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18 Nov 2003 : Column 743W—continued
Mobile Phones
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will press mobile phone companies to standardise practice in notifying customers of unusually high mobile phone usage patterns. [138604]
Mr. Timms: This is a contractual matter between the mobile network operating companies and their customers. The Department is aware that certain operators follow this procedure but it has no current plans to press all to introduce a standardised practice.
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research her Department has conducted on the number of mobile phone customers who receive bills for mobile phone charges incurred by thieves before the customers knew that their phone had been stolen. [138605]
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received from consumer bodies about mobile phone fraud arising when SIM cards are stolen after consumers have ceased using a SIM card but not cancelled the contract for that SIM. [138608]
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will require mobile phone operators to present charging structures in a standardised format, similar to the credit card industry's Honesty Box scheme. [138615]
Mr. Timms: The Department encourages clarity and transparency in billing arrangements, but has no plans at present to impose further requirements. I welcome steps taken by the mobile network operators to simplify their pricing structures for customers.
National Minimum Wage (Midlothian)
David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people in Midlothian have benefited from the national minimum wage since its introduction. [137129]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Office for National Statistics' Low Pay data for spring 2003 only allows estimates to be made of the number of beneficiaries down to country and regional level within the UK. Using this data, the DTI estimates that between 100,000 and 120,000 people in Scotland should benefit from the increase in minimum wage rates in October 2003, the DTI estimates that between 1 and 1.2 million people should benefit in the UK as a whole.
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Phishing
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what powers there are to impose penalties on people perpetrating phishing frauds in internet banking; and what the penalties are. [138596]
Caroline Flint: I have been asked to reply.
The term "phishing" has recently been coined to refer to the practice of sending e-mails which falsely claim to originate from banks, asking customers to re-register or "re-activate" their accounts at a replica bank website, with the aim of using the information provided to transfer money out of these accounts.
This is an offence (or attempted offence) of fraud and can be prosecuted under the Theft Acts 1968 and 1978 or under the common law of conspiracy to defraud. The maximum penalty for the main fraud offences (including attempts to commit them) is 10 years' imprisonment.
Post Office and Bank of Ireland
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what regulatory approvals are necessary for the Post Office partnership with the Bank of Ireland to provide financial services to proceed. [139465]
Mr. Timms: This is a matter between the two parties concerned. The joint venture will, of course, be subject to all appropriate company and other regulations including those governing the provision of financial services.
Post Office Closures
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reasons elements of management within the Post Office are given a financial incentive to close post offices; and what percentage of post offices within their individual remits they need to close to qualify. [139210]
Mr. Timms: I understand from Post Office Ltd that their Network Development Managers working on the urban reinvention programme are paid in the same way as all other managers in Post Office Ltd. Their pay arrangements include provision for a bonus based on a combination of overall business, financial and quality results and achievement of personal objectives. Their personal objectives are structures around identifying and preparing robust network reinvention proposals for presentation to Postwatch to achieve sustainable restructuring of services in local areas, and are linked to the success in migrating customers from any branch which closes as a result to other branches in the network. There is no incentive linked to actual branch closure.
Post Office Robberies
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post office robberies occurred in each of the last three years. [139248]
Mr. Timms: These are matters that fall within the day-to-day responsibility of Post Office Ltd. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.
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Postal Services
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on promoting the use of post offices; and if she will make a statement. [139552]
Mr. Timms: The promotion of post offices is a matter for Post Office Ltd. The business plan of Post Office Ltd. reflects the commitment to attract new customers for banking at the Post Office, and to develop new business in financial services. I understand that Post Office Ltd. is providing information to customers and guidance to sub-postmasters on the range of services available at post offices. The Department for Work and Pensions is also supplying information about the payment options available to their benefit and pension customers, including those options which provide post office access.
Quality Mark Scheme
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment her Department has made of the survey on raising standards commissioned by the Quality Mark Scheme in July; and if she will use the survey to inform her review of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. [138593]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Quality Mark Scheme, announced 26 March 2002, was initially rolled out as a pilot 26 June 2002. It is expected the scheme will be tested over a three to four year period and as such no survey was conducted in July.
The Government have no plans at present to introduce an independent Quality Mark Scheme for the consumer credit market.
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act
Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what statutory investigatory powers the Department has; which ones will be superseded by use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000; and what plans she has for removing these legacy powers. [136122]
Jacqui Smith: The Department has wide investigatory powers, principally under the following legislation:
- Part 14 of the Companies Act 1985 (used to investigate the affairs of companies and related matters);
Part 11 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (used to investigate financial services matters such as insider dealing);
the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 (used to enforce against the criminal offences of unlicensed use of radio, deliberate interference, hoax calls and the sale, advertising or possession of certain restricted radio apparatus);
the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (used in criminal investigations conducted by the Department to gain access to 'special procedure' material under a court order).
The Department is a relevant public authority for the purposes of Part 2 (surveillance and covert human intelligence sources) of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and is intended also to become a designated public authority for the purposes of Chapter 2 of Part 1 (acquisition and disclosure of
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communications data). RIPA does not amend or replace any of the Department's statutory investigatory powers. However, the Department's existing powers to compel production of information will not be used to compel disclosure of communications data by service providers when (subject to Parliament's approval) Chapter 2 of Part 1 of RIPA is fully in force.
The Department's Radiocommunications Agency ['RA'], has investigatory powers under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 and related legislation. However, responsibility for management of civil radio spectrum use will pass to OFCOM on 29th December 2003 under the Communications Act 2003. The position with regard to the exercise of RA's powers is currently the same as the Department's.
Renewable Energy
Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of the additional £98 million funding for renewable energy capital grant programme to 2006 is being allocated to (a) offshore wind, (b) solar PV and (c) biomass. [139492]
Mr. Timms: A little under 50 per cent. of this funding has been committed to Round 1 offshore wind projects, reflecting the importance of offshore wind to meeting the Government's 2010 renewable energy target. It is intended that decisions on the allocation of the remaining funding will be taken in the first half of 2004.
Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much capital grant funding she will make available for large scale solar PV projects in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05. [139493]
Mr. Timms: The notional budget for Stream 2 (medium and large-scale projects) is £12 million over the first phase of the Major PV Demonstration Programme. So far, around £9 million has been allocated over five rounds, and we plan to run three further rounds in 2003–04. This will require some over-committing of funds in the expectation that a certain proportion of projects will not go ahead. Any extra funding allocation for 2004–05 will have to await the outcome of the Renewables Innovation Review around the turn of the year.
Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much private sector investment there has been in UK based solar PV manufacturing since the start of her Department's major demonstration programme phase one. [139494]
Mr. Timms: We do not have precise figures for this, but the recent announcements by Romag, Marley, BP Solar and Sharp lead us to believe that a significant UK manufacturing base is beginning to develop in response to the first phase of the Major Photovoltaic Demonstration Programme.
Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new installers were registered under her Department's solar PV major demonstration programme in (a) 2002 and (b) 2003. [139495]
Mr. Timms: Before the start of the Major Photovoltaics Demonstration Programme in April 2002, it is estimated that there were less than a dozen companies in the UK capable of doing PV installations.
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In 2002–03 the programme had 16 fully accredited and 13 provisionally accredited installers. In the first half of 2003–04 there was one further fully accredited and four more provisionally accredited installers, taking the total to 35 different installers.
Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many jobs have been created in the UK solar PV industry since the start of the major demonstration programme phase one. [139496]
Mr. Timms: We do not have precise figures for this, but the number of new installers and increases in staffing in existing design/installation companies, as well as the recent announcements by Romag and Sharp, lead us to believe that several hundred new jobs will have been created by March 2004.
Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what criteria her Department will use to assess the success of the solar PV major demonstration programme phase one. [139497]
Mr. Timms: A range of criteria will be used to assess the success of the First Phase of the Major PV Demonstration Programme, including:
- Raising awareness of PV in the UK
Achieving the target number of installations and installed capacity
Reduction in the cost of PV systems
Development of an installer base
Development of a UK PV industry
Overall value for money of the programme
Mr. Timms: At the end of 2002 the estimated total installed capacity in the UK was 4.14MWp. By the end of 2003 we expect this to have risen by at least 50 per cent.
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