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22 Jul 2004 : Column 509W—continued

Car Batteries

Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many and what percentage of end-of-life car batteries were recycled in each of the last two years. [185742]

Mr. Timms: No precise data for the recycling of end of life automotive batteries are currently collected. However, discussions with the battery manufacturing and distributing sector, and the lead recycling industry, suggest that in 2002 the UK recycled 94 per cent. of spent automotive batteries and that this figure rose to 99 per cent. in 2003. In each year, an estimated 7.5 million automotive batteries entered the waste stream.

Chronic Diseases (Compensation Claims)

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many compensation claims received for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and vibration white finger damages are waiting to be processed; and what the average time taken to process a claim is. [183247]

Nigel Griffiths: There are around 428,000 respiratory disease claims waiting to be settled. 380,000 were submitted in the last six months alone. The time taken to process a claim is dependent on the time it takes the claimants' representatives and the Department's contractors to provide all the required information for the full Medical Assessment Process (MAP) to take place. The average is two years for a live claim and one year for a deceased claim from registration to MAP.
 
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There are some 79,000 Vibration White Finger (VWF) claims waiting to be settled. The average time taken from registration of claim to settlement is around 2.5 years and is dependant on the factors mentioned above.

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many chest disease coal-related compensation claims remain outstanding; how many have been settled in the last 12 months; and when the Government expects to settle all chest disease coal-related compensation claims. [185765]

Nigel Griffiths: There are over 428,000 claims still to settle. 280,000 came in during the last six months before the cut off date. In the last 12 months some 54,000 claims have been settled.

With regard to the timetable for settling outstanding claims, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in the House of Lords on 21 April 2004, Official Report, column WA49.

Company Insolvencies

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what estimate her Department has made of the number of company insolvencies in 2003; [185452]

(2) what estimates her Department has made of the number of company insolvencies in 2003. [185544]

Mr. Sutcliffe: There were 14,184 company insolvencies in 2003. These comprised of 5,234 creditors voluntary liquidations and 8,950 company compulsory liquidations.

Defence Equipment (Exports)

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she expects to extend the UK regulations on the licensing of exports of defence equipment to the UK dependent territories; and if she will estimate the value of those exports in the last year for which figures are available. [185172]

Mr. Rammell: I have been asked to reply.

The Government are working with the Overseas Territories to implement the Export Control Act by the end of the year. In the absence of centrally kept records, an estimate of the exports of defence equipment from the Overseas Territories would be meaningless, and liable to be misconstrued as an official figure. However, the Government believe the level of such exports to be very small, since the Overseas Territories neither manufacture defence equipment on a large scale, nor have large stocks of such equipment.

DIY Accidents

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate her Department has made of the prevalence of accidents relating to DIY; and what measures her Department is taking to reduce the number of such accidents. [185982]

Mr. Sutcliffe: DTI no longer provides a service on accident statistics.
 
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During 2002, the final year for which statistics were collected, the UK national estimate for the number of home accident victims where the patient's activity at the time was DIY/maintenance was 218,510 (24th HASS report, page 124); and a further 15,785 whilst at leisure outside the home and its surrounds (24th HASS report, page 133).

The 24th HASS report can be ordered or downloaded from www.dti.gov.uk/homesafetynetwork/gh stats.htm.

More detail can be obtained by contacting the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents: www. rospa.com tel. [phone].

As regards policy, the General Product Safety Regulations require products to be safe in normal or reasonably foreseeable use and that consumers are provided with the relevant information to enable them
 
22 Jul 2004 : Column 512W
 
to assess the risks inherent in a product and where these are not obvious for warnings to be provided.

Employment Benefits

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the effect on part-time workers in (a) the UK and (b) each region of measures agreed at EU level to ensure pro rata rights to (i) paid leave, (ii) pensions, (iii) access to training and (iv) other company benefits. [185324]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Second Work-Life Balance Study—Employees' Survey, carried out during January and February 2003, asked employees if their employer provided part-time workers with (a) the same hourly rate of pay as full-time workers; (b) the same entitlements to annual leave and maternity/parental leave on a pro rata basis as full-time workers; and (c) the same entitlement to contractual sick pay as full-time workers. A significant minority answered 'no', as shown in the following table.
Table: Percentages of employees who answer 'no' when asked about provisions for part-time staff, by UK region

Does your employer provide part-time workers with the following?	NE	Yorks and Humb	E Mids	Eastern	Gtr London	SE
The same hourly rate of pay as full-time workers	18	9	11	12	15	11
The same entitlements to annual leave and maternity/paternity leave on a pro rata basis as full-time workers	9	3	4	8	11	7
The same entitlement to contractual sick pay as full-time workers	12	6	8	12	13	8

Does your employer provide part-time workers with the following?	SW	W Mids	NW	Wales	Scotland	UK
The same hourly rate of pay as full-time workers	9	13	12	14	15	12
The same entitlements to annual leave and maternity/paternity leave on a pro rata basis as full-time workers	6	10	10	17	9	8
The same entitlement to contractual sick pay as full-time workers	10	11	14	18	12	11

Note:
Base=1823. Other response categories not reported here were 'yes' and 'don't know'.

According to the Second Work-Life Balance Study—Employers' Survey, carried out between December 2002 and April 2003, less than 1 per cent. of part-time employees were ineligible for maternity/paternity, parental or special paid leave entitlements available to full-time employees. Employers reported that none of their part-time staff were ineligible for employer-provided childcare facilities or help where they were available. Employers reported that between 0.1 and 1.9 per cent. of their part-time staff were ineligible for various flexible working practices, depending on which particular practice was being considered. Because the number of corresponding cases is very small, it is not possible to provide a regional breakdown. It is recognised that it is likely that employers will under report any ineligibility for part time staff.

The DTI has not collected any statistics on pensions, access to training or other company benefits (other than access to flexible working practices and child care).

Employment Tribunals

Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in what proportion of employment tribunal judgments in the last five years the debt owed by the employer was not wholly recovered. [185450]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Employment Tribunals Service does not hold information on the number of employment tribunal judgments where the debt owed by the employer was not wholly recovered.

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