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Written Answers to Questions

Tuesday 12 July 2005

PRIME MINISTER

Food Aid

Mr. Drew: To ask the Prime Minister what representations he made to the G8 in response to the World Food Programme's request for help for hungry and malnourished people. [11588]

The Prime Minister: At the request of the US and UK, the G8 has agreed to work urgently with partners to improve the effectiveness and availability of humanitarian assistance and adequately fund urgent humanitarian needs in Africa.

I also refer my hon. Friend to the communique" issued at the G8 summit. This is available on the No. 10 website.

Tax Credits

Mr. Laws: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his oral answer of 29 June 2005, Official Report, column1292, on tax credit overpayments, when he plans to write to the hon. Member for Yeovil; and if he will make a statement. [10818]

The Prime Minister: I replied to the hon. Member yesterday.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Discrimination

Julie Morgan: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what steps have been taken to tackle discriminatory behaviour against lesbian, gay and bisexual people in the provision of goods, facilities and services. [10314]

Meg Munn: Since 1997, Government action has been directed to making a real difference to the lives of a great many of lesbian, gay and bisexual people across the country. Having said that, we recognise that there is still discrimination against lesbian, gay and bisexual people in the provision of goods, facilities and service and these are difficult areas which need to be looked at carefully.

We announced in February this year our intention to review discrimination law and look in detail at the best ways to address the current gaps and difficulties. The work of this review is now under way. A proper investigation of how the law should be shaped particularly in important areas such as providing protection from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of goods, facilities and services is a key area for the Discrimination Law Review.
 
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The review will lead to proposals for a fairer, simpler and more effective framework; and will enable this Government to deliver its manifesto commitment to introduce a Single Equality Bill in the lifetime of this Parliament.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Broadband (East Sussex)

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will provide further broadband availability assistance to East Sussex county council in order for it to meet its broadband targets. [10869]

Alun Michael: The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) is now running a number of programmes targeting broadband take-up in addition to availability. SEEDA funding of £150,000 is supporting a broadband partnership which is led by East Sussex county council in partnership with East Sussex Economic Partnership, Business Link for Sussex, BT Group, the local education authority in East Sussex, and the Learning and Skills Council. The title of the project is Social and Economic Advancement in East Sussex through Accelerated Broadband Service Availability". Its aim is to grow demand for broadband services and to develop the benefits to businesses and less advantaged communities in priority areas. The project started in late 2004 and is likely to run for at least two years.

No direct funding from DTI is offered specifically to increase broadband availability in the East Sussex area, although we are working closely with BT to minimise the small number of remaining broadband 'blackspots' across the country.

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding assistance has been given to East Sussex county council to assist it to meet its broadband availability targets in the county. [10870]

Alun Michael: Broadband coverage in the South East of England is extensive, with over 99 per cent. of households able to receive broadband as indicated to in my previous answer to the hon. Member of 29 June 2005, Official Report, column 1570W. All telephone exchanges except one in East Sussex are enabled for broadband and that one, Isfield, has a commercial wireless service installed. The wireless solution at Isfield was funded from a grant of £50,000 from the South East of England Development Agency to the East Sussex county council to support wireless broadband community co-operatives. Apart from this, no direct funding has gone to East Sussex county council because we have successfully focused upon delivering a competitive marketplace to encourage the rollout of broadband.

Carbon Sequestration

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the infrastructure requirements to sequester carbon dioxide in reservoirs in the North sea. [10978]

 
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Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 11 July 2005]: One of the tasks arising from the carbon abatement technology strategy which I announced on 14 June 2005 will be to assess the sources and North sea sinks for CO ₂ which in itself would identify possible infrastructures. We would plan to publish the results of this work within the next year.

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the number of barrels of oil that can be recovered as a result of enhanced oil recovery and carbon dioxide sequestration in (a) the UK sector of the North sea and (b) the Scottish sector of the North sea. [10979]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 11 July 2005]: We have conducted studies to look into the potential for injecting carbon dioxide into mature UK North sea oilfields for sequestration and for extracting more oil. These studies show that the additional recovery could be as much as 2 billion barrels if the technology is applied extensively. However this is prior to full economic evaluations being done.

Most of the fields that went into the study are in the central North sea, northern North sea and west of Shetlands.

Consumer Protection

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if the Government will assess the merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to increase the level of protection for consumers who purchase a defective vehicle; [10694]

(2) if he will re-examine the effectiveness of legislation protecting consumers from faulty goods. [10695]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Government are committed to improving Britain's consumer regime and any intervention should be based on an evidence-based and risk-assessed approach. I have seen no evidence to suggest that the current legislation in this area is not working effectively.

English Wine

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what steps he is taking to promote English wine during the EU presidency; and if he will make a statement; [9144]

(2) if he will ensure that English wine is made available at dinners, receptions and parties he hosts at which hospitality involving wine is appropriate (a) during the EU presidency and (b) generally; and if he will make a statement. [9165]

Ian Pearson: The Department of Trade and Industry is organising several informal events in the UK during the UK presidency, in order to facilitate progress on key EU priorities at formal meetings to be held in Brussels. Catering for these events is procured in line with the EC's procurement rules and obtains value for money for the Department. During the presidency, DTI ministerial colleagues, officials and I are planning to serve English and Welsh wine, as well as other UK produce, wherever catering contracts at event venues permit this.
 
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For formal Council meetings in Brussels we are working with the Council Secretariat to try to provide British food and drink for all formal EU Council meetings during the presidency, including English wine.

Export Control and Non-Proliferation Directorate

Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 21 June 2005, Official Report, columns 898–99W, on the export control and non-proliferation directorate, whether the report written by ASE Consulting on the potential privatisation of the export control and non-proliferation directorate recommended that outsourcing as a means of service delivery was compatible with the executive functions of that directorate; what steps his Department is taking following ASE Consulting's recommendations; and if he will make a statement. [10251]

Malcolm Wicks: The report, a copy of which has been placed in the Libraries of the House, did not conclude that outsourcing would be incompatible with the executive functions of the directorate. The Department is currently considering the report.

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