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28 Oct 2004 : Column 1310W—continued
New Deal (Departmental Recruitment)
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many personnel the Department has recruited under the New Deal in each of the past five years. [194474]
Charlotte Atkins: The Cabinet Office collects New Deal data centrally on a quarterly basis. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Minister for the Cabinet Office of 25 October 2004, Official Report, column 1052W.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Businesses (York)
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many businesses in York (a) there were in 1997, (b) there are now, (c) started trading between 1997 and now, and (d) ceased trading between 1997 and now. [192405]
Nigel Griffiths: Barclays Bank's latest survey of business creation includes non-VAT registered firms and shows that there were 465,000 business start-ups in England and Wales in 2003. This represents a 19 per cent. increase on the year before. There were 1,400 business start-ups in York in 2003. Business start-up data for Unitary Authorities are not available for before 2003. Data on the number of business closures in each Unitary Authority are not available.
DTI figures based solely on VAT registrations and de-registrations for York local authority are shown in the following table for 1997 and 2002. Data for 2003 will be available in autumn 2004.
28 Oct 2004 : Column 1311W
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 1997–2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VAT Registrations | 435 | 415 | 410 | 445 | 440 | 435 | — | 2,580 |
| VAT De-registrations | 350 | 330 | 360 | 360 | 380 | 390 | — | 2,170 |
| Start of year VAT Stock | 4,035 | 4,115 | 4,200 | 4,250 | 4,335 | 4,395 | 4,440 | — |
Source:
Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations
1994–2002, Small Business Service, available from: www.sbs.gov.uk/statistics/vatstats.php
VAT registrations do not capture all start-up activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1997. Similarly, businesses that de-register will not necessarily have closed. Only 1.8 million out of 4 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2003. Data on the total number of businesses trading are not available below the level of government office region.
Experimental Fusion Reactor
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the Government's assessment of the EU position that the experimental fusion reactor should be built in France. [193161]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The UK Government believe that the ITER (International Tokamak Experimental Reactor) project will have the best chance of success if it is located at the European site in France. The UK will continue to support the European bid.
Information and Communication Specialists
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the Department spent on outside information technology and communication specialist consultants and engineers in and 2003–04 financial year. [191909]
Ms Hewitt: Central records indicate that a total of £24.03 million was spent on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) consultancy in the 2003–04 financial year. Additional expenditure may have been incurred through local contract action. However, this information could be extracted only at disproportionate cost.
Ministerial Expenses
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the running costs of Ministers' private offices in her Department have been in each year since 1997. [191383]
Ms Hewitt: The running costs for the Ministers' private offices are as follows:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 3.8 |
| 1998–99 | 4.2 |
| 1999–2000 | 3.4 |
| 2000–01 | 3.6 |
| 2001–02 | (2)2.8 |
| 2002–03 | 2.4 |
| 2003–04 | 2.2 |
(2) Revised figure—previously published as £4.08 million.
28 Oct 2004 : Column 1312W
Nuclear Waste
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what reports she has received from British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. in respect of the technical possibility of the encapsulation and long-term storage of previously wet-stored Magnox fuel. [193503]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Magnox fuel, which has become wet through storage in the reactor stations' cooling ponds or in the pond of the Fuel Handling Plant at Sellafield corrodes with time with associated release of very soluble materials. This makes reprocessing wetted fuel the preferred technical option.
Should the Magnox reprocessing plant be unable to reprocess fuel, and there were significant quantities of wetted fuel remaining, one option could be to encapsulate intact fuel elements in drums for interim storage. Ongoing research has concentrated on the thermal and corrosion effects of a range of potential encapsulants and the durability of the resultant encapsulated package. Further research, technical and regulatory assessments would be required to provide the assurances necessary to make this option viable.
One North East
Mr. Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the budget of One North East is in the current financial year. [193335]
Jacqui Smith: The gross expenditure budget for One North East in the current financial year is £271.219 million. This consists of a DTI budget of £213.949 million supplemented by income from own resources and other funding such as ERDF.
Shareholder Executive
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what authority the Minister for the Cabinet Office retains over the Shareholder Executive. [192743]
Ms Hewitt: The Shareholder Executive advises me—and is therefore accountable to me—on my Department's shareholder or other financial interest in the following businesses: British Energy plc, British Nuclear Fuels plc, Export Credit Guarantee Department, Royal Mail Holdings plc and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what appointments she has made to the Shareholder Executive. [192782]
Ms Hewitt:
A number of appointments have been made at senior civil service level and more junior grades both by the Cabinet Office and the Department of Trade and Industry.
28 Oct 2004 : Column 1313W
Small Businesses (Yorkshire)
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many small businesses there were in (a) Yorkshire and the Humber and (b) the City of York (i) in 1997 and (ii) at the latest date for which figures are available. [191170]
Nigel Griffiths: The information is as follows:
There were 288,650 small businesses (0–49 employees) at the start of 1997 in the Yorkshire and Humberside region.
There were 253,425 small businesses (0–49 employees) at the start of 2001 in the Yorkshire and Humberside region.
At the start of 1997 there were 4,035 VAT registered businesses in York Unitary Authority.
At the start of the 2003 there were 4,440 VAT registered businesses in York Unitary Authority.
There were 72,250 new VAT registrations in Yorkshire and the Humber GOR in the years 1997 to 2002
There were 2,580 new registrations in York UA in the years 1997 to 2002.
Sub-Post Offices
Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many sub-post offices proposed for closure under Post Office Ltd.'s reinvention programme are in neighbourhood renewal areas; how many (a) sub-post offices have been closed, (b) sub-post offices have been saved from closure, (c) proposals have been approved by Postwatch, (d) sub-post offices have been closed against the views expressed by Postwatch, (e) proposals remain under consideration for closure and (f) proposals remain under consideration for closure while being opposed by Postwatch; and if she will make a statement. [194445]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Implementation of the urban post office network reinvention programme is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to respond direct to my hon. Friend.
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