Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
20 Nov 2007 : Column 711Wcontinued
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the value was of (a) imports and (b) exports of (i) goods and (ii) services between (A) Cyprus and (B) Bermuda and the United Kingdom in each of the last 10 years for which information is available. [165725]
Mr. Thomas: The Office for National Statistics publishes data for UK trade with Cyprus in tables 9.3, 9.4 and 9.5 of the UK Balance of Payments Pink Book 2007.
£ million | ||||
UK imports of goods from Cyprus | UK exports of goods to Cyprus | UK imports of services from Cyprus | UK exports of services to Cyprus | |
Trade in goods with Cyprus in 2006 was affected by transactions associated with missing trader VAT fraud.
Figures for trade in goods with Cyprus are not available before 1999 on a balance of payments basis. Figures are available on a slightly different definition using Overseas Trade Statistics. The figures for 1997 and 1998 were:
£ million | ||
UK imports of goods from Cyprus | UK exports of goods to Cyprus | |
For data on UK trade with Bermuda, I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 25 October 2007, Official Report, column 502W.
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what means of complaint are available to UK residents about the sending of unsolicited and fraudulent email to UK email addresses. [162313]
Mr. Timms:
The Government introduced statutory controls in the UK on unsolicited spam e-mails under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, which came into force on 11 December 2003. They provide a first line of defence against the kind of unsolicited e-mails that many people object to where they have no knowledge of the advertiser or the products being marketed. The regulations require that unsolicited spam e-mails must not be sent to an individual
subscriber unless prior permission has been obtained or unless there is a previous relationship between the parties. The regulations can be enforced against an offending company or individual anywhere in the European Union (EU).
The Information Commissioner's Office has responsibility for the enforcement of the regulations controls in the UK on unsolicited spam e-mails and considers complaints about breaches. A breach of an enforcement notice is a criminal offence subject to a fine of up to £5,000 in a magistrate's court.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2007, Official Report, column 130W, on motorsports, which elements of motorsport experience each of the members of the advisory board of Motorsport Development UK has. [166577]
Mr. Timms: Profiles of the members of the Motorsport Development UK Board, which include details of motorsport experience, are available at:
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the total value was of UK trade with Iran in each of the last five financial years. [166141]
Mr. Thomas: According to HM Revenue and Customs data, direct visible exports to Iran from the UK for the calendar year 2006 were worth some £431 million. Direct visible exports for the previous four calendar years were as follows: 2005 (463 million); 2004 (£443 million); 2003 (£476 million); and 2002 (£401 million). Data for the current year is only available for the period January-August 2007 and shows that direct visible exports from the UK to Iran over this period were worth some £254 million.
Data kept by the Office for National Statistics shows that invisible exports from the UK to Iran were worth some £212 million in 2006. Figures for the preceding four years were as follows: 2005 (£204 million); 2004 (£236 million); 2003 (£206 million); and 2002 (£178 million). Data for 2007 is currently unavailable.
Figures for indirect British exports to Iran (i.e. via a third country) are not kept.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the value was of (a) imports and (b) exports of (i) goods and (ii) services between Israel and the United Kingdom in each of the last 10 years for which information is available. [165729]
Mr. Thomas: The Office for National Statistics publishes data for UK trade with Israel in tables 9.3, 9.4 and 9.5 of the UK Balance of Payments Pink Book 2007.
£ million | ||||
UK imports of goods from Israel | UK exports of goods to Israel | UK imports of services from Israel | UK exports of services to Israel | |
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many responses were received by the Post Office's consultation team before the closing date relating to each sub-post office proposed for closure in Derbyshire. [166010]
Mr. McFadden: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the role of post offices in rural communities. [166401]
Mr. McFadden: The Government recognise the important social and economic role that Post Office play in communities across the country and in rural areas in particular. We have introduced a range of access criteria that guarantees a nationwide network with additional safeguards for communities in rural areas.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what investigations his Department is making into price fixing in the dairy industry; and what mechanisms he has put in place to prevent price fixing. [165099]
Mr. Thomas: Ensuring that markets operate freely and fairly is a matter for the independent competition authorities, rather than for Government. The Enterprise Act 2002 removed Ministers from competition decisions, placing them in the hands of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Competition Commission (CC).
The OFT has provisionally found that large supermarkets and dairy processors have, in breach of the Competition Act, colluded to increase the prices of dairy products. The OFT on 20 September issued a statement of objections, setting out its provisional findings, to Asda, Morrisons, Safeway, Sainsbury and
Tesco, as well as dairy processors Aria, Dairy Crest, Lactalis McLelland, The Cheese Company and Wiseman.
The OFT will not be in a position to decide if the law has been breached until it has reviewed all the responses received. The OFT has powers to impose sanctions if the Act has been breached.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many public telephone boxes are in use. [163420]
Mr. Timms: I understand from the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), that there are approximately 63,500 public telephone boxes in the UK.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether gap year companies are subject to any form of registration procedure or checks in relation to standards for safety in their overseas operations. [165200]
Mr. McFadden: Gap year companies, which operate from premises in Great Britain and supply students to work for employers in the UK or overseas, will be subject to compliance with the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and associated Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003. This legislation is enforced by this Department's Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.
These companies are not subject to any form of registration but must abide by the conduct regulations which require employment agencies to obtain sufficient information from hiring companies before they introduce or supply workers, including;
Any risks to health and safety known to the hirer and what steps the hirer has taken to prevent or control such risks; and
Without prejudice to any of its duties in relation to health and safety at work, made all such enquiries, to ensure it would not be detrimental to the interests of the worker or hirer for the worker to fill the position the hirer seeks to fill.
In addition, where a worker is under 18 and the agency or hiring company has arranged free travel or payment of fares for the journey to the workplace, full details must be set out in writing. If the work does not start or upon it ending, the agency must arrange free return travel or obtain an undertaking from the hiring company that they will arrange free travel or pay the return fare.
If the hirer does not adhere to this undertaking the agency must arrange the return journey of the worker.
Next Section | Index | Home Page |