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8 Mar 2005 : Column 1703W—continued
PRIME MINISTER
Government Strategies
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Prime Minister what (a) five-year strategies and (b) 10-year (i) strategies and (ii) plans his Government have published since 1997. [219883]
The Prime Minister: Departmental strategies and plans are a matter for individual departments, and are available in the Libraries of the House.
Intelligence and Security Committee
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister for what reason details of the occasions and frequencies of meetings and visits of the Intelligence and Security Committee are not placed in the public domain; and if he will place such details in the public domain in the future. [220874]
The Prime Minister: Details of the occasions and frequency of Intelligence and Security Committee meetings are a matter for the Committee, as is the decision not to place these details in the public domain.
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister whether he invited the Intelligence and Security Committee to visit the USA in February; whether he made proposals as to whom they should meet; and if he will make a statement. [220875]
The Prime Minister: No. Visits by the Intelligence and Security Committee are a matter for the Committee.
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Prime Minister for what purpose he will meet the Intelligence and Security Committee on 7 March; what is to be discussed; and if he will make a statement. [220876]
The Prime Minister: Such meetings are confidential and it would be inappropriate to disclose details of the discussions.
Royal Wedding
Mr. Amess: To ask the Prime Minister whether he will be attending the civil ceremony for the marriage of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles in his official capacity. [220497]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the press briefings given by my official spokesman on 23 February 2005. These are available on the Number 10 website.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Agency Workers Directive
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the effect of the Agency Workers Directive on the UK's labour market; and if she will make a statement. [220669]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
Regulatory Impact Assessments were undertaken on the original and revised draft Agency Workers Directive, including an assessment of the
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potential labour market effects. A copy of the latest Regulatory Impact Assessment has been placed in the House of Commons Libraries.
The impact of the Directive on labour markets is clearly an important issue and we have sought to find a way forward on the Directive which all member states can accept, reflecting the diversity of labour markets across the EU and the need to protect workers without putting their jobs at risk.
Broadband
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the final report on the independent rates review was presented by the Government to the Broadband Stakeholders Group in November 2004; and if she will make a statement. [218953]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: In practice the BSG and Government have taken this work forward together, in response to recommendations made by the Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG). The Department appointed a contractor to carry out an independent review of the rating system as it applies to telecommunications.
An interim status report based on this work was published on the BSG website in December 2004.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reasons the Government asked the Broadband Stakeholders Group to review apparent disparities between the Valuation Office Agency's calculation method of business rates for BT in comparison with other telecom companies rating system; and if she will make a statement on the powers of the Broadband Stakeholder Group to require the production of information relevant to the review. [219306]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: In its second Annual Report, the Broadband Stakeholders Group (BSG) recommended that Government should review the current regime for property taxes in respect of their application to cable/duct infrastructure.
In practice the BSG and Government have taken this work forward together. The terms of reference focused on the impact of business rating on investment rather than the method of calculation used for any individual company.
The BSG have the same powers to require information as anybody else. In practice the Government and the BSG have been working closely together.
Businesses
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Tradeand Industry how many businesses ceased trading in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. [219659]
Nigel Griffiths:
Barclays Bank's latest survey of business creations and closures includes non-VAT registered firms and shows that there were 291,000 business closures in England and Wales in 2003, a 16 per cent. decrease on the year before. A further 249,000 businesses closed down in England and Wales in the first nine months of 2004. This represents an increase of
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15 per cent. on the first nine months of 2003. Closure data are not available for the UK, regions, local authorities or parliamentary constituencies.
DTI figures based solely on VAT de-registrations for Jarrow constituency, South Tyneside, the North East and the UK are shown in the table for 1997 to 2003. Data for 2004 will be available in autumn 2005.
Source:
(South Tyneside, North East, United Kingdom): VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2003, Small Business Service, available from: www.sbs.gov.uk/statistics/analytical/vatstats.php
Source:
(Jarrow): Inter-Departmental Business Register, adjusted by Small Business Service to be consistent with published VAT Registrations and De-registrations
VAT registration and de-registration data do not capture all business 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.
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Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new businesses have started up in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. [219660]
Nigel Griffiths: Barclays Bank's latest survey of business creation includes non-VAT registered firms and shows that there were 700 business start-ups in South Tyneside (which contains part of the constituency of Jarrow) in 2003 and a further. 600 in the first nine months of 2004. This represents an increase of 20 per cent. on the first nine months of 2003. Business start-up data for authorities and regions are not available for before 2003.
Barclays data show that there were 1,300 business start-ups in Gateshead (which also contains part of the constituency of Jarrow) in 2003 and a further 1,000 in the first nine months of 2004. This represents no change on the first nine months of 2003.
Barclays data show that there were 14,500 business start-ups in the North East in 2003 and a further 13,600 in the first nine months of 2004. This represents an increase of 20 per cent. on the first nine months of 2003.
Barclays data show that there were 445,000 (revised) business start-ups in England and Wales in 2003, a 16 per cent. increase on the year before. A further 396,000 businesses started up in England and Wales in the first nine months of 2004. This represents an increase of 14 per cent. on the first nine months of 2003.
DTI figures based solely on VAT registrations for Jarrow constituency, South Tyneside, the North East and the UK are shown as follows for 1997 to 2003. Data for 2004 will be available in autumn 2005.
Source:
(South Tyneside, North East, United Kingdom): VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2003, Small Business Service, available from the Library of the House and www.sbs.gov.uk/statistics/analytical/vatstats.php.
(Jarrow): Inter-Departmental Business Register, adjusted by Small Business Service to be consistent with published VAT Registrations and De-registrations.
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. Only 1.8 million out of 4 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2003.
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