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27 Nov 2006 : Column 376W—continued
Citizens Advice Bureaux
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much funding was provided to citizens advice bureaux to support advice to tax credit claimants in each of the last four years. [102437]
Mr. McCartney [holding answer 23 November 2006]: The funding is provided by HM Revenue and Customs. I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given by the Paymaster General on 17 May 2006, Official Report, columns 1084-85W, to the hon. Member for Vale of Clwyd (Chris Ruane).
Civil Service Relocation
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many jobs in his Department have been relocated (a) to Liverpool and (b) elsewhere as a result of the Lyons Review; and on how many occasions Liverpool has been considered for the relocation of staff under this programme. [103089]
Jim Fitzpatrick: As a result of the Lyons Review:
(a) no jobs in the Department have been relocated to Liverpool;
( b) at end September 2006 the Department had relocated 288.5 posts against an overall target of 685 posts to be relocated by 2010.
The Department, its agencies and sponsored bodies have no large-scale operations to move out of the Greater South-East. The units to be relocated under the Lyons Review programme are relatively small (fewer than 150 posts). Given the small size of these units, it is expected that, from an operational and a financial viewpoint, the units will be relocated to existing regional accommodation. For the core Department this will build up DTI’s presence in the regions in a way that provides the critical mass necessary to make for sustainability.
Coal Health Compensation Scheme
Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many successful claims have been registered in post code areas (a) LE1, (b) LE2 and (c) LE5 for (i) vibration white finger and (ii) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease under the coal health compensation scheme. [101766]
Malcolm Wicks: The numbers of claims submitted and settled by payment in the areas listed are set out in the following table:
| Respiratory disease | Vibration White Finger | |||
| Claims | Submitted | Settled by payment | Submitted | Settled by payment |
Sir Peter Soulsby:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been paid to
Vendside Limited for handling claims registered in post code areas (a) LE1, (b) LE2 and (c) LE5 under the coal health compensation scheme. [101767]
Malcolm Wicks: Costs paid to Vendside Ltd. for handling coal health compensation claims in the areas listed are detailed in the following table:
| LEI | LE2 | LE5 | Total | |
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many former miners have received a full and final payment of £500 or less for chronic bronchitis and emphysema in each of the last three years. [103591]
Malcolm Wicks: The numbers of miners who have received payments of less than £500 for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the last three years are shown on the following table:
| Number of claims settled by payment (where total value is less than £500) in period | |
Community Interest Companies
Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many community interest companies have been formally incorporated in the East Midlands region in the last 12 months. [101765]
Margaret Hodge: A total of 36 Community Interest Companies (CICs) have been formally incorporated in the East Midlands region since 1 November 2005.
Departmental Publications
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total design and printing cost was for his Department's publication “Promoting Female Entrepreneurship”. [103318]
Margaret Hodge: The total design and printing cost for producing 5,000 copies of “Promoting Female Entrepreneurship” booklet in March 2005 was £1,270. A reprint for a further 3,000 copies was undertaken in March 2006 at a cost of £855.
Departmental Staff
Norman Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many BP employees are on secondment to his Department; what areas they are working on; on what terms they are working; and how
many BP employees have been on secondment to his Department in each year since January 2002. [103351]
Jim Fitzpatrick: We currently have two secondees from BP in DTI working in the Enterprise and Business Group. They will be subject to normal secondment contract rules.
Our records show that from 2002 we have had eight secondees from BP as follows:
| DTI Group | Commencement date | Completed date |
Departmental Statistics
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which statistics have been put forward by his Department for consideration to become new national statistics in each of the last five years; and how many statistics sets his Department has produced in total in each of the last five years. [101643]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The current list of National Statistics produced by the Department of Trade and Industry can be found on the National Statistics website at:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/ns_ons/nsproducts/default.asp
A list of changes to the scope of National Statistics (additions and withdrawals) in each of the last five years can be found in the relevant National Statistics annual report available on the National Statistics website at:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=1051
In addition to National Statistics, the Department of Trade and Industry publishes a wide range of other numerical information in a variety of forms including data produced from the management and administration of the Department and in research reports. There is no consistent definition of the term “statistics sets” and no centrally held information on the total published in each year on this basis.
DNA Sequestration
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which organisations have been asked to alert the Government if they become aware of any significant advances in DNA sequestration which may lead to major technological changes; and what arrangements are in place to contact the Government in this instance. [101841]
Malcolm Wicks
[holding answer 22 November 2006]: The Royal Society, Biosciences Federation, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Medical Research Council, Nuffield Trust and Wellcome Trust have been asked to alert the Science Minister if they become aware of any step change in
technologies which could make it much easier to construct or modify pathogenic organisms. The issue was also raised at a regular meeting of a regulatory advisory group comprising Government officials and representatives of the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.
Enterprise Week
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much was spent by the Small Business Service on publicising Enterprise Week in 2006. [103322]
Margaret Hodge: The “Make Your Mark” campaign run by Enterprise Insight is backed by grant funding from the Small Business Service.
Enterprise Week, integral to the “Make Your Mark” campaign, was publicised by Enterprise Insight as part of its media and public relations strategy.
Enterprise Insight estimate that £300,000 was spent on publicising Enterprise Week 2006, though confirmed final figures are not available so soon after the event.
The Small Business Service incurred no further publicity expenditure relating to Enterprise Week.
Euro-Mediterranean Partnership
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made by the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership in turning the existing bilateral agreements into a free trade area; and if he will make a statement. [100900]
Mr. McCartney: In the Barcelona Declaration of 1995, the Euro-Mediterranean Partners agreed on the establishment of a Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area (FTA) by 2010. At bilateral level, every Mediterranean country involved in the EuroMed Partnership, except for Syria (pending Council decision on signature), has concluded and currently implements Association Agreements with the EU. These Association Agreements constitute the foundation on which free trade is developing in the Mediterranean region.
One of the most visible results of the Barcelona Process to date is the liberalisation of trade in manufactured goods, for which the Mediterranean Partners now enjoy duty-free access to the EU market. The Mediterranean countries are progressively dismantling their tariffs on imports of EU industrial goods over a maximum period of 12 years. In addition, important progress has been achieved through the adoption of the new Pan-Euro-Med Rules of Origin allowing for diagonal cumulation, progress on trade facilitation, removal of non-tariff barriers, and greater transparency and predictability in the implementation of trade policy measures in the Mediterranean countries. Negotiations are currently under way in the areas of agriculture, services and investment, and to incorporate a dispute settlement mechanism into the Association Agreements between the EU and the Mediterranean partners.
European Communities (Pooling of Activity)
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his policy is on future pooling of activity under the umbrella of the European Communities; and what proposals are under discussion for such an approach, further to his statement of 1 November 2006, Official Report, columns 531-32W. [101101]
Malcolm Wicks: The UK supports the general aim of the European Polar Consortium to improve the co-ordination of polar research within Europe and internationally. The consortium has begun to identify common areas of research suitable for collaboration, such as climate change. However, it currently accepts that co-ordination of funding from different sources to support collaboration on research programmes is more appropriate than integration into a single funding stream.
Gas and Electricity Supplies
Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many applications for supply of (a) gas and (b) electricity were declined by each energy supplier in (i) each region of England, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Wales in the last full year for which figures are available. [101902]
Malcolm Wicks: Subject to certain exclusions, Condition 32 of the standard gas and electricity supply licences requires suppliers to offer terms at a domestic customer's request. In the event of a refusal to supply, a customer may complain to the statutory consumer body, Energywatch. If Energywatch cannot resolve the complaint, the industry regulator, the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) may investigate. Ofgem does not collect data about refusal to supply.
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