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5 May 2004 : Column 1645W—continued
Regulatory Impact Assessments
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will estimate the cost of maintaining an up-to-date schedule of regulatory impact assessments, with working lists to the relevant documents. [166453]
Nigel Griffiths:
It is estimated that it would cost £1,000 to establish the page and add the Department's current and most recent Regulatory Impact Assessments. Maintenance costs are estimated as £1,200 per annum. The Department's Better Regulation Team has put work in train to create such a schedule on the Departmental website.
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Small Businesses
Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Government has taken to help small businesses in Preston since 1997. [169679]
Nigel Griffiths: The Business Link Operator for North and West Lancashire has provided assistance to 3,523 enterprises in the Preston Constituency since 2001. The Small Business Service (SBS) was set up as an agency of the Department of Trade and Industry in April 2000. Contracts were exchanged with a national network of 45 Business Link Operators (seven in the North West) to provide Business Support to small and medium sized enterprises from April 2001. Before this date Government support to businesses was provided through Training and Enterprise Councils and the Small Business Service does not have access to this data.
1,024 of the 3,523 were pre-starts up enterprises, and in addition have provided assistance regarding Investors in people, specialist Business Advice, International, and E-Commerce.
Seventeen companies have received and accepted offers of grant under the Research and Development Scheme (R & D) since 1997 to the value of £2,939,146.
Mr. Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Government have taken to help small businesses in Wigan since 1997. [169316]
Nigel Griffiths: The Business Link Operator for North Manchester has provided assistance to 1,981 enterprises in the Wigan constituency since 2001. The Small Business Service (SBS) was set up as an agency of the Department of Trade and Industry in April 2000. Contracts were exchanged with a national network of 45 Business Link Operators (seven in the North West) to provide business support to small and medium-sized enterprises from April 2001. Before this date Government support to businesses was provided through Training and Enterprise Councils and the Small Business Service does not have access to this data.
The type of assistance provided by the Business Link Operator to the 1,981 enterprises include business finance, environmental, workforce development, international, innovation technology and design, micro support, E-services, high growth, supply chain, and other account management assistance.
Ten companies have received and accepted offers of grant under the Research and Development Scheme (R&D) since 1997 to the value of £530,540.
Sixteen companies have received and accepted offers of grant under the Enterprise Grant Scheme since 1997 to the value of £689,500. The Enterprise Grant Scheme closed from the beginning of April 2004.
Social Chapter
Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the benefits of the EU Social Chapter for the residents of Preston. [169670]
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Mr. Sutcliffe: The residents of Preston 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 1000 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. Neil Turner: 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 Wigan. [169320]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The residents of Wigan 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 work force communication and involvement in large firms.
Thin Film Technology
Keith Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the levy is for thin film technology
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monitors and televisions imported to the UK; and whether the levy is standardised throughout the EU. [170039]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The import duty on imports into the EU on thin film technology monitors and televisions is 14 per cent. The Levy is standardised throughout the EU.
Working Time Directive
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many residents of the Huntingdon constituency have benefited from a reduction of the working week to 48 hours. [170848]
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 Huntingdon are not available, however it has been estimated that around 300,000 workers resident in the Eastern region stood to benefit from the introduction of the weekly working time limits in 1998.
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many residents of Oldham West and Royton have benefited from a reduction of the working week to 48 hours. [170942]
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 Oldham West and Royton are not available, however it has been estimated that around 100,000 workers resident in Greater Manchester stood to benefit from the introduction of the weekly working time limits in 1998.
Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many residents in Preston have benefited from a reduction of the maximum working week to 48 hours. [169666]
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 Preston 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. Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many residents of Wigan have benefited from a reduction of the working week to 48 hours. [169323]
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 Wigan 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.