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4 Jun 2007 : Column 60W—continued
Members: Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire to the Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the Sahara Desert and energy, transferred to his Department on 27 April 2007 (PQ 2499 06/07). [139587]
Malcolm Wicks: My noble friend, Lord Truscott, responded to the hon. Member's letter on 28 May 2007. I apologise for the delay.
Minimum Wage: Enforcement
Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the deterrent effect on employers of the January 2007 increase in financial penalties for non-payment of the minimum wage. [139478]
Jim Fitzpatrick: It is too early to assess the deterrent effect on employers of the national minimum wage penalty policy announced in January 2007. Following on from the 2007 Low Pay Commission recommendation, we are currently consulting on a simple new penalty for any employer found to be underpaying the minimum wage. The Government are committed to stamping out non compliance with minimum wage legislation.
Office of Fair Trading: Complaints
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will take steps to simplify the procedure for making complaints to the Office of Fair Trading. [139647]
Mr. McCartney: At present any individual or organisation is able to bring a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading. On consumer matters this complaint should be made via Consumer Direct—either by calling 08454 04 05 06, or via the internet or in writing. On competition matters a complaint may be made to the OFT directly on 08457 22 44 99, or via their website or in writing. However, where a complaint relating to a competition matter is received via Consumer Direct, it will be passed to OFT.
Additionally, there is a separate process for designated organisations acting on behalf of groups of consumers to bring “super-complaints”. These require a certain standard of evidence, but OFT must deliver a reasoned response to the super-complaint within 90 days.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many complaints the Office of Fair Trading has received in relation to uncompetitive practices in the newspaper industry in the last 12 months. [139648]
Mr. McCartney: The OFT has received 14 specific, individual complaints regarding competition issues in the newspaper industry over the last 12 months.
The OFT is also currently in the process of conducting work in relation to the distribution of
national newspapers and magazines, further details of which are included in OFT press notices of 31 May 2006 and 8 March 2007. During this process the OFT has invited and received representations from a wide range of industry parties, some of which raise concerns about competition.
OM Energy
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to his answer of 27 April 2007, Official Report, column 1361W, on OM Energy, what assistance his Department has given to OM Energy in seeking a worldwide patent for this technology. [138973]
Mr. McCartney: The Global Entrepreneur Programme facilitated an introduction to a UK patent agent who helped the company with their worldwide patent strategy.
Pipelines: Sakhalin Island
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the consultation process on the Export Credits Guarantee Department's funding of the Sakhalin II oil and gas project will end. [139653]
Mr. McCartney: ECGD is continuing to consider the provision of support for the Sakhalin II oil and gas project and the Department remains open to receive any comments. ECGD expects to invite comments from interested parties on the independent report on the environmental and social issues associated with the project whenever it is published. The Department will take into account the report, alongside any comments received, when the time comes to take its decision.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects the Export Credits Guarantee Department to make a final decision on funding the British elements of the Sakhalin II oil and gas project. [139654]
Mr. McCartney: ECGD has not received all the information it requires in order to start its decision making process on the provision of support for the Sakhalin II oil and gas project. No date exists for its decision.
Post Offices: Chelmsford
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post offices closed in the Chelmsford local authority area (a) between June 1987 and May 1997 and (b) since May 1997. [140486]
Jim Fitzpatrick: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. Alan Cook, the managing director, has been asked to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Post Offices: Closures
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post office closures there were between 1987 and 1997, broken down by type of post office. [139558]
Jim Fitzpatrick: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. Alan Cook the managing director has been asked to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Professional Organisations: Complaints
David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what discussions have taken place between the Office of Fair Trading and other bodies on complaints against the (a) Law Society, (b) Bar Council, (c) Institute of Legal Executives, (d) Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and (e) Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors; [138557]
(2) if he will place in the Library correspondence between the Office of Fair Trading and other bodies on the making of super complaints on the (a) legal services market, (b) accountancy services market and (c) surveying market in England and Wales; [138558]
(3) if he will place in the Library correspondence between the Office of Fair Trading and other bodies on the making of super complaints on the (a) legal services market and (b) accountancy services market in Scotland; [138559]
(4) what discussions have taken place between the Office of Fair Trading and any other bodies on the making of super complaints against (a) The Law Society of Scotland and (b) The Faculty of Advocates. [138603]
Mr. McCartney: These are matters for the Office of Fair Trading. I will write to the chief executive of the Office of Fair Trading, John Fingleton, to ask him to reply to the hon. Member.
Research Councils
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he asks research councils (a) to report and (b) to record the regional distribution of their allocations; and whether the councils (i) make such reports and (ii) keep such records. [140191]
Malcolm Wicks: Research councils are required to allocate funding on the basis of excellence. They keep records of their investments and will analyse and report on regional distribution of their funding on request. All research councils publish responsive mode success rates by higher education institution and other research institution eligible for research council funding on their websites annually.
Sunbeds
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate his Department has made of the size of the UK sunbed industry market; and what assessment he has made of the industry’s contribution to the UK economy. [139251]
Margaret Hodge:
No such estimate or assessment has been made. Officials statistics on the operation of sunbed salons are collected by the Office for National Statistics as part of Standard Industrial Classification 93.04 (physical well being activities). In 2005 there were
915 enterprises under this classification with a total turnover of £309 million adding under 0.02 per cent. to UK gross value added.
Telephone Services: Unsolicited Goods and Services
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many £50,000 fines have been issued to companies using silent calls to contact consumers; [138294]
(2) what estimates his Department has received from Ofcom of the levels of silent calls made by companies; and how the levels have changed over the last 12 months. [138295]
Margaret Hodge: The matter raised is the responsibility of the independent 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. Member. Copies of the Chief Executive’s letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Thorp
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the financial impact of the delay in the restart of the THORP Reprocessing Plant at Sellafield; and when he expects the plant to be restarted. [138229]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 21 May 2007]: The Health and Safety Executive's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate issued a ‘Consent’ on 9 January 2007 to allow the THORP plant to restart operations having been satisfied that the site licensee, British Nuclear Group Sellafield Ltd., had done all work necessary to ensure THORP could be restarted safely. Some areas of the plant have already resumed operation and the timing of restart of full reprocessing is currently delayed while ongoing investigations of the site's downstream evaporation facilities are underway. The precise date to restart reprocessing fuel at THORP is a matter for the site licensee in discussion with the site owner the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and is not expected before this summer. The financial aspects of this situation are a commercial matter for the NDA.
Waste Disposal
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry within what timeframe he expects to establish a scheme for individual producer responsibility. [139284]
Malcolm Wicks: There is currently no timetable for the introduction of individual producer responsibility (IPR) in the UK under the WEEE Regulations.
The Government remain committed to the principles of IPR and will be establishing a WEEE Advisory Body in the autumn. As part of its remit the advisor body will be asked to examine IPR and make recommendations on how it can be introduced in the UK.
Wind Power: East Sussex
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many wind turbines there are in East Sussex; and where they are located. [138029]
Malcolm Wicks: For large scale wind, figures from Restats show that there are no wind turbines in East Sussex that are either operational, under construction or have received planning consent. However, there is one wind farm project application being considered for planning consent. This is the Glyndebourne Opera House project, to be located at Mill Plain, Glyndebourne, East Sussex, with one wind turbine.
For micro-wind, we have funded the installation of wind turbines in East Sussex through two capital grant programmes, which are as follows:
| Period | Grant programme | Number of installations |
| (1)In South East region. | ||
Treasury
Average Earnings
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what average net weekly pay was in (a) Cornwall, (b) the South West, (c) England and (d) the UK in each year since 1979. [140398]
Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Dennis Roberts, dated 4( th) June 2006:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average net
weekly pay was in (a) Cornwall, (b) the South West, (c) England and (d) the UK in each year since 1979. I am replying in her absence. (140398)
The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. Various breakdowns and analyses are available online for years 1997 onwards at:
http://www. statistics. gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=13101
Estimates of average net weekly pay are not available.
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what average gross weekly pay was in (a) Cornwall, (b) the South West, (c) England and (d) the UK in each year since 1979. [140556]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 4 June 2007:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average gross weekly pay was in (a) Cornwall, (b) the South West, (c) England and (d) the UK in each year since 1979. (140556)
Since 1997, levels of earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for all full time employees on adult rates of pay whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence. This is the standard definition used for ASHE.
The ASHE does not collect information on the self employed and people who do unpaid work. Prior to 1997, levels of earnings are estimated from the New Earnings Survey (NES) and are provided for all full time employees either on adult rates of pay, or for years prior to 1984, aged 21 and over (male) or 18 and over (female), whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence.
Estimates at the UK level are not available before 1997. For comparison, I have included figures at the GB level.
I attach a table showing Gross Weekly Pay for Cornwall, the South West, England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, for all full-time employees, for the years 1979-2006.
The ASHE, carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It is a one per cent. sample of all employees who are members of pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) schemes.
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