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Fathers Direct Conference

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the date was of the press release issued by the Institute of Directors making reference to women of childbearing age referred to in her speech of 5 April at the Fathers Direct conference; and if she will make a statement. [170278]

Ms Hewitt: The press release issued by the Institute of Directors (IoD), while Ruth Lea was Head of Policy Unit, around the time of the introduction of the new work and parent laws that I referred to was dated 3 April 2003. In summarising the views expressed by the IoD regarding the impact on women of childbearing age I
 
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also drew on other press releases issued which criticised the steps the Government have made to increase the provision of family-friendly policies. These were issued on 17 April 2001 and 4 March 2002.

I used my speech to highlight the initial evidence on the impact of the flexible working legislation is showing that many parents and employers are taking advantage of flexible working to both their benefit. Since the law was introduced almost 800,000 parents of children under six have had their request for flexible working either fully or partly accepted and the proportion of requests being refused has reduced by almost a half.

Fuel Cell Technologies

Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and   Industry what assessment she has made of the steps   taken to engage UK industry in the development of fuel cell technologies; and if she will make a statement. [171280]

Mr. Timms: The Energy White Paper contained a number of commitments on fuel cells. These involved the development of institutional support for the emerging UK fuel cell industry. We have made good progress in taking these forward. Fuel Cells UK was established in May 2003 with pump-priming support from DTI. Fuel Cells UK played the leading role in developing a UK Fuel Cell Vision, which was launched at the Grove Fuel Cell Symposium in September 2003. Also launched at that event was the Fuel Cells Forum, an IT based knowledge transfer network, informing UK stakeholder of worldwide activity and allowing the opportunity to easily engage business, academia and the Regions.

DTI has supported industrial fuel cell R&D under the DTI Advanced Fuel Programme since 1992. Funding for Collaborative Research and Development in Fuel Cells is now available as part of the Technology Programme, launched on 26 April. The DTI will continue to engage with industry to identify and address the technical and non-technical barriers to the deployment of fuel cell technologies in order to support UK Business.

Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what support will be given to those UK companies involved in the development of fuel cell technologies. [171281]

Mr. Timms: The DTI has supported industrial R and D on fuel cells since 1992, under the DTI New and Renewable Energy Programme, with a value of approximately £2 million per year. DTI has recently reviewed and simplified its business support products. In future, fuel cell proposals may be eligible for funding   under the DTI Collaborative Research and Development product, part of the DTI Technology Programme. A call for proposals (which includes fuel cells) is currently open. Details are available on the DTI website.

Basic research in universities on both fuel cells and hydrogen is supported by the Engineering and Physical
 
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Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), most recently under its SUPERGEN initiative. The Carbon Trust is also able to support fuel cell and hydrogen projects, including taking strategic investments.

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.

Insurance

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on proposals under discussion in the European Council working group to abolish gender discrimination in insurance claims. [168897]

Ms Hewitt: The Government has welcomed the development of European sex discrimination legislation through an Equal Treatment Directive. The Government strongly supports most of this Directive, but is aware of concerns about some aspects, including the effects of prohibiting the use of sex-based factors in insurance pricing. The UK will continue to negotiate constructively to achieve a final agreement that reflects UK priorities and concerns.

International Development

Sir Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what further steps she proposes to promote international trade with developing countries; [169371]

(2) what trade proposals she has to enable countries in Africa to increase levels of trade with the UK. [169372]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The best opportunity for promoting trade with developing countries is a successful and ambitious result from the Doha Development Agenda in the World Trade Organisation. We are working closely with the European Commission, other member states and other governments to secure this. While the Doha Round remains our top priority, we are also working with the Commission on the revision of the EU's Generalised System of Preferences, which offers preferential access for developing countries to the now even larger European market, and totally tariff and quota free access for the Least Developed Countries, many of which are in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, negotiations for Economic Partnership Agreements with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries are under way.

The forthcoming Trade and Investment White Paper will consider, among other issues, the trade framework between the EU and developing countries. The UK is also supporting capacity building in developing countries in trade policy and negotiations to the tune of   £165 million over three years, by supporting organisations such as the Centre for WTO Law and the
 
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South Centre. We hope that the Commission for Africa, announced by the Prime Minister on 26 February, will consider what more can be done to help specifically African countries reap the benefits of increased world trade.

Large Combustion Plants Directive

Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment the Government have made of the impact on the United Kingdom coal industry of introducing a national emissions reduction plan in order to implement the Large Combustion Plants Directive. [171238]

Mr. Timms: The Government have commissioned independent research into the potential impact on United Kingdom coal production of the alternative routes to implement the Large Combustion Plants Directive. The results of this research will help to inform the choice of implementation route and will be published in due course.

Liabilities Management Unit

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the members of her Department's liabilities management unit; what the qualifications of each are; and what the permanent place of employment of each secondee to the unit is. [170978]

Mr. Timms: The DTI organisational structure contains a Coal Liabilities Unit and a Nuclear Liabilities Management Unit.

There are 39 staff in the Coal Liabilities Unit, 37 of whom are civil servants and two of whom are seconded from our claim handlers IRISC.

There are 15 staff in the Nuclear Liabilties Management Unit, consisting of four civil servants and   11 secondees, from BNFL, UKAEA and RW Newchem.

In addition, both Units have contracts with a number of consultants to provide additional support and advice.

London Development Agency

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many London Development Agency board members have (a) current and (b) recent business experience. [168710]

Jacqui Smith: The information is as follows.

(a) 11.

(b) 11.

Manned Space Travel

James Purnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what Government support is available for research into manned space travel. [170454]

Ms Hewitt: In December 2003 the Government published its Space Strategy, which targets investment at those projects that offer the best commercial opportunities, scientific knowledge and environmental information, rather than national prestige. As we do not believe that human spaceflight programmes fall within these targets, we are focusing on the robotic exploration
 
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of the solar system. For example we are currently examining the scientific and industrial benefits of participation in the European Space Agency's Aurora programme.

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