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26 Apr 2004 : Column 731W—continued
State Aid
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 30 March 2004, Official Report, column 1363W, on state aid, what definition she uses of the term block exemption; and how many applications from each region were turned down by the Department of Trade and Industry and not passed on to the European Commission. [167402]
Mr. Sutcliffe: For state aid purposes a block exemption is a Commission Regulation which allows member states to implement state aid schemes complying with stipulated conditions without obtaining advance approval from the Commission. However, member states are obliged to inform the Commission of such schemes within 20 working days of their coming into force. Block Exemption Regulations exist covering aid to SMEs (recently extended to include research and development), aid for training and aid for employment.
DTI's role is to advise those contemplating introducing state aid schemes and to help them with the notification process. It forwards all notifications to the European Commission via the United Kingdom Permanent Representation to the European Communities, sometimes after amendment in consultation with the aid scheme administrators. The Department does not turn down notifications, although on some occasions an aid scheme administrator may withdraw a notification on advice from DTI that the proposed aid scheme would not comply with the terms of the relevant state aid rules and would not therefore be approved by the Commission.
Burnley
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the effects of the EU Social Chapter on the residents of Burnley. [167897]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The residents of Burnley have benefited from the EU Social Chapter by having their employment rights extended to include:
the right to parental leave which gives parents the right to 13 weeks unpaid leave at the birth or adoption of a child;
the entitlement of part-time workers to the same pro-rata terms and conditions of employment as full time workers, thereby removing any discrimination and improving the quality of part-time jobs;
the provision that once a prima facie case has been made in an employment tribunal claim, the burden of proof is placed on the defendant (usually the employer), who will need to demonstrate that sex discrimination has not occurred;
rights under the Fixed Term Work Directive that provide equal treatment and prevent abuse of fixed term contracts;
rights under the European Works Council Directive which requires companies with at least 1,000 employees in total and at least 150 workers in each of the two member states, to establish structures for consulting workers on issues that affect them and;
in addition, the Information and Consultation of Employees Directive to be implemented in the UK by March 2005, establishes a right to new minimum standards for workforce communication and involvement in large firms.
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many and what percentage of women in Burnley have taken 26 weeks maternity leave since 1997. [167896]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Take-up of maternity leave is not recorded centrally. It is possible to make an estimate of the numbers of women taking maternity leave based on employer returns to Inland Revenue for payment of Statutory Maternity Pay (since 2003 this has covered the first 26 weeks of leave). However, figures for the take-up of SMP are not available on a regional basis.
In addition, there will be some women who will qualify for maternity leave but not SMP (because they do not meet the earnings criteria) and similarly some who qualify for SMP but not leave (because they are employed earners for the purposes of SMP but not employees in order to qualify for leave).
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the benefits to residents of Burnley of new rights for night-shift workers. [167898]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Working Time Regulations came into force on 1 October 1998. The regulations limit working time to 48 hours per week averaged over a 17-week reference period. For night workers the limit is eight hours per day on average, including overtime where it is part of a night worker's normal hours of work. There is no opt-out from the night working time limit.
Night workers are entitled to 11 hours rest between working days, one day's rest per week, and a 20-minute in work rest break if the working period is longer than six hours.
All night workers should be offered a free health assessment before they start working nights and thereafter at regular intervals for as long as they are working nights. The health assessments should take account of the nature of the work and the restrictions on a worker's working time under the regulations. Workers who suffer from problems as a result of working at night, should as far as practicable be offered alternative day work.
All workers are entitled to four weeks paid annual leave. There is no specific data available for night shift workers in Burnley.
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many residents of Burnley qualify for paid leave entitlements. [167899]
Mr. Sutcliffe: All workers resident in Burnley qualify for paid annual leave entitlements; at least four weeks as set but in the Working Time Regulations. While all women are entitled to 26 weeks ordinary maternity leave, only those who meet the eligibility criteria will be able to claim statutory maternity pay for that period.
All employees in Burnley who are eligible will be entitled to take statutory paternity leave with pay and statutory adoption leave with pay.
26 Apr 2004 : Column 733W
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many residents of Burnley have benefited from a reduction of the working week to 48 hours. [167900]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Working Time Regulations provide workers with the right to refuse to work more than 48 hours on average, if they do not want to. Numbers for Burnley are not available, however it has been estimated that around 300,000 workers resident in the north west stood to benefit from the introduction of the weekly working time limits in 1998.
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many new businesses have started up in Burnley since 1997; [167892]
(2) how many new businesses have been established in Burnley since 1997. [167894]
Nigel Griffiths: Barclays Bank's latest survey of business creation includes non-VAT registered firms and shows that there were 115,000 business start-ups in England and Wales, including 2,600 in Lancashire county (which contains the constituency of Burnley), in the fourth quarter of 2003. The latest yearly figures show 465,000 business start-ups in England and Wales in 2003. This represents a 19 per cent. increase on the year before. There were 10,200 business start-ups in Lancashire county in 2003. Data for counties are not available for before 2003.
DTI figures based solely on VAT registrations for Burnley local authority (which covers the same area as the constituency of Burnley) are shown in the table for
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the period 1997 to 2002. Data for 2003 will be available in autumn 2004.
| Burnley | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 170 |
| 1998 | 180 |
| 1999 | 180 |
| 2000 | 205 |
| 2001 | 205 |
| 2002 | 205 |
Source:
Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2002, Small Business Service.
VAT registrations do not capture all start-up activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1997. Similarly, businesses that de-register will not necessarily have closed. Only 1.8 million out of 3.8 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2002.
Cammell Laird
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action she intends to take against directors of Cammell Laird at the point when the company was moved into administration. [167503]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 22 April 2004]: There are a number of Cammell Laird companies which have gone into insolvency proceedings during 2001 and 2003. These are:
| Insolvency proceedings | Date | |
|---|---|---|
| Cammell Laird (Merseyside) Ltd. | Administrative receivership | 11 April 2001 |
| Cammell Laird (North East) Ltd. | Administrative receivership | 11 April 2001 |
| Cammell Laird (North East) Ltd. | Voluntary liquidation | 16 July 2003 |
| Cammell Laird (Shiprepairers) Ltd. | Voluntary liquidation | 3 February 2003 |
| Cammell Laird (Teesside) Ltd. | Administrative receivership | 12 April 2001 |
| Cammell Laird (Tyneside) Ltd. | Administrative receivership | 12 April 2001 |
| Cammell Laird (Wearside) Ltd. | Administrative receivership | 20 April 2001 |
| Cammell Laird Holdings plc | Administration | 19 April 2001 |
| Cammell Laird plc | Administrative receivership | 11 April 2001 |
| Cammell Laird Properties Ltd. | Voluntary liquidation | 21 May 2001 |
| Cammell Laird Technical Services Ltd. | Administrative receivership | 12 April 2001 |
The Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 imposes a statutory time limit of two years from the date of the first insolvency proceedings, for making an application for a disqualification order. Therefore the companies which failed in 2001 are outside of this time limit.
The insolvency practitioners appointed as liquidators of the two companies which failed in 2003 have reported to the Secretary of State as they are required to do. On the basis of the information currently provided, no disqualification proceedings are being considered. Should additional information become available this decision will be reviewed to determine whether such proceedings are in the public interest.
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