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Newspaper Distribution

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the newspaper distribution network. [167512]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The arrangements for the distribution of newspapers are a commercial matter for the industry, operating within the relevant legal and regulatory framework.

Night Shift Workers

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the benefits to residents of Birkenhead of new rights for night-shift workers. [166502]

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 6 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 Birkenhead.

Post Office

Mr. Patrick Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the outcome and lessons learned review of the Post Office Urban Reinvention
 
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programme following its conclusion will include an examination of the extension of the flexibility currently covering the rural network to urban areas. [166819]

Mr. Timms: Government policy for the post office network is guided by the recommendations of the    Performance and Innovation Unit report on "Modernising the Post Office Network", published in June 2000. The report identified the different nature of the challenges facing the network in urban and rural areas, and there does not appear to be a case at present for adopting the approach being applied in rural areas to the urban network.

Rationalisation is necessary in urban areas where there are too many post offices for all of them to survive on the current levels of business available.

Recognition Ballots

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for   Trade and Industry how many allegations of intimidation by (a) trade unions and (b) employers during recognition ballots were made in the last 12 months. [166989]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Government are aware of concerns on the part of unions and employers of intimidation during recognition ballots, and sought further evidence in order to gain a better idea of the scale of the problem. Over a dozen allegations have been directly brought to my attention in the last 12 months as a result of this process, the majority of which have alleged intimidation by employers.

Wind Farms

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many planning applications for wind farms in coastal waters of the United Kingdom have been made in (a) the first round and (b) the second round; and if she will list the (i) persons and (ii) organisations who have been consulted on each application. [168093]

Mr. Timms: The Department has received 12 planning applications in relation to English and Welsh waters under the first round of offshore wind farms but none in relation to the second round. Of these six consents have been granted under the Electricity Act for the Scroby Sands, North Hoyle, Rhyl Flats, Barrow, Kentish Flats and Burbo Bank offshore wind farms and a further four have been granted Orders under the Transport and Works Act for the Lynn, Inner Dowsing, Cromer and Gunfleet Sands offshore wind farms. Consent applications for the Teesside and Shell Flats offshore wind farms are currently under consideration.

Depending whether or not the development was in English or Welsh waters either English Nature, the Countryside Agency and English Heritage or the National Assembly for Wales, the Countryside Council for Wales and Cadw Welsh Historic Monuments were consulted. Additional consultees included the Civil Aviation Authority, Crown Estate, Environment Agency, Health and Safety Executive, Ministry of Defence, Radiocommunications Agency, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Chamber of Shipping (but not in the case of Scroby Sands and North Hoyle), Royal Yachting Association (but not in the case of Scroby
 
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Sands or North Hoyle), Trinity House Lighthouse Services, National Federation of Fisherman's Organisations, the relevant local authority and sea fisheries committee and the local port or harbour authority where appropriate. Both the Chamber of Shipping and the Royal Yachting Association were added to the consultee list following representations to the Department for Transport and the DTI. In addition to those listed any organisation including members of the public can comment on planning applications as each application is subject to a formal public consultation period and must be advertised in local newspapers. All comments received will be taken into account before any decision is made on a specific proposal.

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the risk of obstruction to the Port of London from the London Array wind farm; and what representations she    has received on the issue from the maritime industry. [168356]

Mr. Timms: The developer of the London Array wind farm in seeking consent for the project must make a thorough assessment of the potential impact of the proposed installation on navigation and ports. The developer must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Secretary of State in the case of an Order under the Transport and Works Act or the Secretary of State for Transport in the case of a Coast Protection Act 1949 consent that their development, in combination with others in the vicinity, does not present a danger or significant obstruction to navigation. In reaching that decision either Secretary of State will take advice from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Port of London Authority. Any other organisation or person who has an interest in the matter may make representations to the relevant Minister which will be taken into account in the decision-making process.

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the   extent of interference with maritime navigational instruments from wind farms placed in UK territorial waters. [168357]

Mr. Timms: It is important that wind farms do not compromise safety by interfering with ship or search and rescue communications systems. The Government have given an assurance in the House of Lords that it will carry out a study on this subject.

The study will draw on international experience, for instance in Denmark, and we will learn as much as possible from our own installations. The offshore wind farm at North Hoyle can be used as a test facility to provide an input into the study. The study is a priority and work will begin as soon as possible.

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will require that the costs of any navigational aids required to prevent collision with windmills positioned in UK territorial waters are met by the operators of wind farms. [168358]

Mr. Timms: The costs of providing navigational aids to prevent vessels colliding with offshore installations is to be met by the developers. The General Lighthouse Authorities set the standard for such marking and will
 
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monitor its provisions. Developers may also expect to meet the reasonable costs of altering existing aids to navigation if required as a result of their installations.

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consultations she has (a) undertaken and (b) planned with maritime groups concerned about the impact of offshore wind farms on maritime navigation. [168359]

Mr. Timms: I had a useful and productive meeting with representatives of the shipping, port and marine aggregates industries on 16 March this year about the second round of offshore wind farms planned for the Greater Wash, Thames Estuary and North West.

These industries have had an opportunity to make their views known on the Department's plans for offshore wind farming. In November 2002, the Department issued a consultation paper, Future Offshore: A Strategic framework for the offshore wind industry. As a result, the Department decided that the future allocation of leases for sites for offshore wind farms would take place in a structured series of bidding rounds, following a strategic environmental assessment of the defined areas of the sea selected for potential development.

In May 2003 the Department consulted on an environmental report which assessed the impact of wind farm development in three strategic areas—the Greater Wash, outer Thames Estuary and the North West (from North Wales to the Solway Firth)—on a range of matters including maritime navigation. Following this consultation the Department asked The Crown Estate to arrange a bidding round for site leases in these three strategic areas, with the exception of a coastal strip of 8 to 13 kms wide, which was excluded because of the particular sensitivity to development of shallow coastal waters. The Crown Estate announced before Christmas last year that it had offered site leases for 15 wind farms.

The developers of these proposed wind farms must obtain statutory planning consents from Government before they can be built. The Department has already organised one workshop and is planning a series of further meetings to bring together the developers with the main stakeholders, including representatives of the maritime community, who should be consulted in preparing an environmental impact assessment of the project. When a formal planning application for the project is received the Department will consult a range of organisations including those representing shipping and port interests.

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