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12 Mar 2008 : Column 485W—continued
Departmental Home Working
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many people in his Department have been authorised to work from home in the last 12 months. [189789]
Mr. Thomas: We do not hold information centrally for those members of staff that have worked from home in the last 12 months. This information could be made available only at a disproportionate cost.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many (a) staff and (b) full-time equivalent staff under 18 years of age are employed by his Department. [189072]
Mr. Thomas: There are no staff under 18 years employed by this Department.
Departmental Property
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many residential properties his Department owns; how many of these are vacant; and how many of these have been vacant for longer than (a) three, (b) six and (c) 12 months. [192981]
Mr. Thomas: My Department does not own any residential properties.
Departmental Impact Assessments
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many regulatory impact assessments his Department has conducted in the last 12 months. [191274]
Mr. McFadden: Information on the final regulatory impact assessments published between 1 January and 30 June 2007 can be found in Command Paper 7297, available at:
For the then Department of Trade and Industry, 23 have been listed.
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) was created on 28 June 2007. Departments including BERR are in the process of identifying the final regulatory impact assessments published between 1 July and 31 December 2007.
From April 2008, all final impact assessments will be published on a central website.
Departmental Written Questions
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many and what proportion of Parliamentary questions for answer on a named day to his Department and its predecessor received a (a) holding and (b) substantive answer on the named day in each year since 2001. [190282]
Mr. Thomas: The number of named days questions received by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform is shown as follows:
| Number which received a holding reply | Number which received a substantive reply | |
For the period in question 35 per cent. of named days received a substantive reply.
Drinking Water
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much his Department spent on bottled water in the latest year for which figures are available. [189811]
Mr. Thomas: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 3 March 2008, Official Report, column 2235W, to the hon. Member for Monmouth (David T.C. Davies).
Electrical Cables
Mr. David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what criteria his Department applies in deciding whether electricity transmission lines should be buried underground. [192598]
Malcolm Wicks [holding answer 7 March 2008]: Undergrounding lines is significantly more expensive than overgrounding them particularly at higher voltages. The Department therefore looks to see whether there are particular circumstances which justify undergrounding a proposed line or stretches of a proposed line. There are no set criteria laid down.
Foreign Investment in UK: Israel
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assistance his Department provides to Israeli businesses wishing to (a) invest in the United Kingdom and (b) take part in joint ventures with UK companies; how much was made available for these purposes in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [189015]
Mr. Thomas: The UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) team in the British embassy in Tel Aviv includes two officials who focus primarily on encouraging Israeli investment in the UK, and on encouraging collaboration between British and Israeli firms in areas such as research and development (R and D). Although there is no dedicated annual budget for this work, the UKTI team in Tel Aviv has access to centrally-held funds to support regular programme activity in support of these aims. Recent examples include a seminar on listing on the London Stock Exchange, held in Tel Aviv in November 2007; a seminar on inward investment in stem cell R and D, held in Tel Aviv in December 2007; an inward mission to the UK in the healthcare sector, in December 2007; and the publication of a newsletter to coincide with the Lord Mayor's visit to Israel, from 21 to 24 January 2008, highlighting the UK's strengths as a business partner.
Israel-Britain Business Council: Finance
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much was allocated by his Department to the Israel- Britain Business Council in each year since the Council's establishment; whether there are restrictions on the use of these funds; and if he will make a statement. [189037]
Mr. Thomas: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) allocates £25,000 annually for the activities of the Israel-Britain Business Council (IBBC). This funding supports UKTI's efforts to increase trade and investment with Israel. UKTI officials work closely with both the Director of the IBBC and other UK members, to try to ensure a good fit between the activities of the Business Council and UKTI's strategic priorities for business with Israel including financial services, health care and high technology sectors.
Minimum Wage: Disabled
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the impact of the minimum wage on employment among people with disabilities. [186558]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 18 February 2008]: The Government ask the Low Pay Commission to review the impact of the national minimum wage on different groups of workers, including people with disabilities.
The Low Pay Commission's most recent assessment is included in their 2007 report, available in the Libraries of both Houses or from the Commission's website at:
ww.lowpay.gov.uk
Non-Departmental Public Bodies: Animal Welfare
Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform which of his Department's advisory non-departmental public bodies employ an animal welfare specialist. [193109]
Mr. Thomas: The Department has responsibility for the following advisory non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs):
Advisory Committee on Carbon Abatement Technologies
Fuel Poverty Advisory Group
Industrial Development Advisory Board
Low Pay Commission
Regional Industrial Development Boards
Renewables Advisory Board
UK National Authority Advisory Group
Union Modernisation Fund Supervisory Board.
Information on specialists in these organisations is held by the bodies themselves. This information is not held centrally.
Personal Loans: Cars
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will (a) investigate the activities of companies offering loans secured against the logbooks and related documents associated with car ownership and (b) assess the impact of such practices on consumers on low incomes and with poor credit ratings. [193214]
Mr. Thomas: The Office of Fair Trading has received complaints about businesses offering loans of this kind which it is currently considering. A common feature of the complaints received is that it is alleged that the full consequences of defaulting on such loans has not been explained to the consumers. The OFT is responsible for ensuring that consumer credit licences are only held by businesses that are fit to do so. Any evidence that a business has engaged in unfair business practices would be relevant to a consideration of its fitness to hold such a licence.
Post Offices: Closures
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will make an assessment of the compatibility of the post offices closure programme with the provisions of the Sustainable Communities Act 2007. [192328]
Mr. McFadden:
The Government are committed to a national network of post offices, has set access criteria to ensure reasonable access to post office services for all communities and is providing a network subsidy payment of up to £150 million a year to support the non-commercial part of the network. Under the access criteria, Post Office Ltd. is required to ensure that
nationally, 99 per cent. of the UK population is within three miles of their nearest post office outlet and 90 per cent. within one mile.
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the location was of each post office which has closed in Greater London since 1997. [193350]
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. Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much he estimates will be saved by the Post Office through the planned closures of post offices; how much will be saved on average per closure; and if he will make a statement. [193410]
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. Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Post Offices: Reorganisation
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the reasons were for not including environmental impact as a factor to be taken into account in the Post Office Network Change programme by Post Office Ltd. [192871]
Mr. McFadden: As stated in the Government's response to the public consultation on the post office network, closures will principally affect a combination of branches in areas of over-provision and those that are least used. Post Office Ltd. will be tasked with taking a strategic overview of service provision to ensure that in areas of over-provision, people should be able to find an alternative branch nearby and the vast majority will still be within walking distance of their nearest office. With the least used, the number of people affected will, by the nature of the offices, be low. The introduction of new access criteria will minimise the impact by ensuring that the network remains readily accessible across the UK—with far greater coverage than any other retailer, financial service provider or public service provider.
The 21 area plans published by Post Office Ltd. to date indicate that on average 99 per cent. of customers will see no change to the post office branch they currently use or will be within one mile of an alternative branch.
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will change Government access criteria for the Network Change programme to require Post Office Ltd. to take environmental impacts into specific consideration. [192872]
Mr. McFadden: The access criteria set a minimum density of coverage to maintain a national network of post offices and reasonable access to post office services across the country by requiring that nationally, 99 per cent. of the UK population is within three miles of their nearest post office outlet and 90 per cent. within one mile.
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the basis is for statements by the Post Office that Government access criteria do not require Post Office Ltd. to take environmental impacts into specific consideration as part of their Network Change programme. [192873]
Mr. McFadden: In developing proposals for post office closures and new outreach sites under its Network Change programme, Post Office Ltd. is require to comply with the access criteria set by Government, to take account of geographical factors, including distance to alternative outlets, and to consider availability of public transport, local demographics and the impact on local economies. Experience with the programme to date shows that, on average, for 90 per cent. of customers there is no change to the post office branch they currently use. And on average 99 per cent. will either see no change or be within one mile of an alternative branch.
Post Offices: Yorkshire and the Humber
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many and what percentage of residents in (a) Yorkshire and the Humber and (b) Beverley and Holderness he estimates will have access by road to a post office within three miles following the implementation of the post office restructuring programme; and if he will make a statement. [192895]
Mr. McFadden: The information is not available in the form requested. However, Post Office Ltd.’s decision booklet for the East Yorkshire with Bassetlaw and North Lincolnshire area plan states that 99 per cent. of the area will see no change in the post office they currently use or will remain within one mile by road of an alternative branch.
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