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10 May 2004 : Column 94W—continued
Tokamak Experimental Reactor
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on progress being made to build the International Tokamak Experimental Reactor. [170165]
Ms Hewitt: The international partners are trying to reach a compromise on the two proposed locations for ITER that will be acceptable to the whole ITER partnership. Extensive negotiations are also taking place between the candidate hosts Europe and Japan to see whether the issue can be resolved bilaterally.
Unsolicited Faxes
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps her Department is taking to protect consumers from unsolicited faxes. [171348]
Mr. Timms: Individual subscribers are offered protection from unsolicited direct marketing faxes under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 and the sending of such faxes is prohibited unless individuals have given their prior consent.
Corporate subscribers are protected from receiving unsolicited direct marketing faxes if they have previously notified the sender that they do wish to receive such faxes or have been registered for at least 28
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days with the Fax Preference Service (FPS), which is an "opt-out" scheme and is run on Ofcom's behalf by the Direct Marketing Association.
Utilities (Disconnections)
Jonathan Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the benefits of expanding the moratoria on disconnections for vulnerable groups beyond the winter months; and if she will make a statement. [171315]
Nigel Griffiths: Last month, Ofgem issued an industry consultation paper that set out proposed revisions to, and clarification of, the arrangements for gas and electricity disconnections. This should ensure that vulnerable customers are not, in the future, disconnected. I very much welcome this development, which will benefit vulnerable customers throughout the year.
West Lancashire
Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many businesses have started up in West Lancashire since 1997. [171725]
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 West Lancashire), 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 West Lancashire local authority (which contains the constituency of West Lancashire) are shown as follows for the period 1997 to 2002. Data for 2003 will be available in autumn 2004.
| West Lancashire | Number |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 260 |
| 1998 | 245 |
| 1999 | 290 |
| 2000 | 265 |
| 2001 | 285 |
| 2002 | 265 |
Source:
Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2002, Small Business Service, available from: www.sbs.gov.uk/statistics/vatstats.php
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.
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PRIME MINISTER
Departmental Procurement
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Prime Minister what percentage of the (a) crockery, (b) cutlery and (c) glassware procured by his Office over the last five years is of British manufacture. [170806]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Alexander) today, Official Report, 10 May, c. 4W.
Dr. Salim Abu Hunak
Mr. Drew: To ask the Prime Minister whether he raised the case of Dr. Salim Abu Hunak, held in Abu Salim Prison in Tripoli, when he recently met Colonel Gadaffi; and what action the Government is taking to make progress towards the release of Dr. Hunak. [171645]
The Prime Minister: My discussions with Colonel Gadaffi on 25 March focused on international and regional security issues.
We are aware of the case of Salem Abu Hanak and are monitoring developments.
We remain concerned about Libya's human rights record and will continue to press Libya to implement its recent announcements to sign international agreements against torture and abolish the "People's Courts".
Early Retirement
Bob Spink: To ask the Prime Minister how many employees in his office took early retirement in the last financial year; and at what total cost. [171729]
House of Lords
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the peers appointed since 1997 who are members of Northern Ireland political parties, broken down by party. [171741]
The Prime Minister: Since the beginning of 1997, five Ulster Unionist Party working peers have been appointed: Lord Molyeaux of Killead, Lord Rogan, Lord Laird, Lord Maginnis of Drumglass and Lord Kilclooney.
House of Lords Appointments Commission
Lady Hermon: To ask the Prime Minister how many times the House of Lords Appointments Commission has met since its formation. [172009]
The Prime Minister: The full House of Lords Appointments Commission has met 26 times since its formation.
Menus
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Prime Minister whether he is consulted on the menus at functions where he is the host. [171779]
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The Prime Minister: Catering at official functions held at No. 10 Downing Street is provided by a variety of approved caterers. Menus are created to suit the nature of the function and to take into account the dietary needs of guests.
WALES
Departmental Annual Report
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much the production of his Department's latest annual report cost; how many copies were printed; how many copies of it were sold at its cover price; to whom copies of the report have been provided free of charge; and how many copies were provided free of charge. [171082]
Mr. Touhig: The 2004 Wales Office Annual Report cost £11,515. The minimum order of 250 copies were printed for the Wales Office, of which 112 copies were provided free of charge to: all Welsh MPs; all members of the Welsh Affairs Committee; all Assembly Members; the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Department for Constitutional Affairs; the Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Wales; and, the Permanent Secretaries of the National Assembly for Wales and the Department for Constitutional Affairs. A further four copies were laid in the House.
The Stationary Office (ISO) also printed a further 600 copies for their own stores. As the report has only recently been published, TSO are unable to provide figures on purchases from their stores.
Farming
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many farms in Wales, comprising what land areas and in what locations, have restrictions applied to them in respect of land use as a result of the residual radioactivity from the Chernobyl nuclear accident. [169879]
Mr. Touhig: The figures show the number of farms in Wales, their location and area of land covered by restrictions on the movement of sheep, as a result of the residual radioactivity from the Chernobyl nuclear accident. There have been no restrictions on land use as a result of the Chernobyl accident.
| Restrictions in Wales at 30 April 2004 1 | |
|---|---|
| Number of farms | 359 |
| Land area (hectares) | 53,000 |
| Location | Snowdonia, North Wales |
(37) Statistics provided by the Food Standards Agency
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