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15 Dec 2003 : Column 641W—continued
Financial Advisers
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the development of an international kitemark for financial advisers by the International Standards Organisation. [142846]
Ms Hewitt: The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) is developing voluntary standards in the field of personal financial planning. The aim of the standards is to provide an international benchmark for financial planners to work towards and to increase recognition of the financial planning process to ultimately benefit the consumer. The UK member of ISO is the British Standards Institution (BSI) which is independent of Government. The current draft standards are available from BSI for public comment until 4 January 2004.
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Financial Journalism
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on her assessment of the probable consequences of the proposed EU legislation regarding investment services for financial journalism. [142844]
Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.
Article 6 (5) of the EU's Market Abuse Directive requires member states to adopt appropriate regulation governing the production and dissemination of investment recommendations. The regulation has to ensure that those making investment recommendations or disseminating such recommendations take reasonable care to present the information fairly and disclose any interests or conflicts of interest they have relating to the relevant financial instruments. Recital 22 to the Market Abuse Directive indicates that appropriate regulation in relation to Article 6 (5) can include appropriate mechanisms for self regulation. The technical arrangements for compliance with Article 6 (5) were set out in an implementing measure agreed by the European Securities Committee on 29 October.
The Treasury will issue a consultation document next year on proposals to transpose the Market Abuse Directive and its implementing measures into UK legislation. At this stage it is expected that the consultation document will outline proposals that journalists either producing or disseminating investment recommendations will be subject to self-regulatory mechanisms. This approach should enable traditional media freedoms in the UK to be maintained while supporting market integrity.
Food Supplements
Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the EU meetings held in 2003 which (a) Ministers and (b) officials from the Department have attended where the maximum permitted level of nutrients in food supplements was discussed; and if she will make a statement. [141412]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Parliamentary Under-secretary of State for Health on 3 December 2003, Official Report, columns 76–77.
Internet
Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will estimate the number of people over 60 years of age who are connected to the internet. [143524]
Mr. Timms: According to the July 2003 ONS Omnibus Survey, 22 per cent. of people over the age of 60, an estimated 2.7 million, use the internet.
ISO 9001:2000
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how she will ensure that more than the estimated 20 per cent. of United Kingdom companies comply with ISO 9001:2000 before 15 December. [140664]
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Ms Hewitt: My Department does not collect information on companies certified to the ISO 9000 standards. However figures produced by the International Standards Organisation indicate that, in December 2002, there were 60,960 ISO 9000 certifications in the UK. Companies have had three years notice that the transition period for the migration of accredited certification, from the 1994 editions of the standard to ISO 9001:2000, would end on 14 December 2003. My Department has provided information about the new edition on its website. From the information my officials have received from representatives of certification bodies, about 90 per cent. of their UK customers are expected to make the transition successfully by the due date.
Job Creation
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many jobs her Department (a) created and (b) safeguarded in each year since 1997, broken down by (i) local authority region and (ii) region; and what the cost per job was in each instance. [143138]
Jacqui Smith: Information on the Department's principal scheme (Regional Selective Assistance) for job creation and safeguarding is given as follows, by region. Similar information by local authority region is not available.
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Joined-up Government
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list (a) joint targets and (b) areas of joint responsibility between her Department and each other Government Department. [143141]
Ms Hewitt: The information requested is as follows:
The Department's Public Service Agreement targets from the 2002 Spending Review include the following joint targets:
- Demonstrate progress by 2006 on the Government's long term objective of raising the rate of UK productivity growth over the economic cycle, improving competitiveness and narrowing the productivity gap with the US, France and Germany. "Joint target with HM Treasury"
- PSA Target 4
- (part) ... improve the environment and the sustainable use of natural resources, including through the use of energy saving technologies, to help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 per cent. from 1990 levels and moving towards a 20 per cent. reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2010. "Joint target with Department for Food and Rural Affairs"
- PSA Target 5
- Secure agreement by 2005 to a significant reduction in trade barriers leading to improved trading opportunities for the UK and developing countries. "Joint target with the Department for International Development and Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)"
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- PSA Target 7
- Make sustainable improvements in the economic performance of all English regions and over the long term reduce the persistent gap in growth rates between the regions, defining measures to improve performance and reporting progress against these measures by 2006. "Joint target with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and HM Treasury"
- PSA Target 10
- In the three years to 2006, taking account of the economic cycle, increase the employment rate and significantly reduce the difference between the overall employment rate and the employment rate of ethnic minorities. "Joint target with Department for Work and Pensions"
- PSA Target 11
- Deliver a measurable improvement in the business performance of UK Trade & Investment's customers; and maintain the UK as the prime location in the European Union (EU) for foreign direct investment. "Joint target with FCO"
- In addition, "PSA target 10" requires the DTI to work with all departments to bring about measurable improvements in gender equality across a range of indicators.
- (b) Areas of joint responsibility
- The Department has joint working arrangements with a number of government departments across a wide range of its activities. Examples include UK Trade and Investment, a joint DTI/FCO organisation which has as its objective the enhanced competitiveness of companies in the UK through overseas sales and investments and a continuing high level of quality foreign direct investment; the dual support system by which the DTI and DfES provide funding for university research; the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage by the Inland Revenue; and the "business.gov" programme, through which the Small Business Service, a DTI agency, is working with departments and organisations such as Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise and the Health and Safety Executive to develop more joined-up customer-focused services for business.
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