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Departmental Reports

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will seek to introduce
 
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legislation under which he would be obliged to make a statement to the House on every report of inspectors from his Department indicating whether that report will be published and what the reasons are for any decision not to publish. [51506]

Mr. Sutcliffe: I have no plans to do so.

Departmental Staff

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether any (a) employee of his Department, (b) person engaged by his Department as a consultant and (c) paid adviser to his Department is a member of the House of Lords; and if he will make a statement. [52894]

Alan Johnson: The Department has no employees or paid advisers who are members of the House of Lords. No central records are maintained of employees of consultancy companies engaged by the Department who may be members of the House of Lords.

Energy Policy

Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what his timetable is for publishing the submissions to his consultation on energy policy; [52226]

(2) if he will publish submissions for his energy policy review within one week of receipt. [52230]

Ian Pearson [holding answers 16 February 2006]: All responses that are not subject to a confidentially provision will be published on the DTI website at the earliest opportunity.

Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the merits of pursuing a policy of the UK becoming an oil free economy. [53324]

Malcolm Wicks: The Energy Review which I am leading has a remit to look at how to secure clean, affordable energy for the long term. In the consultation document which we published on 23 January we have specifically asked about

potential measures to help bring forward technologies to replace fossil fuels in transport and heat generation in the medium and long term".

Energy Prices

Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on energy prices. [52585]

Malcolm Wicks: I take the recent increases in energy prices very seriously and the Government are very concerned about the impact on industrial competitiveness and the fuel poor. Prices are rising mainly as a result of increasing oil prices, leading to higher wholesale gas prices, and higher international coal prices. We are leaving no stone unturned in our efforts to find solutions and to reduce the impact on those most affected.

Indications are that in January 2006, for domestic consumers, prices in the UK remained below the EU median for both electricity and gas, with our domestic
 
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gas prices still the cheapest in the whole of Europe. For industry, indications are that prices have recently moved above the EU median. However, historically, prices to industrial users have been below or around the EU median, with UK industry spending about £8 billion less on gas than their German counterparts between 1990 and 2004. Provisional January 2006 estimates will be published in March 2006.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the effect on UK manufacturing of recent changes in energy prices. [53519]

Malcolm Wicks: The Government takes the recent increases in energy prices very seriously and is very concerned about the impact on industrial competitiveness. We understand that this creates tough trading conditions, especially for energy intensive users. Prices are rising mainly as a result of increasing oil prices, leading to higher wholesale gas prices, and higher international coal prices. We are leaving no stone unturned in our efforts to find solutions and to reduce the impact on those most affected.

Indications are that in January 2006, prices for UK industrial consumers moved above the EU median. However, historically, prices to industrial users have been below or around the EU median, with UK industry spending about £8 billion less on gas than their German counterparts between 1990 and 2004. Provisional January 2006 estimates will be published in March 2006.

European Directives

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department has taken to comply with the EU procurement directive; and if he will make a statement. [49727]

Alan Johnson: The following actions have been taken to inform colleagues of the implementation date for the new EU public procurement directive, and to advise on actions that should be taken to ensure compliance.

There has been extensive briefing of procurement contacts in the main Department, its executive agencies and the public bodies it sponsors.

A bulletin of 31 January 2006 was issued to those with procurement responsibilities, corresponding with the implementation date of the new provisions. This outlined the implications of the new directive and explained the sources of advice available.

Guidance and instruction on the EU public procurement directive forms part of the in-house training delivered to those with procurement responsibilities.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations he has received from (a) hon. Members, (b) Members of the House of Lords and (c) members of the public about the Stop Now Orders (EC Directive) Regulations 2001; and if he will make a statement on the operation of the Regulations. [54301]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The DTI has not received any recent representations about the Stop Now Orders (EC Directive) Regulations 2001.
 
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The Enterprise Act 2002, parts of which came into force on 20 June 2003, replaced and extended the injunctive Stop Now Order enforcement regime to include a wide range of domestic consumer protection legislation not previously covered.

Export Control Act

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the content and timetable of the proposed review of the Export Control Act 2002. [53869]

Malcolm Wicks: The Cabinet Office 'Regulatory Impact Assessment Guidance', 2005 (updating 'Better Policy Making: A Guide to Regulatory Impact Assessment', 2003) recommends that a Post-Implementation Review (PIR) establishes whether implemented regulations are having the intended effect and whether they are implementing policy objectives efficiently". Accordingly we shall review the regulations made under the Export Control Act, which came into force during March and May 2004, from May 2007. The precise content and timing will be considered nearer the time.

Freedom of Information

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what criteria are used to judge whether information released to applicants in response to freedom of information (FOI) requests is of wider public interest and should be included on the FOI pages of his Department's website. [53800]

Alan Johnson: Information released to applicants under the Freedom of Information Act is considered for publication on the DTI's web pages on a case-by-case basis as to whether it would be of wider public interest. My Department aims progressively to increase the amount of information it publishes from FOI requests on its website.

This publication is not a requirement of the FOI Act, but is in the spirit of freedom of information, and consistent with Whitehall best practice guidelines on publishing FOI responses that are likely to be of broad interest.

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the freedom of information requests made since 1 January 2005 concerning information on (a) energy policy, (b) renewable energy and (c) nuclear energy; and whether the request was (i) fully complied with, (ii) partially answered and (iii) refused in each case. [53802]

Alan Johnson: Since 1 January 2005, the Department has received in total 88 energy related Freedom of Information Act requests. In broad terms: (a) 18 related to energy policy; (b) 22 renewable energy and (c) 48 nuclear energy. Some requests were a combination of these categories. Of these requests, 39 were released in full; 12 were partial release of information and 23 information was withheld. There are two requests that are still being processed and in the case of a further 12 requests no information was found. A full list of the document will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
 
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