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5 Jul 2004 : Column 510W—continued
End-of-Life Vehicles Directive
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she expects to introduce the Regulations implementing the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive. [181544]
Mr. Timms: The End-of-Life Vehicles Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/2635) brought into effect a number of provisions of the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive (2000/53/EC). Consultation on draft Regulations to implement the remaining provisions of the Directive, which take effect from 2006 onwards, closed on 30 March 2004. 65 responses to the consultation were received and are being assessed. It is the Government's intention to present the End-of-Life Vehicles (Producer Responsibility) Regulations 2004 to the House shortly.
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when proposed Regulations requiring end-of-life vehicles to be delivered to authorised processors will become effective. [181546]
Mr. Timms:
The End-of-Life Vehicles Regulations 2003 (S.I.2003/2635) came into effect in England and Wales on 3 November 2003, and equivalent legislation was introduced shortly after in Scotland and Northern Ireland. These Regulations set down the arrangements
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through which businesses may become "authorised treatment facilities" for the purposes of dealing with end-of-life vehicles, and describe the site and operating conditions with which such businesses must comply.
Equal Opportunities
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the effects of measures aimed at encouraging women to pursue careers in information technology. [180070]
Ms Hewitt: I have been disappointed that this industry remains one of the least attractive Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) areas for girls and women. Despite the initiatives which we have supported so far, the perceptions of IT as not female-friendly are hard to turn around. I am attaching the latest statistics which show a worrying decline of women working in IT. We will continue to support a number of programmes, including Computer Clubs for Girls and the information technology degree being developed by e-Skills UK, the Sector Skills Council for IT sector, which it is hoped will encourage girls and women to seek careers in information technology. We are also working with employers and others to address the situation by encouraging flexible working practices. The new Resource Centre for Women in SET will make working with employers in this area one of their top priorities.
| Percentage | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 27 |
| 1998 | 23 |
| 1999 | 26 |
| 2000 | 23 |
| 2001 | 22 |
| 2002 | 23 |
| 2003 | 20 |
Note:
The decline in women in IT occupations from spring 2002 to spring 2003 is a significant drop, which has not been seen since 1999. This is slightly concerning in that the same period the workforce increased slightly from 1,012,609 to 1,036,066 indicating that the gender balance has worsened.
When looking at the gender proportion within each occupational role, women tend to be less well represented in design and creation of technological systems—just 12 per cent. of software professionals are women (17 per cent. in 2002). Currently women occupy 15 per cent. of all IT management positions and 11 per cent. of IT strategy and planning roles. Both these occupations have seen slight decreases in the proportion of women from 2002 from 19 per cent. and 31 per cent. respectively.
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The previous table shows that the largest concentration of female employment continues to be in database, user support and operations occupations. These three occupational areas continue to account for the employment of over half of women in IT (as shown in the following table) and this proportion seems to be growing at the expense of management and software occupations.
| Occupation | 2002 | 2003 |
|---|---|---|
| Information and communication technology managers | 21 | 19 |
| IT strategy and planning professionals | 7 | 7 |
| Software professionals | 21 | 18 |
| IT operations technicians | 15 | 18 |
| IT user support technicians | 8 | 9 |
| Database assistants and clerks | 28 | 27 |
| Computer engineer installation and maintenance | (9)— | (9)— |
(9) Figure and percentage suppressed due to cell size of less than 10,000.
Notes:
1. All figures are taken from Office for National Statistics, Labour Force Survey, Spring Quarter and are based on "Working Age" and "In Employment" with total excluding "DNA".
2. The Standard occupational code changed from 2000 onwards to SOC 2000.
3. Due to rounding percentage totals may not always equal 100.
Export Credits Guarantee Department
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 15 June 2004, Official Report, column 817W, to the hon. Member for Gordon (Malcolm Bruce), on the Export Credits Guarantee Department, what proportion of the outstanding debt for each country is accounted for by defence or defence related exports. [181012]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: ECGD only has outstanding debt in respect of defence or defence-related exports in two countries, Indonesia and Zimbabwe. Of the amount owed by Indonesia, 83 per cent. is in respect of defence related exports. In respect of Zimbabwe it is 1 per cent. The Indonesia issue arose out of the problems in that country in 1998. Indonesia is seeking to discharge this debt.
Fur Farms
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the value was in pounds sterling of fur pelts imported into the UK in each year since 1995. [178286]
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Mr. Mike O'Brien: The information is as follows:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 20.2 |
| 1996 | 28.2 |
| 1997 | 20.8 |
| 1998 | 11.8 |
| 1999 | 6.9 |
| 2000 | 7.6 |
| 2001 | 8.6 |
| 2002 | 6.7 |
| 2003 | 6.4 |
Note:
Fur pelts are defined by Heading 212 of the Standard International Trade Classification (Revision 3).
Source:
Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom, HM Customs and Excise.
Landfill
Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the meetings her officials have had with officials from (a) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and (b) the Environment Agency on the Environment Agency's draft guidance on (i) monitoring landfill gas engine emissions, (ii) the management of landfill gas, (iii) monitoring trace components in landfill gas and (iv) gas treatment technologies for landfill gas engines; and what the outcomes were. [181220]
Mr. Timms: Discussions took place on these issues earlier in the year between officials in my Department, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the Environment Agency. Further information about such discussions is being withheld under Exemption 2—internal advice and discussion of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information on the grounds that it would harm the frankness and candour of internal deliberations and of confidential communications between Departments.
Nuclear Safety
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the application of the European Court of Justice ruling of 10 December 2002 (C-29/99) to future decisions on nuclear safety in the United Kingdom. [181389]
Mr. Timms:
In its judgment in Case C-29/99, the European Court of Justice ruled that the Declaration of competence concerning the Euratom Community's accession to the international Convention on Nuclear Safety had failed to include certain fields covered by that Convention in which the Euratom Community had at least some competence. On 15 December 2003, the Council agreed that the Declaration should be amended in line with the Court's judgment. This has no immediate bearing on nuclear safety decisions in the United Kingdom. These are still a matter for the national regulators. However, it remains to be seen how far, if at all, this Court judgment might lead to the development of Euratom measures on nuclear safety that previously would have been regarded as outside the field of Community competence. Any such measures, if agreed, would apply to all member states.
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