---

7 Jun 2004 : Column 24W—continued

Staffing (Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise)

Mr. Letwin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many staff were employed by (a) the Inland Revenue and (b) HM Customs and Excise at 24 May; [176405]

(2) pursuant to his answer of 6 May 2004, Official Report, column 1737W, on efficiency gains, what the baseline employment figures in (a) the Inland Revenue and (b) HM Customs and Excise are for the job reductions listed. [176545]

John Healey: The latest available employment figures for the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise are published in table 5.2 of the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2004 (Cm 6201).

Mr. Letwin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what discussions he has had with Mr. David Varney regarding the timescale for the (a) commencement and (b) completion of the reduction of 14,000 civil servants in the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise; and what the outcome of those discussions was; [176515]

(2) what targets he has given Mr. David Varney for the (a) commencement and (b) completion of the reduction of 14,000 civil servants in the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise; [176516]

(3) pursuant to his answer of 6 May 2004, Official Report, column 1737W, on efficiency gains, when he expects the first of these job reductions to be made. [176544]

John Healey: Detailed plans for the realisation of efficiency savings are under discussion and agreed efficiency targets will be announced in Spending Review 2004.
 
7 Jun 2004 : Column 25W
 

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Business (Blackpool and Fleetwood)

Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Government have taken to help small businesses in Blackpool North and Fleetwood since 1997. [175885]

Nigel Griffiths: The Business Link Operator for North and West Lancashire has provided assistance to 2,499 enterprises in the Blackpool and Fylde constituency since 2001. Statistics are not available specifically for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood. The Small Business Service was set up as an agency of the Department of Trade and Industry in April 2000. Contracts were exchanged with a national network of 45 Business Link Operators (seven in the North West) to provide Business Support to small and medium sized enterprises from April 2001. Before this date Government Support to business was provided through Training and Enterprise Councils and the SBS does not have access to these data.
 
7 Jun 2004 : Column 26W
 

The type of assistance received from the Business Link include, Pre-startups, start-ups, IT support, Investors in People, International and Business Support.

Under the Research and Development Scheme (R and D) one company has received offers of grant with a total value of £30,000, in the Blackpool, North and Fleetwood constituency since 1997.

Under the Enterprise Grant Scheme (EGS) one company has received offers of grant with a total of £10,000, in the Blackpool, North and Fleetwood constituency since 1997.

Business Regulation

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2004, Official Report, column 1178W, on business regulation, how many of the regulatory impact assessments referred to have since been placed in the Library, including their reference numbers. [174859]

Nigel Griffiths: Six in relation to DTI.

Reference number	Title
RIA 04/005	The Companies Act 1985 (Accounts of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Audit Exemption) (Amendment) Regulations 2004 1. The Audit Exemption Threshold
RIA 04/006	The Companies Act 1985 (Accounts of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Audit Exemption) (Amendment) Regulations 2004 2. The Thresholds defining Small and Medium-Sized Companies
RIA 04/008	The Patents Act 1977 (Amendment) Bill
RIA 04/011	Revision of Price Marking Order 1999
RIA 04/013	Statutory Dispute Resolution Procedures
RIA 04/015	The Regulatory Reform (Sunday Trading) Order 2004

Coal Compensation Schemes

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the Department's policy is on a defined claimant's representative receiving a fee for passing on a claim to another solicitor in coal compensation cases. [176108]

Nigel Griffiths [holding answer 27 May 2004]: The Government have separately funded over £353 million for solicitor's fees to ensure that no miner has to lose any compensation. The professional conduct of solicitors is a matter for the Law Society.

Correspondence

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action she plans to take to improve the response rate of (a) Ministers in her Department and (b) chief executives of agencies for which she is responsible to correspondence from hon. Members and peers. [176351]

Ms Hewitt: The correspondence performance of Agencies for which I am responsible is already excellent.

My officials are introducing new management and other systems to improve the overall response rate.

Early Retirement

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many employees in her Department took early retirement, and at what total cost, in the last financial year. [172184]

Ms Hewitt: 27 employees took early retirement costing £1,033,259.

Employers (Good Practice)

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment her Department has made of the proportion of employers who (a) fail to comply with legislation and (b) use good practice regarding (i) equality of opportunity and (ii) human rights. [175146]

Ms Hewitt: There are no formal assessments of the above compliance levels. As far as equality for opportunity is concerned, we would need to obtain information from Employment Tribunals and the Courts which could be done only at disproportionate cost and would not provide a complete picture.

Nevertheless, the Government are committed to ensuring compliance across the equality agenda, and, in respect of the public sector or public sector services, compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998. Many of our leading businesses already recognise the benefits of equality of opportunity in the workplace and we are working with them to disseminate good practice more widely. There are also many examples of good practice in the public sector. We expect the proposed Commission for Equality and Human Rights to take a prominent role in furthering the adoption of good practice in the private and public sectors.
 
7 Jun 2004 : Column 27W
 

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the projected budget is of the new Equality and Human Rights Commission in its first year of operation. [174701]

Ms Hewitt: The Government are committed to ensuring that the CEHR is properly and adequately resourced. Funding for the CEHR will be addressed in line with the Government process for financial planning for the next three years that is currently under way.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment has been made of the staffing levels that will be required by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. [174704]

Ms Hewitt: No assessment has been made as to projected staffing levels in the proposed Commission for Equality and Human Rights. This will be a matter to be addressed as planning for the CEHR progresses.

Export Credits Guarantee Department

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what account is taken of offset deals when deciding (a) whether and (b) to what extent Export Credits Guarantee Department support should be offered in defence contracts. [176219]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Offset transactions normally take the form of procuring exports from or investments in the overseas' purchaser's country. These are entirely commercial arrangements between the contractor and the overseas purchaser and would not influence ECGD's decision on support for a defence, or any other, contract.

ECGD's policy on support for specific transactions falling within a UK company's offset obligations is covered in a previous answer on 23 May 2002, Official Report, column 479W.

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what Export Credits Guarantee Department support was given to (a) defence and (b) aerospace exports to the Czech Republic in the five years up to 31 March. [176220]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: None.

---