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10 Jan 2006 : Column 474W—continued

Foreign Registered Companies

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list foreign registered companies that have received a grant from each regional development agency (RDA) in each year since RDAs were created. [35836]

Alun Michael: England's regional development agencies do not generally keep details of companies based on country of registration for all their programmes.

Internet Rogue Dialling

Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will take steps to compensate victims of internet rogue dialling. [40298]

Alun Michael: In the first instance it is a matter for the telecoms companies to resole the problems their own customers may face with charges from internet rogue diallers. Customers with disputed bills can use the alternative dispute resolution schemes, of which all telecoms companies are members, to sort out disagreements.

The Government have taken action to ensure consumers are adequately protected from internet rogue diallers. As a result of discussions with ICSTIS, the
 
10 Jan 2006 : Column 475W
 
premium rate services regulator, a prior permission scheme for internet diallers was put in place in August 2004. This means that all diallers have to be approved by ICSTIS before they can be released. ICSTIS can order service providers to pay redress if they breach the Code, with the threat of automatic barring from providing any premium rate service if they default. The number of complaints has fallen dramatically since the scheme was introduced in August 2004. Complaints to ICSTIS fell to a low of about 50 per month in recent months, down from 10,000 per month when this problem was at its peak in 2004. The Government also asked the media and telecoms regulator, Ofcom, to review premium rate regulation in August 2004.

Ofcom made a number of recommendations to reduce the scope for consumer harm. Many of these recommendations have already been implemented including raising the maximum penalty to £250,000 for those that abuse premium rate services. The flow of funds from network operators to service providers has now been slowed down. This will keep money in the system, which can then be used to pay redress to consumers who have been the victims of a scam. New rules on compensation for consumers who have been subject to a scam are being implemented. This change will mean that not only will ICSTIS be able to order refunds from service providers but also to collect the money from the telecoms companies to compensate consumers if it is not forthcoming from the service provider.

Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures the Government are taking to tackle internet rogue dialling. [40300]

Alun Michael: The Government have taken action to ensure consumers are adequately protected from internet rogue diallers. As a result of discussions with ICSTIS, the premium rate services regulator, a prior permission scheme for internet diallers was put in place in August 2004. This means that all diallers have to be approved by ICSTIS before they can be released. ICSTIS can order service providers to pay redress if they breach the Code, with the threat of automatic barring from providing any premium rate service if they default. The number of complaints has fallen dramatically since the scheme was introduced in August 2004. Complaints to ICSTIS fell to a low of about 50 per month in recent months, down from 10,000 per month when this problem was at its peak in 2004. The Government also asked the media and telecoms regulator, Ofcom, to review premium rate regulation in August 2004.

Ofcom made a number of recommendations to reduce the scope for consumer harm. Many of these recommendations have already been implemented including raising the maximum penalty to £250,000 for those that abuse premium rate services. The flow of funds from network operators to service providers has now been slowed down. This will keep money in the system, which can then be used to pay redress to consumers who have been the victims of a scam. New rules on compensation for consumers who have been subject to a scam are being implemented. This change will mean that not only will ICSTIS be able to order refunds from service providers but also to collect the
 
10 Jan 2006 : Column 476W
 
money from the telecoms companies to compensate consumers if it is not forthcoming from the service provider.

Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the cost of internet rogue dialling to consumers in each year since 2003; and how many consumers he estimates were affected in each year. [40301]

Alun Michael: Internet rogue diallers are regulated by the premium rate services regulator, the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS).

ICSTIS has no information on the cost of Internet rogue diallers to consumers either as a cumulative figure or in year on year statistics.

ICSTIS is not in possession of sufficient information to estimate the number of consumers affected by rogue diallers though ICSTIS does record and investigate all complaints that the public submit.

To this end, ICSTIS received the following numbers of complaints about dialler services in the years 2003 until 2005.

	Number
2003	4,600
2004	57,750
2005	4,550

As the figures clearly demonstrate, ICSTIS received record numbers of complaints about dialler services during 2004, which resulted in the introduction of a prior permission regime by ICSTIS for the software that enabled these services. This includes prominent pricing and premium rate number information prior to access of the service as well as the requirement to provide an on-screen clock that displays call duration and cumulative costs for a user.

The level of complaints in 2005, demonstrates the impact that ICSTIS has had on the number of complaints received from members of the public.

In the first instance it is a matter for the telecoms companies to decide how to resolve the problems facing their own customers over charges from Internet rogue diallers. Customers with disputed bills can use the services of the alternative dispute resolution schemes, of which all telecoms companies are members, to sort out disagreements. New rules on compensation for consumers who have been subject to a scam are also being implemented by ICSTIS. This change will mean that not only will ICSTIS be able to order refunds from service providers but also to collect the money from the telecoms companies to compensate consumers if it is not forthcoming from the service provider.

Natural Environment Research Council

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what total financial support from public funds was allocated to the Natural Environment Research Council in each of the last five years. [39548]

 
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Barry Gardiner [holding answer 9 January 2006]: Amounts allocated to the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) from the Science Budget are as follows (as set out in the Science Budget allocations publications, http://www.ost.gov.uk/research/funding/budget01–04/index.htm.)

Science budget	£ million
2000–01	181.8
2001–02	192.9
2002–03	205.4
2003–04	264.1
2004–05	314.2

In addition, NERC receives public funding from a number of other Government Departments and agencies.

Retirement Age (Public Sector Workers)

Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the retirement age for existing public sector workers will remain at 60 years. [34655]

Mr. Des Browne: I have been asked to reply.

Retirement age is not the same as the normal pension age but simply the age at which workers leave the labour market. The normal pension age is the age at which scheme members can draw an unreduced pension from the scheme—this has been the subject of recent negotiations.

On 18 October 2005 the Government reached agreement with unions on a set of principles underpinning reform in the civil service, NHS and teachers pension schemes. The main focus of that agreement was the proposed increase in the normal pension age from 60 to 65. The TUC accepted that new schemes for new entrants would have a normal pension age of 65, and that these schemes would be launched as soon as practicable following a period of scheme-specific consultation to be completed by June 2006. Existing staff are not being compelled to move to a normal pension age of 65. Other aspects of scheme reform, apart from the normal pension age issue, will be considered in scheme specific negotiations to be completed as soon as practicable.

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