| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
6 Mar 2006 : Column 1149W—continued
New Deal
Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young people have been helped by New Deal for Young People in Swindon. [55802]
Margaret Hodge: The information is in the following table.
(40) Latest data to the end of November 2005.
(41) Latest data to the end of August 2005.
Note:
Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
Department for Work and Pensions Information Directorate
Pensions Act
John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the reasons are for the delay in publishing the regulations and codes of practice under the Pensions Act 2004. [48097]
Mr. Timms: It was always our intention to phase the introduction of the regulations needed to implement the Pensions Act 2004. The majority of these regulations have been or will be published broadly on the time scale envisaged—in some cases following consultation. They will come into force in time to ensure the measures in the Act come into effect as intended.
A number of sets of regulations came into force on 30 December 2005 which related to the European Directive on Occupational Pensions (Directive 2003/41/EC). These regulations had initially been expected to be in place by 23 September 2005, in line with the overall timetable for implementing the directive. The delay was necessary in order to take account of the issues raised following extensive consultation earlier in the year.
There has also been a delay to our planned timetable for the introduction of the Occupational Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2006. Consultation on the regulations raised a large number of helpful technical comments that need to be carefully considered. Therefore, although these regulations were scheduled for April 2006, they will now come into effect in October 2006. The delay will not have any untoward effects on schemes, as the existing regulations will still apply.
The Pension Regulator can only publish supporting codes of practice when the relevant regulations have been made and laid. I have no reason to believe that all the codes of practice will not be published as soon as practicable after the relevant regulations have appeared in final form.
Statutory Instruments
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the statutory instruments introduced by his Department since 6 May 2005. [46221]
6 Mar 2006 : Column 1150W
Mrs. McGuire: The information has been placed in the Library.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what criteria were applied by the Export Credits Guarantee Department when deciding to support the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. [55059]
Ian Pearson: ECGD carried out thorough due diligence on the ETC Pipeline Project before the decision was taken to provide support. This process included an examination of:
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project was completed on time and on budget in 2005. [55093]
Ian Pearson: Construction of the pipeline was estimated to be finalised during December 2005 but completion is now anticipated to be in the first half of 2006. Until such completion ECGD will not know the final cost.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the causes of delays in the commissioning of the Turkey section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. [55094]
Ian Pearson: At the outset of this project, BTC Co. set a series of target dates for the various stages of the construction process. ECGD and its independent engineers have been kept informed by BTC Co. of delays and their causes throughout. ECGD's engineers advise that delays are common for a project of this size and nature.
Bangladesh
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the nature was of the claim made against the British Geological Survey in Bangladesh; and if he will make a statement. [52575]
Barry Gardiner:
On 20 February 2004, the Court of Appeal struck out a claim by a Bangladeshi resident in a test case against the British Geological Survey (BGS), part of the Natural Environment Research Council. It was alleged that the BGS was negligent in not testing for the presence of arsenic during a pilot research study into groundwater movement in central and north eastern Bangladesh in 1992. The Court of Appeal decided that the relationship between the BGS and the claimants,
6 Mar 2006 : Column 1151W
who were not known to the BGS, was too remote for a duty of care towards the claimants to arise. More detailed information is available on the BGS website www.bgs.ac.uk/arsenic
The lawyers for the claimant have appealed to the House of Lords to overturn this decision of the Court of Appeal and a hearing is set for 22–23 May 2006.
British Overseas Territories
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will take steps to seek provision for the separate representation of British overseas territories at future World Trade Organisation talks. [55944]
Ian Pearson: The British overseas territories (as listed in annex II to the EC Treaty) were consulted between 1991 and 1995 by the United Kingdom when the WTO was being negotiated as to whether they wished to be covered by it. They chose not to do so. Accordingly, the overseas territories have no locus in the WTO and are not represented in WTO talks. Should any UK overseas territory wish to participate in the WTO in the future the UK Government would be happy to assist it in exploring with the WTO the means available to it to do so.
Censorship
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what advice his Department issues to British companies operating overseas on censorship. [55498]
Ian Pearson: Through UK Trade and Investment, and its staff in Britain's diplomatic missions overseas, the Government provides businesses in the UK with services and advice to help them achieve international business success. This includes appropriate advice to individual companies on censorship issues where this is sought.
Cigarette Lighters
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the Government will take steps to ensure the introduction of fire safety cigarette lighters into the UK. [56078]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The UK has already indicated its support to the European Commission for the draft Commission Decision to ban disposable cigarette lighters that do not conform to the child-resistancy requirements of technical standard EN 13869:2002 and all child-appealing novelty lighters. We expect the Decision to be formally adopted sometime over the next few weeks, and will then take steps to implement it in the UK.
Coal Imports
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much coal was imported into the UK in 2005; and what the main sources for such imports were in each year since 2000. [56195]
Alan Johnson:
Provisional figures suggest that 45.1 million tonnes of coal (steam coal, coking coal, and anthracite) were imported into the UK in 2005. Figures for the major sources are shown in the following table.
6 Mar 2006 : Column 1152W
2005 | UK imports of coal (million tonnes) |
|---|---|
| Total | 45.1 |
| of which: | |
| Russia | 17.2 |
| South Africa | 13.0 |
| Australia | 4.5 |
| Colombia | 3.3 |
| Indonesia | 1.6 |
| USA | 1.4 |
| Canada | 1.1 |
Source:
HM Revenue and Customs for SITC chapter 32
Information for earlier years was published in table G.5 of the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics 2005".
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |