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30 Mar 2004 : Column 1361W—continued
Business Link
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the performance of Business Link. [163322]
Nigel Griffiths: The performance of BL continues to grow strongly. More customers are using BL services then ever before—330,000 businesses last year and at the same time, they are becoming increasingly satisfied—with the quality of the services they are receiving.
The latest performance results (up to the end of Quarter 3 of 2003–04) show that market penetration has already reached the full year target of 27 per cent—with more than double the number of businesses helped this year compared to the same point two years ago and customer satisfaction is still rising and now stands at 87 per cent.
Consumer and Investor Protection
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will break down how the funding for (a) miscellaneous consumer protection and (b) investor protection listed in her Departmental Report 2003 was allocated in 2003–04; and what amounts were allocated in each year since 1997. [147812]
Mr. Sutcliffe: A number of items are included under "Miscellaneous Consumer Protection" including:
| 2002–03 | 2003–04 | |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer Safety (inc. grant-in-aid for ROSPA) | 3.4 | 1.0 |
| Economic Consumer Protection | 1.1 | 4.2 |
| Consumer Information | 2.1 | 2.4 |
| Modernisation Fund(26) | 6.6 | 6.3 |
(26) The Modernisation Fund is intended to improve the capability and effectiveness of the trading standards service in consumer protection enforcement.
Similarly investor protection covers several items, including:
| 2002–03 | 2003–04 | |
|---|---|---|
| Costs: Disqualification of Directors | 13.0 | 16.9 |
| Companies house late filing penalties | 2.4 | 2.4 |
| Financial Reporting Council | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| Repayments to Treasury solicitors(27) | 1.4 | 1.7 |
| S447 inquiries by outside investigators | 1.1 | 1.1 |
(27) Payments for professional services in connection with company investigations, including the costs of hiring counsel.
Unfortunately changes in the DTI's accounting system, and changes in responsibility within the Department make it impossible, except at disproportionate cost, to give a consistent breakdown of figures on this basis back to 1997. However drawing on figures from past DTI Expenditure Plans Reports, the sums allocated to these areas since 1997 are:
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| Miscellaneous consumer protection | Investor protection | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 8.0 | 17.4 |
| 1998–99 | 3.2 | 21.6 |
| 1999–2000 | 3.2 | 19.3 |
| 2000–01 | 10.7 | 22.1 |
| 2001–02 | 11.8 | 23.0 |
| 2002–03 | 17.1 | 23.0 |
| 2003–04 | 15.0 | 23.2 |
Equal Pay Reviews
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many employers, and in which sectors, have conducted equal pay reviews in each year for which figures are available. [163542]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Research published by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) in 2003 has found that 36 per cent. of large organisations (500 or more employees) in their main survey had either conducted an equal pay review (EPR), were in the process of conducting one, or were planning to do so before the end of 2003. 27 per cent. of medium-sized organisations (100–499 employees) had conducted, were conducting, or were planning to conduct an EPR by the end of 2003.
There is no information available on which sectors have conducted equal pay reviews, nor is there information available on organisations conducting pay reviews prior to 2003. However, the EOC survey found that in the manufacturing sector 57 per cent. of organisations had an equal pay policy, in the private services sector 54 per cent. had a policy and in the public sector 69 per cent. had an equal pay policy.
Government Procurement
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to ensure that procurement by the Government supports innovation within UK manufacturing. [163568]
Ms Hewitt: This Government are committed to British manufacturing and helping manufacturers in Britain to compete successfully for public contracts.
That is why the my right hon. Friend Prime Minister has asked me to chair a cross-government ministerial team to deliver the agenda set out in the Government's Innovation Report, building on work to identify areas where public procurement can better facilitate innovation and how this can be achieved, particularly through developing guidance for public procurers on how to procure innovative solutions and working with NHS Estates to draw innovation through the supply chain.
This is also why in October 2002 this Government launched their Defence Industrial Policy, which commits us to become more innovative in the awarding of major defence contracts and which was the context for the decision to award the contract for Hawk.
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Interest Rate Controls
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she expects the research on the way interest ceilings work in other EU countries will be completed. [164656]
Mr. Sutcliffe: We expect to complete and publish in late spring 2004 research into the way that interest rate controls have worked in other countries.
Job References
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what requirements are in place to ensure that job references provided by employers are accurate and not misleading; what assessment she has made of the adequacy of remedies for those who may be a victim of an inaccurate reference and may be temporarily unemployed as a consequence, with particular reference to the cost of obtaining a remedy; and if she will make a statement. [164083]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Employees can take action in the employment tribunals if they consider that a reference discriminates against them unlawfully, for instance on grounds of sex or sexual orientation. Employers also have a common law duty to take reasonable care in supplying references. An employee provided with a misleading or inaccurate reference could consider taking action in the civil courts against its supplier. The Department has made no specific assessment of the potential cost involved in seeking redress for a misleading reference or the remedies available.
National Minimum Wage
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the number of low paid workers who will directly benefit from the increase in the minimum wage in (a) the constituency of Ogmore, (b) Bridgend county borough and (c) Wales. [164554]
Mr. Sutcliffe: It is not possible to provide estimates specifically for the constituency of Ogmore or Bridgend county borough. Based on the Office for National Statistics' Low Pay data released in 2003, the DTI estimates that between 90,000 and 110,000 people in Wales stand to benefit directly from the October 2004 uprating of the National Minimum Wage (that was recently announced).
Post Office Card Account
Mr. Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will take steps to ensure that the next generation of PIN pads introduced into post offices will be fully accessible for disabled people, with particular reference to those with sight problems. [163643]
Mr. Timms: The design and operation of the Post Office card account, including the use of PIN pads, is a commercial matter for Post Office Ltd. I can confirm, however, that the Post Office is working to ensure its services are as accessible to as many customers as possible. To this end it has already made improvements to its PIN pads. It has: (i) developed a key guard for the PIN pad which clips over the unused keys to simplify its appearance and help guide customers; and (ii) added a
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raised dot to the "5" key. Further improvements are planned including: (i) producing a guide with RNIB to enhance the enter, clear and cancel keys by inserting tactile symbols next to each of these keys; (ii) different beeps for the enter, clear and cancel keys; and (iii) large print, tactile maps and audio guides to be available in post offices to assist customers to use PIN pads. The Post Office is in consultation with the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) and other representative groups about these adjustments.
Small Businesses
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Government have taken to help small businesses in Crosby since 1997. [160582]
Nigel Griffiths: In his Budget statement the Chancellor announced a number of steps to help small businesses including an increase of capital allowances to 50 per cent. and raising VAT registration threshold to 58 per cent., all of which helps Small Businesses in Crosby. In addition since 2001 the Business Link Operator for Greater Merseyside has contributed £13,700 consultancy subsidy to help 126 businesses, which includes three organisations who have shown an interest in improving their business through developing their people. Two of these are now preparing towards obtaining the Investors in People standard.
A number of organisations have taken advantage of Business Link for Merseyside's subsidised consulting programme under Objective One, one of which wished to establish a scenic/prop workshop for the film and media industry, the subsidy helped the organisation draw up a business plan and raise the finance to develop their business idea. A day Nursery who have expanded into new premises were helped by using this subsidy to help promote their new premises by a production of a new brochure. Two financial service companies have benefited, one by using the subsidy to develop their website to promote financial services, the other to obtain a network solution to provide more efficient and effective ICT services within the business. Another Merseyside company is looking to expand their business and will use the subsidy to develop a marketing plan.
One organisation has used the Business Link's Supply Chain Programme and has just signed up for a second year, part of the programme puts interested businesses on a database and matches them up with purchasers further up the supply chain, this gives the business greater opportunity to grow.
The Business Link has assisted a number of businesses to start-up, this includes helping to draw up a plan to restart a business following pregnancy of the owner, helping identify and obtain funding to allow an employee of a small business to buy out from the retiring employer, assisting a new business to access growth finance, providing an action plan to a business wishing to recycle computers to charities.
A company, started with a loan from Princes Trust approached the Euro Info Centre North West (hosted by Greater Merseyside Enterprise) for information on further European funding to develop the business into Europe. This has given the business access to further
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funding which should help it grow into Europe. Another Business has taken advantage several times of the UKTI trade mission service to develop its overseas market opportunities.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people were employed in small businesses in each of the last seven years. [163313]
Nigel Griffiths: The figure for 2003 is not yet available.
The estimated numbers of people employed in small businesses (businesses with 0 to 49 employees) in the United Kingdom private sector (including public corporations and nationalised bodies) from 1997 to 2002 are as follows:
| People (Thousand) | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 9,418 |
| 1998 | 9,652 |
| 1999 | 9,557 |
| 2000 | 9,650 |
| 2001 | 9,809 |
| 2002 | 9,911 |
These figures are available at www.sbs.gov.uk/statistics/smestats.php.
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