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10 Oct 2006 : Column 713W—continued
Minister for Women
Human Trafficking
Mr. Pelling: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what funding has been allocated to the POPPY Project to identify refuges for women rescued from human trafficking. [91374]
Meg Munn: The Government have been funding Eaves Housing for Women/the POPPY scheme since March 2003 to provide safe shelter and support for adult female victims who have been trafficked into prostitution in the UK. To date, over 100 women have been supported whilst they recover from their ordeal and prepare to return safely to their communities.
This year the Home Office has entered into a two-year, £2.4 million funding agreement with Eaves Housing for Women to:
continue the existing crisis provision service at the POPPY project for up to 25 women;
provide 10 additional regional “step-down” places to help women live semi-independently with less intensive support;
introduce the first ever specialist national outreach service in the UK for victims trafficked into sexual exploitation; and
develop a resource/information pack for victims, service providers and law enforcement agency staff.
In addition, the UK Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC), which was launched on 3 October, intends to continue to provide the victim-centred approach delivered by Operation Pentameter, where forces were asked to scope and procure local support services for victims and develop local partnerships with appropriate service providers.
Northern Ireland
Child Benefit
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make representations for a contact/oversight facility in Northern Ireland for hon. Members dealing with child benefit queries from their constituents. [92261]
Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
I can assure the hon. Gentleman as well as other hon. Members representing Northern Ireland constituencies that any concerns they raise about their constituents’ child benefit payments will continue to be treated with the same high priority as those of other Members of this House.
Scotland
Scottish Parliament (Powers)
10. Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what additional powers he has been asked by the Scottish Executive to transfer to the Scottish Parliament in the last 12 months. [92545]
Mr. Douglas Alexander:
The Scottish Executive has not requested the transfer of additional powers to the
Scottish Parliament in the last 12 months, although some limited powers have been transferred to Scottish Ministers by secondary legislation.
Energy Prices
11. Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent assessment he has made of the impact of rising energy prices on consumers in Scotland. [92546]
David Cairns: The UK’s liberalised, market-based approach to energy policy delivered real domestic gas prices 6 per cent. lower in 2005 than in 1990 and real domestic electricity prices 18 per cent. lower in 2005 than in 1990. Furthermore, between 1996 and 2003, the number of UK households in fuel poverty fell from 5 million to around 1.5 million but rising fuel prices mean that fuel poverty remains a challenge. This is why the recently concluded review of UK Energy Policy recognised that delivering secure, clean energy at affordable prices is one of the major challenges we face and set out a number of actions to meet this challenge.
Scotland Act
13. Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what mechanisms are in place to ensure that the Scottish Parliament operates within the scope of the Scotland Act 1998. [92548]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: All primary and secondary legislation of the Scottish Parliament is monitored by the Law Officers and by the Secretary of State, in line with their respective functions under sections 33, 35, 58 and 107 of and Schedule 6 to the Scotland Act 1998.
Sections 31(1) and (2) of the Scotland Act also require a member of the Scottish Executive and the Presiding Officer to make a statement, on or before the introduction of a Bill in the Scottish Parliament, that in their view the provisions of the Bill are within legislative competence.
Finally, section 54 defines what is meant by a function being exercised within or outside devolved competence for the purposes of the Act. This section forms part of the set dealing with the establishment of the Scottish Administration and its functions. Section 53 makes provision for the transfer to the Scottish Ministers of ministerial functions
“so far as they are exercisable within devolved competence”.
Sewell Convention Report
14. Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what progress has been made with the Government’s response to the report of the Scottish Affairs Committee “The Sewel Convention: the Westminster Perspective”. [92549]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Government submitted their response to the Scottish Affairs Committee report “The Sewel Convention: the Westminster Perspective” on 20 July 2006.
Block Grant (Education)
Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the Treasury on increases to the block grant to Scotland related to additional annual allocations for education. [92542]
David Cairns: Increases in comparable spending in England lead to increases in the block grant to Scotland via the Barnett Formula. Current arrangements allow the Scottish Executive to determine its spending in accordance with Scottish needs and priorities.
Renewable Energy
Mr. Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what funding has been allocated to Scotland for the development of renewable energy technology in the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [92547]
David Cairns: Total Government spend on research, development and demonstration into renewable and low carbon energy technologies across the UK will be over £500 million between 2002 and 2008. This amount includes academic research supported by the Research Councils, supported industry-led R and D, the Carbon Trust’s R and D programme and others but it is not possible to identify exactly how much of this was spent in Scotland. The Scottish Executive and its agencies have committed further direct funding of almost £100 million to energy efficiency and renewable projects in the last three years. This assistance does not take into account the impact of “market pull” instruments such as the Emissions Trading Scheme and the Renewables Obligation that provide further incentives to bring renewable generation into production.
Trade and Industry
Bailiffs
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many complaints were received by his Department in relation to the methods used and conduct of bailiffs and other debt collectors in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [92442]
Mr. McCartney: The Department for Constitutional Affairs has responsibility for bailiffs and complaints would be directed to them.
Debt collectors have to be licensed by the Office of Fair Trading to collect debts under consumer credit agreements and the OFT issued trading practices guidance for them in 2003. The OFT has received the following number of complaints about debt collectors for the last three financial years:
| Number of complaints | |
| (1 )Approximate. | |
As a result of complaints, and other sources of information, the OFT has issued the following number of letters to debt collectors in the last three financial years reminding them of their responsibilities and warning them about their future conduct where there appears to be a breach of OFT Guidance:
| Number of letters issued | |
Bank Charges
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to limit penalty charges imposed by banks when a customer exceeds overdraft limits or a direct debit or cheque are returned. [91598]
Mr. McCartney: The OFT has been looking at the question of penalty charges in respect of credit cards and has stated that it believed that such charges had been generally set at a significantly higher level than was considered fair and set a £12 threshold for OFT intervention unless there were exceptional business factors.
The OFT is of the view that the broad principles do read across to the retail banking area and has decided to undertake further work on the application of these principles to bank current accounts. This fact-finding exercise is expected to take between three to six months, at which stage the OFT will consider whether a further detailed investigation of the fairness of individual bank default charges is needed.
Mr. McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Government plan to take action against banks that make excess charges for customers becoming overdrawn. [92221]
Mr. McCartney [holding answer 9 October 2006]: The OFT has been looking at the question of penalty charges in respect of credit cards and has stated that it believed that such charges had been generally set at a significantly higher level than was considered fair and set a £12 threshold for OFT intervention unless there were exceptional business factors.
The OFT is of the view that the broad principles do read across to the retail banking area and has decided to undertake further work on the application of these principles to bank current accounts. This fact-finding exercise is expected to take between three to six months, at which stage the OFT will consider whether a further detailed investigation of the fairness of individual bank default charges is needed.
Business Start-up Assistance
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many new business start-ups there were per 10,000 head of population in each year since 1997. [89592]
Margaret Hodge: Value added tax (VAT) registrations and de-registrations are the best official guide to the pattern of business start-ups and closures. DTI data on the number of VAT registrations in the UK in each year from 1997 to 2004 are shown in the table. These are shown per 10,000 head of resident adult population (those aged 16 and above). The number of de-registrations and end of year stock of VAT registered businesses per 10,000 head of resident adult population are also given. Data for 2005 will be available in autumn 2006.
VAT registrations per 10,000 head of resident adult population remained roughly constant between 1997 and 2004, with a degree of fluctuation from year to year. However, the stock of VAT registered businesses per 10,000 population rose by approximately 5 per cent. over this period.
The actual stock of VAT registered businesses from the end of 1997 to the end of 2004 is shown in the following table. In total, the number of VAT registered businesses has risen by over 150,000 since 1997.
| UK stock of VAT registered businesses, 1997-2004 | |
| Total end-year stock | |
| Source: Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994-2004, Small Business Service, available from the Library of the House and also at http://www.sbs.gov.uk/vats. | |
| UK VAT registrations and end year stock of registered businesses per 10,000 resident adult (16+) population, 1997-2004 | ||
| Registrations per 10,000 population | End-year stock per 10,000 population | |
| Note: Population data obtained from Office for National Statistics, General Register Office for Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Source: Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994-2004, Small Business Service, available from the Library of the House and also at http://www.sbs.gov.uk/vats. | ||
VAT registration and de-registration data do not capture all business activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if their turnover falls below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1997. Similarly, businesses that de-register will not necessarily have closed. Only 1.8 million out of 4.3 million businesses (42 per cent.) were registered for VAT at the start of 2005.
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