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15 Jun 2006 : Column 1410W—continued
Bankruptcy
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people in Coventry South have been declared bankrupt in each year since 1997. [70331]
Mr. McCartney [holding answer 16 May 2006]: Regional insolvency statistics are only available on the basis of the locations of Official Receivers offices, each of which cover a group of county courts where the cases are heard and the courts having jurisdiction over these. As such, they are not directly comparable with standard geographies such as government office regions, local authorities etc. Coventry South is best matched to Coventry county court, under the Birmingham B Official Receiver’s office. Figures are shown in the following table, but it should be noted that, for the above reasons, these will not be an exact measure of bankruptcies in Coventry South.
| Number of bankruptcy orders made in Coventry county court | |
Citizens Advice
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the Statement of 11 May 2006, Official Report, column 560, on Citizens Advice, how much funding was received by Citizens Advice directly from the Government in each of the last five years. [73556]
Mr. McCartney: Citizens Advice receives funding from a number of Government Departments. Details can be found in the Citizens Advice’s Annual Reports for each year. Copies can be found in the Libraries of both Houses.
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the statement of 11 May 2006, Official Report, column 560, on Citizens Advice, how much funding he expects the Government to allocate to Citizens Advice for 2006-07; and whether the Government plans to fund individual citizens’ advice bureaux. [73557]
Mr. McCartney: The Department has not yet decided on the level of funding for Citizens Advice in 2006-07. The Government have no plans to fund the core activities of local CAB. That is largely a matter for the relevant local authority. However, from time to time, CAB are awarded contracts to run specific initiatives and schemes such as the recent Face-to-Face debt advice programme.
Consumer Affairs Council
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the Government’s position was in the negotiations on the Working Time Directive at the Consumer Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg on 1 June 2006; what the outcome was of the meeting; and if he will make a statement. [76755]
Mr. McCartney: The Government’s policy and negotiating priorities for the new Working Time Directive remain to achieve a solution that retains the voluntary individual opt out from the 48 hour weekly working limit and that addresses the problems caused to Europe’s health and emergency services by the European Court of Justice’s rulings on the SiMAP and Jaeger cases.
Member states failed to reach political agreement at the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer
Affairs Council in Luxembourg. The UK Government tried to find a way forward, but there remained two opposing views.
Fair Trade
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the change in volume of fair trade products sold in the United Kingdom has been over the last three years. [70917]
Mr. McCartney: The volume of Fairtrade certified products sold in the UK has grown by 111 per cent. since 2003, reaching £195 million in 2005. The UK is the largest Fairtrade market across the 20 Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO) participating countries. Particular examples include: sales of Fairtrade coffee in the UK reached £65.8 million in 2005, from £34.3 million in 2003; and Fairtrade bananas are now worth £47.7 million, up from £24.3 million in 2003.
The UK Government support the aims of the Fairtrade movement, and in March 2005 increased its funding to the Fairtrade Foundation, through DfID, by a further £750,000. This brings the Government’s total level of support to over £1 million between 2002 and 2007, to raise business and consumer awareness of fairly traded products through educational and promotional activities.
Fire Regulations
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what checks are made to ensure that imported furniture, mattresses and fabrics comply with UK fire resistance regulations. [73830]
Mr. McCartney: The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 set levels of fire resistance for domestic upholstered furniture, including cover fabrics, and mattresses imported into the UK. These Regulations are enforced by Trading Standards, who have powers to check products and suspend or seize those not meeting the requirements of the Regulations. These powers also allow Trading Standards to prosecute the suppliers of non-compliant products.
Internet Governance Forum
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how his Department is preparing to communicate the multi-stakeholder view at the Internet Governance Forum; and what consultation his Department has undertaken on the subject. [75409]
Margaret Hodge: The World Summit on the Information Society, which met in Tunis in November 2005, recommended the creation of an Internet Governance Forum (IGF) to bring together industry, civil society and governments to look at important Internet issues such as freedom of expression and the free flow of information, security and user protection, linguistic diversity, and the digital divide.
In January 2006, DTI hosted a UK consultation on the IGF, and the conclusions of this meeting have been fed into the international consultation and are published on the IGF website (http://www. intgovforum.org/contributions/igf.pdf). The creation of a forum where stakeholders can meet on an equal footing is seen as a positive step: industry, civil society and users working with governments can develop practical ways of addressing concerns on the use and misuse of the Internet. The IGF should be open and inclusive, and focus on a few topics.
We now want industry and civil society to take the lead in preparing for the first IGF meeting in October. I am pleased that Nominet, the registry for dot.uk Internet domain names is organising a first meeting on 4 July 2006 in the Houses of Parliament, bringing together industry, civil society, and government. I hope to be involved in this discussion.
The Oxford Internet Institute is also developing a dialogue on issues on the IGF agenda.
Initiatives like these will help us identify clear ideas and objectives for the IGF and will help UK stakeholders to make a very positive contribution to the discussion.
Personal Debt
Ms Barlow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps regulatory authorities have taken to prevent adverse effects on individuals’ credit ratings in cases in which, where the validity of a debt is in dispute, banks sell on the debt to other companies who then refuse to enter into dialogue over the disputed claim. [73840]
Mr. McCartney: Information on credit ratings is kept by the Credit Reference Agencies (CRA) who are under a legal obligation to publish accurate and up-to-date information. If any information is disputed, the individual concerned should write to the relevant CRA. The CRA will then flag the entry in question as a disputed item which should not be relied upon, while raising the matter with the relevant lender in order to reach a view about the validity of the entry.
An individual in dispute about an entry on their credit file can also ask the Information Commissioner to consider the details of their case.
Peugeot
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions his Department has had regarding the future of Peugeot in the UK; and where and when those discussions took place. [76997]
Margaret Hodge: DTI has a long history of dialogue with Peugeot in the UK and has had frequent meetings with the company to discuss their UK manufacturing operations. Most recently, the then Secretary of State met the Chief Executive Officer of PSA Peugeot Citroen, Jean-Martin Folz, on 26 April in London. My predecessor met Mr. Folz on 18 April in London. We remain in regular contact with Peugeot at official level.
During a Westminster Hall debate on 13 June, I agreed to meet my hon. Friend and other local MPs to discuss Peugeot and wider manufacturing issues in the Coventry area in further detail.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions his Department has had with Peugeot management regarding the trade unions alternative plan. [76998]
Margaret Hodge: My predecessor met the Chief Executive Officer of PSA Peugeot Citroen, Jean-Martin Folz, on 18 April. The then Secretary of State met Mr. Folz on 26 April. The trade unions have kept DTI officials updated on the developments of their counter-proposals, for which we are grateful. HM Government have made clear to Peugeot the importance of open and constructive dialogue, consistent with legal obligations under information and consultation legislation.
During a Westminster Hall debate on 13 June, I agreed to meet my hon. Friend and other local MPs to discuss Peugeot and wider manufacturing issues in the Coventry area in further detail.
Social Enterprises
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many social enterprise advisers there are in (a) Luton and (b) Bedfordshire. [76724]
Margaret Hodge: Research has identified that a range of organisations are taking a leading role in providing support to social enterprises in Bedfordshire and Luton, although it has not been possible to identify exact numbers of specific social enterprise advisors. The organisations identified include:
Chamber of Commerce/Business Link
Luton and Dunstable Innovation Centre
The East of England Development Agency’s (EEDA) Investing in Communities (IiC) programme and the Social Enterprise Steering Group in Bedfordshire and Luton have recently commissioned a report to review social enterprise activity in Bedfordshire and Luton, which in turn has informed the development of a social enterprise draft action plan.
South West Regional Development Agency
Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many jobs the South West Regional Development Agency has created in (a) Swindon and (b) each district council in Wiltshire in each year since 2003. [76985]
Margaret Hodge: I am advised by the South West of England Regional Development Agency that it does not hold information on jobs created by local authority area. As a strategic organisation many of the activities in which it is involved operate at regional level, or across county or unitary boundaries. The Agency reports on a range of outcomes that are directly attributable to its investment in support of projects and activities across the region, one of which is jobs created or safeguarded. The figures for jobs created/safeguarded by the Agency in the region since 2003 are as follows:
| Number | |
Strawberry Imports
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he has taken to impose anti-dumping measures against the import of frozen strawberries from China. [76855]
Mr. McCartney: None. The European Commission is currently investigating a complaint of dumping.
Sun Beds
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment the Health and Safety Executive has made of the safety implications of the use of hired sun beds for use in the home; and if he will make a statement. [77461]
Mr. McCartney: I am advised that there have been no assessments of the safety implications of the use of hired sun beds for use in the home by the Health and Safety Executive.
Supermarkets
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many complaints the Office of Fair Trading has received on breaches of the code of conduct by supermarkets. [71435]
Mr. McCartney:
The Office of Fair Trading has received 20 complaints about breaches of the Code
since it came into force on 17 March 2002. Those who have complained more than once or have raised more than one complaint about breaches are treated as a single complaint. Those complaining about supermarkets more generally are not included in the figures.
Unscrupulous Lenders
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on his Department’s recent discussions on strengthening enforcement against unscrupulous lenders. [77544]
Mr. McCartney: The Consumer Credit Act 2006 will improve the regulation and monitoring of consumer credit businesses and extend protections, rights and means of redress for consumers against unscrupulous lenders. Furthermore, the Loan Shark Pilots the Government have funded in Birmingham and Glasgow will enable Trading Standards to prosecute illegal lenders in these areas and gain a clearer understanding of the scope, extent and impact of illegal money lending. Finally, the Financial Inclusion Fund includes £45 million to increase face-to-face debt advice capacity, with particular regard to the needs of vulnerable consumers.
Constitutional Affairs
Data Protection
Dr. Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the statement on 20 November 2005 by a spokesman for her Department on the practice of selling personal data about drivers, what action has been taken to prevent the practice by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. [76913]
Dr. Ladyman: I have been asked to reply.
I refer to my written statements of 2 December 2005, Official Report, columns 50-1WS and 16 February 2006, Official Report, columns 123-4WS.
Consultation concluded at the end of March and I am considering the 126 responses. While I am keen to make an announcement as soon as possible, this is an important and complex matter and I intend to give it full and careful consideration before doing so.
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