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Discrimination Law Review

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will set out the remit and timetable of the Discrimination Law Review. [13535]

Meg Munn: The Discrimination Law Review is tasked to review the effectiveness of Great Britain's equality legislation, with a view to making recommendations for creating a clearer and more streamlined equality legislation framework, aimed at producing better outcomes for those who experience disadvantage. The full terms of reference for the Review were placed in the Libraries of the House on 13 June 2005. The Review has begun work alongside the current independent Equalities Review which will report to the Prime Minister in 2006. Both the Equalities Review and the Discrimination Law Review will inform proposals for a Single Equality Bill which the Government have made a manifesto commitment to introduce in the lifetime of this Parliament.

Electricity Generation

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of electricity generated to meet demand was contributed by each mode of generation in the last period for which figures are available. [13380]

Malcolm Wicks: The 2004 figures, to be published in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2005 at the end of this month, show that 40 per cent. of the electricity supplied in the United Kingdom was from gas, 33 per cent. from coal, 19 per cent. from nuclear, 1 per cent. from hydro, 2½ per cent. from other renewables (such as wind, wave, solar and biomass), 1 per cent. from oil, 2½ per cent. from imported electricity, and 1 per cent. from other fuels (such as coke oven gas, blast furnace gas and waste products from chemical processes).

Export Control Organisation

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what account he took of the report of ASE management consultants on the privatisation of the Export Control Organisation in determining whether to privatise it. [12937]

Malcolm Wicks: The report has been fully taken into account as part of my consideration of the future of the Export Control Organisation.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the future of the Export Control Organisation. [13968]

Malcolm Wicks: I expect to do so shortly.
 
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Fuel Poverty

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to publish the findings of the Peer Review on the methodology for calculating fuel poverty figures for England. [13548]

Malcolm Wicks: The Peer Review into the fuel poverty methodology for England is expected to be published on 21 July 2005.

Home Workers

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assistance is given to staff in his Department who wish to work from home, broken down by grade. [12290]

Alan Johnson: The Department introduced a flexible working policy including full guidance for managers and staff to ensure that new ways of working, including homeworking, are available to all individuals and the benefits to stakeholders, customers, managers and staff are maximised.

The Department supports a variety of homeworking options for staff: these include formal homeworking on a permanent basis, or part of the week on a regular basis or working at home on an ad hoc basis. Our staff survey shows that 78 per cent. of staff state that their managers allow working patterns including working at home to help them balance work and home life. Staff who work at home part of the week on a regular basis may have a local agreement to provide them with IT equipment.

Many flexible working patterns, including working from home, are negotiated locally and it is not possible to break down data by grade.

Industry and Parliament Trust

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total public sector financial support was for the Industry and Parliament Trust in each year from 2001–02 to 2006–07; and if he will make a statement. [12088]

Alan Johnson [holding answer 18 July 2005]: The Department has not provided financial support to the Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT) in any of the years specified and does not expect to do so.

International Trade Advisers

Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average salary was of International Trade Advisers employed by the regional development authorities in the last period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [10486]

Ian Pearson: International Trade Advisers are funded by UK Trade and Investment to deliver trade development services to business. They are employed by local providers of business support services, mostly Business Link Operators. As UK Trade and Investment is not the employer, no average salary figure is readily available. UK Trade and Investment is providing funding of £15.4 million to the local service providers in the 2005–06 financial year to cover the cost of an advice network of 282 advisers, including both adviser salaries and overheads.
 
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Liquefied Petroleum Gas

Mr. McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to promote the uptake of liquid petroleum gas (a) in petrol stations and (b) among consumers. [13453]

Malcolm Wicks: The Department's LPG Boost project, that ended in March 2005, raised the awareness with consumers of the use of LPG.

The Government also continue to support alternative fuels, including LPG, through fuel duty incentives as set out in the Chancellor of the Exchequer's alternative fuels framework, published in the 2003 pre-Budget report.

Mr. McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many petrol stations in England sell liquid petroleum gas. [13454]

Malcolm Wicks: The Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association (LPGA) informed the Department that there are currently 1,274 liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) filling stations in the UK, of which 669 are at petrol filling stations.

Manufacturing

Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the extent to which UK manufacturing job losses can be prevented through better regulation. [12471]

Barry Gardiner: The Government have a radical programme aimed at reducing costs to manufacturing and other businesses of complying with regulation. Reduced regulatory burdens will free up business resources to focus on growth and competitiveness—both drivers of job creation.

Miners' Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many claims for vibration white finger have been submitted in (a) Bassetlaw and (b) the United Kingdom registered as being under the UDM/Vendside scheme for miners compensation by (i) Moss Solicitors, (ii) Brm solicitors, (iii) Beresfords solicitors, (iv) AMS Law solicitors, (v) Wake Smith Solicitors and (vi) the Union of Democratic Mineworkers; [12650]

(2) how many claims for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have been submitted in (a) Bassetlaw and (b) the United Kingdom registered as being under the UDM/Vendside scheme for miners compensation by (i) Moss Solicitors, (ii) Brm solicitors, (iii) Beresfords solicitors, (iv) AMS Law solicitors, (v) Wake Smith Solicitors and (vi) the Union of Democratic Mineworkers; [12651]

(3) how many deceased claims for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and vibration white finger have been submitted in (a) Bassetlaw and (b) the United Kingdom registered as being under the UDM/Vendside scheme for miners compensation by (i) Moss Solicitors, (ii) Brm solicitors, (iii) Beresfords solicitors, (iv) AMS Law solicitors, (v) Wake Smith Solicitors and (vi) the Union of Democratic Mineworkers; [12652]
 
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(4) how many claims for (a) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and (b) vibration white finger have been submitted in (i) Bassetlaw and (ii) the United Kingdom registered as being under the Union of Democratic Mineworkers/Vendside scheme for miners' compensation by solicitors. [12986]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 18 July 2005]: Following my request to the Union of Democratic Mineworkers for a list of all the claims they and their client solicitors have submitted, the Department's claims handlers, Capita, are undertaking a check against their own records. Until this exercise has been completed, the Department is unable to provide the requested information.

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 11 July to Question reference 9089, which Ministers agreed that the Department would negotiate the strategy with the Union of Democratic Mineworkers and Vendside; on what dates; what reports Ministers received on the progress of negotiations; and on what dates Ministers agreed to the terms of the final outcome of the negotiations. [12826]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 18 July 2005]: My right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, West (John Battle) agreed that the Department would negotiate the strategy for handling claims submitted by the Union of Democratic Mineworkers in December 1998. The proposed terms of the arrangements were put to Ministers on completion of the negotiations. In January 1999, my right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, West agreed the terms of the vibration white finger handling arrangements. In November 1999, the then Energy Minister, agreed the handling arrangements for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease claims.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many deceased claims for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from (a) Beresfords solicitors and (b) all solicitors have been rejected or withdrawn. [12903]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 18 July 2005]: Of 15,151 deceased chronic obstructive pulmonary disease claims settled by denial or withdrawal, Beresfords solicitors are registered as the claimant's representatives in 2,333.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the Union of Democratic Mineworkers has been paid in fees for (a) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) claims and (b) deceased COPD claims. [12904]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 18 July 2005]: The UDM/Vendside has been paid £16.3 million in fees for COPD claims of which £1.9 million relates to deceased COPD claims.

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) deceased chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) claims and (b) total COPD claims have been registered by the Union of Democratic Mineworkers. [12905]

 
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Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 18 July 2005]: The UDM has been registered as claimant's representative for 16,678 COPD claims of which 1,589 are deceased COPD claims.

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