---

29 Jan 2009 : Column 762W—continued

29 Jan 2009 : Column 763W

29 Jan 2009 : Column 764W

29 Jan 2009 : Column 765W

29 Jan 2009 : Column 766W

RDA	Trade union	Purpose	Funding (£000)
AWM	National Farmers Union	Grant to support Blue Tongue awareness literature.	9
	National Farmers Union	Grant to support counselling service to farming communities following the rural floods.	25
	Unity	Grant to support return to work assistance for workers within the ceramics industry.	150
	Union Learn	Grant to refurbish and equip 20 new learning centres managed by trade unions within employers to provide access to training.	82
Total			266
EEDA	National Farmers Union	Contribution towards ‘Blue Tongue Information Day.’	1
	National Farmers Union	Contribution to sustainable future for sugar beet producers.	35
Total			36
EMDA	National Farmers Union	Marketing support to raise awareness of the Blue Tongue disease across the farming community.	3
	National Farmers Union	Grant payment to the NFU for the Joint Venture Farming Group. The main remit of the group being to assist with knowledge transfer between farms.	12
	Trade Union Congress	To build management skills in the workplace by using the specialised knowledge of trade unions in order to target organisations in which to offer assistance.	114
	Trade Union Congress	Grant funding to help skilled migrant workers achieve their potential by utilising existing skills and offering learning opportunities to gain a recognised qualification.	47
Total			176
LDA	Trade Union Congress	Diversity Works for London project. The funding enabled the TUC to train union reps and members on the importance and benefits of diversity in the workplace.	86
	Public and Commercial Services Union	To cover the cost of legal advice provided to a member of LDA staff as part of Compromise Agreement negotiations.	0.3
Total			86.3
NWDA	National Farmers Union	Sponsorship of Blue Tongue Awareness Campaign.	3
	Trade Union Congress	Grant funding for delivery of skills strategy.	44
	Trade Union Congress	Promotion of Liverpool Capital of Culture website to union members.	2
	Trade Union Congress	Funding of policy officer post to implement the delivery of Regional Economic Strategy objectives relating to skills and workforce development.	47
Total			96
ONE	Trade Union Congress	Funding in connection with the ‘Working Together’ project to help local companies raise their profile.	101
Total			101
SEEDA	National Farmers Union	South East Blue Tongue Outbreak in the South East. SEEDA provided a grant to support the joint NFU Campaign to promote and assist the NFU raise awareness for farmers for take up of the BTV8 vaccine to protect livestock in the South East.	14
	National Farmers Union	Bio-security Co-ordinator: A joint funding venture for the Industry Disease co-ordinator, for raising, prevention of disease control for Land Based business in South East.	2
	National Farmers Union	To promote a Phase 2 campaign against a new virus in the South East and to raise awareness for farmers in the South East continuing to March 2009.	4
Total			20
SWRDA	South West TUC	Learning works for all—A project to increase productivity and performance especially through raising skills levels, encouraging innovation and promoting learning to employees.	447
	South West TUC	Environmental Driver Implementation Plan—Green South West workplace projects.	49
	TUC (Cornwall Union Learning Services)	TUC Learning Services—Cornwall. To generate more Union Learning Representatives and work-based learners.	16
	National Farmers Union	Modernising Rural Delivery: Uplands delivery. Funding for South West Task Force conference. The conference was hosted by the South West Uplands Task Force, established with the support of the National Farmers Union and the Countryside Landowners Association.	5
Total			517
YF	National Farmers Union	Funding for the production and distribution of a mail shot by NFU to create awareness of the Blue Tongue “Don't hesitate. Vaccinate!” campaign	3
	Yorkshire and Humber TUC	To support the National Learning at Work Day and National Adult Learners Week with a principal aim of promoting training opportunities in the workplace and identifying learning and training needs of employees.	30
	Yorkshire and Humber TUC	To support the programme English for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL). This funding allowed 300 beneficiaries to take the ESOL course.	302
	Yorkshire and Humber TUC	To support Union Learn events and a Policy Officer working for the Yorkshire and Humber TUC delivering the Regional Economic Strategy and promoting the work of RDAs among the regional union network.	45
Total			380

Russia

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2009, Official Report, column 955W, on official visits: Russia, when he plans to place a list of the Secretary of State’s engagements during his visit to Russia in October 2008 in the Library. [252417]

Mr. Thomas: A copy of the list of my noble Friend the Secretary of State’s engagements during his visit to Russia in October 2008 was placed in the Libraries of the House on 26 January 2009.

Unfair Practices: Loans

Mr. Newmark: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps the Government are taking to protect consumers from unsolicited mail offering loans without clearly stating the effective rate of interest applied to the loan. [250751]

Mr. Thomas: The Government have taken steps to protect consumers from misleading loan advertisements. In October 2004 the new Consumer Credit (Advertisements) Regulations came into force. These increase consistency and transparency, allowing consumers to compare financial products with confidence. Lenders are now required to provide consumers with clear information when advertising loans. Information relating to the cost of the loan must be displayed with equal prominence to other key mandatory information, ensuring consumers are not misled over additional charges or costs. In particular, any credit advertisement for a specific loan product must include a typical APR (Annual Percentage Rate of Charge).

Video Games: Canada

Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what progress has been made in investigating whether Canadian subsidies to the video games industry breach World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules; and when the Government expect to lodge a formal complaint with the WTO. [246712]

Mr. Thomas [holding answer 12 January 2009]: BERR officials have discussed this issue with the European Commission on several occasions last year, as WTO disputes are a matter of Community competence.

No disciplines on subsidies exist under the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services, and Canada has not made any specific market access commitments with regard to computer games services.

On the basis of information examined to date, the Government currently share the Commission’s analysis that there therefore appears to be little or no scope to bring a complaint to the WTO in relation to any subsidies Canada may be granting to video games producers established in Canada.

However, we have passed to the Commission additional details recently received from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) in response to earlier questions from the Commission.

Communities and Local Government

Caravans: Ministerial Responsibility

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) of 29 October 2008, Official Report, column 1133W, on caravans, which Minister in her Department is responsible for (a) mobile caravans and (b) Travellers. [252803]

Mr. Iain Wright: I am the Minister responsible for housing and planning policies within the Department relating to mobile caravans and Travellers.

CMPi

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 18 March 2008, Official Report, column 961W, on CMPi, what payments have been made since February 2008; and for what purpose payments were made to CMPi from 2007-08 to date. [252489]

Mr. Khan: The following table sets out payments made by the Department and its agencies to CMPi since 1 March 2008.

	£
Communities and Local Government (Central)	58,239
Agencies	28,482

Payments were made for various reasons including recruitment advertising, publications, exhibition stands at conferences and to cover conference delegation fees.

Council Tax

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will commission research into the incidence of local authorities issuing court summonses for non-payment of council tax in error; and if she will make a statement. [251336]

John Healey: The Government believe that the regulations governing the enforcement of unpaid council tax are robust enough to keep any errors in the system at a
29 Jan 2009 : Column 767W
minimum, and provide ample opportunity for citizens to establish that there has been an error. Local authorities are legally required to send the taxpayer at least two reminders about unpaid council tax before seeking a liability order from the court. They are required, in second reminders, to give the taxpayer 14 days within which payment of any outstanding amount must be paid and a warning that the local authority will apply to the magistrates court for a liability order if the debt remains outstanding after 14 days. The person summoned may appear before the court and always has an opportunity to establish that the council tax has been demanded in error. The court is required to satisfy itself that the sum demanded has become payable by the defendant and has not been paid. Commissioning such research would therefore not be a prudent use of public money.

Council Tax: Discounts

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the purpose is of her Department’s (a) council tax discount grant, (b) performance reward grant and (c) restoration fund grant. [251823]

John Healey: Communities and Local Government does not administer a council tax discount grant.

The purpose of performance reward grant is to provide local authorities and their partners with a financial incentive to achieve targets agreed within Local Area Agreements.

The Restoration Fund was a one off £31 million fund paid out to the 62 local authorities who incurred significant unmet costs as a direct result of the summer 2007 floods. The funding was intended to support local authorities in their continued efforts to rebuild their communities. Local authorities were free to spend the fund as they saw fit, depending on local priorities.

---