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1 May 2007 : Column 1558W—continued
Over the past year the PSNI has worked with young motorists through its involvement with a local “cruising club”. Approximately 1,000 young people attended a recent event in Ballymena.
The PSNI mounts intelligence-led road safety operations, particularly in relation to young drivers, throughout the year. In 2006, 3,723 fixed penalty notices for speeding were issued to 17 to 24-year-olds.
Special Educational Needs
Dr. Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much each education and library board spent on defending (a) special education needs tribunal cases and (b) special educational needs judicial review cases in each of the last five years. [124544]
Maria Eagle: It is not possible for the education and library boards (ELBs) to provide the exact costs of defending special educational needs tribunal and judicial review cases in each of the last five years as they do not hold records of the exact amount of time spent by board officers in preparing for and, if necessary, attending tribunals and judicial reviews.
I am advised by the chief executives of the education and library boards that, for both tribunals and judicial reviews, an average cost of £5,000 per case in respect of cases which are eventually heard and £1,000 for all other cases is appropriate.
| Special educational needs tribunal | |||||
| £ | |||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| Judicial reviews | |||||
| £ | |||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
Trade and Industry
Africa: Exports
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what support the Government provided to British firms seeking to establish export agreements with African countries in the latest period for which figures are available. [134315]
Mr. McCartney:
UK Trade and Investment is the Government organisation that supports UK companies trading internationally. During the past 12 to 18 months it has assisted over 4,600 British companies working in Africa through its range of services. Services offered
include helping British companies develop their export strategy, providing support and advice on market entry, advice on local customs, assistance in finding a local partner and understanding ways of doing business. Our ambassadors/high commissioners and senior government officials have helped British companies in their efforts to secure contracts in Africa by extensive lobbying with Ministers and officials. They are also in constant discussions with Ministers and senior officials to promote British expertise and knowledge.
Working with its stakeholders UKTI has arranged 65 inward missions and 62 outward missions to African countries in recent years including South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.
UK exports to Africa in 2006 amounted to £6,194,177 up 7.2 per cent. on the 2005 figure of £5,777,083.
British Sky Broadcasting: ITV
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to make his decision on whether BSkyB’s acquisition of a 17.9 per cent. stake in ITV should be referred to the Competition Commission. [135302]
Mr. McCartney: A decision on whether to refer this transaction to the Competition Commission will be made as soon as possible and before the statutory deadline which is 26 May.
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received from officials at BSkyB on its stake in ITV; and if he will publish those representations. [135303]
Mr. McCartney: BSkyB has made substantive representations on its shareholding in ITV to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and to Ofcom in the context of the respective investigations these bodies have carried out into that matter. The reports submitted by the OFT and Ofcom to the Secretary of State on Friday 27 April contain summaries of the representations they received, including those received from BSkyB. Section 107(3)(b) and 107(3)(a) of the Enterprise Act 2002 require the Secretary of State to publish the reports submitted by the OFT and Ofcom. Section 107(9)(a) of the Enterprise Act 2002 requires that these reports shall be published no later than the publication of the Secretary of State’s decision on whether to make a reference to the Competition Commission. In accordance with section 118 of the Enterprise Act 2002, suitable excisions will be made to the reports of the OFT and Ofcom prior to their publication. The excisions will be primarily in respect of the consideration specified in section 244(3)(a) of the Enterprise Act 2002 which concerns the exclusion of commercial information whose disclosure might significantly harm the legitimate business interests of the undertaking to which it relates.
Business: Suffolk
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many firms ceased trading in (a) Bury St Edmunds constituency and (b) the Suffolk county council area in each year since 1997. [134688]
Margaret Hodge:
Value added tax (VAT) de-registrations are the best official guide to the pattern of business closures although only 42 per cent of UK businesses were registered for VAT at the start of 2005. DTI data on the number of VAT de-registrations in (a) Bury St. Edmunds constituency and (b) Suffolk
county council area from 1997 to 2005 are shown in the following table. Data for de-registrations in 2006 will be available in autumn 2007. For comparison, the number of new VAT registrations and the start of year stock of VAT registered businesses are also shown.
| VAT de-registrations, registrations and stock | |||||||||||
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | ||
| Source: Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994-2005, Small Business Service, available at http://www.dtistats.net/smes/vat/index.htm | |||||||||||
In both Bury St. Edmunds constituency and Suffolk county council area the stock of VAT registered businesses has increased each year since 1997, as registrations have exceeded de-registrations throughout this period.
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 were registered for VAT at the start of 2005.
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many small businesses that began trading since 1997 have subsequently ceased trading in (a) Bury St Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk, (c) the east of England and (d) England. [134689]
Margaret Hodge: While value added tax (VAT) registrations and de-registrations are the best official guide to the pattern of business starts and closures only 42 per cent of UK businesses were registered for VAT at the start of 2005. Latest VAT data on the total number of registrations since 1997 and the number of these registrations that subsequently de-registered, covering up to 2005, are shown in the following table for (a) Bury St. Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk County, (c) the East of England and (d) England. Data for 2006 will be available in winter 2008-09.
| VAT registrations and subsequent de-registrations, 1997 to 2005( 1) | ||
| Number | ||
| (1) VAT registration and de-registration data are not available by size of business. However, 98 per cent. of the total stock of VAT registered businesses are small (0-49 employees). Sourc es: Office for National Statistics, UK Business: Activity, Size and Location -2006, available from http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=933 New analysis of VAT survival rates data 1994-2004, Small Business Service, available at http://www.dtistats.net/smes/; SBS analysis of ONS Inter Departmental Business Register data. | ||
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