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26 May 2004 : Column 1682W—continued

Spending Review 2002 Targets

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the progress her Department has made towards meeting the Spending Review 2002 targets (a) to increase the number of people considering going into business and (b) to improve the overall productivity of small firms. [174713]

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
 
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England and Wales in the last 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.

Data from the Office for National Statistics' Annual Business Inquiry shows that during the period 1999 to 2001, the productivity (gross value added per employee) of small firms (those with fewer than 250 employees) has risen at a faster rate every year than the productivity of all firms in the UK. In 1999, SMEs were 93 per cent. as productive as large firms, and by 2001, they were 96 per cent. as productive. The latest figures show that SMEs' productivity increased by 5.9 per cent. (basic prices) between 2000 and 2001, while all firms' productivity increased by 4.5 per cent. (basic prices).

Progress against the targets set in 2002 was published on 28 April 2004 in the 2004 DTI Departmental Report.

Unfair Commercial Practice Directive

Mr. Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress was made at the Competitiveness Council held on 17 to 18 May on the Unfair Commercial Practice Directive and the Irish Presidency's proposal to delete the Internal Market Clause. [175821R]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Competitiveness Council on 17 to 18 May reached political agreement to a common position on the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive based on a compromise package from the Irish Presidency, the main element of which was the deletion of Article 4(1) and the "country of origin" principle. The Commission stressed that this was only acceptable in the light of the full harmonisation which the Directive would provide, and tabled a minutes statement to this effect. The United Kingdom, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Estonia also tabled a joint minutes statement expressing their regret at the deletion of Article 4(1) and noting that traders who comply with the laws in the member state where they are established should ordinarily be presumed not to be in breach of the laws in other member states.

The Government welcome the Directive which will be a major enhancement of the UK's consumer protection regime by plugging gaps in the existing legal framework that unscrupulous traders exploit, and by setting standards against which new practices will automatically be judged. It will make an important contribution to achieving my Department's Public Service Agreement Target

"to have a consumer protection regime that is among the best in the world by 2006".

Victor Bout

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what investigations her Department has carried out into the activities of Victor Bout. [175582]

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.

Customs is responsible for investigating any suspected breaches of UN sanctions in the UK, or by UK persons overseas, involving exports or certain brokering activities.
 
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It is not Customs policy to comment on the existence or nature of any such investigations, but Customs notes that recent media reports concerning Mr. Bout do not refer to any matters that would fall to be investigated by them.

Wind Farms

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment the Government have made of the (a) energy and (b) carbon costs of wind farms including (i) the concrete content of foundations, (ii) losses in transmission and (iii) infrastructure such as access roads. [174802]

Mr. Timms: While there are some carbon emissions associated with the construction of wind farms and their associated infrastructure these are very small compared to the carbon emissions saved by the wind farm over its lifetime of operation. Wind Energy Fact Sheet 14, which can be found on the DTI website (www.dti.gov.uk/energy/renewables/publications/pdfs/windfs14.pdf) provides further information on the life cycle emissions from wind farms relative to fossil fuel electricity generating technologies.

In relation to transmission losses, these will affect all forms of electricity generation in a similar manner related to the distance transferred, type of power cable transferred through etc. Overall losses in the England and Wales transmission system are approximately 1.5 per cent. but no estimate has been made of what proportion of this energy loss is attributable to wind energy.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how the Government's energy policy takes account of the problems of grid security and stability caused by large-scale remote wind generation; [174803]

(2) how the Government's energy policy of large-scale wind farm development, particularly in remote parts of the UK, will affect the risks of large-scale electricity blackouts in the UK. [174806]

Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 6 February 2004, Official Report, column 1098W.

Large-scale blackouts are very rare events in the UK. For example, in England and Wales, the amount of energy not supplied by NGT due to transmission failures over the last 12 years is an extremely small proportion to total system throughput, averaging less than 0.0001 per cent. This compares very favourably with other transmission network operators.

The Government are working closely with the electricity industry to ensure that all necessary reinforcements required by the integration of renewable generation will be completed expeditiously. In addition, the industry is working to ensure that wind and other renewable generation connection to the system in future will have the characteristics necessary to maintain the integrity of the electricity networks. The Government in conjunction with the electricity industry, are also exploring possible means of further mitigating the effects of intermittency and unpredictability, for example by the application of additional electricity
 
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storage. DTI and Ofgem will continue to monitor electricity security issues through the Joint Electricity Security of Supply working group.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many miles of new power lines will be needed in (a) Yorkshire and (b) other parts of England to accommodate the grid development identified by Ofgem as necessary to implement the Government's energy policy for wind farms. [174805]

Mr. Timms: The plan for remodelling the transmission grid to accommodate new renewable energy generation is currently being prepared by National Grid Transco, Scottish Power and Scottish and Southern Electricity.

(a) There are no planned upgrades of the transmission system required in Yorkshire.

(b) For the rest of England there will be a need to upgrade transmission lines but the final plans have not been presented.

Ofgem have now issued their second consultation on how to fund the costs of upgrades and the first of the transmission developments required to facilitate the delivery of our renewables targets, a new transmission line from Beauly to Denny in Scotland, is currently the subject of a pre-statutory consultation by Scottish and Southern. They hope to submit an application for section 37 consent this autumn.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Adult Education

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the extent to which impartial advice and guidance about learning and work is available to adults over 19 in England. [175846]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Impartial advice about learning and work is available free of charge to all adults in England aged 20 and over through the learndirect telephone helpline and website, and through the local Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) Partnerships managed by the Learning and Skills Council. Advice involves helping individuals to access and interpret information taking into account their personal needs and circumstances. Guidance, which involves helping clients to explore their options in greater depth, is not universally available free of charge. However, universities and colleges have careers services offering impartial information, advice and guidance to their students, and there are many private career consultancy firms providing guidance commercially for those people who are able and willing to pay for it.

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how he plans to ensure that in all 47 learning and skills council local areas adults over 19 seeking a career change or a skills update will be able to access impartial advice and guidance informed by the changing labour markets. [175847]

 
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Mr. Ivan Lewis: In December 2003, the Department for Education and Skills published The National Policy Framework and Action Plan for Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) for Adults. This set out a core range of information and advice services to be made available free of charge to all adults aged 20 and over. They include access for individuals to information and advice informed by labour market trends at national, regional and local levels. Individuals will access these services through an integrated IAG service linking the learndirect telephone helpline and website with the local Information, Advice and Guidance Partnerships. The integrated IAG service will be launched in August 2004.

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