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Manufacturing Advisory Service

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many inquiries about the Manufacturing Advisory Service have been made by firms in (a) York unitary authority and (b) Yorkshire; [135939]

(2) how many firms in (a) York unitary authority and (b) Yorkshire have taken up services offered by the Manufacturing Advisory Service; [135940]

(3) how many training events have been held by the Manufacturing Advisory Service in Yorkshire. [135941]

Jacqui Smith: The Manufacturing Advisory Service (Yorkshire and Humber) has, since its launch in May 2002 to 17 November 2003, dealt with (a) 110 inquiries from firms in the York unitary authority area; and, (b) 2,563 inquiries from firms in Yorkshire and The Humber.

In total, services offered by Manufacturing Advisory Service (Yorkshire and Humber) have been taken up by (a) 23 firms from the York unitary authority area; and (b) 547 firms in Yorkshire and The Humber.

The Manufacturing Advisory Service (Yorkshire and Humber) has held 16 training events.

Overall, the Manufacturing Advisory Service (Yorkshire and Humber) has so far delivered a total added value of 4.5 £million to firms in the region.

Market Research

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much her Department spent on (a) opinion polling and (b) market research in the last financial year; and if she will make a statement. [139983]

Ms Hewitt: The department does not centrally collect the information sought at the required level of detail and to provide it would entail disproportionate cost.

Statistical surveys to businesses and local authorities conducted by the Department and its agencies are monitored centrally to facilitate control of compliance costs to business and departmental expenditure on survey activity. It is not possible, however, to determine with any degree of accuracy which surveys fall into the categories of market and opinion research, or which contain an element of these. The answer would incur disproportionate cost because of the need to ask all Directorates in DTI to attempt to provide details of each survey and piece of research commissioned.

Mobile Phone Masts

Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the number of third generation mobile telephone masts that will be required in Surrey. [136281]

Mr. Timms: It is not possible to give a reliable estimate of the number of new masts that will be needed to fulfil the obligations of the 3G licensees, whether in total or by area. The number of masts required in an area will be affected by the level of consumer demand for 3G services, by commercial decisions related to the design of the networks, by the physical topography and by the requirements of planning authorities.

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Mobile Phones

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will issue guidance to mobile phone companies urging them to cancel mobile phone SIM cards when customers cancel contracts. [138609]

Mr. Timms: This is a matter for the mobile phone operating companies and should involve no liability for customers.

Mr. Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received regarding (a) fraud and (b) market abuse in the pre-paid mobile telephone card market; and what action she is taking. [140019]

Mr. Timms: No representations have been received regarding either fraud or market abuse in the pre-paid mobile phone card market.

There are no plans to take any action with regard to the pre-paid mobile telephone card market.

NTL Complaints

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many complaints Oftel received about NTL in the last 12 months; what action Oftel has taken in response to complaints; and when she next plans to meet the Chief Executive of NTL. [139805]

Mr. Timms: Between 1 November 2002 and 17 November 2003 Oftel received 5,202 complaints about NTL. In line with Oftel's policy of allowing telecommunications companies the opportunity to resolve complaints in the first instance, about 80 per cent. of the complaints were devolved to NTL to resolve. The remainder were handled by Oftel. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has no immediate plans to meet the Chief Executive of NTL.

Oil and Gas Industry

Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the impact on the control of the UK's oil and gas industries of the draft European Constitution; and if she will make a statement. [139420]

Mr. Timms: My 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, 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". Under the Treaty establishing the European Community, there is already Union activity in energy matters and we believe there is a strong case for making the legal base for policy in this area more transparent. However, the UK Government would not agree to any proposal that was inconsistent with UK energy interests.

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Post Office Closures

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many urban post offices in Scotland have been (a) proposed and (b) approved for closure since the inception of the Network Reinvention Scheme. [139024]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 17 November 2003]: 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 and country. It does not record details of proposals on this basis. In Scotland, there have been 28 closures under the urban reinvention programme to the end of September 2003, the latest quarter for which figures are currently available.

Post Offices (Benefit Payments)

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the volume of transactions across post office counters was (a) in total, (b) for child benefit payments, (c) for pensions payments, (d) for Veterans Agency pensions and (e) for Jobcentre Plus in the last year for which figures are available. [139672]

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.

Printer Cartridges

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will place in the Library copies of correspondence between her Department and the European Commission concerning the status of printer cartridges within the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. [139197]

Mr. Timms: There has been no written correspondence on this subject between the Government and the Commission.

Radio Frequency Identifier Devices

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with retailers about the use of radio frequency identifier devices. [140030]

Mr. Timms: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has not met with retailers specifically to discuss the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) devices.

DTI supports wider and innovative use of RFID as a business technology that can bring significant productivity improvements, reduce the opportunity for crime and enhance customer service. Demonstrator projects have been funded under the Basic Technologies and Next Wave programmes investigating RFID applications in retail, supply chain, construction and transport sectors.

DTI also seeks to identify and spread best practice, and better inform consideration of, RFID technologies by working with the Auto-Identification Manufacturers trade association (AIM UK) and sector specific fora such

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as the British Retail Consortium, the Buildings Research Establishment and the Institute of Logistics and Transport.

Red Tape

Mr. Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures she is taking to reduce the administrative burden on small businesses. [139901]

Nigel Griffiths: I can confirm today that the small company audit exemption threshold will be raised to the EU maximum of £5.6 million. This will mean 69,000 companies will be added to the 822,000 already able to make their own decision about whether to have their accounts audited. This is expected to save companies at least £94 million a year.

The recent OECD review of EU countries shows the UK has almost the lowest administration cost and few regulations for entrepreneurs than any other EU country.

We are seeking further improvements through Regulatory Impact Assessments, 'Think Small First' and 'Small business Europe', which promotes better regulation.

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