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Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the future of manufacturing in Northamptonshire with particular reference to the Wellingborough constituency. [14769]
Alun Michael: The County of Northamptonshire still has a dominant manufacturing base with footwear, plastics, perfumes and toiletries over-represented against national averages. The Wellingborough East (WEAST) development and Milton Keynes South Midlands sub-regional strategy will improve infrastructure in the Wellingborough district in order to attract business and industry and help indigenous businesses grow. However, like manufacturing businesses throughout the East Midlands and the UK, Northamptonshire businesses are facing severe competition from overseas. As the pace of technological change speeds up and new industrial economies develop, the future of the manufacturing sector within the region must be based on the recognition that innovation is key to regional competitive success. That involves the continuous introduction of new and differentiated products and services.
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Tradeand Industry how much the Department has spent on external media relations in each month of the last year. [14675]
Alan Johnson: The information requested is not kept in the form requested and could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Willetts:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment the Department made of
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the business plans of the (a) Phoenix and (b) Alchemy bid for Rover at the time of the company's sale by BMW in 2000, in terms of (i) long-term employment, (ii) redundancy packages and (iii) current and future pensions for (A) Rover employees and (B) Rover's suppliers and dealers; and what assessment was made of the likely effect of each bid on the local Longbridge economy. [6666]
Ian Pearson: A preliminary comparison of Phoenix and Alchemy proposed business plans was carried out by the department in April 2000. A further assessment of the Phoenix bid was carried out in May 2000 but by then Alchemy had withdrawn. These were broad assessments, based on information available from the parties, of their developing business plans, and did not, for example, look at the detailed pension position.
The Longbridge Taskforce produced an assessment of the impact of Rover's closure on component suppliers and the local economy more widely in April 2000. This was placed in the Libraries of the House.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to his answer of 18 July 2005, Official Report, column 1344W, on MG Rover, when the decision was taken by his Department, following the requests made by Kevin Howe and John Towers, to offer a bridging loan to aid the completion of a commercial deal; and when that decision was first communicated to MG Rover management. [14385]
Ian Pearson: The Department wrote to MG Rover's management on 17 March 2005 setting out in detail the criteria that had to be met in order for a bridging loan to be made.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has received evidence that suggests MG Rover was trading whilst insolvent during April. [14386]
Ian Pearson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State appointed inspectors under section 432(2) of the Companies Act 1985 to examine the issues raised by the FRRP in their report to him and events leading up to the appointment of administrators on 8 April 2005.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether a Government bridging loan facility remains available to aid the completion of a commercial deal to help secure the future of MG Rover; whether the Government have been approached with a request for such a facility by a potential bidder since the company entered administration; whether the Government have offered any such facility to potential bidders since the company entered administration; and if he will make a statement. [14387]
Ian Pearson: The answers to the three questions are as follows:
No, not for a bridging loan, although the Government have been approached by a number of bidders seeking other types of financial support.
Mr. Meale:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 6 July 2005,
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Official Report, column 464W, on mine rescue services, if he will list the (a) values, (b) dates and (c) scope of the contracts held by the Coal Authority with Mines Rescue Services Ltd, in each year since 1994. [14085]
Malcolm Wicks: Details of all contracts between the Coal Authority and Mines Rescue Services Ltd, are listed in the following table:
Mr. Meale: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Coal Authority has participated directly or indirectly in (a) financial support and (b) contracts with Mines Rescue Services Ltd in connection with overseas mining operations. [14086]
Malcolm Wicks: I can confirm it has not.
Mr. David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many workplaces in Midlothian were reported to the minimum wage helpline for failing to comply with the national minimum wage legislation in 2004. [14754]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
Nine cases were reported to the National Minimum Wage Helpline in the period 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2004 for the EH postcode area.
Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many workplaces in Paisley and Renfrewshire North were reported to the Minimum Wage Helpline for failing to comply with national minimum wage legislation in 2004. [14147]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
Six cases were reported to the National Minimum Wage Helpline in the period 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2004 for the PN postcode area.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he plans to visit Coventry in the next six months. [14849]
Alan Johnson: I do not currently have any plans to visit Coventry in the next six months.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much (a) research and development funding, (b) capital grants and (c) other state support for energy technologies, excluding the Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation and the Renewables Obligation was provided in each year since 1990, broken down by (i) technology, (ii) Government Department and (iii) support scheme. [14486]
Malcolm Wicks: It has not been possible to collate all public expenditure and other Government support since 1990 for energy technologies in the time available at proportionate cost. However it is possible to detail direct DTI and Research Council expenditure on new and renewables, clean fossil fuels and nuclear. These are set out in the following tables.
In addition to this both DEFRA and the Scottish Executive provide funding to the Carbon Trust which conducts research into low carbon energy activities among other activities. DEFRA also funds research into combined heat and power, which is also detailed in the tables.
The Government's support for clean, low carbon road vehicle and fuel technologies, including support for research, development and demonstration projects, was summarised in the 2002 Powering Future Vehicles Strategy, a copy of which is available via the Department for Transport's website at http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/documents/page/dft roads_506885.hcsp.
Figures for direct Government expenditure (but not including spending by the Research Councils) on nuclear fission are given in the following table.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry by what mechanism surpluses are generated from the Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation; what the level of those surpluses has been since their inception; and what the projected level of surpluses is for the next three years. [14487]
Malcolm Wicks: When the Renewables Obligation (RO) was introduced in 2002 projects under the Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation (NFFO), the previous support mechanism, were included to ensure that from the outset there was liquidity in the ROC market. ROCs allocated to NFFO projects and the electricity they generate are auctioned by the NFPA and the resulting funds are used to pay the electricity prices guaranteed to the projects and their NFFO contracts. The income received from suppliers for the electricity and ROCs generated by NFFO projects currently exceeds payments made to the NFFO generators. This generates a surplus.
The size of the fund administered by Ofgem, resulting from surplus revenue collected by the Non Fossil Fuel Purchasing Agency (NFPA), in each year since 2001 are as follows:
Year ending March | Size of the fund (£ million) |
---|---|
2001 | 63.8 |
2002 | 28.6 |
2003 | 87.1 |
2004 | 146.5 |
2005 | 169.1 |
The NFPA estimate that the size of the fund for the next three years is expected to be in the region of:
Year ending March | Estimated size of the fund (£ million) |
---|---|
2006 | 270 |
2007 | 380 |
2008 | 500 |
These are however very broad estimates and the actual size of the fund may vary considerably from the figures shown.
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