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Avient
Norman Lamb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether she (a) had sight of and
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(b) approved the recent statement by the UK National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines on Avient; and if she will make a statement. [200490]
Mr. Alexander: Yes. Ministers saw and approved the statement on Avient.
Broadband
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of Great Britain is broadband enabled, broken down by region. [208942]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: At the end of June 2004, terrestrial broadband services were available to 90 per cent. of households in the UK. The regional breakdown is set out in the table.
Source:
Analysys Consulting Limited, July 2004
Both availability and take-up of terrestrial broadband services are continuing to rise. Latest estimates indicate that availability in the UK has reached 95 per cent. and there are some 6 million broadband subscribers. We aim to reach 99 per cent. this year.
Burma
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the merits of imposing a ban on imports from Burma; and if she will make a statement. [202838]
Mr. Alexander: The Government have a long-standing policy of not encouraging British companies to trade with Burma and we offer no support to companies that wish to do so.
As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said in the House on 25 June 2003, Official Report, column 1042,
"we do not believe that trade is appropriate when the regime continues to suppress the basic human rights of its people".
Through the EU's Common Position on Burma we have imposed a comprehensive programme of targeted measures on the regime. We regularly review the terms and conditions of the Common Position with our EU partners.
We favour multilateral targeted measures against Burma wherever possible because these have a greater practical impact and send a stronger political signal. We will therefore continue to support multilateral action through the EU's Common Position on Burma.
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Canatxx
Mr. Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the occasions on which (a) Ministers and (b) officials from her Department have communicated with Canatxx Gas Stonage Ltd., Canatxx Energy Ventures Ltd. or a company associated with Canatxx (i) by letter, (ii) by e-mail, (iii) by telephone and (iv) in person; and if she will publish the content of such communication on the departmental website. [209827]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 20 January 2005]: The information requested is not immediately available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Events
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the (a) conferences, (b) seminars, (c) workshops, (d) exhibitions and (e) press conferences which have been sponsored by her Department and which took place on non-departmental premises in each of the last two years giving the (i) title, (ii) purpose, (iii) date and (iv) cost of each. [202387]
Ms Hewitt: The organisation of conferences, seminars, workshops and exhibition is the responsibility of individual policy groups. The information requested is not held centrally and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
Employment Tribunals
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Government will take steps to ensure that employment tribunal awards and private settlements of employment cases brokered by ACAS can be enforced without recourse to legal action by the aggrieved person. [210469]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department of Constitutional Affairs (DCA) White Paper "Transforming Public Services: Complaints Redress and Tribunals", published in July 2004, recognised the fact that enforcement of tribunal awards can sometimes pose difficulties. It also pointed out that private settlements of cases, even if brokered by ACAS, have no status beyond that of an ordinary contract. It went on to say:
"This is unsatisfactory. We will reform these processes so that an award of compensation, whether ordered by the tribunal or agreed between the parties, can be enforced with the minimum of bureaucracy as if it were an order of the civil courts."
Officials are working closely with their colleagues at DCA toward delivery of this commitment.
Fur
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to combat the illegal international fur trade. [206547]
Mr. Morley:
I have been asked to reply.
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The Government are strongly opposed to the illegal trade in fur skins and we fully support efforts being made through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to address this. We have recently committed some £15,000 to help fund a meeting of the CITES Tiger Enforcement Task Force to co-ordinate action to combat the illicit trade in Asian big cat skins. We have also made £20,000 available to assist the Indian Government in establishing a Wildlife Crime Cell to help address the illegal trade in wildlife in that country.
At home the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) supports a network of Police Wildlife Crime Officers and Customs Officers responsible for enforcing CITES. There is also a dedicated Customs enforcement team at Heathrow Airport responsible for enforcing the international controls in CITES species. We also monitor the major internet sites and take enforcement action where possible illegal sales of wildlife items are identified. Internet crime is one of the growth areas that I have asked the National Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit to focus particular attention on.
Miners' Compensation
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which 25 constituencies have received most money in payments under the Miners' Compensation Scheme. [209178]
Nigel Griffiths: The information requested is as follows:
(6) As at 31 December 2004.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the ratio of deceased to live Miners' Compensation Scheme claims is (a) in each region and (b) overall. [209179]
Nigel Griffiths:
As of 31 December 2004 the figures are as follows.
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