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Consultants

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total expenditure saved in each of the last three years as a result of implementing recommendations by management consultancies in his Department was. [13572]

Alan Johnson: This information is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Expenditure

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total spending by his Department on (a) staff, (b) accommodation and (c) procurement in the (i) Moray constituency and (ii) Highland region was for the most recent year for which figures are available. [14844]

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total spending by his Department on (a) staff, (b) accommodation and (c) procurement in (i) Dundee East constituency, (ii) Tayside and (iii) the City of Dundee was for the most recent year for which figures are available. [14875]

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total spending by his Department on (a) staff, (b) accommodation and (c) procurement in (i) Banff and Buchan and (ii) the North East of Scotland was for the most recent year for which figures are available. [14882]

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much was spent by his Department on (a) staff, (b) accommodation and (c) procurement in (i) Angus constituency and (ii) Tayside in 2004–05. [14902]

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total spending by his Department on (a) staff, (b) accommodation and (c) procurement in Perth and North Perthshire was for the most recent year for which figures are available. [14916]

Alan Johnson: A detailed analysis of the Department's expenditure by specific geographical location cannot be provided other than at disproportionate cost.
 
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However, information on regional distribution of staff at 1 April 2004 is available in the Libraries of the Houses, and also at:

http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management_information/stat istical_information/statistics/contents_for_civil_service_statist ics_2004_report/index.asp

Table D shows the numbers of staff by regional distribution. Figures relating to 1 April 2005 will be published next year.

Energy Supplies (Annual Report)

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to lay the Annual Report on Energy Supplies before Parliament; and if he will make a statement. [12966]

Malcolm Wicks: The first annual report on the security of gas and electricity supply in Great Britain will be laid before Parliament on Thursday 21 July. Copies are available in the Libraries of the House and on the Department's website at

http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/publications/policy/index.shtml.

Fair Trade

Mr. Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether conditions will be imposed upon countries in Africa following the agreement at the G8 summit to create fairer trade. [14715]

Ian Pearson: The outcome of the G8 summit will not impose conditions on Africa.

The G8 summit agreed a comprehensive plan to support the progress Africa has made in recent years. This includes helping to build Africa's capacity to trade, for which the EU has pledged €1 billion per year. Leaders also committed to provide resources and training to help African producers meet current and new health and safety standards for food exports and other products; to support African efforts to increase South-South trade and regional integration; and to improve the utilisation of G8 preference schemes, reporting back on progress to future presidencies.

The G8 emphasised that a successful conclusion to the WTO Doha Development Agenda (DDA) will be one of the most effective ways to generate economic growth, create potential for development and raise living standards across the world. The World Bank estimates that completing these negotiations could lift 140 million people out of poverty. Leaders committed to continue to work towards ensuring there is appropriate flexibility in the DDA negotiations.

Female Senior Management

Mr. Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many women he estimates are employed at senior managerial level in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) the Lanark and Hamilton East constituency; and if he will make a statement. [13971]

Mr. Sutcliffe: In spring 2005 1.2 million females in the UK were employed as managers or senior officials; this is 10.1 per cent. of female employees in the UK.
 
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In the same period 91,000 females in Scotland were employed as managers or senior officials; this is 8.5 per cent. of all female employees in Scotland.

Reliable figures are not available for the Lanark and Hamilton East constituency due to small sample size.

Freedom of Information Act

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many Freedom of Information Act 2000 requests have been answered by the Department; and in how many cases (a) information was wholly exempted, (b) information was partly exempted and (c) the requests were answered in full. [14957]

Alan Johnson: During the period January to March 2005 the Department of Trade and Industry received 341 requests and replied to 287 requests. In 98 cases information was wholly exempted, in 52 cases information was partly exempted and in 54 cases the requests were answered in full. In respect of 83 requests no information was found.

The Department for Constitutional Affairs is committed to publishing quarterly updates in relation to departmental performance under FOI, including information on both the volume and outcomes of requests. The first of these updates was published on 23 June 2005 and can be found both on the DCA website at: http://www.foi.gov.uk/statsjan-mar05.htm and in the Libraries of the House. The next bulletin is due in the autumn of this year, while an annual report is also to be published in early 2006.

Grocery Trade

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Tradeand Industry if he will effect a moratorium on(a) takeovers and (b) acquisitions in the grocery trade. [14198]

Mr. Sutcliffe: No. It is for the independent competition authorities (the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission) to consider individual merger cases on their merits against a competition-focused test.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will (a) take steps to strengthen the Supermarkets Supplier Code of Practice and (b) introduce an independent regulator for the grocery market. [14199]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The prime responsibility for operating our competition regime rests with the independent competition authorities. In the specific case of supermarkets it is the Office of Fair Trading, which is currently responsible for keeping under review the Code of Practice governing supermarket's relations with their suppliers and for dealing with any other competition issues in the sector.

Hydro Power

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many water mills are fitted with generating turbines. [12665]

 
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Malcolm Wicks: 239 small-scale (i.e. with a capacity below 5MW) hydro generators accounted for 184MW of installed generation capacity at the end of 2004. It is not known how many of these are converted water mills.

Job Creation (North-east)

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many jobs accredited to (a) ONE North East and (b) the Durham Development Company have been brought to (i) the county of Durham and (ii) Easington constituency in the last three years. [14471]

Alun Michael: ONE North East, the Regional Development Agency, directly created around 2,300 jobs in County Durham (excluding cross-county-boundary projects) over the last three years, according to the definition set out in the DTI's tasking framework for the RDAs.

As a local authority body, the County Durham Development Company (CDDC), using a wider definition, report that they have influenced the creation or retention of 10,000 jobs in the county over the last three years.

The sub-division of this information for the Easington district is not available.

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