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Departmental Staff

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the value is of (a) pay supplements, (b) bonuses and (c) other incentive packages that are payable in his Department on the basis of geographic location; how many people are in receipt of each payment; and what the total cost to his Department of each payment was in 2004–05. [35925]

Alan Johnson: There are no pay supplements, bonuses or other incentive packages that are payable to DTI staff on the basis of geographical location in the UK. Pay rates for staff below the senior civil service in DTI are set on London and National scales. Staff paid according to the London pay scales receive £3,500 more per annum on a full-time basis than those on the National scales.

Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many civil servants in his Department worked from home for at least one day a week in the last year for which figures are available. [40284]

Alan Johnson: The Department does not centrally monitor the number of staff who work from home, since flexible working patterns, including working from home, are negotiated locally. However, in our recent staff survey 8 per cent. of staff reported that they worked from home regularly, at least one day a week.

In 2002 the Department introduced a flexible working policy, including full guidance for managers and staff to ensure that new ways of working (including home working) are available to all individuals in all directorates and all grades, and that the benefits to stakeholders, customers, managers and staff are maximised.
 
17 Jan 2006 : Column 1250W
 

Departmental Vehicles

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many cars are (a) owned and (b) leased by his Department; what models the cars are; what type of petrol each model requires; and what the fuel efficiency is of each model. [41358]

Alan Johnson: The information requested is as follows.

(a) The Department does not own any vehicles.

(b) The fuel efficiency and type of petrol required of each make and model of vehicle leased by staff for business use in the Department is:

Vehicle	CO 2 emissions (g/km)	Petrol type
Citroen C3 1.4i LX	148	Unleaded
Renault Clio 1.2	143	Unleaded
Ford Focus l.8TDi	143	Diesel
Ford KA 1.3i	154	Unleaded
Vauxhall Vectra l.8LS	183	Unleaded

The following vehicles are provided by the Government Car Service for use by the DTI:

Vehicle	CO 2 emissions (g/km)	Petrol type
4 Toyota Prius	104	Petrol/electric hybrid
1 Ford Mondeo	218	Unleaded
1 Ford Mondeo Zetec	218	Unleaded
1 Rover 75	249	Unleaded

EU Employment Directive

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the EU Employment Directive will be incorporated into United Kingdom law. [42289]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The majority of the provisions of the EU Employment Directive 2000/78/EC have already been incorporated into United Kingdom law. The remaining requirements—relating to age and certain provisions for disability discrimination—are scheduled to come into force by 1 October 2006, in compliance with Article 18 of the Directive.

Food Retail Sector

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent research his Department has conducted into independent food retailing in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [41429]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The Department have not conducted any recent research into independent food retailing in the UK.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what meetings he has had with the Office of Fair Trading on structures in the grocery market; and if he will make a statement. [41430]

Mr. Sutcliffe: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and Ministers meet with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) on a regular basis to discuss topics of mutual interest.
 
17 Jan 2006 : Column 1251W
 

Competition in the supermarket and grocery sectors is a matter for the independent competition authorities, in this instance the OFT.

Interest Charges

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will place a cap on the level of interest money lending organisations can charge; and if he will make a statement. [38603]

Mr. Sutcliffe: I have no plans to introduce an interest rate ceiling in the United Kingdom. In the light of research, published by the Department in August 2004, the Government are not convinced that legislating for interest rate ceilings would help consumers.

Rate ceilings could cause lenders to exit parts of the market and reduce the supply of certain credit products. This in turn could force many vulnerable consumers to use products inappropriate to their circumstances or even to go outside of the regulated market and borrow from illegal lenders.

We will, however, be keeping the matter under review.

Lyons Inquiry

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether his Department has made a written submission to the Lyons inquiry on local government finance. [31807]

Alan Johnson: I refer to the reply previously given by the Minister for Local Government on 12 September 2005, Official Report, column 2431W.

Miners' Compensation

Mr. Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease claimants have gone through the full medical assessment process to date; how many of those have been found to be suffering from an additional lung disease; and how many have (a) pneumoconiosis, (b) asbestosis or asbestos particles in the lung and (c) asthma. [38958]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 11 January 2006]: As at 30 November 2005, 274,599 medical assessments had been completed. Detailed figures of the incidence of other conditions found alongside Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are not kept but our claims handlers estimate that there are co-morbid conditions found in around two thirds of cases where COPD is diagnosed (about 100,000 cases so far).

Nuclear Decommissioning

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to speed up the decommissioning of Magnox stations. [41552]

Malcolm Wicks: The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has set out its proposed approach to the decommissioning and clean up of its sites in its draft strategy and has confirmed that the closure dates for the remaining four operational Magnox power stations as those previously announced by BNFL. The NDA has indicated in the draft strategy its intention to speed up the decommissioning and clean up of Magnox and other
 
17 Jan 2006 : Column 1252W
 
reactor sites and to achieve final site clearance within 25 years, subject to the long term management arrangements for Intermediate Level Waste being available within the same time scale. The Scottish Ministers and I have until 31 March 2006 to consider and approve the NDA's proposed strategy.

Paternity Benefits

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the costs of paternity benefits arising from measures in the Government's Work and Families Bill for each year from 2005–06 to 2010–11; and if he will make a statement. [41310]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The new paternity leave measures in the Work and Families Bill will be subject to further consultation and the date when they will come into effect has yet to be decided. The regulatory impact assessment for the Bill, which was published in October 2005, gives an initial cost estimate of £29.6—£59.4 million in the first year of implementation. This will fall to £24.6—£50.9 million in subsequent years.

£19.1–28.0 million of the costs in the first year will fall to the Exchequer, and £15.1–24.0 million in subsequent years. The remainder will fall to employers. The range of figures reflects the fact that the Government are still consulting on the detail of the scheme for additional paternity leave and pay there is some uncertainty about how many fathers will choose to take advantage of the new entitlements.

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