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6 Nov 2006 : Column 746W—continued
Moldova (Wine Imports)
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make representations to the European Commission to facilitate the import of wine from Moldova. [99194]
Mr. McCartney: There are no restrictions on imports of wine into the EU and like any other wine producer, Moldova can sell its wine to EU consumers provided the relevant EU import duty is paid.
National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many staff have been employed by the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship for each year since its inception; and what its total budget has been in each year. [97321]
Margaret Hodge: The National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship was established in 2003. The following table shows the number of permanent staff it employs, and its total budget (provided jointly between DTI and DfES) for each year.
| Staff (Number) | Budget (£) | |
National Institute for Medical Research
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the estimated cost is of the move of the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill to the site of the former National Temperance Hospital in Camden; what assessment has been made of the potential implications for public safety of the move; and if he will make a statement. [98909]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The cost of the relocation of the NIMR from Mill Hill to central London has yet to be finally determined. The Medical Research Council is currently undertaking an appraisal of a wide range of possible options, and hopes to be able to identify a preferred option by December 2006.
The MRC has consulted Government security experts and the Health and Safety Executive, as is the case with all major building projects, and will continue to do so.
Older Employees
Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the number of employees aged over 65 years whose employment was terminated before October 2006 by companies aiming to avoid the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006. [98091]
Jim Fitzpatrick: We have no evidence that in the period before the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 came into force there was an increase in the number of older workers whose employment was terminated in anticipation of the legislation. Indeed, the labour force survey shows that job growth among employees aged 65 years or older has in recent years occurred at a much faster pace than for employees aged below 65.
Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been for excessive packaging under the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2003. [99941]
Malcolm Wicks: To date, four successful prosecutions have been brought under the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations.
Palm Oil
Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what volume of palm oil was imported from Colombia in each of the last five years; what the total UK market share Colombian palm oil had in the sector in the same period; and if he will make a statement. [98660]
Malcolm Wicks: According to information published by HM Revenue and Customs the volume of palm oil imported into the UK from Colombia in the last five years was as follows:
| Metric Tonne | |
Information on sales by UK manufacturers is suppressed for commercial confidentiality. Consequently, it is not possible to calculate the share of UK market held by imports from Colombia.
Panama Canal
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the implications of the plans to modernise the Panama canal for United Kingdom trade; and what assessment he has made of the likely impact of the plans for UK trade with (a) Japan, (b) China, (c) India and (d) Australia. [97858]
Malcolm Wicks: The canal is currently operating at its full capacity and the expansion will enable the very large container ships, presently unable to transit the canal, to use the route from 2014, doubling the current capacity of 14,000 ships a year. This represents around 5 per cent. of all world shipping.
While no formal assessment has been made on the implications for UK trade including our trade with Japan, China, India and Australia, it is expected that the expansion will benefit UK and global shipping companies by improving access through this key route.
Post Offices
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has for the future of the post office network in Sunderland; and whether the new card account for pensioners will be retained. [99886]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Post Office Ltd. is directly responsible for matters relating to the operations of a network of post offices in any given area around the country. I have therefore asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
The Department for Works and Pensions' contract for the Post Office card account will expire in 2010, as it was always meant to. Exactly what accounts will be available beyond 2010 is not yet settled. Discussions between POL and the DWP are ongoing. The aim is to ensure that customers continue to have a range of choices in how they can access their money at post offices.
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post offices have closed in each parliamentary constituency in the last 10 years; how many post offices there were on 1st April 2006 in each parliamentary constituency; and if he will make a statement. [99540]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The question raised relates to operational matters for which Post Office Ltd. is directly responsible. The company compiles figuresfor post office branches in each parliamentary constituency on an annual basis. This information is placed in, and is available from, the Libraries of the House.
Regional Selective Assistance
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much funding has been clawed back from foreign companies that were in receipt of regional selective assistance because they failed to meet the conditions attached to the funding concerning job targets or target investment levels in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area. [89340]
Margaret Hodge: Regional selective assistance is only awarded to companies registered in the United Kingdom.
The total amount of RSA recovered from companies registered in the United Kingdom, who have overseas parent companies is outlined in the following table, for periods 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2006.
This information is broken down by each accounting year and by each local authority area.
| Recoveries from foreign companies from 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2006 | ||||||||
| Total | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | |
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