lay before Parliament the final draft Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations; and if she will make a statement. [137778]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I hope to make an announcement on this matter in the near future.
The new Regulations will take account of the needs of the private recruitment industry and the interests of those using the services provided.
Exports to Morocco
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reason strategic exports of (a) toxic chemical precursors and (b) technology for the production of toxins have been licensed for sale to Morocco. [136727]
Mr. Timms: Following careful consideration against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria, these exports have been licensed for sale to Morocco as they are for the production of pharmaceuticals and toothpaste and will not be used for any strategic purposes.
Fireworks
Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what methods the Government use to monitor the distribution, from ports of entry, of imported fireworks. [138003]
Mr. Browne: I have been asked to reply.
There is no routine monitoring of the distribution of fireworks from the port of entry.
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The storage of fireworks is regulated by HSE in partnership with local authorities under the Explosives Act 1875. Anyone storing fireworks illegally will be liable to prosecution.
HSE works with local authorities and Customs and Excise to verify whether firework importers have licensed storage facilities in Great Britain. The evidence from these checks is that the overwhelming majority of fireworks imports declared to Customs and Excise are being imported by firms with licensed storage available to them.
Industrial Development Act
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many jobs her Department forecast would be created under each scheme in each of the past six years under (a) section 7 and (b) section 8 of the Industrial Development Act 1982, and at what cost per job; how many people are still employed as a direct result of financial assistance in each scheme; and if she will make a statement on her Department's (i) financing and (ii) monitoring of jobs created under the Act; [138775]
- (2) what the value was of (a) applications received and (b) offers accepted for financial assistance in each year since 1997 under (i) section 7 and (ii) section 8 of the Industrial Development Act 1982. [138776]
Jacqui Smith: The forecast of jobs expected to be created and safeguarded in England as a result of offers accepted under Section 7 (Regional Selective Assistance) and the average cost per job were:
| Jobs | Average cost per job (£) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 39,167 | 4,287 |
| 1998–99 | 27,838 | 4,606 |
| 1999–2000 | 35,270 | 3,152 |
| 2000–01 | 32,184 | 6,378 |
| 2001–02(8) | 16,714 | 4,723 |
| 2002–03 | 19,856 | 5,426 |
| Total | 171,029 | 4,673 |
(8) The reduction in jobs is the result of a transfer of smaller RSA cases (capital investment less than £500,000) to a separate Enterprise Grant scheme under Section 8, w.e.f. 1 January 2000).
To date, 117,256 of these jobs have been achieved with approximately 65 per cent. of projects completed. The jobs achieved will increase as further projects are completed.
It is not policy to continue monitoring firms once the conditions of an offer of grant have been met.
Schemes under Section 8 are not primarily targeted on job creation and no forecasts have been made.
Further details on the schemes operating under Sections 7 and 8 can be found in the Industrial Development Act Annual Report, published by The Stationery Office.
Internet Banking
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what work her Department is doing with banks to improve the security of internet banking. [136170]
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Mr. Timms: Security of Internet Banking services is a matter for the individual banks concerned and falls within the overall regime for the conduct of banking operations which is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Department promotes the security of business processes and transactions generally and is thus in regular contact with individual banks and the Association for Payment and Clearing Services (APACS). The banking sector has been an important contributor to the development of tScheme which is committed to improving trust in electronic commerce. TScheme was created in response to the Electronic Communications Act 2000.
The financial sector, including internet banking, is one of the business sectors targeted as part of the UK's critical information infrastructure policy which is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary. I understand that there are regular contacts between the banking sector and the National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Centre to develop and implement policy in this area.
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the visits made by Ministers in her Department in each of the last five years, broken down by constituency. [136918]
Ms Hewitt: These details are not held centrally and to provide the information would be only at disproportionate cost in terms of financial and physical resource.
Policyholders Protection Act 1975
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on reform of the Policyholders Protection Act 1975 resulting from the case of Aitken v. Financial Services Compensation Scheme Ltd., 30 May, SL7 OH Court of Session. [136826]
Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.
The courts have upheld the Financial Services Compensation Scheme decision in the case of Aitkin v. Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The Government see no reason to depart from our current policy as a result of the ruling.
Post Office
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the Post Office network income from clients for each year since 1997, broken down by main source. [138773]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is an operational matter for the Post Office. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which (a) local authorities and (b) housing associations used the Post Office for the payment of (i) rent and (ii) insurance premiums for home contents policies in each year since 1997. [137704]
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Mr. Timms: We do not collect the information requested, which is an operational matter for the Post Office, and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Post Office Card Account
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which company operates the systems for the Post Office Card Account; and what safeguards have been put in place to ensure the adequate data protection of personal data of account holders where those data are transmitted outside the UK. [138796]
Mr. Timms: These are matters that fall within the day-to-day responsibility of Post Office Ltd. and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Post Office Subsidy Scheme
John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much of the Sub-Post Office Start-Up Capital Subsidy scheme has been spent to date, broken down by region. [138897]
Mr. Timms: I understand from Post Office Ltd, who administer the Scheme on my Department's behalf, that payments totalling £1,238,722.18 had been made to the end of September 2003, the latest date to which data is available. As at the same date, the total value of grants approved was £1,712,811.62. I also understand that details of grants approved and paid are not recorded by region but are available on a country basis and that payments totalling £151,401.98 had been made to sub post offices in Scotland as at the end of September 2003.
Post Offices (Closure)
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many urban post offices have been (a) proposed and (b) approved for closure since the inception of the network reinvention scheme in (i) West Chelmsford parliamentary constituency and (ii) mid-Essex. [137154]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 12 November 2003]: Proposals for post office closures and final decisions on them, following public consultation under the Code of Practice, are operational matters for Post Office Ltd. I am advised by Post Office Ltd that data on urban reinvention proposals and closures is not available in the form requested as the company does not require this data for operational reasons. However, I understand that since March 2000 the company has recorded details of post office closures, including those under the urban reinvention programme, which commenced in late 2002, on the basis of Government Region. In the East of England Region as a whole, there have been 43 closures under the urban reinvention programme to the end of September 2003, the latest quarter for which figures are currently available.
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