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4 Oct 2004 : Column 1858W—continued
Solar PV
Mr. Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps her Department will take (a) to encourage further investment in the UK solar PV manufacturing industry and (b) to safeguard jobs in this sector when the first phase of the solar PV major demonstration programme ends. [188225]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The DTI has this week announced a further £6 million of funding to extend the Major Photovoltaics Demonstration Programme (PV MDP)
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until March 2006; this brings the total funding allocated to this Programme to £31 million. In addition the Department has committed a total of £10 million to the large scale and domestic field trials. The DTI also supports Solar PV through its Technology Support Programme and through the Research Councils. This demonstrates the Governments intention to continue to support this industry and should encourage industry to continue to invest as well.
A low carbon buildings programme, as recommended by the DTI/Carbon Trust Renewables Innovation Review, is expected to supersede these two programmes and help safeguard jobs in this sector. We continue to work closely with the Regional Development Agencies on investment by indigenous employers and on attracting inward investment. The Department particularly welcomes the announcements earlier this year on investment in solar manufacturing capability by Sharp and Romag.
Telephone Charges
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on (a) the fraudulent misuse of premium rate numbers on the internet and (b) Government efforts to solve the problem. [188475]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The regulation of Premium Rate Services is a matter for the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services, with statutory backing from the Office of Communications (Ofcom).
The Government have recently asked Ofcom to review the regulation of Premium Rate Services (PRS) and Ofcom is due to report back at the beginning of October.
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consideration has been given to banning premium rate internet lines as a means of tackling fraudulent misuse of premium rate numbers. [188476]
Mr. Timms: The regulation of premium rate services is a matter for the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS), with statutory backing from the Office of Communications (Ofcom).
The Government have recently asked Ofcom to review the regulation of Premium Rate Services (PRS) in order to examine strengthening ICSTIS' powers and Ofcom is due to report back at the beginning of October. ICSTIS, the Government and Ofcom have been considering all options, including banning PRS internet lines, for dealing with their fraudulent misuse.
Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she has taken to tackle improper premium rate charges for telephone calls being added to telephone bills through internet connections; and if she will make a statement. [188546]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The regulation of Premium Rate Services is a matter for the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS). The Government recently asked the Office of Communications (Ofcom) to carry out a review
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of PRS regulation in order to examine strengthening ICSTIS' powers. It is due to report back at the beginning of October.
Tissue Products
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will introduce legislation on the accurate labelling of tissue products; and what recent representations she has received from the Association of Makers of Soft Tissue Papers on the labelling of tissue products. [188104]
Mr. Sutcliffe: We have received no representation from the Association of Makers of Soft Tissue Papers. I have received your related letter of 2 September 2004 and will respond in due course. There are no plans to introduce legislation on the labelling of tissue products.
Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many prosecutions there have been under the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971 (a) since the introduction of the Act and (b) in each of the last five years. [188664]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 13 September 2004]: The Department of Trade and Industry does not collect statistics relating to the number of prosecutions made under the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971.
Local authority trading standards departments are responsible for enforcement of the Act and will each keep a record of prosecutions they have taken.
Weapon Component Exports
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps are being taken to block the practice by some armaments manufacturers and exporters of exporting components of particular weapons to particular states where they can then be assembled and so avoid Government refusal to export particular weapons. [188131]
Nigel Griffiths: HMG assesses export licence application for component against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria in the same way as main equipment. Full account of the equipment's potential end-use and destination as well as the stated end-use and destination is taken when making our licensing assessment. HMG also considers whether components are for use in licensed production and if so take account of any associated risks in the licensing assessment. HMG would not issue a licence where there was a clear risk the equipment would be misused or diverted. On making this decision HMG use information form a wide variety of sources, including overseas posts, NGOs, intelligence and historical licensing records.
Working Hours
Denzil Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her estimate is of the average number of hours worked by UK employees in the latest year for which figures are available. [184354]
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Mr. Sutcliffe: The average of hours worked (that is total hours excluding overtime) for the last year is as follows:
| Spring | Hours |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 34.38 |
| 2003 | 34.45 |
These figures are produced monthly in Labour Market Trends, an ONS publication.
CABINET OFFICE
Departmental Accounting Practice
Mr. Bacon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office who the Finance Director of the (a) Central Office of Information and (b) Cabinet Office is; what accountancy qualifications each Director holds; and on how many occasions there has been a qualified opinion on (i) the resource accounts and (ii) other accounts of each in the last five years. [183433]
Ruth Kelly: The Finance Director of the Central Office of Information is Graham Beasant, who is a Chartered Management Accountant.
No Resource Accounts have been qualified.
No Trading Fund Accounts have been qualified.
The Finance Director of the Cabinet Office is Jerry Page, who is a Chartered Management Accountant.
Resource Accounts 1999–2000 received a qualified opinion and Resource Accounts 2002–03 received a disclaimer opinion, (that is the Comptroller and Auditor General was unable to form an opinion because the Accounts were not presented to him in sufficient time).
Appropriation Accounts ceased in 2000–01 with the introduction of Resource Accounts. During their life, no Appropriation Accounts were qualified.
The main reason for the disclaimer opinion on the 2002–03 accounts was because of deficiencies in the Cabinet Office financial systems and processes, which meant that the accounts took several months to prepare. The Cabinet Office is currently undertaking a major overhaul of its financial systems and processes to help it meet the Treasury's Faster Closing timetable, and consequently future years' accounts should be produced much more quickly, avoiding any disclaimed opinions.
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