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24 Feb 2004 : Column 412W—continued

Broadband

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people in London have access to (a) broadband internet via satellite service and (b) average variable cost broadband; and if she will make a statement. [155272]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 23 February 2004]: Broadband internet access via satellite is available to the vast majority of households across the UK, including in London. Terrestrial broadband internet access services, such as ADSL and cable modem, which are generally available at less than £30 per month, are available to 85 per cent. of households in the UK including the vast majority of households in the London area.

Business Link

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 2 February 2004, Official Report, column 642W, on Business Link, when her Department will publish the gross value-added measure for Business Link operators. [155356]

Mr. Win Griffiths: Initial Gross Value Added (GVA) data, covering the period April to June 2004, will be available from July 2004.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 2 February 2004, Official Report, column 642W, on Business Link, how many studies have been commissioned; what their titles are; and when they were published. [155359]

Mr. Timms: Since the introduction of Business Link there have been 17 studies which are available from the Small Business Service Analytical Unit (0114–279–4442):


















Correspondence

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will reply to the letter from the hon.

24 Feb 2004 : Column 413W

Member for Totnes of 9 December 2003 concerning Mr.Trevor Sams of Totnes and business practices on the Internet. [155099]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 23 February 2004]: My Department has no record of receiving your letter of 9 December. We now have a copy, and I will ensure you receive a response in due course.

Departmental Functions (Beer)

Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her Department's policy is on the serving of beer at official functions. [155784]

Ms Hewitt: The decision whether to serve beer at official functions is made on an event by event basis depending upon the purpose, nature and format of the function.

EU (High Level Group)

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list outstanding European Union issues due to come to the High Level Group under the International Accountancy Standards Board; what the United Kingdom position on each issue is; and what the membership of the High Level Group is. [154558]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The high level European consultative group set up to advise the International Accounting Standards Board will be made up of senior officials from European banking, securities and insurance regulators and from the accounting, banking and insurance industries. The European Commission will be an observer on the group. The group will focus specifically on certain basic issues related to the application of accounting standards to financial institutions. Copies of the press notice announcing the group have been deposited and are available for reference in the Libraries of the House.

The Government take no position on the individual technical issues but do believe that it is important for a complete package of accounting standards to be available to companies as soon as possible in view of the move to International Accounting Standards from 2005.

Fireworks

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many illegal fireworks were seized in (a) 2003 and (b) the past five years. [154887]

Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 23 February 2004]: The question is taken to refer to three areas where fireworks could be illegal, those are: (a) fireworks seized that do not comply with the British Standards (BS 7114); (b) those seized at port by Customs and Excise; and, (c) those found to be illegally stored (in unregistered premises).

With regard to (a), such information is not centrally available from Trading Standards Departments.

With regard to (b), Customs and Excise have seized the amounts set out in the following table. The figures provided are for a three year period—as information prior to April 2000 is not available.

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Individual fireworksBoxes of fireworks
April 2000 to March 20012,6818
April 2001 to March 20021425
April 2002 to March 200370227
March 2003 to December 200317,87224

The large number of fireworks seized last year can be put down to a single seizure of approx 3.5 tons (17.4000 individual fireworks) which were detected upon entry into the UK.

The figures compiled by Customs and Excise also include flares.

Finally, with regard to (c), I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on 10 November 2003, Official Report, column 146W.

Grocery Market

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment the Office of Fair Trading has made of the potential impact of encroachment by multiple stores into the convenience sector of the grocery market on (a) sustainability of the industry and (b) the independent retailers and small groups within it. [155241]

Mr. Sutcliffe: These are matters for the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) as an independent competition authority. I have asked the OFT to respond to you directly on the points raised.

Ministerial Speeches

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many speeches she made between 9 June 2003 and 1 February 2004; and where a copy of each speech can be obtained. [156155]

Ms Hewitt: I have spoken, in my Ministerial capacity, at a number of events during this period and my keynote speeches are available on the DTI website.

National Minimum Wage

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research her Department has commissioned since 1998–99 to assess the impact of the National Minimum Wage on 16 to 17-year-olds participating in Government-supported training; and if she will make a statement. [155438]

Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 23 February 2004]: Work on the position of 16 to 17-year-old workers, including those on Government-supported training, is taking place in two strands. First, the Government asked the independent Low Pay Commission in spring 2003 to consider the case for introducing a minimum wage rate for 16 to 17-year-old workers. I understand that the Commission have commissioned research and consulted widely on this issue. A copy of the Government's evidence to the Commission can be found at www.dti.gov.uk/er/nmw. We expect to receive the Commission's report by the end of this month and then to publish it, with the Government's response, around the middle of March.

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The Government have also been conducting a wider review which is looking at the financial incentives for young people to participate in education and training and the system of financial support for young people. We expect this review to report in the spring.

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