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26 Nov 2007 : Column 123W—continued
Office of Fair Trading: Manpower
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the full-time staff complement of the Office of Fair Trading is; and how many of its employees receive an annual salary (a) between £50,000 and £100,000, (b) between £100,001 and £150,000 and (c) above £150,000. [167133]
Mr. Thomas [holding answer 22 November 2007]: Full-time complement of OFT is 735, made up of 626 filled roles and 109 vacancies.
| Those receiving salaries of | Number |
Part-Time Employment
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the cost to date to (a) private sector and (b) public sector employers of meeting the requirements of the (i) Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 and (ii) Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002. [165921]
Mr. McFadden: Estimates of the costs and benefits of implementing the Part Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations were published in the “2000 Compendium of Regulatory Impact Assessments” (URN 06/1164), while estimates for the Fixed-Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations were published in the “2002 Compendium of Regulatory Impact Assessments” (URN 05/582). Both publications are available from the BERR website. The Department continues to monitor the impact of these and other Regulations closely as part of BERR's ongoing employment relations monitoring and evaluation programme.
Post Offices: Closures
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will make a statement on the proposed closure of Lancelyn Court Post Office. [166766]
Mr. McFadden: The Government do not have a role in proposals or decisions for individual post offices and final decisions on which post offices will close will be taken by Post Office Ltd. (POL) in light of the responses received to the area consultations.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many responses have been received to the six-week consultation over proposed post office closures in East Essex and Suffolk. [167505]
Mr. McFadden: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. I have therefore asked Alan Cook, managing director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many submissions from (a) the general public, (b) local authorities and (c) others he received on each post office in Nottinghamshire in response to the recent consultation on post office closures. [168180]
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.
Post Offices: Rural Areas
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the likely number of rural post offices which will be open in November 2008; and if he will make a statement. [167178]
Mr. McFadden: None. This is a matter for Post Office Ltd. Post Office Ltd.'s local decisions will need to reflect the Government's aim of supporting a national network of post offices and to comply with the access criteria requirements set by Government. It is expected that there will be roughly similar numbers of closures in rural and urban areas.
Royal Mail: Finance
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform which consultancy firms have been engaged by his Department to provide advice on the funding of Royal Mail over the last 12 months; and what the projected cost of each such contract is. [167134]
Mr. McFadden: In the last 12 months, my Department has engaged Deloitte, Herbert Smith, Credit Suisse and Strategia on work relating to the Government’s funding for Royal Mail. The collective costs for the 12 months to end October 2007 were £3.8 million. For reasons of commercial confidentiality, it would not be appropriate to break this down to the individual costs for each adviser.
Small Businesses: Tax Allowances
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many small businesses in Eastbourne constituency applied for small business tax relief in each of the last five years. [165330]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is not available. However, as at 31 December 2006, there were 802 businesses in the Eastbourne borough council area that were in receipt of small business rate relief.
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many small businesses in West Chelmsford constituency applied for small business tax relief in each of the last five years. [166239]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is not available. However, as at 31 December 2006, there were 938 businesses in the Chelmsford borough council area that were in receipt of small business rate relief.
Supermarkets: Alcoholic Drinks
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the effect on fair competition of supermarkets selling alcohol at cost price. [168116]
Mr. Thomas: Ensuring markets operate freely and fairly is a matter for the independent competition authorities, rather than for Government.
In its preliminary findings from its inquiry into the UK groceries market the Competition Commission (CC) said
"below cost selling by national retailers is not part of a predatory strategy aimed at convenience stores or specialist stores and is not having significant unintended effects on smaller stores".
Appendix 5.6 of the provisional findings covered below-cost selling and as part of the assessment, looked specifically at the extent of below-cost selling of alcohol during the football World Cup in 2006. This assessment is located at
Parties have until 30 November to submit comments on the CC's provisional findings and possible remedies. The CC is due to publish its final report by May 2008.
Tax Avoidance: Advertising
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform for what reason advertisements for the tax avoidance services provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers have appeared on his Department's website. [165563]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform is not aware of any advertisement of the tax avoidance services provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers on its website. It is not BERR's website policy to endorse the services and products of commercial organisations.
However, it is possible to access the PricewaterhouseCoopers website from the BERR website search engine results page. That site does contain information on the company's tax services.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much his Department received from PricewaterhouseCoopers for the advertisements placed on his Department's website which promote that company's tax avoidance services. [165564]
Mr. Thomas: No such advertisement for PricewaterhouseCooper's tax avoidance services has been placed on my Department's website, so no payment has been received.
Telent
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) if he will make a statement on the proposed closure of the Telent site in Chorley; [167595]
(2) what discussions his Department has had with the Pensions Corporation on pension rights for existing Telent employees; [167596]
(3) what support has been given to Telent by (a) the North West Development Agency and (b) Government Office North West. [167598]
Mr. Timms: Discussion with the Pension Corporation over the pension rights for Telent employees is a matter for the pensions regulator. BERR has had no such discussions.
I have also been advised that neither the Northwest Development Agency or nor the Government office for the north-west have given assistance or support to Telent Ltd. However, the NWDA is willing to meet either my hon. Friend or the company if that would help.
Toys and Games: Safety
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) how much he has allocated to assist facilities commissioned to monitor and test imported toys for health and safety issues; [167566]
(2) what steps he is taking to reduce the importation of toys with high levels of heavy metals to the UK. [167567]
Mr. Thomas: The Toys (Safety) Regulations 1995 which govern the safety of toys sold in the UK are enforced by local authority trading standards departments (TSDs), who check toys placed on the market to ensure that they comply will all the essential safety requirements of the regulations including those regarding heavy metals. I have asked TSDs to step up their enforcement efforts in light of the recent toy recalls.
We have not allocated any additional funds to TSDs as enforcement of the regulations is part of their usual regime on the enforcement of consumer product legislation, funded through the normal local authority funding arrangements for which the Department of Communities and Local Government is responsible.
Trade Promotion
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will estimate the return per £1 spent on trade promotion by UK Trade and Investment in the latest period for which figures are available. [R] [166753]
Mr. Thomas: Performance of UKTI trade services is monitored through independent surveys of UKTI clients carried out on behalf of UKTI by OMB Research, with results published quarterly.
The surveys consistently demonstrate that the services enable companies to up-grade their export capabilities, and overcome barriers to overseas markets, resulting in improved business performance.
Latest survey results show estimated total financial benefit to businesses of around £2.5 billion annually, across all UKTI trade services.
An independent evaluation of four UKTI trade services published in March 2006 found that £65 million generated benefit of some £1.13 billion—in other words £17 benefit for each £1 UKTI spend.
In 2006, an evaluation by consultants SQW of the International Trade Teams in the English regions estimated that the services they deliver produce benefit of £25 per £1 UKTI spend.
Employees: Carers
Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment his Department has made of the effect of care responsibilities on work-life balance for employees; and what assessment has been made of the potential merits of a care voucher scheme. [162301]
Jane Kennedy: I have been asked to reply.
The Government are keen to ensure that people with caring responsibilities can make the most of opportunities to balance work with their caring responsibilities.
They will look carefully at the costs and benefits of any further proposals, including whether it is the most effective mechanism for tackling the issues faced by carers, particularly those experienced by specific groups, when making an assessment of the case for intervention in this area.
The Government keeps tax reliefs under review and has received representations in this area. However, it does not believe that allowing employers to provide employees with tax and NICs free care vouchers is the most appropriate, fair or cost effective way of tackling the issues faced by carers.
Prime Minister
Departmental Wines
Mike Penning: To ask the Prime Minister if he will take steps to ensure that English wine is served exclusively or at the request of guests at meals, parties and receptions hosted by his Office; and if he will make a statement. [164296]
The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Edward Miliband) on 22 November 2007, Official Report, column 1094W.
Departmental Written Questions
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Prime Minister whether it is his practice to attach to Written Answers hard copies of earlier replies cited in such Answers where these were previously given to hon. Members other than the hon. Member to whom the Answer is addressed. [167766]
Northern Ireland
Firearms
Lady Hermon:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many firearm certificate applications were made in each police service of Northern Ireland district command unit area in each of the last three years; how many of these applications
were (a) granted and (b) declined; how many applicants appealed against a decision to decline an application; and how many of those appeals were (i) upheld and (ii) dismissed. [166209]
Paul Goggins: The Chief Constable has provided the information in Table 1 in relation to firearm certificate applications.
| Table 1 | ||||||
| 2005( 1) | 2006( 2) | 2007 (to date) | ||||
| Granted | Refused | Granted | Refused | Granted | Refused | |
| (1) 2005 statistics are available only from 1 February 2005 when a new computer system was introduced to take account of the provisions of the Firearms (Order) 2004. (2) The increased number of applications dealt with in 2006 reflects the carry forward of a significant backlog of cases received in 2005. Note: Applications received in 2005, 2006 and 2007 cannot be attributed by the computer system to individual District Command Units. Such analysis could be done only at disproportionate cost to public funds. | ||||||
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