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Websites

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost in (a) financial and (b) other terms was in (i) each financial year since 1997 and (ii) 2003–04 until the latest date for which figures are

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available of (A) developing and (B) maintaining (1) his Department's website and (2) each website for which his Department is responsible; and how many (C) unique hosts and (D) hits there were in each month for each website in (iii) each financial year since 1997 and (iv) 2003–04 until the latest date for which numbers are available. [155854]

Ruth Kelly: The Treasury's public website (www.hm-treasurv.gov.uk) is run by the department's publishing and internet unit. At present, 3.5 full time equivalent staff work on web-based projects.

The direct costs of running the site over the last 12 months was £84,613.32. During this period, the site had 38 million page views and more than two million visitors. For information on costs for earlier periods, I refer the hon. member to the replies I gave the hon. member for Buckingham (John Bercow) on 23 March 2003 (Official Report, column 60W) and to the hon. member for Arundel and South Downs on 19 December 2001 (Official Report, column 321W).

The Treasury also maintains the Euro preparations website (www.euro.aov.uk') at a cost of £32,782 in the current financial year, £36,793 during 2002–03, £59,030 during 2001–02 and £30,399 during 2000–01. The site has received 1.7 million visits since the site was re-launched by the Chancellor in March 2001.

In co-operation with the Cabinet Office, the Treasury maintains the Invest to Save Budget website (www.isb.gov.uk1) at a cost of £11,515 during 2000–01, £41,959 during 2001—02, £11,116 during 2002–03 and £62,875 during 2003–04 when the website and the database of project information that is accessed through it was redeveloped.

The department is currently participating in the joint Treasury, Bank of England and Financial Services Authority financial continuity website and has paid £5,705.80 in development costs during this financial year.

Other smaller sites run and managed by the Treasury are maintained by the Publishing unit with assistance from the Information Services (Official Report, column 60W) and to the hon. member for Arundel and South Downs on 19 December 2001 (Official Report, column 321W).

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Beagle 2 Project

Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much public money was spent on the Beagle 2 project. [158577]

Ms Hewitt: The Government made a financial commitment of up to £20 million to the Beagle 2 project. The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council contributed to the Mars Express Mission through the European Space Agency's science programme and

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additionally awarded grants totalling £5 million in support of Beagle 2's science instruments and their operation. The Millennium Commission also provided £l million towards the Beagle Operations Centre.

Broadband

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what role Ofcom will have in promoting the take-up of broadband. [157243]

Mr. Timms: The Communications Act 2003 (c.21) Part 1, page 3 sets out the general duties of Ofcom in carrying out their functions, including the desirability of encouraging the availability and use of high speed data transfer services throughout the United Kingdom.

The Government believe that a competitive market is key to the successful promotion of broadband. Ofcom is continuing to promote effective and sustainable competition in the broadband market.

Ofcom is consulting on its Annual Plan until 11 March 2004. In this, Ofcom proposes to publish a broadband consumer guide in Summer 2004 to help and encourage consumers to take advantage of the choices and services available to them.

Business Output

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the level of business output in (a) the North West and (b) Lancashire was in the last year for which figures were available. [157914]

Jacqui Smith: The value of business output in 2000, measured by gross value added, and calculated as the sum of all sectors excluding the public sector, was as follows:

	£ billion
Northwest	70.8
Lancashire	13.8

Business Statistics

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many businesses registered for bankruptcy in (a) London, broken down by borough and (b) Wales, broken down by local authority, in each of the past three years. [158038]

Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 3 March 2004]: Insolvency figures are only available on the basis of the Official Receivers Office dealing with the cases, therefore it is not possible to identify precisely insolvencies in London or Wales. Both company and individual insolvencies are included in the following table, as the individual bankruptcy figures only include the self-employed along with consumer bankruptcies. Company

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insolvencies are made up of Company Compulsory Liquidations and Creditors Voluntary Liquidations of which only Company Compulsory Liquidations are available on an Official Receivers Office basis. The table

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gives annual figures for the number of individual Bankruptcies and Company Compulsory Liquidations dealt with by the Official Receivers Office in London and combined for the offices of Cardiff and Swansea.

	2001	2002	2003
Individual bankruptcies and Company Compulsory Liquidations registered at the Official Receivers Office in London
Individual bankruptcies	1,427	1,457	1,933
Company Compulsory Liquidations	911	1,147	864
Individual bankruptcies and Company Compulsory Liquidations registered at the Official Receivers Offices in Cardiff and Swansea
Individual bankruptcies	951	1,018	1,054
Company Compulsory Liquidations	167	184	169

Business Support

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what evaluation her Department has made of the regional development agency-led business support pilots in the (a) North West, (b) West Midlands and (c) East Midlands; and how these regions compare to non-participating regions. [157231]

Jacqui Smith: The independent research organisation, ECOTEC Research and Consulting Ltd., was commissioned in December 2003 to make an initial qualitative assessment of the progress of the 3 Regional Development Agency-led pilots, compared to non-participating regions.

Fieldwork for the evaluation is still in progress, and findings will be available in late spring.

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what money her Department has allocated for business support schemes; and how much of this money has gone unclaimed in each of the last five years. [149478]

Ms Hewitt: The following table shows the final net allocation for the programmes defined as Function A: Promotion of enterprise, innovation and increased productivity in the Departmental Estimates and Expenditure Plans Reports/Departmental Report for the years 1998–99 to 2002–03.

Financial year	Final allocation (£million)
1998–1999	596.4
1999–2000	647.7
2000–01	693.3
2001–02	793.4
2002–03	779.7

Under business support schemes businesses normally make applications that, where they meet the relevant scheme criteria, result in offers being made by the Department. Information on the amount of such offers which go unclaimed, in the sense that they are not taken up, is not readily available and could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.

Consumer Credit

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the highest (a) store card interest rate and (b) bank credit card rate in the UK are; and if she will make a statement on the effect on consumers of the rates charged. [159088]

Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 5 March 2004]: The Department does not collect data on the interest rates charged by lenders.

The credit market is a competitive market. It is, however, clearly important that charges for credit should be clear and that consumers understand how much they will have to pay for borrowing. The Office of Fair Trading is currently undertaking a study into the store card market, which is expected to be completed shortly. Our proposals for reform of consumer credit legislation, published in the White Paper "Fair, Clear and Competitive: the Consumer Credit Market in the 21st Century", will among other things ensure that all consumer credit advertising, including the advertising of credit cards, is clear, fair and not misleading and that APRs are advertised on a consistent basis.

The consultation period closes on 15 March 2004 and I anticipate that the new regulations should come into force on 31 October 2004.

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