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28 Apr 2004 : Column 1154W—continued
EU Social Chapter
James Purnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the effect of the EU Social Chapter on the residents of Stalybridge and Hyde. [168744]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The residents of Stalybridge and Hyde 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.
European Directives
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research her Department has carried out on the implementation of European Directives by other member states; and if she will make a statement. [169177]
Jacqui Smith: The DTI has not done any recent research on this subject. Information on transposition of EU Directives in all member states can be found on the European Commission's website at: www.europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm#transpositions.
In November 2003, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office published a report by Mr. Robin Bellis (an independent consultant) that compared transposition of EU legislation in the UK, France, Spain and Sweden—please refer to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs' statement to the House on 11 February 2004, Official Report, column 1417.
Flexible Working
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans her Department has to extend legislative provisions on flexible working. [168893]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The current Employment Relations Bill includes a technical clause to address original drafting oversights to the flexible working law concerning protections against unfair dismissal.
The Government are committed to reviewing the impact of the flexible working law and has no plans to extend the provisions of the law until after the review in 2006. Currently, the law provides eligible parents of children under six and disabled children under 18 with a legal right to apply to work flexibly. An issue that the review will consider, which my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has indicated should be a priority, is extending the law to wider groups of carers, such as carers of elderly or sick relatives.
Fund Managers
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to require fund managers to disclose how they vote at annual meetings. [168894]
Jacqui Smith:
The Government are committed to improving the voting processes in public companies as an important means of promoting better engagement by all shareholders in the companies in which they invest. We therefore welcomed Paul Myners' report to the Shareholder Voting Working Group, published on 3 February 2004.
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As we stated in the White Paper on Modernising Company Law, while in principle we believe that it would be in the public interest to require institutional investors to disclose how they have voted their shares, there are practical difficulties in implementing such a requirement through company law. We are therefore still giving detailed consideration to the Company Law Review proposals in this complex area and will set out our position in due course.
Funeral Directors
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many complaints were made to the Director General of Fair Trading concerning the conduct of funeral directors in each year since 1997; how many such complaints were investigated by the Director General in each year; how many were upheld in each year; how many funeral directors have been banned as unfit to practise by the Director General of Fair Trading since 1997; and if she will publish the list of banned funeral directors. [168665]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I will ask the Chairman of the Office of Fair Trading to write to the hon. Member.
Gas Supplies
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what assessment she has made of how much gas the UK will import in each of the five years from 2006; and if she will make a statement; [168052]
(2) what assessment she has made of the UK's total gas requirements in each of the five years from 2006; and if she will make a statement; [168053]
(3) what assessment she has made of the likely level of production of indigenous gas in each of the five years from 2006; and if she will make a statement. [168054]
Mr. Timms: The Department periodically produces projections of UK gas production and demand. Recent projections of both were published in the third report of the Joint Energy Security of Supply Working Group (available for download from http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/jess/index.shtml). Chart 3 shows of projection of annual gas production from the UK Continental Shelf together with demand projections by both DI and National Grid Transco. Later production projections for the years through to 2009 have been made and are available on the Department's Oil and Gas website at http://www.og.dti.gov.uk/information/bb updates/ chapters/section4 17.htm. These and updated projections of gas demand, which are currently being prepared by DTI for publication in a working paper next month, are expected to be included in the fourth JESS report, which is also expected to be published in May 2004.
We currently export gas to Ireland, from the Markham and Windermere fields directly to The Netherlands and, at time of low UK demand, through the Bacton-Zeebrugge Interconnector to the Continent. However, at times of peak demand, the UK is already a net importer of gas, with imports direct from Norway and through the Interconnector. Recent projections indicate that we are likely to be net importers of gas on an annual basis by around 2006 with a growing import
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requirement thereafter. The Department has not made a projection of gross imports, which will be significantly higher than net imports.
Libya
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many British companies are still owed money from projects in Libya; and what estimate she has made as to the amount of money still owed. [166738]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Officials are not aware of any significant cases of British companies who are still owned money from projects in Libya. However, we are ready to provide whatever assistance we can to British companies who find themselves in this position.
Miners' Compensation
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been paid in fees, and for how many individual cases, under the miners' compensation scheme for (a) vibration white finger and (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, broken down by solicitor. [168473]
Nigel Griffiths [holding answer 26 April 2004]: The information is as follows:
| Claimants representative(44) | Cost paid (£ million)(45) | Number of claims |
|---|---|---|
| Beresfords | 8.9 | 79,964 |
| Thompsons | 38.5 | 57,340 |
| Hugh James Ford Simey | 38.6 | 56,828 |
| Raleys | 27.5 | 50,164 |
| Avalon | 0.6 | 36,604 |
| Browell Smith & Co. | 15.3 | 32,188 |
| Mark Gilbert Morse | 13 | 25,917 |
| Union of Democratic Mineworkers | 9 | 17,252 |
| Watson Burton | 8.8 | 14,154 |
| Barber & Co. | 0.09 | 13,769 |
(44) Top 10 solicitors are in descending order and based on the number of claims received.
(45) Solicitor's costs include VAT on solicitor's costs and disbursement but exclude generic costs.
| Claimants representative(46) | Cost paid (£ million)(47) | Number of claims |
|---|---|---|
| Thompsons | 9 | 29,968 |
| Browell Smith & Co | 8.6 | 16,476 |
| Beresfords | 3.1 | 11,648 |
| Union of Democratic Mineworkers | 5.5 | 11,610 |
| Raleys | 6.5 | 11,282 |
| Hugh James Ford Simey | 5.8 | 10,640 |
| Graysons | 3.7 | 8,683 |
| Moss | 2.9 | 7,279 |
| Watson Burton | 3.1 | 5,937 |
| AMS Law | 1.8 | 5,327 |
(46) Top 10 solicitors are in descending order and based on the number of claims received.
(47) Solicitor's costs include VAT on solicitor's costs and disbursement but exclude generic costs.
John Mann:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action has been taken to claw back payments to solicitors who have imposed additional
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charges on their clients for work under the miners' compensation scheme for vibration white finger and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. [168474]
Nigel Griffiths [holding answer 26 April 2004]: I have written to solicitors twice asking them to repay any fees taken from clients on top of the fee they received from the DTI. Those who have failed to reply were removed from the DTIs list of solicitors and were referred to the Law Society.
The Government welcome the decision taken by the Law Society, as the solicitors regulator, that it was against their code of practice for solicitors to charge clients for making compensation claims where the DTI is meeting solicitors' costs. DTI officials continue to meet with the Law Society to progress matters.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which (a) solicitors and (b) claims handlers have been notified to her Department in relation to additional charging for dealing with vibration white finger and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease miners' compensation cases. [168480]
Nigel Griffiths [holding answer 26 April 2004]: Complaints regarding double charging by solicitors who are processing claims under the British Coal health schemes are the responsibility of the solicitors' regulator, the Law Society.
I am informed that some 173 complaints have been notified to the Law Society. Of these 63 have been concluded, which have led to repayments being to made to 23 claimants.
In addition I have informed the Law Society of those solicitors who failed to respond satisfactorily to my letters relating to double charging.
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