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Public Service Agreements

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how he intends to treat targets which have been partly met for the purposes of measuring performance against 2004 public service agreement target number nine. [29859]

Mr. Des Browne: Information on use of partly met and other measurement and definitions used for this target are set out in the published technical note, available at:

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/documents/public_spending_ and_services/publicservice_performance/pss_perf_technote.cfm

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether the data required to measure 2004 public service agreement target number 8 are published; [29860]

(2) what specific targets have been set for the purposes of measuring performance against 2004 public service agreement target number 8. [29861]

Mr. Des Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the technical notes for the PSA targets, which set out details about measurement issues.

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what effect the change in the Treasury's assessment of the start and finish of the current economic cycle has had on measuring achievement against 2004 PSA target (a) 1 and (b) 4. [30059]

Mr. Des Browne: The Treasury will report against these targets in the forthcoming autumn performance report.

Tax Credits

Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure that action to recover a tax credit debt when a couple split up and there is no ongoing award does not fall only on the member of the couple with continuing care of the child. [30008]

Mr. Des Browne: This is already the case. code of practice 26 What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?" sets out what happens where an award has ceased following the break-up of a couple and there remains an overpayment to be repaid.

Vera Baird: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what criteria are used to determine the level of weekly instalments for the repayment of overpaid tax credits. [30428]

Mr. Des Browne: Code of Practice 26 What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?", sets out the maximum amounts by which the tax credits office will reduce payments to recover overpaid tax credits from a previous year.

For ceased tax credits awards, recovery can be made over a 12 month period. Alternatively, a repayment plan may be agreed with HMRC's debt management and banking and the factors that will be taken into account are published in the COP26.
 
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TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Consumer Credit Directive

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Department has conducted cost impact assessments in relation to the proposed EU consumer credit directive. [30229]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Department of Trade and Industry produced a partial regulatory impact assessment on the European Commission's October 2004 proposal for a consumer credit directive as part of its consultation on the proposed directive published on 25 February this year (http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/consultpdf/creditdircondoc.pdf). Copies of the consultation document and a summary of responses (http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/consultpdf/creditdirresponse.pdf) have been deposited in the Libraries of the House. The Department will update its impact assessment in the light of the Commission's modified proposal, adopted on 7 October, and input from stakeholders.

Departmental Staff

Mr. Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry who the Director of Estates and Facility is in his Department; what relevant specialist qualifications he or she holds; and what the details are of his or her career to date. [26316]

Alan Johnson: The Director of Estates and Accommodation for the DTI HQ estate is Mike Rainsford. Mr. Rainsford is a chartered engineer, a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management. Mr. Rainsford worked for an international firm of consulting engineers before joining the civil service in 1987. Since then he has worked in a number of Departments, most recently the Department of Health where he held similar responsibilities from 1996 to 2003.

EU Directives

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment the Government have made of the impact on costs of the (a) removal of the UK opt-out from various aspects of the EU Working Time Directive, (b) Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals Regulation and (c) proposed EU Directive on agency and temporary workers; and if he will place of copy of the assessments in the Library. [29764]

Mr. Sutcliffe: Regarding the removal of the UK opt-out from various aspects of the EU Working Time Directive, the Government have conducted a number of regulatory impact assessments on the Working Time Regulations and their subsequent amendments. The initial introduction of the Working Time Regulations was estimated to cost £10 million a year in annually recurring implementation costs and around a £2 billion annual cost to employers. Subsequent regulatory impact assessments have estimated the costs of the various amendments to the original regulations, all being significantly less than the original introduction costs.
 
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Regarding the European Commission's proposed Regulation on the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH), the Government commissioned an impact assessment which estimated the direct costs of REACH on UK industry to be £515 million over 11 years. This impact assessment was published on 30 March 2004 as part of a Defra public consultation paper on REACH.

The Government subsequently commissioned a further assessment to look at the indirect costs of REACH through supply chains. This assessment was published on Defra's website in October 2005. The assessment concluded that industry is likely to be able to absorb the majority of the costs of REACH without significant impact on the competitiveness, location or market structure in the UK. However, in the case of a substance being withdrawn due to the failure of manufacturers or importers to support it through REACH, significant industry barriers may result in unexpected impacts (even where substitutes already exist).

The Government have drawn on the results of these impact assessments to identify improvements to REACH to ensure that it meets its objectives of delivering better protection for human health and the environment while not undermining competitiveness or hindering innovation.

Regarding the proposed EU Directive on agency and temporary workers, the Department of Trade and Industry published the final regulatory impact assessment on its website in April 2002. The regulatory impact assessment estimated direct costs to agencies and user enterprises to be in the region of £330 million to £596 million per year.

All regulatory impact assessments are placed in the Libraries of the House when the relevant Bill is laid in Parliament.

Hairdressers Registration Act

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the operation of the Hairdressers Registration Act 1964. [28273]

Alun Michael: The 1964 Hairdressers Registration Act created the Hairdressing Council (HC) to establish and maintain a register of qualified hairdressers, its work is a matter for the council itself.

Manufacturing

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent assessment he has made of the manufacturing industry in Northamptonshire. [28090]

Alun Michael: The manufacturing industry in Northamptonshire was comprehensively assessed most recently as part of the Northamptonshire Integrated Local Employment Strategy (NILES). This was work undertaken on behalf of local partners by the Economic Development Arm of Northamptonshire county council and financed by the Council of Europe's European Social Fund. This found that Northamptonshire is characterised by a relative over-representation in employment in manufacturing with over 20 per cent. of employment being within that sector. It also found that the county was
 
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dependent on declining traditional manufacturing but that it was now attracting new higher level manufacturing with proposals for science and technology realms at the forefront of this drive.

In addition the Northamptonshire Chamber and Business Link continue to undertake regular Quarterly Economic Surveys. Their findings for the quarter ending September 2005 for the sector show the following results in relation to sales and business confidence:

For businesses involved in the UK market, excluding seasonal variations, over the past three months:

(a) In general sales/custom/bookings have either increased or remained constant.

(b) In general orders/advance custom/bookings have either increased or remained constant.

For businesses involved in overseas markets, excluding seasonal variations, over the past three months:

(a) The majority reported that overseas sales/custom/bookings have remained constant.

(b) The majority reported that overseas orders/advance custom/bookings have remained constant.

Business confidence:

(a) 65 per cent. believe 'Turnover' will improve over the next 12 months.

(b) 50 per cent. believe 'Profitability' will improve over the next 12 months.

A further survey carried out for the Chamber by the organisation 'Matters of Fact' and based on the latest figures from the Annual Business Inquiry 2003 show a continuing decline in the county's manufacturing base. Manufacturing businesses accounted for 10.3 per cent. of all businesses in 2001, and 10 per cent. in 2002 but this has fallen to 9.5 per cent. in 2003.

In terms of employment, its role remains significant with manufacturing businesses accounting for the biggest share—19.1 per cent.—of county employment. Within the sector the research also shows that the food and drink sector has become by far the most significant area of manufacturing in Northamptonshire in employment terms.

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