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Green Minister

Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the activities of the Green Minister in the Department in financial year 2003–04. [185127]

Mr. Timms: I am DTI's Green Minister and in this role I am a member of the Ministerial Sub-Committee of Green Ministers. However, it has been established practice under successive governments not to disclose information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees.

My ministerial responsibilities include, amongst others, Energy, Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility and these overlapped with my work as Green Minister in the financial year 2003–04.

Important pieces of work with which I have been involved in the past year include the publication of a UK Framework for Sustainable Consumption and Production in conjunction with Defra, the setting up of an academy for corporate social responsibility, and action on implementation of the Energy White Paper.

High Technology Jobs

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to minimise the export of high technology jobs to (a) Eastern Europe and (b) Asia. [185490]

Ms Hewitt: The Government want to keep as many jobs in this country as possible and we will act to ensure that the conditions remain favourable for this. The UK has a skilled workforce, a strong and stable economy, and a flexible and dynamic business environment, all of which will ensure that we continue to attract and retain investment and high quality jobs.

Late Bill Payments

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the late payment of bills in the UK. [185489]

 
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Nigel Griffiths: This Government have always recognised that late payment of debts can have serious effects on the cash flow of smaller companies, which is why we had a manifesto commitment to introduce a Late Payment Act to allow small businesses to:

claim interest on late payment from other business or public sector bodies;

allow creditors to claim a fixed sum of compensation to cover debt recovery costs should late payment happen.

The Government also established the Better Payment Practice Group whose website lists the payment record of companies.

The package of measures has had a positive effect on payment times. The Grant Thornton European Business Survey showed that the average time taken in the UK to settle accounts in 1997 was 49 days. By 2002 this had fallen to 41 days. By comparison, the average settlement time in our European neighbours was 50 days. A recent survey by the REL Consultancy Group looked at average days payable outstanding (DPO) and concluded that UK companies' payment performance is 33.6 days against 42.4 days for Europe as a whole.

Because of concerns that suppliers would not utilise the legislation for fear of reprisals or boycotts, I have also undertaken as Minister to write, in cases where invoices are not disputed, on behalf of small businesses to the managing directors of companies to convey their complaint and seek an explanation and appropriate action. I urge all Members of Parliament to do the same on behalf of constituents.

National Minimum Wage

Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people in Hyndburn have benefited from the national minimum wage. [181302]

Mr. Sutcliffe: It is not possible to provide estimates specifically for the constituency of Hyndburn. However, based on the Office for National Statistics' Low Pay data released in October 2003, the DTI estimates that around 140,000 people in the North West stood to benefit from the introduction of the national minimum wage in April 1999. Between 130,000 and 160,000 people were expected to have benefited from the October 2003 uprating of the national minimum wage.

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the number of homeworkers being paid below the national minimum wage. [182415]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The DTI's full regulatory impact assessment on "Regulations to Introduce Fair Piece Rates for Output Workers, including Homeworkers", published in February 2004, estimated that employers of around 70,000 home workers have been in breach of the minimum wage regulations. As a result of the 2004 amendment introducing the new system of fair piece rates, the DTI estimates that a total of around 110,000 home workers stand to benefit in October 2004 as a result of both extended coverage of the minimum wage and greater compliance.
 
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John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of people in employment she estimates are in receipt of the national minimum wage. [183111]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Based on the Office for National Statistics' Low Pay data released in October 2003, the DTI estimates that between 1.0 million (4.0 per cent. of those in employment) and 1.2 million UK workers (4.8 per cent. of those in employment) were expected to have benefited from the October 2003 uprating of the national minimum wage.

Nirex

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she expects to announce her decision on the future of Nirex. [186053]

Mr. Morley: I have been asked to reply.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, provided a written ministerial statement to the House on the future of Nirex on 21 July 2004.

Policy (Environmental Impact)

Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new policy proposals or significant changes in policy were produced in (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04; how many of these were screened for their environmental impacts; and how many were the subject of separate environmental appraisals. [185103]

Mr. Timms: In most instances, environmental screening and appraisal are undertaken as an integral part of the policy-making process, and separate records are not currently maintained. Nor are separate records maintained of the number of new policy proposals or significant changes in policy requiring Regulatory Impact Assessments made each year.

A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) would have been required for all departmental policy proposals in 2002–03 and 2003–04 which were likely to have a direct or indirect impact (whether benefits or cost) on business, charities and the voluntary sector. In accordance with Cabinet Office guidance, the RIA should have covered the full range of potential impacts on all stakeholders—including environmental impacts where relevant.

Post Offices

Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post offices in Leicester, South have disabled access. [186265]

Mr. Timms: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Regional Development Agencies

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what budget has been set for each regional development agency as a result of the spending review. [186160]

 
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Jacqui Smith: The Spending Review 2004 White Paper (published on 12 July 2004) states the total Single Programme budget for England's RDAs (2005–06: £2,163 million, 2006–07: £2,244 million, 2007–08: £2,297 million). The budget for each RDA for the years 2005–08 will be set later this year.

Regulatory Impact Assessments

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what regulatory impact assessments have been carried out on the EU directives that came into force over the past 12 months; [185540]

(2) what regulatory impact assessments (a) have been and (b) will be made for those EU directives which will come into force over the next 12 months. [185538]

Mr. Alexander: I have been asked to reply.

In August 1998, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced that no proposal for regulation which has an impact on business, charities or the voluntary sector should be considered by Ministers without a regulatory impact assessment (RIA) being carried out. Where EU Directives impose significant costs on business, charities and the voluntary sector, RIAs are carried out to gain collective ministerial agreement for a negotiating line and RIAs accompany the explanatory memorandum produced for parliamentary scrutiny. Departments will then refocus the RIA when determining the options for implementing the directives.

In May 2004, I presented a Command Paper to Parliament, listing all the final regulatory impact assessments completed by Departments during the period 1 July-31 December 2003.

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