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Energy Supplies

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent assessment she has made of (a) gas and (b) oil reserves in the North Sea. [165079]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 1 April 2004]: The Department carries out an annual exercise to assess the likely levels of remaining North Sea oil and gas reserves. The results of this exercise are published on DTI's Oil and Gas website at www.og.dti.gov.uk.

The latest estimates are as at the end of 2002 and total remaining reserves (including the undiscovered) are estimated to lie in the range of some 934—2984 billion cubic metres of gas and 951—3606 million tonnes of oil.

Updated estimates, of remaining reserves as at end 2003, are due to be published on the website this summer.

Export Assistance

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how her Department assists North West businesses to export. [154338]

 
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Mr. Mike O'Brien: Government assistance is provided by UK Trade & Investment, a joint DTI and FCO organisation with its own Chief Executive. I have Ministerial responsibility, reporting to the Secretaries of State for both Departments.

UK Trade & Investment delivers through Business Links in the English Regions. Companies which would benefit from export support can access a full range of services from market research to grants to exhibit at trade fairs and exhibitions overseas via their local Business Link International Trade Team. In doing so they gain access to UK Trade & Investment's Global Network of over 200 offices in 137 countries.

A key programme, "Passport to Export", aimed at new to export companies, has proved particularly successful. It provides a framework that guides businesses through a structured series of activities including a diagnostic or business healthcheck, bespoke export training, initial market research and a first market visit. Currently around 500 North West companies are on this programme.

Manufacturing

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people were employed in the manufacturing sector in the East Riding of Yorkshire in each year since 1999. [165048]

Jacqui Smith: Latest published data for employment in the manufacturing sector in the East Riding of Yorkshire for years since 1999 is as follows:

Year	Manufacturing Employment
1999	21,181
2000	20.536
2001	18,314
2002	17,717

Source: Annual Business Inquiry

Data for 2003 will be published in December 2004.

National Minimum Wage

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many workers in Birkenhead have benefited from the national minimum wage. [166494]

Mr. Sutcliffe: It is not possible to provide estimates specifically for Birkenhead. However, based on the Office for National Statistics' Low Pay data released in 2003, the DTI estimates that around 140,000 people in the North West stood to benefit from the introduction of the national minimum wage in April 1999.

The DTI estimates that between 210,000 and 240,000 people in the North West stand to benefit from the October 2004 uprating of the National Minimum Wage.

Nuclear Decommissioning

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the effect of the cost of nuclear decommissioning over the next 10 years on the price of energy to consumers. [165501]

Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 March 2004, Official Report, column 1180W.
 
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Nuclear Materials (Security)

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions she has had with the Office of Civil Nuclear Security in respect of the adequacy of security arrangements (a) at nuclear installations and (b) for nuclear materials in transit. [166037]

Mr. Timms: My officials are in frequent contact with the Office for Civil Nuclear Security about security arrangements at civil nuclear sites and in respect of nuclear materials in transit.

It is not Government policy to disclose the substance of those discussions since such information may be of potential use to terrorists. However, the Director of Civil Nuclear Security publishes an annual report on the state of security in the civil nuclear industry and the effectiveness of security regulation, and meets me to discuss this. His next report is due this summer.

Nuclear Weapons

Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency in the verification of the nuclear safeguard arrangements required under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. [165803]

Nigel Griffiths: The DTI provides the UK Governor to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and through membership of the IAEA Board of Governors the UK takes a full part in considering the implementation and development of IAEA safeguards. Since weaknesses in the then existing system of safeguards were exposed in the early 1990s, I am advised the IAEA has developed new and powerful safeguards measures, in particular to strengthen its ability to detect undeclared nuclear activities in non-nuclear weapon states. Such measures include those specified in the Model Additional Protocol to safeguards agreements, approved by the Board of Governors in May 1997. The UK has fully supported the work of the IAEA in this regard and our assessment continues to be that its safeguards verification activities are the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime and that a Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement in combination with an additional protocol thereto, should be considered the new verification standard for non-nuclear weapon states under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Tribunals

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if she will issue guidance to tribunals on the test of reasonableness in relation to the award of costs between parties; [165695]

(2) what plans she has to review the guidance she gives to tribunals on costs where an employee wins the case but is left with costs higher than the compensation awarded; and if she will make a statement. [165696]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Costs are not awarded at employment tribunals, except in cases where a party or a party's representative has, in conducting the proceedings, acted vexatiously, abusively, disruptively or otherwise unreasonably, or where the bringing or conducting of the case has been misconceived. The awarding of costs is a matter for the employment tribunals themselves, acting in
 
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their capacity as independent judicial bodies and in accordance with their regulations and rules of procedure. It is not for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to issue guidance on the level of costs that should be awarded in specific cases.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Derelict Land

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will estimate the number of sites designated as derelict land, broken down by region; and what the area of each such site is. [165738]

Keith Hill: I have been asked to reply.

The table shows the number of derelict land sites reported by local authorities to the 2002 National Land Use Database of Previously Developed Land. It also shows estimated areas of derelict land, after making an allowance for incomplete returns. Because of this allowance average site sizes cannot be calculated by dividing the estimated areas by the numbers of sites reported.
Derelict land and buildings: numbers of sites and area,England 2002

Region	Number of Sites reported	Estimated total area (hectares)
North East	560	1,630
North West	1,970	5,610
Yorkshire & the Humber	900	3,270
East Midlands	770	2,470
West Midlands	870	1,710
East of England	630	1,740
London	490	460
South East	610	1,430
South West	680	1,630
England	7,470	19,960

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