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ECGD

Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will place research conducted on the competitive environment of the Export Credits Guarantee Department in the Library. [174828]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: In April 2004 ECGD published its International Comparison Report, which compares ECGD with other large export credit agencies. The report is already available on ECGD's website but a copy will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assistance is given by the Export Credits Guarantee Department to UK companies wishing to trade with Russia. [174838]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Export Credits Guarantee Department can offer medium term cover on individual cases in Russia with a value of up to £80 million although much larger cases can be considered. ECGD is also able to offer Overseas Investment Insurance to protect UK direct investment in Russia against the risks of war, expropriation and restrictions on remittances.

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment has been made of the costs that will be incurred by businesses in dealing with the guidance of the Equality and Human Rights Commission; and what assessment has been made of the costs that will be incurred by businesses in complying with its codes of practice. [174703]

Ms Hewitt: The Government published the White Paper "Fairness for All: A New Commission for Equality and Human Rights" on Wednesday 12 May 2003. The White Paper sets out our proposals for a new body to meet the challenges we must overcome if we are to end discrimination and promote respect for human rights. The establishment of a single organisation to champion equality, diversity and human rights meets the strong call from the business community for a more joined-up approach to these issues.

An assessment of the costs to businesses due to the creation of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) has been made in the Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA), which forms part of the White Paper. As the establishment of the CEHR imposes no new regulatory burden on business there will be no costs associated with complying with guidance or codes of practice issued by the CEHR, other than where a business is currently in breach of existing legislation. Guidance and codes of practice issued by the CEHR will make businesses more aware of their legal responsibilities, thus reducing the risk of litigation.

Nevertheless, there may be small costs associated with reading and understanding initial guidance issued by the CEHR, estimated to be around £39 per business. However as this guidance is likely to cover all areas of discrimination and human rights legislation it should offer an overall saving in time and cost spent in reading guidance related to each individual area, as is currently the case.

EU Social Chapter

Mrs. Humble: 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 Blackpool North and Fleetwood. [175886]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The residents of Blackpool North and Fleetwood 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.

Fuel Crisis (Emergency Powers)

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the legal basis is for the use of emergency powers to secure energy supplies during a fuel crisis; and what parliamentary scrutiny there has been of the emergency powers which would be used to secure energy supplies during a fuel crisis. [174637]

 
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Mr. Timms: The Energy Act 1976 allows the regulation or prohibition of the production, supply, acquisition or use of fuel where there is or is imminent an actual or threatened emergency in the UK affecting fuel or electricity supplies or to meet international obligations. The Act provides wide-ranging powers to make Orders of general application (subject to negative parliamentary procedure) and specific directions to particular persons (including companies). An Order would lapse after 28 sitting (parliamentary) days, unless it is revoked earlier or the Order is approved by affirmative resolution of both Houses and which then continues for the rest of the 12- month period, unless revoked earlier. The Act provides that the Order may be continued for 12-month periods more than once, each time after resolution of both Houses.

Invest-UK Activities

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the numbers of jobs that were (a) created and (b) safeguarded as a result of Invest-UK activities in each year between 2000 and 2003. [174690]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The following figures are UK Trade and Investment's assisted inward investors' estimates of job creation in the first three years of their investments:

	Jobs created	Jobs safeguarded
2000–01	15,857	6,624
2001–02	4,299	1,252
2002–03	5,669	3,048

In addition UKTI provides funding to the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), and publicises the UK generally as a good destination for inward investors. Inward investors' estimates of the total number of jobs created and safeguarded is as follows:

	Jobs created	Jobs safeguarded
2000–01	71,168	52,359
2001–02	35,362	24,069
2002–03	34,850	20,265

Nuclear Industry

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her policy is for retaining a skill base for the nuclear industry in the UK. [174809]

Mr. Timms: To fulfil the Government's policy commitment to develop and implement a nuclear work force development strategy the Department has been closely involved with the formation of a Sector Skills Council to represent the needs of the nuclear industry. Cogent Sector Skills Council was launched on 2 March, covering nuclear, chemical manufacturing and oil and gas industries. Cogent will take a strategic view of the nuclear sector to ensure that the education and training base can meet the nuclear employers current and future needs.
 
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Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many instances of theft of (a) nuclear waste and (b) spent fuel rods from nuclear plants in the UK were reported to the police in (i) 2001, (ii) 2002 and (iii) 2003. [174611]

Mr. Timms: There were no reported thefts of nuclear waste or spent fuel rods from civil nuclear sites in the years specified.

Petrol Prices

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions the Government has had with oil producers on reducing the price of petrol. [174844]

Mr. Timms: International oil prices are one of a number of factors that influence the price of petrol.

Other Ministers, officials and myself meet bilaterally and multilaterally with representatives of oil producing nations on a regular basis as part of our ongoing dialogue with oil and gas producing countries. For example, I led a UK delegation to the International Energy Forum in Amsterdam, 22–24 May 2004, for informal discussions between producing and consuming nations on a wide range of energy issues.

At the recent IMF meeting we joined other countries in expressing our concern at the high level of the oil price as one of the risks to the world recovery. There are a number of factors underlying the current high price but we are urging oil producers to increase production to help reduce the price to a more sustainable level.

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