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Car Companies (Government Support)
Mr. Geoffrey Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what (a) funding, (b) tax incentives and (c) other financial support the Government have provided to (i) Peugeot, (ii) LTI vehicles, (iii) British-owned automotive producers and (iv) overseas automotive producers over the last 10 years. [79759]
Margaret Hodge: The main source of Government finance provided to the automotive industry in recent years has been Regional Selective Assistance (RSA), which in England was supplanted by Selective Finance for Investment in England (SFIE) in 2004. Since 2000, around £150 million has been paid in grants to a wide range of vehicle manufacturers and component suppliers, nearly £100 million of which was paid to vehicle makers. Grants are only available to companies in assisted areas, but the scheme does not discriminate as to nationality of the parent company.
In 1998, Peugeot was offered a £2 million RSA grant towards the cost of investment to add a third shift at a time of strong demand for their 206 model. This project created 900 jobs, and the grant has been paid in full. In November 2004, the company was offered a £14.4 million grant in support of 207 manufacture, but the project did not proceed.
LTI have not been in receipt of RSA or SFI finance.
The Government also
offers various forms of technology grant from which companies in the
automotive sector have benefited. At various times, both Peugeot
Citroen and LTI have participated in consortia which have received
grants, but accurate
figures as to individual shares of consortium funding are not available
to DTI. That said, supported projects have included the Efficient-C
project (involving PSA Peugeot Citroen, QinetiQ and Ricardo) and the
LTI ‘e-Mercury’ electric vehicle. The latter was
subsequently spun out as a stand-alone project. The independent company
Modec now runs this project, and production commences in Coventry later
this year's.
The principle source of specific automotive industry-related funding is the Automotive Innovation and Growth Team (AIGT) suite of initiatives, including Supply Chain Groups, Automotive Academy and Centres of Excellence, against which a total commitment of £45 million has been made. Again, these do not discriminate as to nationality of ownership, although direct funding is available only to UK based companies and organisations.
R&D tax credits, to encourage greater R&D spending in order to promote investment in innovation;
R&D allowances for capital expenditure on research and development; and; enhanced rates of Industrial Buildings Allowances for qualifying enterprise zone expenditure;
are available to all companies in the UK irrespective of their ownership or the specific industrial sector in which they operate. The amounts by which individual companies have benefited from such measures are not a matter of public record and no breakdown would be available distinguishing between companies on the basis of their ownership.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on what date the grant to Peugeot for investment in its plant at Ryton in Coventry was offered; and what terms and conditions were attached to that grant. [80849]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 28 June 2006]: In November 2004, a grant of £14.4 million was offered to Peugeot for manufacture of the 207 at Ryton, but the project did not proceed.
The terms and conditions of the grant are confidential between the Government and Peugeot.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the (a) dates and (b) amounts were of each (i) grant and (ii) loan offered to Peugeot by the Government in each of the last 10 years; and what terms and conditions were attached. [80850]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 28 June 2006]: In 1998, Peugeot was offered a RSA grant of £2 million towards the cost of investment to add a third shift at a time of strong demand for their 206 model. In November 2004, a further grant of £14.4 million was offered to Peugeot for manufacture of the 207 at Ryton, but the project did not proceed.
The terms and conditions of the grants are confidential between the Government and Peugeot.
No loans have been offered to the company.
Cast Medals Federation
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations he has received from the Cast Metals Federation; and if he will make a statement. [81476]
Malcolm Wicks: The Cast Metals Federation is an active member of the Metals Forum, with which the Department has a regular dialogue on a number of issues affecting the UK metals industry. Indeed I have a meeting with the Forum scheduled for 13 July.
Compensation Claims
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on how many occasions his Department has paid out a hearing loss claim including the full payment of medical examinations conducted by Melex Ltd. [81041]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 29 June 2006]: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on24 April 2006, Official Report, column 827W.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to how many hearing loss claimants in Bassetlaw his Department has written since Easter to confirm payment of their claim to their solicitor; and on what date in each case. [81042]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 29 June 2006]: The Department wrote to 73 claimants on 22 May confirming that compensation had been paid to the claimant's solicitors but that a dispute existed over the level of the solicitor's costs.
Competition Commission
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many reports he has received from the Competition Commission in each year since its inception; how many gave rise to Government action; what the subject matter was of each; and if he will make a statement. [80409]
Mr. McCartney: The Department has received the following reports from the Competition Commission in each of the years since its inception:
| Merger or acquisition inquiry | Market inquiry | |
I will write separately setting out the subject matter of each case and whether action was taken.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry who is responsible for appointments to the Competition Commission; whether posts are advertised; how many persons applied for each post currently held; how many were shortlisted for interview; and if he will make a statement. [80410]
Mr.
McCartney: Appointments to the Competition Commission are
made by my right hon. Friend the
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. In the case of the chair, my
right hon. Friend the Prime Minister must be
consulted.
Posts are advertised. The only occasion when this has not been done was the recent appointment of the current chair. Following the sudden death of the previous chair, the senior deputy chair was appointed to the post of chair without a competition. This was done with the agreement of OCPA.
With respect to the other posts, the figures are as follows:
Deputy chairs: 81 applications, 6 interviewed, 2 appointed
CEO: 60 applicants, 7 interviewed
Panel members: 283 applicants, 60 interviewed, 24 appointed.
The figures for the panel members relate to the last recruitment round in 2004-05.
Departmental Premises (Security)
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures are in place to ensure that no illegal immigrants are employed in the manned guarding of his Department’s premises. [80802]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department currently out-sources its staffed guarding services.
The Department’s security contractor carries out pre-employment identity and residency checks in compliance to the standards set by the Security Industry Authority (SIA). All security personnel employed on the Department’s premises are also subject to security vetting before commencing work.
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether his Department has (a) directly and (b) indirectly employed illegal immigrants as security guards. [80811]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department of Trade and Industry has not employed either directly, or indirectly any illegal immigrants as security guards.
The Department’s security contractor carries out pre-employment identity and residency checks in compliance to the standards set by the Security Industry Authority (SIA). All security personnel employed on the Department’s premises are also subject to security vetting before commencing work.
Electricity Prices
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received about the impact of recent changes in electricity prices on manufacturing industry; and if he will make a statement. [81475]
Malcolm Wicks: I have received a number of letters and have held several meetings with manufacturing sectors regarding the impact of recent changes in electricity prices.
The Government fully appreciates that high electricity prices have an impact on the competitiveness of industry, and, of course, takes very seriously the potential loss of jobs and investment.
I have
also had discussions with the Energy Intensive Users Group and others
to help us focus our efforts on maximising gas and electricity
supplies, improve the
operation of the market, encourage demand side response and pursue fair
access to markets across
Europe.
Over the summer we are pursuing a detailed work plan with Ofgem, national grid, industry and others to ensure we are in the best possible position ahead of next winter. The new Business Energy Forum, which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 16 May, will hold its inaugural meeting on 5 July to discuss security of supply from a strategic view and enable us to maintain this high level of dialogue and input from these and other sectors.
Environmental Standards
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether his Department (a) is committed to the achievement of environmental management to ISO 14001 standard and (b) has been externally certified as in compliance with that standard; and if he will make a statement. [81190]
Malcolm Wicks: The Department for Trade and Industry has operated an Environmental Management System (EMS) certified to ISO 14001 since November 1999 which is compliant to the framework for sustainable development in Government. The EMS is a management tool used in achieving the Department's commitment to the environment. The certificate has been externally verified by a UKAS certified verification organisation.
EU Committees
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the dates on which (a) the EU Anti-dumping and Anti-subsidy Committee and (b) the Article 133 Committee met during the past 12 months; and if he will publish the minutes of those meetings. [70906]
Mr. McCartney: The EC Anti-dumping and Anti-subsidy Advisory Committee has met on the following dates during the past 12 months:
8 June 2005
30 June 2005
20 July 2005
7 September 2005
20 October 2005
10 November 2005
1 December 2005
15 December 2005
12 January 2006
14 February 2006
9 March 2006
16 March 2006
20 April 2006
11 May 2006
The minutes of
the Advisory Committee are not available to the public. However, a
person may apply to the Commission for access to these documents in
accordance with the procedures set down in Regulation
(EC) No. 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and the Council. Where a
request is received, the Commission will consider whether the documents
can be released or are covered by the exceptions set down in Article 4
of the Regulation.
The Article 133 Committee meets weekly, once a month in full members format and three times a month in deputy members format. There are no formal minutes of these meetings. However the Secretariat of the Council of the European Union publishes outcomes from the Article 133 Committee in accordance with Council Regulation 1049/2001 (Regulation of the European Parliament and Council regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents). These documents can be accessed through the Council’s website at http://ue.eu.int.
EU Structural Funds
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) when he expects an announcement to be made on the allocation of EU structural funds; and if he will make a statement; [81420]
(2) what consideration is being given to the alignment of future EU structural funding with the Government's domestic spending priorities; and if he will make a statement; [81421]
(3) what consideration is being given to providing additional domestic resources to support the objectives of regional development through EU structural funding; and if he will make a statement. [81422]
Margaret Hodge: The Government are currently considering responses to our consultation documents published on 28 February setting out an approach to the allocation of EU structural funds and potential for alignment with domestic programmes. We hope to publish our conclusions by the beginning of September.
The Government are committed to increasing the rate of growth of every region, to addressing the disparities between the nations and regions and, in England, to reducing the persistent gap in growth rates between regions. To this end, it is already providing significant resources to support regional economic development, including £2.2 billion annually for the Regional Development Agencies.
Insurance Industry
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to prevent the loss of insurance-related jobs in the UK to offshore locations. [74753]
Mr. McCartney: In this globalised world, companies must be allowed to take the steps required to remain competitive. Location is a business decision for companies.
The
Government are well aware of concerns about the effects of offshoring,
including on employment in the insurance sector. But we know from our
consultations that there is a broad consensus in the UK
that trade protectionism is not the right response. Instead, we must do
all we can to ensure that those who are affected by decisions to
offshore work are found alternative work as quickly as possible. We
also need to ensure that the UK remains competitive and an attractive
place in which other countries wish to do
business.
Local Loop Unbundling
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what further targets he plans to set for local loop unbundling. [75270]
Margaret Hodge: The responsibility for local loop unbundling and further targets falls to the telecommunications regulator, Ofcom and the Telecommunications Adjudicator.
The Telecommunications Adjudicator Scheme was initiated by Ofcom, the independent regulator of the communications sector, in July 2004 to ensure that the unbundling process takes place in a timely and effective way. Membership of this industry scheme is voluntary by BT Group PLC and the LLU operators. Any targets set by the independent Adjudicator are a matter for him on the basis of the best information then available.
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to ensure that the target for 1.5 million lines to be unbundled from the local loop network by April 2007 is met. [75271]
Margaret Hodge: The target of 1.5 million lines to be unbundled was set by the telecommunications regulator, Ofcom and the Telecommunications Adjudicator. The responsibility for ensuring that the target is met falls to Ofcom, the industry and Telecommunications Adjudicator within that regulatory framework.
However, I fully expect the target to be reached.
Local loop unbundling offers greater scope for innovation and competition in broadband services and as such its roll-out is welcome.
London Olympics
Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which officials in his Department (a) are responsible for Olympics-related activity and (b) sit on the Inter-Departmental Steering Group for the Olympics. [81565]
Margaret Hodge: David Hendon, Head of Business Relations 2 Directorate is the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) for the Olympics project in DTI. He also sits on the Inter-Departmental Steering Group for the Olympics.
Military-technical Co-operation (Export Licences)
John
Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for
Trade and Industry for which countries an export licence relating to
military-technical co-operation has been
granted since January 2006; what assessment is made of a third country's
arms transfer control system prior to an export licence relating to
military-technical co-operation being authorised; and if he will make a
statement.
[81611]
Malcolm Wicks: The Government do not issue export licences for the act of military-technical co-operation.
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