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12 May 2004 : Column 443W—continued

Radio Frequency Identifiers

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the likely change in the number of jobs in the retail sector as a result of the implementation of radio frequency identifier devices. [170163]

Mr. Sutcliffe: To date, DTI has not conducted any assessment of the likely change in retail staff numbers as a consequence of the implementation of RFID technologies.

Regulatory Reform

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the progress of the (a) measures in the Regulatory Reform Action Plan and (b) regulatory reform orders which her Department has proposed but not completed. [171613]

Nigel Griffiths: The updated Regulatory Reform Action Plan, published in December 2003, contains over 600 deregulatory and simplification measures under way across Government. I am advised that over 300 of these measures have already been delivered.

The DTI proposed 10 Regulatory Reform Orders in the Regulatory Reform Action Plan; two have been implemented, three are in the scrutiny process and the remaining five will be the subject of consultation exercises.

Renewable Energy

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research she has commissioned on the balance between profit and investment associated with renewable energy development. [170173]

Nigel Griffiths: The Government have created an attractive investment framework for renewable energy developments through the creation of the Renewables Obligation and, for certain technologies, additional support through capital grants. This is in support for our policy goals of securing 10 per cent. of electricity from renewables by 2010 and further significant contributions from this sector 2020 and beyond.

However the specific economics of individual renewable energy projects will differ on a case by case basis for a variety of reasons, notably the location of the project and the technology involved. Those seeking to develop or finance renewable energy developments must reach their own views on the economics of individual projects.
 
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Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her policy is on renewable energy. [170792]

Mr. Timms: The Government's target for renewables is that, by 2010, 10 per cent. of our electricity sales will come from renewable sourced electricity. The target is challenging as we are starting from a low base.

The Government's main policy mechanism for achieving the target is the Renewables Obligation (and Renewables Obligation Scotland). Introduced in April 2002, it places an obligation on all licensed electricity suppliers to supply a specified and growing proportion of their sales from electricity generated from a range of eligible renewable sources.

Through the Renewables Obligation (RO), we are looking to accelerate the development of renewables in a wide range of sources and technologies. In order to encourage a more vigorous and diverse renewable energy sector, the Government have also allocated a total of £350 million over four years for capital grants and research grants to promote forms of renewable energy that are further from becoming commercially competitive. This includes among other things grants of £117 million for offshore wind, £66 million for energy crops and biomass, £25 million for solar photovoltaics (PV), £10 million for community schemes and £5 million for wave and tidal demonstration projects.

Scottish Power

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she last met representatives of Scottish Power Plc; who was present; and what was on the agenda for discussion. [171781]

Ms Hewitt: I have had no recent meetings with representatives of Scottish Power.

My right hon. Friend the Minister for Energy, E-Commerce and Postal Service, met with representatives of Scottish Power on 11 March to discuss a number of issues relating to electricity supply. Also present were DTI officials.

Social Chapter

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the effects of the EU Social Chapter on the residents of Oldham West and Royton. [170939]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The residents of Oldham West and Royton 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;

 
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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.

Timber

Ms. Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether her Department plans to contribute financially to the establishment of the second phase of the Central Point of Expertise on Timber. [167618]

Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on 10 May 2004, Official Report, column 31W.

Travel Agents

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make it her policy to require travel firms not bonded with ABTA or ATOL to display this information when advertising their services. [172027]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is soon to make recommendations to Government on the possible extension of financial protection for consumers in the event of failure of air travel firms. I understand from their published draft advice that CAA may recommend an extension to mandatory protection, but I also expect the proposals to address the scope for improving transparency regarding protection for travel arrangements.

VAT

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many businesses have (a) registered and (b) deregistered for VAT in each year since 1997 in each local authority area in East Sussex. [169849]

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 1,100 in East Sussex County, 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 4,700 business start-ups in East Sussex County in 2003. Data for each local authority in East Sussex County are not published by Barclays. Barclays start-up data for counties in England and Wales have only been published for 2003. Barclays closure data for counties in England and Wales have not been published.

DTI figures for VAT registrations and de-registrations for each local authority in East Sussex County are shown below for the period 1997 to 2002. Data for 2003 will be available in autumn 2004.
 
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VAT registrations: 1997–2002

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
East Sussex    County	1,745	1,605	1,610	1,575	1,535	1,540
Eastbourne	255	215	240	210	235	215
Hastings	195	180	200	205	185	205
Lewes	355	335	290	275	285	280
Rother	335	290	285	285	265	275
Wealden	610	585	590	595	565	565

Source:
Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2002, Small Business Service





VAT de-registrations: 1997–2002

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
East Sussex    County	1,435	1,335	1,430	1,430	1,475	1,475
Eastbourne	225	200	205	210	195	235
Hastings	170	180	170	170	175	190
Lewes	260	260	255	265	280	230
Rother	265	230	300	285	290	315
Wealden	510	460	500	500	535	505

Source:
Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2002, Small Business Service

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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