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World Trade Organisation

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will remove at least two of the Singapore issues from the remaining trade negotiations in the interest of multilateral trade. [156329]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: EU Trade Ministers agreed on 2 December 2003 that the European Community should "unbundle" the four Singapore issues and explore alternative, more flexible approaches, including the possibility of removing some, or all, of the Singapore issues from the Doha Round.

The UK has made clear since before Cancun that we do not see investment and competition as priorities in the Doha Development Agenda. It is clear there is substantial opposition to negotiations on these issues in the WTO on the part of developing countries and we should take account of these views.

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Small Business Representation

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the small business representatives on each of the Department's group boards. [156680]

Nigel Griffiths: Of the current group board independent members, four have a background in small business: Richard Maudslay (Business Group Board), Patricia Calway (Fair Markets Group Board), Caroline Whitfield (Innovation Group Board) and Shahzad Khan MBE (Innovation Group Board).

Advice to DTI on the needs of small business comes from the Small Business Council (SBC) and the Ethnic Minority Business Forum (EMBF). The SBC advises on the needs of existing and potential small business in order to increase their opportunities for success and growth. It also advises on the effects on such businesses of the activities and potential activities of Government. The EMBF advises on the right help and advice that

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black and ethnic minorities need to start and successfully grow their businesses. The majority of members of both these advisory non-departmental public bodies are small business representatives. Further information on both can be found on the Small Business Service website at www.sbs.gov.uk.

Smart Award Scheme

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures she is taking to improve the effectiveness of the Smart scheme in increasing the profitability of award-winners' businesses. [155260]

Nigel Griffiths: Business Link engage with businesses in receipt of Smart as well as other SMEs to help them build their capability for growth.

UK Online for Business

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will publish the feedback received by her Department from stakeholders in UK online for business. [157242]

Nigel Griffiths: Useful feedback has been received from a variety of Intermediaries, major IT partners and business organisations on the value of the UK online for Business programme. The feedback is for internal use and is not being published.

Some objective feedback came in the form of the report published by the Economist Intelligent Unit in 2003 on e-Readiness, which described UK online for business as one of the world's strongest and most innovative government projects supporting e-business.

University Challenge Seed Funds

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when it was decided to withdraw separate funding for University Challenge Seed Funds; and why this decision was taken. [157211]

Ms Hewitt: The Government announced in July 2002 in its strategy document "Investing in Innovation— A strategy for science, engineering and technology", that it would increase the funds available for the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF). In addition it would combine funding previously allocated to University Challenge and Science Enterprise Challenge into the budget for the second round of HEIF. In this way the Government is supporting knowledge transfer in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) through a single stream of funding, alongside that for teaching and research, simplifying the funding landscape and allowing HEIs greater flexibility in targeting available resources at their identified priority areas.

£45 million has been invested in University Challenge since 1999

£78 million was invested in the first round of the Higher Education Innovation Fund (three year period)

£187 million will be invested in the second round of the Higher Education Innovation Fund (two year period)

Vehicle Disposal

Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures will be put in place

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to inform the public about the disposal of end of life vehicles in relation to the End of Life Vehicles Directive; and if she will make a statement. [157981]

Mr. Timms: A number of publicity initiatives are to be taken, at the most appropriate times, to inform the public about their rights and responsibilities in regard to end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), as a consequence of the regulations which bring the ELV Directive into effect in the UK. Aspects of the regulations to be covered by publicity include the Certificate of Destruction to be issued by authorised treatment facilities, and the entitlement to "free take-back" of ELVs, of any age, from 2007. The system which the Government is proposing to introduce to deliver this last aspect is set down in a Consultation Document, issued by the Department on 4 February, entitled the End-of-Life Vehicles (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2004, copies of which have beenplaced in the Libraries of the House.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Burma

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's contribution to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee's protection role on the Burma-Thailand border. [157617]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: In 2001–02, DFID provided £1 million to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) programme 'Care and Protection for Refugees from Burma in Thailand'. This programme was targeted towards the Burmese refugees residing in Thailand (approximately 110,000 at that time) and focused on:

ensuring the admission and reception procedures for new arrivals in Thailand adhere to international standards;

seeking access to asylum seekers at the border and working with the Thai authorities to establish a fair and transparent procedure for determining admission of new asylum seekers;

continuing to search for a durable solution for this refugee population;

facilitating, in cooperation with other UN agencies and NGOs, provision of care and social support to the refugee population;

continuing to promote accession to the 1951 Refugee Convention.

UNHCR faced many challenges during the period of activities which impacted on its ability to progress its objectives, including lack of access to both sides of the Thai-Burma border, continued insecurity in border areas of Burma, and continued problems with the definition and application of refugee admission criteria in Thailand. However, despite these constraints UNHCR continued the critical dialogue with the Government of Thailand on protection-related issues, including conducting re-registration of new arrivals and continued advocacy to prevent forced return. UNHCR also liaised with operational UN agencies and NGOs to facilitate provision of adequate living conditions within the camps. Within its care and protection activities, UNHCR implemented programmes to identify, prevent and respond to sexual and gender based violence,

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provided vocational training for refugees, educational materials for school age children, and mine risk education.

In addition to supporting UNHCR Thailand, my Department also provided £607,000 to UNHCR Burma in 2002–03. The UNHCR Burma programme focused on Repatriation and Reintegration for a target population of 86,000 returnees from Bangladesh in Northern Rakhine State. Its purpose is to help establish conditions for safe, dignified, and sustainable reintegration of Burmese refugees and to mitigate potential obstacles to successful reintegration. The programme includes monitoring of forced labour,

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issuance of identity and residency documents for new returnees, training for returnees in language and market oriented skills, health and education services through the Myanmar Mother and Child Welfare Association, and training for the authorities in refugee and human rights law.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will break down by programme his Department's £4 million allocation for the bilateral programme for Burma. [157619]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID's projected expenditure on bilateral programmes from its Burma aid framework allocation during the current financial year breaks down as follows:

	£
a. Grant to UN Administered Fund for HIV/AIDS in Burma	2,200,000
b. DFID financed Technical Assistance for work of UN HIV/Aids Fund	120,779
c. Grant to the BBC World Service Trust for Radio Soap Opera in support of HIV/AIDS education and improved livelihoods of poor people	588,972
d. Grant to NGO for Basic Health Care Programmes in Wa and Kachin	125,071
e. Grant to Christian Aid for Burmese Border Consortium food aid and relief programmes on the Thailand-Burma Border	450,000
g. Grant to World Health Organisation (WHO) for co-ordination of health services at Thailand-Burma Border	220,000
h. Small grants to civil society organisations	90,000
Total projected expenditure in 2003–04	3,794,822

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance with the supply of medicines his Department is providing for the 995 Karenni and 678 Karen internally displaced persons in the Muthraw district of Burma. [157625]

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID is not providing assistance with the supply of medicines that target internally displaced persons in the Muthraw district of Burma. We provide support, through the Small Grants Scheme managed by the British Embassy in Rangoon, for a community based organisation to operate a mobile medical clinic in Kayah State which has also visited the Muthraw district.

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