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20 Nov 2003 : Column 1432W—continued

Metrology

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reasons Recommendation R125 of the International Organisation of Legal Metrology on measuring systems for the mass of liquids in tanks has not been implemented. [134563]

Mr. Timms: I have not been able to answer this question before Prorogation. I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy in the Libraries of the House.

National Minimum Wage

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people in Wales will have benefited from the national minimum wage since its introduction. [140374]

Mr. Sutcliffe: We estimate that around 60,000 workers in Wales stood to benefit when the minimum wage was introduced in April 1999, and that 60,000–70,000 workers in Wales stood to benefit from the rate increases that took place in October 2003.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people have benefited from the introduction of the national minimum wage in each parliamentary constituency since its introduction; and how many (a) recorded cases and (b) successful prosecutions there have been of employers who have failed to pay the minimum wage. [140389]

Mr. Sutcliffe: It is not possible to estimate the total number of people who have benefited from the minimum wage since its introduction. This is because the actual beneficiaries are likely to change each year as people move into or from low paid jobs. It is also not possible to provide specific estimates of the number of people who have benefited from the minimum wage by parliamentary constituency. However we estimate that around 1.2 million people stood to benefit when the minimum wage was introduced in April 1999 and that 1–1.2 million people stood to benefit from the rate increases that took place last month.

Between April 1999 and October 2003 the Inland Revenue completed around 28,000 investigations and recovered around £14 million in minimum wage arrears on behalf of workers. The great majority of cases are successfully settled without the need for further enforcement action. To date there have been no criminal prosecutions of employers.

NM Rothschild and Sons Ltd.

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on services provided to her Department by NM Rothschild and Sons Ltd. since 1997. [139960]

Ms Hewitt: The Department's accounting records show that the DTI has spent £1,000 on the services of NM Rothschild and Sons Ltd. since 1997.

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Nuclear Reprocessing

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will place in the Library copies of the inter-governmental agreements relating to the repatriation of nuclear materials to Italy consequent upon reprocessing activities in the UK. [138316]

Mr. Timms: The inter-governmental letters referred to represent confidential correspondence between HMG and the Government of Italy. As such it would not be appropriate to accede to the hon. Member's request.

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what assessment she has made of whether proper arrangements are in place in respect of nuclear material from Italy currently in the UK for (a) their repatriation to Italy in a safe and timely way and (b) their safe storage in the UK pending dispatch; and if she will make a statement; [138317]

(2) what arrangements are in place for the repatriation to Italy of (a) plutonium and (b) uranium recovered in the UK by BNFL. [138319]

Mr. Timms: The arrangements in place for reprocessing of overseas spent fuel contain options for return of wastes. The Government intend that such options should be exercised and that wastes arising from reprocessing be returned to the country of origin. It has been the practice of successive Governments to obtain, before a contract for the reprocessing of foreign spent fuel is signed, assurances from the relevant government that it will take no legislative or regulatory steps to prevent the return of wastes arising under the contract.

The adequacy of the facilities for managing those wastes is a matter for their owners and the regulatory authorities of the country concerned in accordance with the relevant legislation of that country.

We have an extremely stringent regulatory framework in place to ensure that the storage and eventual repatriation of nuclear materials conforms with all national and international regulations. Ensuring the safety of activities at nuclear installations is the highest priority for the Government and everyone involved in the UK civil nuclear industry.

Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions have been held by (a) Ministers and (b) officials with BNFL in the last two years relating to the future (i) location and (ii) storage of reprocessed nuclear fuel from Italy; and if she will make a statement. [138318]

Mr. Timms: There have been no discussions between Ministers and officials with BNFL in the last two years relating to these matters.

Nuclear Weapons

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what requirement she has placed on BNFL to report to her in advance on plans to seek contracts in the United States to help develop its nuclear weapons programme; [136718]

(2) what discussions she has held with BNFL in respect of the compatibility with articles (a) one and (b) six of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of plans

20 Nov 2003 : Column 1434W

by BNFL to bid for a contract with the United States to build and operate a nuclear administration warhead production plant at Savannah River, South Carolina. [136719]

Mr. Timms: There have been no formal discussions between my Department and BNFL on this issue. BNFL's business interests on US DOE sites through its subsidiaries relate to the environmental clean up market and not the weapons production business. The company is precluded by US Department of Energy (DOE) Security Agreements from involvement in the US defence programme.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Gower (Mr. Caton) on 13 November 2003, Official Report, column 403W.

Outsourcing

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, if she will make a statement on the number of jobs being lost in the UK from companies out-sourcing work overseas. [140025]

Ms Hewitt: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Trade and Investment on 23 October 2003, Official Report, column 667W.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, how many jobs have been out-sourced abroad in the last three years; and what estimate her Department has made of the likely numbers in the next five years. [140026]

Ms Hewitt: The Government does not have statistics on the numbers of jobs outsourced abroad in the last three years. Importantly, estimates of jobs outsourced abroad take no account of the inflows of jobs created through the UK's success in international markets.

Overseas Visitors (Wales)

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many international overnight visits were made to Wales in each of the past 10 years, broken down by country of origin, listed in descending order. [140423]

Ms Hewitt: This information is not kept by my Department.

Patents

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many patents were taken out by British universities in each of the last 20 years; how many patents funded from public services have resulted in the development of commercial products in each of the last 20 years; and how much public funding has been allocated to developing products from patents taken out by British universities in each of the last 20 years. [133824]

Ms Hewitt: I have not been able to answer this question before Prorogation. I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy in the Libraries of the House.

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Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what representations she has had from the European Federation of Journalists on the European Directive on patenting computer-related inventions; and if she will make a statement. [140196]

Ms Hewitt: The patentability of computer-implemented inventions has been the subject of a wide- ranging consultation exercise, and submissions on the proposed Directive have been received from individuals, companies and representative bodies. However we have not been able to trace any representations from the European Federation of Journalists. If you are aware of such a communication I would be grateful for further information.

Performance Monitoring

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total cost was of (a) setting, (b) monitoring and (c) measuring the performance targets for her Department in 2002–03; and how many and what grades of civil servants monitor these targets. [137951]

Ms Hewitt: Performance targets for the department were agreed as part of Spending Review 2002. The monitoring and measurement of PSA targets forms part of departmental performance management. Performance management is an integral part of the day to day running of the department, and as such it is not possible to separate the specific costs out. The monitoring of progress towards, and performance against, the department's PSA targets is undertaken by a wide variety of staff at all levels of the organisation.

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