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29 Oct 2007 : Column 697W

Fuels: Prices

Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) what discussions he has had with national suppliers of (a) unleaded and (b) diesel on regional variations in the price of petrol; and if he will make a statement; [159733]

(2) what accountability mechanisms his Department uses to ensure the fair and competitive pricing of petrol; what complaint procedures are in place to allow customers to challenge regional variations in pricing; and if he will make a statement; [159734]

(3) what estimate he has made of the average difference in the price of (a) unleaded and (b) diesel between urban and rural areas; and if he will make a statement; [159735]

(4) how many investigations of price-fixing in the petrol industry there were in each of the last five years; and how many of those investigations resulted in action being taken against the companies concerned; [159736]

(5) pursuant to the Answer of 10 September 2007, Official Report, column 2030W, on fuel prices, what assessment he has made of the price variations for (a) unleaded and (b) diesel within the South West; and if he will make a statement. [159707]

Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 22 October 2007]: The Department has discussions with companies and representative associations in the downstream oil sector on a wide range of issues. BERR does not collect information on regional petrol prices. A range of factors determine retail petrol and diesel prices. Price differentials between rural and urban areas reflect different costs in distributing and supplying petrol and diesel. Price setting is a commercial matter for individual companies. The Office of Fair Trading continues to monitor the UK petrol market to ensure that anti-competitive behaviour does not occur. Customers should refer any complaints concerning pricing and anti-competitive behaviour to the Office of Fair Trading. In the past five years there has been one investigation, carried out by the Office of Fair Trading in 2006, and this did not result in any action against the companies concerned.

Heathrow Airport: Standards

Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will establish a mechanism to provide incentives for BAA to spend money to improve conditions for passengers at Heathrow airport. [161234]

Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.

Such mechanisms already exist. As part of its economic regulation of airport charges at Heathrow (under Part IV of the Airports Act 1986), the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) put in place in 2003 a regime of service quality targets for BAA with financial penalties if these targets were not met on a month-by-month basis. Similar targets and penalties are also in place at Gatwick airport. As part of the current review of price controls and other economic regulation of
29 Oct 2007 : Column 698W
Heathrow and Gatwick, the Competition Commission has recently recommended strengthening and extending this scheme.

In addition, the CAA through its price controls encourages timely investment in facilities, many of which are designed to improve conditions for passengers. This has provided sufficient incentive for BAA to bring forward investment in Terminal 5, which is scheduled to open in March 2008 as planned, and which should significantly enhance passenger experience across the airport. Looking forward, the Competition Commission has recently recommended that future investment at Heathrow be further incentivised through greater financial penalties for later delivery of projects.

The CAA will be consulting on its regulatory proposals, in light of the Commission’s recommendations, in November, with a view to setting new controls on Heathrow and Gatwick in early 2008 for the five years 2008-13.

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many former miners’ compensation claims have been under consideration for longer than (a) four, (b) five, (c) six, (d) seven and (e) eight years since first application; and if he will make a statement. [158794]

Malcolm Wicks: The number of coal health claims that are outstanding as at 14 October 2007 for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Vibration White Finger (VWF) broken down as requested are shown in the table as follows:

Claim outstanding age bands COPD VWF

4 years to < 5 years

28,017

44

5 years to < 6 years

4,753

1,988

6 years to < 7 years

4,372

1,112

7 years to < 8 years

3,220

5,152

8 years or greater

7,575

3,363

Total claims outstanding for more than 4 years

47,973

11,659


The aforementioned table shows the total number of claims outstanding for more than four years not yet settled by payment, denial, withdrawal or strike out. The main reasons why these claims are outstanding are that the Department’s claims handlers, Capita, are awaiting responses to offers, more information is needed to reach assessment stage, or they are subject to delays due to co-defendants involvement.

Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what average level of damages has been recovered by the 10 firms of solicitors with the highest number of cases registered under (a) the British Coal Vibration White Finger scheme and (b) the British Coal Respiratory Disease scheme in relation to those schemes. [160281]

Malcolm Wicks: The average amount of damages recovered by the 10 firms of claimants’ representatives with the highest volume of claims for Vibration White Finger (VWF) and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) as at 14 October 2007 is shown on the following table:


29 Oct 2007 : Column 699W
Claimants’ representatives Claims registered Average damages paid on claims settled by payment (£)

V ibration W hite F inger

Thompsons Solicitors

21,074

15,111

Browell Smith and Co

16,463

10,025

Beresfords Solicitors

11,621

9,794

Union of Democratic Mineworkers

11,527

10,302

Raleys Solicitors

11,280

11,068

Hugh James

10,637

10,659

Graysons Solicitors

8,700

14,425

Moss Solicitors

7,389

9,951

Watson Burton LLP

5,934

15,896

Towells Solicitors

5,357

11,984

C hronic O bstructive P ulmonary D isease

Beresfords Solicitors

80,841

2,458

Thompsons Solicitors

57,968

9,289

Hugh James

56,801

7,550

Raleys Solicitors

48,864

6,102

Browell Smith and Co

32,973

6,724

Avalon Solicitors

32,422

2,113

Mark Gilbert Morse

25,724

7,437

Union Of Democratic Mineworkers

16,596

3,179

Barber and Co

14,091

2,705

Watson Burton LLP

14,073

4,353


John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many addresses of miners with compensation claims have been released to the Law Society for communications about solicitors double charging; and how many are due to be released in 2007. [161225]

Malcolm Wicks: The Department has released 3,644 miners' addresses to the Legal Complaints Services (LCS) to inform miners of their rights regarding solicitors fees with respect to coal health claims as part of the pilot in the Rother Valley constituency.

The LCS are currently evaluating the outcome of the pilot. Once this evaluation is complete, a decision will be made on next steps.

Mr. Skinner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many claims for (a) miners’ hearing loss, (b) vibration white finger and (c) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were paid in Bolsover constituency in each of the last seven years. [161440]

Malcolm Wicks: The number of claims settled by payment for miners hearing loss (NIHL), vibration white finger (VWF) and chronic obstructive
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pulmonary disease (COPD) claims in the Bolsover constituency as at 21 October 2007 are shown in the following table.

NIHL VWF COPD

2000

322

59

174

2001

806

155

362

2002

406

372

673

2003

203

614

1,534

2004

144

621

1,484

2005

169

806

2,536

2006

87

869

1,789

2007

22

1,055

785


Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many former miners' health compensation claims are unresolved in (a) Hemsworth constituency and (b) West Yorkshire. [161675]

Malcolm Wicks: The number of former miners' coal health claims that are outstanding for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Vibration White Finger (VWF) for Hemsworth constituency and West Yorkshire as at 30 September 2007 is shown in the following table:

Area Total claims Total outstanding claims

COPD

Hemsworth

11,201

1,361

West Yorkshire

35,428

5,197

VWF

Hemsworth

4,854

304

West Yorkshire

12,090

739


Total outstanding claims are those that have not yet been settled by payment, denial, withdrawal or strike out.

West Yorkshire is defined using the following constituencies:


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