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7 Jun 2004 : Column 27W—continued

Flue Gas Desulphurised Power Stations

Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action has been taken against social dumping by Belgian contractors of EDF in the engineering construction of new flue gas desulphurised power stations in the UK; and if she will make a statement. [176439]

Mr. Timms: I cannot comment on individual commercial contracts. Provided that statutory minima are met, terms and conditions of employment are a matter for negotiation and agreement between employers and employees (or their representatives) and are not a matter for Government intervention. All employees legally working in the UK, whether temporary or permanently, are entitled to statutory
 
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minimum terms and conditions of employment such as the national minimum wage and EDF has confirmed to me that its contracts fully reflect this.

Imports

Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of the United Kingdom's (a) visible and (b) invisible imports came from the European Union in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what their value was. [176672]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: According to figures published by the Office for National Statistics in the Balance of Payments first release on 26 March 2004, in 2003 UK imports of goods from the European Union were worth £129 billion, representing 55 per cent. of the total. Imports of services were worth £35 billion, representing 48 per cent. of the total.

Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of the United Kingdom's (a) visible and (b) invisible exports went to the European Union in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what their value was. [176673]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: According to figures published by the Office for National Statistics in the Balance of Payments first release on 26 March 2004, in 2003 UK exports of goods to the European Union were worth £105 billion, representing 56 per cent. of the total. Exports of services were worth £32 billion, representing 36 per cent. of the total.

National Minimum Wage

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 1 April 2004, Official Report, columns 1592–94W, on the National Minimum Wage, for what average length of time compliance officers identified the National Minimum Wage was being underpaid in 2003–04. [173960]

Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 18 May 2004]: This information is not readily available at the moment. However, the Inland Revenue, who enforce the minimum wage on behalf of the DTI, are about to undertake a sampling exercise on successful cases and we will write to the hon. Member with further details when the exercise has been completed at the end of June.

Nuclear Energy

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement about progress made on nuclear fusion research; and what Q ratio of input energy to output has been achieved. [174808]

Mr. Timms: The Joint European Torus (JET) based at Culham in Oxfordshire has achieved an input energy to output ratio of Q=l. An international partnership has come together to build the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) which is expected to achieve a ratio of Q=10 and beyond.

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on (a) matters discussed and (b) agreements made in respect of nuclear power during the recent visit of the Minister for Energy, E-Commerce and Postal Services
 
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to Japan; and if she will place in the Library copies of papers or documents provided to (i) the Japanese nuclear industry and (ii) Japanese Government officials during his visit. [176381]

Mr. Timms: During my recent visit to Japan I held wide-ranging discussions on telecommunications and energy issues, including nuclear and BNFL related issues with Japanese interlocutors. I also outlined the changes to the UK nuclear industry described in the Energy Bill.

The nuclear power issues discussed were designed to improve understanding between the UK and Japan and did not give rise to any agreements between our two countries. No papers or documents were provided to either the Japanese nuclear industry or to the Japanese Government.

Public Telephone Boxes

Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what public consultation BT is obliged to undertake before it removes public telephone boxes; and if she will make a statement. [175683]

Mr. Timms: The matter raised is the responsibility of the Office of Communications (Ofcom) as independent regulator. Accordingly, my officials have asked the Chief Executive of Ofcom to respond directly to the hon. Member. Copies of the Chief Executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Regulatory Impact Unit

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the European Union Directives her Department was responsible for implementing since 1997 that were (a) submitted to and (b) discussed by the Regulatory Impact Unit; and whether the proposed method of implementation was identified as going beyond the minimum necessary to comply with the European Directive and represented over-implementation in each case. [176104]

Jacqui Smith [holding answer 27 May 2004]: The Department takes account of Cabinet Office guidance in relation to implementation of European directives and holds discussions with the Regulatory Impact Unit during the process of policy development. However records of these discussions are not held centrally.

Regulatory Reform Action Plan

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the measures in the Regulatory Reform Action plan that relate to small businesses. [174708]

Nigel Griffiths: The small business friendly measures are highlighted in the Regulatory Reform Action Plan which is available from the Libraries of the House or online at http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/regulation/rrap/index.asp.

Research and Development

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps her Department is taking to develop a national policy and strategy for science, engineering and technology exploitation. [174700]

 
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Ms Hewitt: The recent Innovation Report highlighted the challenge the UK still faces in exploiting its significant science, engineering and technology achievements. In order to rise to this challenge the DTI are leading in the development of a national Technology Strategy to stimulate business demand for new and emerging technologies.

The Strategy will identify technology priorities critical to the growth of the UK economy, matching business needs with what science can achieve. Government and its agencies will use the Strategy to steer investment in UK and European R and D programmes. It will also inform the future development of wider Government activities, such as innovative public procurement.

The Strategy also sits alongside a national policy to address the gender imbalance in science and technology, which included the announcement of a £1.5 million support package. Among other initiatives, this has provided a new science resource centre, officially opening in September 2004, that will encourage female scientists to return to science and more women to pursue successful scientific careers.

This will complement our existing activities in facilitating the exploitation of the science and engineering base through funding to support knowledge transfer activities in Higher Education Institutes (the Higher Education Innovation Fund) and Public Sector Research Establishments (the Public Sector Research Exploitation Fund).

Royal Mail

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of first class letters posted in East Riding of Yorkshire met the Royal Mail's on-time delivery target in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [176066]

Mr. Timms: Performance against delivery targets is an operational matter for the Royal Mail Group and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

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