| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
21 Jul 2005 : Column 1931W—continued
Industrial Diseases
Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the (a) minimum, (b) maximum and (c) average payment made in respect of (i) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and (ii) vibration white finger has been in (A) Nottinghamshire and (B) the UK. [12657]
21 Jul 2005 : Column 1932W
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 19 July 2005]: The figures requested for payments are as follows:
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | Vibration white finger | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nottinghamshire(1) | UK | Nottinghamshire | UK | |
| Minimum | 0.57 | 0.57 | 195.94 | 65.08 |
| Maximum | 367,053 | 367,053 | 46,661 | 113,698 |
| Average | 4,254 | 6,356 | 9,018 | 8,815 |
(1)Nottinghamshire covers the constituencies of Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Broxtowe, Gedling, Mansfield, Newark, Nottingham East, Nottingham North, Nottingham South, Rushcliffe and Sherwood.
Internal Market Services Directive
Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what assessment he has made of the impact of the draft EU Directive on Services in the Internal Market on the (a) rights of workers under employment law, (b) health and safety regulations and (c) consumer protection law in England and Wales; [9556]
(2) what assessment he has made of the effect of the EU Directive on Services in the Internal Market on UK employment, broken down by sector. [9561]
Ian Pearson: Negotiations on the draft Directive on Services in the Internal Market are at an early stage. Until the text is finalised it is difficult to assess its precise effects. DTIs Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment for the proposal can be found at www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics2/pdf2/servicesria.pdf. An independent consultancy, Copenhagen Economics, has assessed the economic impact of the Directive. They predicted that the Services Directive would add £25 billion to the EU economy, create an extra 600,000 jobs, boost EU GDP by 0.6 per cent. and lead to an increase in real wages of 0.4 per cent. Copies of both documents are available in the Libraries of the House.
Medical Research Council
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding has been provided from the Medical Research Council for research into myeloma in each financial year since 1997–98. [12624]
Alan Johnson: The figures for MRC expenditure for research on myeloma since 1997 are as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 440,000 |
| 1998–99 | 410,000 |
| 1999–2000 | 390,000 |
| 2000–01 | 360,000 |
| 2001–02 | 420,000 |
| 2002–03 | 0 |
| 2003–04 | 550,000 |
These figures do not include two studies, Myeloma VII and Myeloma VIII which took place between 1997 and 2004, which were funded through MRC's Clinical Trials Unit.
21 Jul 2005 : Column 1933W
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total cost of consultants employed by the Medical Research Council has been in each of the last five years for which records are available. [12176]
Alan Johnson: In the last five years the MRC has spent the following amounts on management consultancy and other Professional fees including legal, other audit fees, professional utility advice, professional accommodation advice and computing systems support.
| £000 | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 1,172 |
| 2001–02 | 3,396 |
| 2002–03 | 3,287 |
| 2003–04 | 7,828 |
| 2004–05 | 10,337 |
Miners' Compensation
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what account was taken by his Department in agreeing the costs schedule for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and vibration white finger mining compensation claims of payments to solicitors for processing unsuccessful claims. [12396]
Malcolm Wicks: The framework of the costs agreement in both schemes is that no costs are paid by the Department for unsuccessful claims.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 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 for miners' compensation by (A) Moss Solicitors, (A) Brm Solicitors, (C) Beresfords Solicitors, (D) AMS Law Solicitors, (E) Wake Smith Solicitors and (F) Union of Democratic Mineworkers. [12985]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 18 July 2005]: The figures for claimants' representatives are as follows:
Nuclear Power
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people work (a) directly and (b) indirectly in the nuclear industry in (i) the UK, (ii)Lancashire and (iii) Cumbria. [13006]
Malcolm Wicks:
The DTI has not conducted work to collate employment figures for the nuclear industry. The numbers of employees given in the following table are based on surveys by the Nuclear Industry Association
21 Jul 2005 : Column 1934W
(NIA) and Cogent Sector Skills Council. These include both for the civil nuclear programme and the defence programme.
| Employment | Direct | Indirect(2) |
|---|---|---|
| UK | 54,000 | 108,000 to 160,000 |
| Lanes | 3,500 | 7,000 to 12,000 |
| Cumbria | 11,500 | 23,000 to 35,000 |
(2) The figures for indirect employment are given as a range because of difficulty in assessing indirect employment.
Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the level of UK investment in the international thermonuclear experimental reactor is. [12614]
Alan Johnson: The UK will not invest directly in the international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) as it is not a party to the agreement establishing the project. The EU contribution to the project will be provided through the Euratom budget and by the host state, France.
Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the cost of replacing the UK's nuclear power stations. [12615]
Malcolm Wicks: No estimate has been made of the cost for replacing the UK's nuclear power stations, either with new nuclear stations or other types of generation.
Oil Producers
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list sub-Saharan African countries which produce substantial quantities of oil. [13919]
Malcolm Wicks: The following table lists oil production in 2004 from sub-Saharan African countries.
Source:
BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2005
Telephone Services
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent steps the Department has taken to prevent silent telephone calls by commercial power diallers; and if the Department will support a policy of introducing recorded messages to inform recipients of silent telephone calls of what has happened. [11323]
Alun Michael:
The Department introduced the Telephone Preference Service scheme, under the Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) Regulations 1999, which provides protection to
21 Jul 2005 : Column 1935W
subscribers from unsolicited direct marketing calls. Although the Telephone Preference Service was not designed to provide a solution to silent calls, consumers who register receive significantly fewer marketing calls, including silent calls that are made by commercial power diallers. Marketing calls are the only calls which are eliminated by registering for this service.
The Communications Act 2003 confers powers on the Office of Communications (Ofcom) to regulate forms of behaviour, which fall within the Act's definition of persistent misuse of an electronic communications network or service. Silent calls made by commercial power diallers are an example of behaviour, which might represent persistent misuse. Ofcom took action against two companies on 30 April 2004, which were found to have generated unacceptably high levels of unsolicited silent calls. Ofcom initiated a second investigation into one of the companies to ascertain whether the company is complying with the undertakings that were given following their initial action. In addition, Ofcom has launched an investigation into a further seven companies, whom they suspect were making silent calls.
The Department is in discussions with Ofcom about providing a solution to silent calls and in particular a policy of introducing recorded messages to inform recipients of silent calls of what has happened. We will carefully consider all aspects of this possible solution.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |