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Minimum Wage

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to introduce tougher penalties to deter companies from paying their employees below the minimum wage. [6632]

Mr. Sutcliffe: In their 2005 report the Low Pay Commission confirmed that the vast majority of employers support and comply with the minimum wage. However, we recognise that a small minority of employers are not paying their workers the minimum wage. We are presently considering a number of options for improving enforcement and we intend to make a statement on this shortly.
 
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National Grid Charges (Highlands and Islands)

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will use his powers to cap charges for access to the national grid for generators in the Highlands and Islands. [7278]

Malcolm Wicks: On 8 March 2005, my predecessor the hon. Member for North Warwickshire (Mr. O'Brien) announced that we would exercise the power conferred in Section 185 of the Energy Act 2004 to adjust electricity transmission charges for renewable generators on the Scottish Islands of Orkney, the Shetlands and the Western Isles. He also announced that we would consult on whether charges should be adjusted on the mainland of northern Scotland. We will launch a public consultation on this issue later in the summer.

Newspaper and Magazine Supply

Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment his Department has made of the Office of Fair Trading's provisional view on exclusive wholesale territories for supplies of newspapers and magazines; and what steps the Department is taking to ensure that supplies to small retailers are protected. [6917]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Following a request from certain newspaper and magazine publishers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has considered whether arrangements for distribution of newspapers and magazines are likely to be compatible with competition law after 1st May 2005. In the course of considering this matter, I know OFT received representations from all parts of the newspaper and magazine supply chain, including particular concerns about the distribution of magazines.

OFT announced a provisional opinion on 23rd February and, on 19th May, published details in a draft advisory opinion. OFT has invited written comments on its draft advisory opinion to be received by 17th June. I understand a number of submissions have been made and from letters I have received on the subject I expect these to have included concerns about what the OFT opinion might mean for the future of distribution arrangements for both magazines and newspapers and how this might affect different parts of the newspaper and magazine supply chain. OFT will want to consider these new submissions carefully before reaching final conclusions.

OFT is the independent competition regulator and the relevant competent authority to consider the substantive issues involved. Ministers are not in a position to second-guess OFT's substantive conclusions or interpretation of the law. There are no recommendations for Ministers to implement. It is for the companies concerned to make decisions about what distribution arrangements they put in place for their products while ensuring those arrangements comply with the law.

Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) whether he plans to implement the Office of Fair Trading's recommendation to end wholesaler territories for newspaper and magazine distribution; and if he will make a statement; [7084]
 
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(2) what assessment he has made of the number of smaller news and magazine retailers that would close if the current system of exclusive wholesaler territories is ended; and if he will make a statement. [7085]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Following a request from certain newspaper and magazine publishers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has considered whether arrangements for distribution of newspapers and magazines are likely to be compatible with competition law after 1 May 2005. In the course of considering this matter, I know OFT received representations from all parts of the newspaper and magazine supply chain, including particular concerns about the distribution of magazines.

OFT announced a provisional opinion on 23 February and, on 19 May, published details in a draft advisory opinion. OFT has invited written comments on its draft advisory opinion to be received by 17 June. I understand a number of submissions have been made and from letters I have received on the subject I expect these to have included concerns about what the OFT opinion might mean for the future of distribution arrangements for both magazines and newspapers and how this might affect different parts of the newspaper and magazine supply chain. OFT will want to consider these new submissions carefully before reaching final conclusions.

OFT is the independent competition regulator and the relevant competent authority to consider the substantive issues involved. Ministers are not in a position to second-guess OFT's substantive conclusions or interpretation of the law. There are no recommendations for Ministers to implement. It is for the companies concerned to make decisions about what distribution arrangements they put in place for their products while ensuring those arrangements comply with the law.

Nuclear Leak (Thorp)

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects the Health and Safety Executive's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate to produce its report on the leak at the THORP Plant; and whether he intends to publish the findings. [6668]

Malcolm Wicks: I am informed by the Health and Safety Executive that completion of its Nuclear Installations Inspectorate's investigation into the leak at THORP is likely to take some weeks and that its findings will be published in due course.

Office Space (Easington)

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what square footage of office space is vacant at (a) the Spectrum Enterprise Zone site at Dawdon and (b) the Whitehouse Business Park at Shotton; what steps are being taken to market these sites; and what progress has been made so far. [6708]

Alun Michael: I understand that currently Whitehouse Business Park has 381,000 sq. ft. of vacant space, and that Spectrum (Dawdon Enterprise Zone) has 246,700 sq. ft. The space let so far at Whitehouse is 234,000 sq. ft., and at Dawdon 60,000 sq. ft.
 
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Both sites are owned by the Regional Development Agency, ONE NorthEast, which is working closely with County Durham Development Company and East Durham Business Service to maintain the profile of the East Durham Enterprise Zones. There are three developers with interest in securing occupiers for the two sites. All three developers have retained regional property agents to market the site regionally, nationally and internationally.

Post Offices

Mr. David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with Royal Mail on the protection and continuation of rural post offices in Midlothian. [6627]

Barry Gardiner: Ministers and officials regularly meet Post Office Ltd to discuss a wide range of issues relating to the network.

The Government have placed on Post Office Ltd a formal obligation to maintain the rural post office network and to prevent avoidable closures of rural post offices. The direction remains in force at least until April 2006. Post Office Ltd is currently piloting modern and innovative ways of delivering postal services in rural areas and the feedback from those pilots will allow Government to make better informed decisions on the longer-term future of the rural network.

The Government initially made available £450million (£150 million a year) for the three years 2003–04 to 2005–06 to help the Post Office to maintain the parts or the rural post office network that could not be sustained on a commercial basis. Subject to state aid clearance the Government have made available a further £300 million to extend its financial support for the rural network until April 2008.

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post offices were in operation in (a) Wales and (b) Ceredigion in each of the last 10 years. [7264]

Barry Gardiner: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. and the chief executive has been asked to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Race Relations (Amendment) Act

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what arrangements are in place to ensure that bodies within the responsibility of his Department comply with the requirements of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. [3546]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department is about to undertake an independent review of its Race Relations scheme to improve compliance and raise awareness within DTI, and this will extend to those bodies and organisations that fall within its remit.

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