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12 Mar 2007 : Column 67W—continued
Trade and Industry
Royal Lancashire Society
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been granted by the North West Development Agency to the Royal Lancashire Society; and for what purpose. [120909]
Margaret Hodge: Regional development agencies were given the strategic lead for tourism in the regions and responsibility for ensuring that appropriate delivery structures were in place in April 2003. Delivery responsibility was devolved to regional tourist boards which were funded by regional development agencies.
The North West Development Agency (NWDA) has not given any direct funding to the Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society. However, the NWDA did provide £1,255,000 to the Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board (LBTB) for the year 2006-07. From this, the tourist board granted £3,000 towards the staging of the 2006 Royal Lancashire show, on the grounds that the show would serve to raise the profile of the LBTB and the Lancashire rural tourism initiative. The NWDA’'s strategy for tourism in England's north-west identifies the show as one of a number of events of national and international significance that take place across the region. The show has also been identified for support in the Lancashire and Blackpool visitor economy strategy 2006 - 2016, because of its potential for further development of the visitor economy.
Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board has delegated authority to invest in those projects which it believes will raise its profile. The Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society agreed to publicise Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board by promoting their logo and mentioning the tourist board in press releases.
In addition, an undergraduate has been placed with the Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society for nine months (until July 2007) to assist with the marketing of the 2007 show. This post is being jointly funded through the Lancashire rural tourism initiative, which is also supported by the NWDA, and Lancashire County Developments Limited.
Bankruptcy: Lancashire
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many local businesses in Lancashire went bankrupt in each of the last five years. [126150]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Regional insolvency statistics are only available on the basis of the locations of official receivers' offices, each of which covers a group of county courts where the cases are heard and the courts having jurisdiction over these. It is not possible to provide precise statistics by administrative geographies such as counties, constituencies or Government Office regions. The following table provides figures for self-employed bankruptcies and company compulsory liquidations dealt with by courts having insolvency jurisdiction and located within Lancashire(1). These statistics are considered to be closest to those requested, however they should not be treated as entirely reliable estimates for the county of Lancashire.
(1) Courts with insolvency jurisdiction within Lancashire are Blackburn, Blackpool, Burnley, Lancaster, Preston and Tameside.
British Telecom: Billing
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will take steps to ensure that Ofcom investigates British Telecom's decision to introduce a penalty charge for customers who do not pay by direct debit. [125085]
Margaret Hodge: I have raised the matter with the chief executive officer of the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Ofcom is considering whether any of the suite of changes BT has recently made raise any regulatory issues.
For a number of years, BT has applied a price differential between customers who pay their accounts by direct debit and those who pay by other means. This reflects the higher processing and debt management costs associated with payments not made by direct debit. Such differentials are common practice among communications providers and utility service providers.
From 1 May 2007 BT is changing how it presents this differential from a discount for those customers paying by direct debit to a charge for those paying by other means. BT has combined this change with an increase of £6 a year in the charge (from £12 to £18). But the increased charge will not apply to special tariff schemes for vulnerable customers provided under the Universal Service Obligation.
Mr. David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received on BT's decision to impose a charge on customers who do not pay their bills by direct debit; and what subsequent action he has taken. [126556]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 9 March 2007]: I have received representations from a number of hon. Members on behalf of constituents and have raised the matter with the chief executive officer of the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Ofcom is considering whether any of the suite of changes BT has recently made raise any regulatory issues.
For a number of years, BT has applied a price differential between customers who pay their accounts by direct debit and those who pay by other means. This reflects the increased processing and debt management costs associated with payments not made by direct debit. Such differentials are common practice among communications providers and utility service providers.
From 1 May 2007 BT is changing how it presents this differential from a discount for those customers paying by direct debit to a charge for those paying by other means. BT has combined this change with an increase of £6 a year in the charge (from £12 to £18).
But the increased charge will not apply to special tariff schemes for vulnerable customers provided under the Universal Service Obligation.
Construction
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to tackle payment abuse in the construction industry; and if he will make a statement. [126749]
Margaret Hodge: The DTI is developing detailed proposals to amend the adjudication and payment provisions in Part II of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. I intend to publish a consultation paper on the proposals to follow up our previous joint consultation with the Welsh Assembly Government on ‘Improving payment practices in the construction industry’.
Defence Equipment: Indonesia
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the level of Indonesia’s debt to the Export Credits Guarantee Department is for guarantees issued for (a) goods in the defence sector as a whole and (b) Hawk aircraft. [125898]
Mr. McCartney [holding answer 7 March 2007]: At the end of February 2007 unrecovered claims under Indonesia’s debt rescheduling agreement with the Export Credits Guarantee Department stood at £757 million, of which approximately 75 per cent. is defence-related. Hawk aircraft account for approximately 60 per cent. of the defence-related figure.
Departmental Opinion Polls
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what opinion polls of (a) his Department and (b) the public his Department has commissioned in the last two years; and what the (i) cost and (ii) purpose was of each poll. [117925]
Mr. Darling: The information is as follows:
(a) The Department commissions an annual survey of DTI staff, at an external cost of around £20,000 a year. It also conducts some smaller and one-off surveys as part of its internal communications with a minimal external cost.
(b) The Department does not centrally collect the information sought and to provide it would entail disproportionate cost. Details and costs of DTI surveys, some of which ask respondents to give opinions, are available from the website at www.dtistats.net/surveyactivity.
Departmental Recruitment
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total cost was of advertising positions in his Department in each year since 1997. [117926]
Mr. Darling:
When running recruitment campaigns we use the advertising media most likely to attract people with the necessary skills. Across the civil service a range of media are used—from local newspaper, specialist magazines and the internet, to the public
sector sections of national newspapers. Individual management units generally meet recruitment costs from their own delegated budgets and there are no centrally held records.
BAE Systems
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many current security passes to enter his Department’s premises have been issued to employees of BAE Systems; and if he will list the BAE Systems employees who hold such passes. [126536]
Jim Fitzpatrick: No current photographic security passes have been issued to employees of BAE Systems to enter the Department’s premises.
Pendle
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what expenditure is planned to be carried out in Pendle by his Department in the years up to 2010; and if he will make a statement. [120613]
Margaret Hodge: The Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) has no expenditure planned in Pendle in the years up to 2010. However, DTI is the sponsor department for the North West Development Agency (NWDA); and the NWDA plans to spend the following on projects in Pendle in the years up to 2010:
| £ million | |
In addition, expenditure on regional programmes, such as the Business Link Service, will also benefit Pendle.
In terms of service provision, it is not possible to determine the exact levels of funding for regional programmes, as the take-up of services in Pendle in the years up to 2010 cannot be forecast.
Digital Broadcasting
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with Ofcom on the impact on the Programming Making and Special Events sector of the Digital Dividend Review; which industry representatives have been consulted by Ofcom during the review; and if he will make a statement. [121070]
Margaret Hodge: The matters raised are the responsibility of the Regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) which is accountable to Parliament rather than Ministers. Accordingly, I have asked the Chief Executive of Ofcom to reply directly to the hon. Gentleman Copies of the Chief Executive’s letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Peter Luff:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the likely impact of the Digital Dividend Review on the newsgathering operations of UK broadcasters. [124824]
Margaret Hodge: Management of the radio spectrum in the UK is the responsibility of the Office of Communications (Ofcom) the independent communications regulator. Matters concerning the Digital Dividend Review should be addressed directly to Ofcom.
Energy
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to publish the Energy White Paper. [122509]
Mr. Darling [holding answer 22 February 2007]: I refer the hon. Gentleman to my written statement of 22 February 2007, Official Report, columns 63-64WS.
Fruit: Prices
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will take steps to revise his Department's national pricing code of practice to include soft fruit and vegetables. [126217]
Mr. McCartney: No such steps are necessary. The Code of Practice for Traders on Price Indications approved under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 applies to all types of goods, including soft fruit and vegetables; as well as to services, accommodation and facilities.
IPPR
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding regional development agencies have provided via the Northern Way to (a) the IPPR and (b) IPPR Trading Ltd in each year since its creation; and for what purpose. [125715]
Margaret Hodge: I am informed by the regional development agencies that they have made no payments to IPPR or IPPR Trading Ltd with Northern Way Growth Funding, but they are currently discussing a possible contract with them.
Overseas Trade
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the primary (a) imports and (b) exports are between the United Kingdom and (i) Montserrat, (ii) the Cayman Islands, (iii) the Turks and Caicos Islands, (iv) Gibraltar, (v) Tristan da Cunha, (vi) Madagascar, (vii) Bermuda, (viii) New Zealand, (ix) Australia and (x) St. Helena. [125853]
Mr. McCartney: Information on the UK's primary products traded with the aforementioned countries is given in the following table:
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