| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
4 Mar 2004 : Column 1076W—continued
Enterprise Shows
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry where enterprise shows have been held this year; and what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of enterprise shows in encouraging business start-up. [157234]
Nigel Griffiths: As stated in the Government's l Action Plan for Small Business, we are collaborating with the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) to run a programme of enterprise shows which are being planned.
- 1 A government action plan for small business : making the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business, published by DTI January 2004 (DTI/Pub 6993/10k/01/04/NP. URN 03/1592).
Export Licences
Mr. Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many export licences have been granted for the delivery of gas centrifuges or parts thereof over the last five years; and in respect of which countries. [158063]
Nigel Griffiths: Since May 1997, the Government have published an Annual Report on Strategic Export Controls containing details of all goods authorised for export from the UK and to which destinations. Copies of the Annual Report (up to and including 2002) are available from the Libraries of the House. Details of export licences approved in 2003 will be published later this year in the 2003 Annual Report. The annual report summary for the goods in question is 'Uranium isotope separation equipment'.
4 Mar 2004 : Column 1077W
Internet Security
Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures her Department is taking to ensure that small businesses are adequately protected from internet hackers and fraudsters. [157809]
Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Member to my answer given to the hon. Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O'Brien), on 1 March 2004, Official Report, columns 633–34W.
Miners' Compensation
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the death of a miner after a filed compensation claim changes the claim's level of priority, with particular reference to the status of the miner's wife. [157218]
Non-departmental Public Bodies
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list (a) executive non-departmental public bodies and (b) advisory non-departmental public bodies sponsored by her Department; and what budget was set for each year between 1998 and 2008. [155323]
Ms Hewitt: The Department's Executive and Advisory NDPBs are listed in the Cabinet Office's annual publication "Public Bodies".
The following bodies have been formed as Executive or Advisory NDPBs since 1 April 2003 and will be included in the Public Bodies 2004.
- Competition Service—Executive NDPB
- Hearing Aid Council—Executive NDPB
- Advisory Committee on Carbon Abatement Technologies—Advisory NDPB
- Sustainable Energy Policy Advisory Board—Advisory NDPB
- UK National Authority Advisory Group—Advisory NDPB
Budgets for individual NDPBs, which may reflect income in addition to Grant in Aid, are typically settled in separate corporate or business planning discussions. Details could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
However, Grant in Aid support for these bodies is published annually in DTI's entry in Central Government Supply Estimates (Main Supply Estimates).
Grant in Aid for future years will be published annually in Central Government Supply Estimates (Main Supply Estimates).
Copies of "Public Bodies" and the Department's estimates are available in the Libraries of the House.
Nuclear Decommissioning
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the cost of (a) building, (b) operating and (c) decommissioning (i) next generation nuclear and (ii) combined cycle gas turbine facilities. [158561]
4 Mar 2004 : Column 1078W
Mr. Timms: The Department has published estimates of the cost of electricity generation from a variety of technologies, including next generation nuclear and combined cycle gas turbine facilities. These are contained in a report published in February 2002 available at: www.dti.gov.uk/energy/greenhousegas/index.shtml.
The Performance and Innovation Unit at the Cabinet Office also published similar estimates in its 2001 Energy Review. These are available at: www. number-10.gov.uk/su/energy/l.html
One NorthEast(UK Land Estates Partnership Deal)
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the value was of the assets of One North East which were included in the partnership deal with UK Land Estates; and what the value of contracts placed with UK Land Estates by ONE has been since its commencement. [157047]
Nigel Griffiths: The contractual documentation for the limited partnership, which is proposed will be called North East Property Partnership, is not yet complete.
The Agency has placed no contracts with the partnership to date as it has yet to come into existence.
Parliamentary Questions
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many parliamentary questions have been tabled to her Department since 1 January 2003, broken down by (a) ordinary written and (b) named day; what percentage in respect of (a) were answered within 10 working days; and what percentage in respect of (b) were answered by the specified date. [157746]
Ms Hewitt: The following figures are for the whole of the 2002–03 sessions. Of the 2,867 ordinary written questions, 2,706 (94 per cent.) were answered within 10 working days. Of the 723 named day written questions, 247 (34 per cent.) received a substantive reply on the named day.
Post Office
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average percentage decline in post office business between March 2000 and March 2003 was for post offices in (a) the top 10 per cent.of urban deprived wards and (b) urban areas; and what percentage of the decline during that period she attributes to changes in the benefits system. [156482]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 26 February 2004]: The information sought relates to operational matters and I have asked the Chief Executive of Post Office Ltd. to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much money has been paid in compensation to sub-post masters and mistresses of closing post offices; and how many post offices have been closed in each of the last five years. [158586]
4 Mar 2004 : Column 1079W
Mr. Timms: I understand from Post Office Ltd. that net closures of post offices in each of the last five years were:
| Year to end March | |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 233 |
| 2000 | 382 |
| 2001 | 547 |
| 2002 | 262 |
| 2003 | (5)345 |
(5) Including 102 closures under the urban reinvention programme which commenced in October 2002.
Compensation is paid only to those subpostmasters whose office close under the terms of the urban reinvention programme. Post Office Ltd. produces data on branch closures, including those under the urban reinvention programme, on a quarterly basis. The total amount paid in compensation to subpostmasters in respect of the 694 post offices closed under the urban reinvention programme to end December 2003, the latest quarter for which this information is available was £38,111,410.
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the part played by (a) Postwatch and (b) Post Office Limited in the Urban Network Reinvention Programme. [158594]
Mr. Timms: Post Office Ltd.'s urban reinvention programme is essential if a viable and sustainable countrywide post office network is to be maintained and to meet the changing needs of customers. The company will ensure that at the end of the programme, at least 95 per cent. of the population in urban areas will still live within a mile of their nearest post offices.
Postwatch has an important role in the programme in examining each individual closure proposals and monitoring the programme overall. I understand that, of some 1,600 closure proposals notified to them, over 200 have been withdrawn, deferred or modified during or after the consultation process.
Although the vast majority of urban reinvention closure proposals have attracted little criticism, concerns expressed about the consultation arrangements led me to ask Post Office Ltd. to review the arrangements and to propose changes to make them more inclusive and responsive. These changes were announced in my written statement of 5 February.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |