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Departmental Websites

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether her Department's .gov.uk. websites comply with the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines adopted by the Government in 2001; and if she will make a statement. [199687]

Ms Hewitt: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 1 December 2004, Official Report, column 134W.

Employment Status Review

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the recommendations resulting from the Employment Status Review will be published. [205383]

Mr. Sutcliffe: We hope to publish a Government response to the Employment Status Review next year.

Energy Act

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what advice she has given to Ofgem with regard to section 83 of the Energy Act 2004. [205243]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: It is for Ofgem, which operates under the direction and governance of the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority (the Authority), to interpret its own statutory duties. However, the Government issued social and environmental guidance to the Authority in February 2004. The Authority is required to have regard to the guidance when discharging its statutory functions to which its principal objective and general duties apply.

Energy Supply

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the implications for the UK of the EU Directive on the Security of Energy Supply. [205362]

Mr. O'Brien: A Directive on Security of Gas Supply (2004/67/EC) was adopted in April this year. This establishes minimum security of supply standards and co-ordination of Member States' responses to threats to gas supplies and clarifies roles and responsibilities of market players.

There is also a proposal for a Directive on Electricity Security of Supply which, following agreement of a general approach by the November Energy Council, is now awaiting its first reading in the European Parliament. This requires Member States to take a range
 
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of measures to safeguard electricity supplies including setting minimum rules for network security and quality of supply standards, and establishing a market framework which provides a stable investment climate and investment signals.

We believe our existing arrangements largely meet the requirements of these Directives.

Fuel Poverty

Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what estimate she has made of the number of pensioners in Burton who are living in households suffering from fuel poverty; and how this number has changed since 1997; [205540]

(2) what estimate she has made of the number of people claiming a disability benefit who are living in households suffering from fuel poverty in Burton; and how this number has changed since 1997. [205541]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: We are unable to provide a breakdown of the number of households in fuel poverty by individual areas or towns.

For the most recently available survey figures, I would refer the hon. Member to the response which I gave to the hon. Member for Gordon (Malcolm Bruce) on 30 November 2004, Official Report, column 78W. This sets out how the Fuel Poverty figures for England are produced, and gives figures for each Government Office Region.

Those data also show that the number of fuel poor households in England which include someone aged 60 or over has more than halved from 2.2 million in 1996 to 1 million in 2001. In 2001, it can be estimated that the number of households containing either someone with a disability or long term illness was 0.8 million, the same as for 1996. Data for the number of those households in receipt of disability benefit are not readily available.

Due to the fact that 2002 figures are based on a modelled estimate, 2001 is the latest year for which it is possible to give these breakdowns.

Data for 2003 will be published in 2005 in the UK Fuel Poverty Strategy Third Annual Progress Report.

Gangmasters

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reasons the proposals by the Home Secretary relating to the regulation of gangmasters prior to the Morecambe Bay cockling tragedy were deemed not to be workable. [206085]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The question of how best continually to improve enforcement against those, such as gangmasters, that mistreat workers and act illegally has been and continues to be much discussed. During inter-departmental discussions on this issue in 2003 a number of different approaches from various departments were considered, rejected, modified and adopted. Such debate is a normal part of the process of government and is how departments reach a consensus on the best way forward. In this case the consensus settled on taking a range of actions, including Government support for a private Member's Bill, now the Gangmasters Act 2004.
 
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Gas Prices

Sir Robert Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the impact of the differential in wholesale gas prices between the UK and the EU on the (a) competitiveness of UK manufacturers and (b) economy. [199540]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: DTI officials and Ministers meet regularly with industry groups and companies to discuss concerns on energy prices. At a recent meeting with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, representatives of the main energy intensive sectors of industry confirmed that they were fully committed to the market-related approach to energy supply. However, they were concerned about prices in the forward market for gas in Great Britain. My right hon. Friend asked officials to maintain a close dialogue with the group, to get their ideas for improving the operation of the market, and to report back.

Maternity Leave

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will estimate the take-up rate of maternity leave entitlement with statutory maternity pay since the changes implemented in April 2003. [205056]

Mr. Sutcliffe: It is possible to make an estimate of the numbers of women taking maternity leave based on employer returns to Inland Revenue for payment of Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP). Around 300,000 women receive SMP each year.

In addition, there will be some women who will qualify for maternity leave but not SMP (because they do not meet the earnings criteria) and similarly some who qualify for SMP but not leave (because they are employed earners for the purposes of SMP but not employees in order to qualify for leave).

Medicines (Packaging)

Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what mechanisms are in place to prevent tamper-proof packaging on medicines being removed by commercial middlemen. [201723]

Ms Rosie Winterton: I have been asked to reply.

The regulations covering the packaging of medicinal products make no reference to the use of tamper evident presentations. Any decision to use such packaging is for the marketing authorisation holder.

If a company authorised to carry out the repackaging of a medicinal product needs to remove tamper evident packaging, or seals, in order to repack the product, he is permitted to do so. However, repacking of medicinal products in the United Kingdom may only be carried out in accordance with relevant process and product-specific licences issued by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)—these permit only the outer packaging to be opened or replaced. The MHRA examines a sample of each product to be repacked and is aware of the instances in which tamper-evident packaging will be opened or replaced.

The immediate container may not be opened or replaced so where this uses tamper-evident packaging, it will remain intact.
 
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Ministerial Visits

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list combined heat and power schemes which she has visited since taking her post. [205244]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to the hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Mr. Robertson) on 18 May 2004, Official Report, column 894W.

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