| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Company Reports
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans there are to require inclusion of information on social and environmental impact in reports for directors of public companies. [75794]
Mr.
McCartney: Under the Company Law Reform Bill, all
companies, apart from small companies, will continue to be required to
produce a Business Review, in accordance with the EU Accounts
Modernisation Directive. Quoted companies, to the extent necessary for
an understanding of the development, performance or position of their
business, will need to include the main trends and factors likely to
affect the company’s business in the future and information
about environmental matters (including the impact of the
company’s business on the environment), the company’s
employees and social and community issues. The review must include
information about any policies of the company in relation to those
matters and the effectiveness of those policies. All business
reviews must be consistent with the size and complexity of each
company’s business and, to the extent necessary for an
understanding of the company’s business, include where
appropriate analysis using key performance indicators relating to
environmental matters and employee
matters.
Comprehensive Spending Review
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with (a) the Treasury and (b) the Cabinet Office regarding the pre-comprehensive spending review report; and if he will make a statement. [82842]
Mr. Darling: Ministers and officials have many discussions covering a wide range of issues including on spending.
Consultants
Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much was spent on consultants by his Department in each year since 1997. [73170]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 23 May 2006]: Central records indicate that the cost to the Department of engaging consultants in each of the following financial years has been:
| £ million | |
Information for years prior to 1999-2000 is notheld centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the companies which were paid consultancy fees by his Department in 2005-06; how much each was paid; and what each of the companies was used to accomplish. [69690]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Central records indicate that the Department spent £53.6 million on consultancy services in financial year 2005-06.
I have placed in the Libraries of the House a list of companies that submitted invoices to the Department for consultancy services in the financial year 2005-06.
Further information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Consultations
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many public consultations his Department undertook in the last year for which figures are available; and what the cost was (a) in total and (b) of each consultation. [72901]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The total number of formal written consultations for the year to May 2006 is 88. Consultation exercises currently being run by the Department of Trade and Industry are published on the Department of Trade and Industry website http:www//dit.gov.uk.
Costs are recorded centrally for all publications, by DTI’s Publications Team. Costs for consultations only cannot be extracted without disproportionate cost.
Departmental Telephone Numbers
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the (a) 0800, (b) 0845 and (c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public administered by (i) his Department and (ii) agencies which report to him. [56543]
Jim Fitzpatrick: A number of “08” telephones services are administered by the Department for public use. From central records the information that can be provided on the Department's use of 0800, 0845 and 0870 telephone numbers is as follows:
| Number | Department/Agency |
| (1
)Currently discontinued and awaiting
reallocation. | |
Letter from Jeanne Spinks, dated 24 July 2006:
You asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, if he will list the (a) 0800, (b) 0845 and (c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public administered by (i) his Department and (ii) agencies which report to him.
The Employment Tribunals Services administers a public enquiry line to answer queries about the Employment Tribunals, provide information about tribunal publications and explain how the tribunal system works. The enquiry line number is 0845 795 9775, and the minicom number is 0845 757 3722.
Letter from Desmond Flynn, dated 24 July 2006:
The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply to you directly on behalf of The Insolvency Service in respect of your question (2005/3597) asking what a.) 0800, b) 0845 and c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public The Service administers.
As at 6 March 2006 the answers were as follows:
a.) 0800:
The Service does not have any 0800 numbers.
b.) 0845:
The Service currently administers the following 0845 numbers:
1. Redundancy Payments Helpline - 0845 145 0004.
2. Enforcement hotline - 0845 601 3546.
3. Online form service enquiry line - 0845 602 9848.
In addition to the above numbers our website is also available via voice access on a 0845 number - 0845 333 0323.
c.) 0870:
The Service does not have any 0870 numbers.
Letter from Dr. Jeff Llewellyn, dated 24 July 2006:
The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has asked me to reply on behalf of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) to your question regarding listing (a) 0800, (b) 0845 and (c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public administered by (i) his Department and (ii) agencies which report to him.
NWML does not administer any 0800, 0845 or 0870 numbers.
Letter from Tim Moss, dated 24 July 2006:
I am replying to your recently tabled Parliamentary Question 2005/3597, to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, on behalf of Companies House, which is an Executive Agency of the DTI.
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, if he will list the (a) 0800, (b) 0845 and (c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public administered by (i) his Department and (ii) agencies with report to him. 56543.
Answer
Companies House operate the following Non-Geographical Numbers (NGN’s)
CHD Helpdesk — 0845 7573991
Contact Centre — 0870 3333636
Secure Directors Register — 0845 03032400.
Officially, the SDR number and function is hosted by CH on behalf of the DTI and due to the security considerations involved is not for public consumption.
Letter from Ron Marchant, dated 24 July 2006:
I am responding to this parliamentary question, tabled on 02 March 2006. The telephone numbers for the public administered by the Patent Office are as follows:
Telephone; 0845 9 500 505
Minicom (text phone); 0845 9 222 250
Disabled People
Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on his Department’s progress in fulfilling its statutory obligation as a public body of promoting the rights of disabled people. [66010]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 placed new duties on public authorities to promote equality for disabled people, ‘the Disability Equality Duty’.
The Department of Trade and Industry is currently planning a Disability Equality Scheme to be implemented by December 2006, and considering the scope of activities to be included in the progress report to be published by 1 December 2008.
The Department promotes equality for disabled people through employment legislation and the promotion and publication of relevant information and guidance.
Doorstep Lending
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the net outflow in interest payments to doorstep lenders in each local authority area in the UK. [86984]
Mr. McCartney: Information of this kind on individual credit agreements is not currently collected.
However, according to the provisional findings of the Competition Commission’s Home Credit Market Inquiry, home credit lenders collected around£1.9 billion in repayments from their customers in 2004.
Electricity Transmission
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will take steps to ensure that power producers reduce carbon dioxide emissions attributable to electricity transmission and distribution losses; and if he will make a statement. [87671]
Malcolm Wicks: Power producers are strongly incentivised to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from all aspects of electricity production through the European Emissions Trading Scheme, which incentivises all installations it covers to reduce emissions in response to a carbon price. It is up to each installation to determine what measures it may take to reduce its emissions, which may include those attributable to transmission and distribution losses.
In addition, power producers are specifically incentivised to reduce transmission and distribution losses through the requirement on all power producers using the transmission system pay on a cost reflective basis. This aims to reflect the costs generators impose on the network to transfer electricity to where it is required. With 2 per cent. of electricity conveyed over the transmission network lost, through noise and heat, there is an environmental as well as economic case for having generation near to the main centres of electricity demand and the transmission charging system reflects this.
About 6 per cent. of electricity conveyed over the distribution network is lost. Distribution Network Operators, as part of their regulated price controls, are incentivised to reduce these losses.
Energy Review
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to paragraphs 5.104 and 5.105 of the Energy Review, Cm 6887, what the reasons were for the choice of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency study to illustrate the comparative carbon footprint ranking of nuclear generation against other power generation sources; and which other analyses were examined on the comparative carbon footprint of different generation sources in the Energy Review. [86095]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 19 July 2006]: The Energy Review considered various studies on lifetime carbon emissions, including:
Sustainable Development Commission—The Role of Nuclear in a Low Carbon Economy—Paper 2 Reducing CO2 Emissions—Nuclear and the Alternatives (2006)
Japan Central Research Institute (1996)
Sweden, Vattenfall (1999 and 2000)
Finland, A Kivisto
Germany, Institute for Applied Ecology (1997)
Storm van Leeuven and Smith (SLS) (2001 to 2005)
Torness—a study for BE by AEA Technology (2005)
EC ExternE (2003)
OECD estimates broadly reflect the range of nuclear lifecycle emissions estimates from this literature.
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment was made of the potential vulnerability of existing licensed nuclear sites to (a) coastal erosion and (b) inundation in the energy review. [86926]
Malcolm Wicks: Any new nuclear power stations would be proposed, developed, constructed and operated by the private sector. Industry has indicated that the most viable sites are likely to be adjacent to existing sites. Any developers will need to manage the possible risks of coastal erosion and flooding through active flood management plans, which must be approved by the safety regulator. Government committed in the energy review report to undertake a strategic siting assessment that would assist developers in identifying the most suitable sites for nuclear power stations.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |