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15 Jun 2005 : Column 415W—continued
Community Interest Companies
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the likely level of use that will be made of the new community interest companies in the management of voluntary organisations in England. [3711]
Alun Michael:
As stated in the Regulatory Impact Assessment prepared for the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004, take-up of community interest companies is hard to estimate given the lack of overall data on start-ups in the social enterprise sector. We expect that the community
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interest companies will be used initially mainly by new enterprises, rather than existing organisations which are already operating through an existing legal form. Our working assumption is that initially there may be between 100 and 300 new community interest companies registering each year. This figure was considered low by some of those who responded to consultation, but they did not produce any evidence on which to base a different forecast of initial take-up. The management of voluntary organisations seems to me to be a quite separate issue.
Export Control Organisation
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has for the Export Arms Sales Unit; and if he will make a statement. [4066]
Malcolm Wicks: The Export Control Organisation is currently considering how best it can continue to deliver high quality export licensing services to industry and contribute to the Government's counter-proliferation effort. No decisions have been taken.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many staff were employed in the Export Arms Sales Unit at the end of March in (a) 2003 and (b) 2004; and how many are planned for (i) 2005 and (ii) 2006. [4067]
Malcolm Wicks: The Export Control Organisation (ECO) had 146 staff in post at end March 2003,158 staff at end March 2004, and 143 staff at end March 2005. There is an overall target for an ECO headcount of 109 by 1 April 2006.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the tradesunions over the future of the Export Arms Sales Unit. [4068]
Malcolm Wicks: I am in the process of arranging such discussions.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations the Government have received from other governments regarding his Department's consideration of private sector involvement in delivering some of the Export Control Organisation's services. [3168]
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many staff were employed by the Export Control Organisation in each of the last five years. [2334]
Malcolm Wicks: The Export Control Organisation (ECO) had an average of staff:
| Staff | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 143 |
| 2001–02 | 142 |
| 2002–03 | 146 |
| 2003–04 | 156 |
| 2004–05 | 142 |
15 Jun 2005 : Column 417W
MG Rover
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Government will publish in full the findings of the Financial Reporting Council into the finances of MG-Rover; and when the Council is expected to report. [1278]
Ian Pearson: My then right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 31 May the appointment of inspectors to investigate and report on the affairs of MG Rover Group, including Phoenix Venture Holdings Ltd. and MGR Capital Ltd. It is intended that the inspectors will do their work as quickly as possible and their report will be published.
The Financial Reporting Review Panel have not published their report and the Government have been advised that to do so would be prejudicial to those potentially affected by it and to the regulatory process.
THORP Plant
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what period of time elapsed between instruments at the Thorp plant indicating that a leak of radioactive material was occurring and the decision being taken to close the facility. [3277]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 13 June 2005]: British Nuclear Group Sellafield Ltd. suspended operations at THORP as soon as it became clear to them that a leak was occurring. However the results of BNGSL's investigation suggests that the pipe may have started to fail in August 2004 and that complete failure of the pipe may have occurred in mid January 2005. Opportunities such as cell sampling and level measurements were missed which would have shown that material was escaping to secondary containment.
A British Nuclear Group investigation has made recommendations to improve the maintenance, testing and reliability of cell instrumentation and other systems that give indications of plant abnormality. A separate independent investigation by the Health and Safety Executive's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate is considering both technical issues and broader safety culture and management of nuclear safety issues, and this will provide the basis for any subsequent enforcement actions.
Unsolicited Telephone Calls
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action the Government have taken to ensure that owners of mobile phones do not receive unsolicited calls from firms selling goods. [4226]
Alun Michael:
The Department introduced the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations in 1999, which provides a scheme called the Telephone Preference Service scheme. This provides protection to mobile phone subscribers from receiving unsolicited calls from firms selling goods. The Information Commissioner's Office has responsibility for the enforcement of the TPS scheme.
15 Jun 2005 : Column 418W
TRANSPORT
Air Travel Levy
Mr. Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will introduce a levy on all UK outbound flights to pay for protection arrangements for air travellers; [4588]
(2) if he will make it his policy to replace ATOL bonding with a simple levy on outbound UK air passengers to pay for consumer protection of air travellers. [4590]
Ms Buck: The Department is considering the Civil Aviation Authority's economic analysis and assessment of the likely regulatory impact of a range of options for the future financial protection of air travellers.
Aircraft Insurance Costs
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the European Commission about the effect of regulations on the levels of insurance premiums relating to vintage aircraft, with particular reference to the Imperial War Museum at Duxford. [3274]
Ms Buck: On 2 June the Department attended a meeting of the European Commission's Ad-Hoc Group on aviation insurance and expressed concern at the effect of Regulation 785/2004 on the cost of vintage aircraft insurance. The chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority has also written to the Commission on the same issue.
Cars
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average mileage of a car was in the UK for each year since 1985. [4475]
Dr. Ladyman: Data from the National Travel Survey is shown in the table. Data from 1990 to 2002 are presented on a three-year rolling average basis.
| Miles | |
|---|---|
| 1985–86 | 8,880 |
| 1990 | 9,600 |
| 1991 | 9,570 |
| 1992 | 9,490 |
| 1993 | 9,540 |
| 1994 | 9,550 |
| 1995 | 9,510 |
| 1996 | 9,370 |
| 1997 | 9,280 |
| 1998 | 9,200 |
| 1999 | 9,270 |
| 2000 | 9,100 |
| 2001 | 9,040 |
| 2002 | 8,960 |
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cars have ceased to be licensed in each year since 1985. [4476]
15 Jun 2005 : Column 419W
Dr. Ladyman: The estimated number of cars that have ceased to be licensed during each year is as follows:
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