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6 Apr 2005 : Column 1472W—continued

Correspondence

Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East dated 5 January 2005 and 25 July 2004 regarding a constituent, Mr. Christopher Yeomans. [216586]

Mr. Sutcliffe: A response to the 25 July 2004 letter (which covers the letter of 5 January 2005) will be sent out in the first week in April. It appears that due to an administrative error this was not responded to earlier.

Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Argyll and Bute, dated 22 November 2004 and 31 January 2005, concerning a constituent who had lodged a claim against British Coal and her Department. [224739]

Nigel Griffiths: I have answered the hon. Member's letter today. I apologise for the delay.

Economic Partnership Agreements

Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has made to the European Commission on ACP countries retaining national and regional autonomy in Economic Partnership Agreements with the EU. [221269]

Mr. Alexander: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 21 March 2005, Official Report, column 575W.

EU Directives

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many EU (a) regulations and (b) directives covering matters within the responsibility of her Department have been repealed since 1 April 2004. [224570]

Nigel Griffiths: The European Commission publishes information on the repeal of EU regulations and directives in its simplification progress reports. Its last report was published in June 2004. The next report will cover the period since 1 April 2004.
 
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EU Regional Funding

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what action the Government are taking to secure the best outcome for regions in the UK from negotiations regarding the European Convergence (Objective 1) Programme post 2006; [224497]

(2) what action the Government will take to support regions which risk losing eligibility for European convergence funding in the post 2006 programme because of the effect of enlargement upon allocation of Extra Regio. [224498]

Mr. Alexander: The Government set out their approach to the negotiations on the future of the EU structural and cohesion funds in their consultation document, "A new Regional Policy for the United Kingdom", of March 2003 and in my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry's two written statements to Parliament of 17 September and 11 December 2003.

Exporters

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with representatives of (a) the textile industry, (b) clothing manufacturers and exporters, (c) the Scottish Executive and (d) Scottish Enterprise regarding small and medium-sized enterprises participating in exhibitions and missions in export markets under the support for exhibitions and seminars abroad scheme; and if she will make a statement. [217959]

Mr. Alexander: The textile and clothing industries have made representations to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and other Ministers about changes to the support for exhibitions and seminars abroad scheme from 2006–07. UK Trade and Investment has consulted industry and Scottish Development International on the detail of these changes, which aim to focus assistance on the small and medium-sized enterprises who can benefit most, namely new-to-export companies.

Independent Generators

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what grants are available to individuals who want to provide their own electricity independent from the national grid. [217515]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The DTI provides capital grants to individuals to encourage the uptake of small scale renewable technologies to generate electricity through the Clear Skies programme and the Major PV Demonstration programme. Grants are also provided by the Scottish Executive through the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative.

Regional Development Agencies

Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many staff in each regional development agency work on supporting exporters in the (a) civil aerospace, (b) agriculture, horticulture and fisheries, (c) airports, (d) automotive, (e) biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, (f) business and consumer services, (g) chemicals, (h) clothing, footwear and fashions,
 
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(i) communications, (j) construction, (k) creative and media, (l) education and training, (m) electronics and IT hardware, (n) environment, (o) financial services, (p) fire, police and security, (q) food and drink, (r) giftware, jewellery and tableware, (s) healthcare and medical, (t) household goods, furniture and furnishings, (u) leisure and tourism, (v) marine, (w) mechanical engineering and process engineering, (x) metallurgical process plant, (y) metals and minerals, (z) mining, (aa) oil and gas, (bb) ports and logistics, (cc) power, (dd) railways, (ee) software and computer services business-to-business, (ff) sports and leisure infrastructure, (gg) textiles, interior textiles and carpets and (hh) water sectors. [203950]

Mr. Alexander: Support for exporters in England is the responsibility of UK Trade and Investment, which has agreed with the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) to operate as their international trade arm. Through this relationship, UKTI funds a network of over 270 International Trade Advisers (ITAs) who provide support and advice on international trade to businesses within each region. The delivery of UKTI trade services for each region is in line with the Regional International Trade Strategy (RITS), which is closely linked to the Regional Economic Strategy, and drawn together by UKTI and the RDA, in consultation with business representatives, to reflect regional priorities. Therefore, the number of ITAs working in a particular sector will depend on the varying regional sector priorities as reflected in each RITS.

Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the responsibilities of each of the regional development agencies are with regard to inward investment. [224080]

Mr. Alexander [holding answer 4 April 2005]: The Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) alongside the development agencies of the devolved Administrations and UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) comprise the UK's inward investment network. UKTI leads and guides the network. It funds the RDAs to enable them to provide a tailored service to potential inward investors in co-operation with UKTI, to attract inward investment to the UK and to maintain and expand that investment.

Regulation

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many regulations have been repealed by her Department since 1 October 2004. [224621]

Nigel Griffiths: Since 1 April 2004, DTI regulatory reforms which have reduced burdens on business include:

Repeal of the Trading Stamps Act by Regulatory Reform order, expected to produce annual administrative cost savings of £0.5–£1.5 million.

Modernisation of the Competition regime completed in 2004; this will reduce compliance costs for business, generating annual savings to business of up to £1.5 million.

 
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Administrative simplification to reduce burdens on directory publishers, saving business £1 million per year: through the Directory Publishing—reducing and simplifying regulations (Amends Unsolicited Goods and Services Act).

Wireless Telegraphy (Register) Regulations 2004; together with the Communications Act 2003 these will generate £5.4 million savings per annum to business.

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