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25 Oct 2004 : Column 995W—continued
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Chemicals Industry
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the effect the EU Commission's Draft Regulation on Chemicals Policy will have on the manufacture and processing of polyurethane. [191564]
Alun Michael: I have been asked to reply.
Polyurethane is a polymer and is therefore exempted from the registration and evaluation requirements under the current European Commission proposal for the new Chemicals Strategy REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation of Chemicals). This exemption may be amended by the Commission as soon as a practicable and cost-efficient way of selecting polymers for registration can be established on the basis of sound scientific criteria. Polymers may be subject to authorisation and restriction.
The monomers used to manufacture polyurethane will be treated as substances and be subject to REACH if themselves manufactured or imported into the EU.
Civil Partnership Bill
Mr. Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the statement by the Deputy Minister for Women and Equality on 12 October 2004, Official Report, column 177, on what basis it was calculated that clause 2 and schedule 1 of the Civil Partnership Bill could cost the taxpayer £1 billion a year and the private sector some £1.25 billion a year. [193326]
Ms Hewitt: An opposition amendment to the Civil Partnership Bill to allow close family members who are over 30-years-old and have lived together for 12 years to register as civil partners of each other was accepted at Report Stage of the Civil Partnership Bill in the House of Lords. The Commons Committee has now voted to overturn this amendment.
The Government Actuary's Department had estimated the cost of extending the survivor pension rights in contracted-out pension schemes to close family members. These estimates were based on readily available census data and should be taken as broad indications of potential costs of implementing the amendment.
The estimates are set out in the following table:
| £ billion | ||
|---|---|---|
| Extending survivor pension rights to civil partners who are close family relations | Annual cost | Cost of providing retrospective rights |
| Public Service Schemes | 1 | 20 |
| Defined Benefit Private Pension Schemes | 1.25 | 40 |
Source:
GAD
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Combat Clothing
Mr. Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if his Department will take steps to ensure that the capacity of British manufacturers to supply combat clothing is maintained. [192622]
Jacqui Smith: The Department has worked extensively with the textiles and clothing industry to improve its productivity and competitiveness. This has included support for the Textiles and Clothing Industry Forum, a best practice programme that has focused on supply chain development. We continue to support Technitex, the technical textiles Faraday that promotes co-operation and collaboration between universities and industry on research and development. The Department also works closely with Skillfast-UK, the sector skills council for apparel, footwear, textiles and related businesses, on the skills agenda and has provided support for the provision of specific training programmes linked to business change that encourage innovation and modernisation. The maintenance of capacity to meet the demands of customers is of course a commercial matter for the industry.
Credit Card Charges
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with the Association for Payment Clearing Services on the types of information required to provide greater transparency in credit card charges. [193296]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Secretary of State has had no discussion with the Association for Payment Clearing Services on this matter. However, I met with them on 4 February 2004 to discuss issues surrounding the Treasury Select Committee inquiry into the Transparency of Credit Card Charges.
This discussion centred around the calculation of annual percentage rates and its application in consumer credit advertisements.
In addition, my officials have been involved in ongoing discussions, also aimed at increasing transparency and concerning the areas of pre-contractual information and the form and content of credit agreements.
Credit Card Data
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with members of the Association of Payment Clearing Services on the sharing of credit card data. [192991]
Mr. Sutcliffe: There have been no discussions between the Secretary of State and the Association of Payment Clearing Services on the sharing of credit card data.
Fraud and Theft
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her estimate is of the cost of fraud and theft to (a) her Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1997. [191418]
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Ms Hewitt: The information requested is as follows:
The Annual Fraud Returns to the Treasury detail losses relating to the cost of fraud are as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 2,776 |
| 1998–99 | 56,150 |
| 1999–2000 | 2,589 |
| 2000–01 | 46,461 |
| 2001–02 | 6,000 |
These are total figures covering the Department, including its Agencies and non-departmental public bodies.
I will write to the hon. Member with the figure for 2002–03 as soon as possible.
The figures for the cost of theft are as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1998 | (19)11,267 |
| 1999 | (19)10,985 |
| 2000 | (19)5,870 |
| 2001 | (19)18,782 |
| 2002 | (19)65,131 |
| 2003 | (20)98,426 |
(19) Figures included Department and its Agencies.
(20) Figure for the Department only.
The figure of £98,426 for 2003 does not cover the Agencies or the non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs). Information from Agencies is being collected now and will be provided to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
In many cases the stolen equipment was provided as a service item by the DTI's IT supplier. These items would be replaced at no further cost to the DTI as part of the ongoing service charge. However, the value of the item has been included in the stated figure owing to the difficulty in separating these items from other recorded thefts.
The DTI does not hold information on thefts within its NDPBs for any of the years in question.
I regret that the figures on thefts for 1997 cannot be provided as the information is no longer available.
Index of Multiple Deprivation
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which funding streams have been allocated by her Department using a funding formula which includes rankings or scores on the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2000; and if she will list the amount of funding allocated in such a way (a) nationally by the Department or (b) to all Government sponsored bodies reporting to the Department. [191533]
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Ms Hewitt: The Government's support for the Regional Development Agencies in 2004–05 is distributed between the nine regions using a formula that uses data from the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2000 at an aggregated regional level. The deprivation indicator accounts for about 28 per cent. of the formula. A range of other factors including productivity and unemployment are also used in the formula. The amount of money available for allocation under the formula is £1.9 billion, of which my Department contributes £236 million.
The Small Business Service funding, for business support services, to the Business Link Operators in 2004–05 is also distributed between the regions using a formula which uses data from the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2000. Deprivation accounts for 7.2 per cent. of the formula. A range of other factors including Resident Adult Population, the Inter Departmental Business Register (of all VAT and PAYE registered companies) and a business Start-ups indicator are also used in the formula. The total amount of money allocated under that formula is £139.5 million.
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