| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
9 Feb 2009 : Column 1678W—continued
Mobile Phones: Contracts
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the cost to the consumer of the setting of mobile termination rates above marginal costs in each year since 2003. [250339]
Mr. McFadden: It falls to the Office of Communications (Ofcom) as the regulator in the telecommunications sector to reach decisions on how to set regulated mobile termination rates. In March 2007, Ofcom published a market review statement for the period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2011 following a two-year market review and extensive industry consultation. This statement is currently subject to two appeals before the Competition Appeal Tribunal and the Competition Commission. The outcome of these appeals will determine the appropriate mobile termination rates in the near term.
Mobile Phones: Rural Areas
Sir Robert Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the availability of mobile phone signals in rural areas. [253666]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 2 February 2009]: The mobile network operators build base stations in order to meet customers need for coverage and service. The decision to build in a particular location is largely a commercial matter for the operators.
For 2G or GSM networks the original coverage obligations laid on GSM operators were discharged many years ago and have been significantly exceeded on a voluntary basis. In the case of new 3G networks, an 80 per cent. population coverage obligation by 2007 was placed on each licence holder to encourage network rollout.
In July 2006 Ofcom consulted on the technical approach it would take in its assessment of compliance with this obligation. Site data was issued to Ofcom by the mobile operators on 14 November 2007.
Four of the five 3G licensees were in compliance with the obligation, but O2 was found to reach only 75.69 per cent. of the population, a shortfall that meant around 2.5 million people could not access its service.
In February 2008 Ofcom issued O2 with a notice under the Wireless Telegraphy Act for breach of licence. This proposed that if the 80 per cent. obligation was still unmet by the end of June 2008, Ofcom would shorten the term of O2’s licence by four months.
In May 2008 Ofcom confirmed that O2 had met its obligation.
Newspaper Press: Government Assistance
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether the Government plans to provide support to local and regional papers which are in financial difficulties. [253111]
Ian Pearson: I refer my hon. Friend to his Westminster Hall debate on the local press, which I responded to, 20 January 2009, Official Report, column 185WH.
This is a complex issue, given the requirement that freedom of editorial control must not be threatened by state intervention. I want to reassure him that the situation of local and regional papers is being considered within the Digital Britain initiative, which Lord Carter of Barnes is taking forward. My hon. Friend will also be aware of the announcements that were made on 19 January about additional support for the banks to ensure that they maintain lending, and of the support that was announced on 14 January, through the enterprise finance guarantee and the working capital scheme. Those schemes are available respectively to companies with an annual turnover of up to £25 million and up to £500 million. They are applicable right across industrial sectors and therefore could include local news organisations.
Ofcom: Fines
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many organisations Ofcom has found to have breached the Broadcasting Code in each of the last five years; how many were subsequently fined; and how much Ofcom has imposed in fines in relation to such breaches. [254386]
Andy Burnham: I have been asked to reply.
The matters raised are the responsibility of the Office of Communications (Ofcom) as independent regulator. Accordingly, my officials have asked the chief executive of Ofcom to respond directly to the hon. Member. Copies of the chief executive’s letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Pharmaceutical Industry: Redundancy
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many redundancies from positions in the pharmaceutical industry in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) the North West and (c) Macclesfield constituency have been notified to his Department in the last 12 months. [255049]
Mr. McFadden: I cannot give you details of the actual number of redundancies as there is no requirement for employers to provide that information. However, employers who propose to make 20 or more redundancies at one establishment are required to notify my noble Friend the Secretary of State of the proposal under provisions contained in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. During the period 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2008, the Department was notified of 6,240 proposed redundancies in the pharmaceutical industry in Great Britain. The records are not maintained in the format you have requested so I regret that I am unable to break them down by region or parliamentary constituencies.
Postcodes
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what gross income the Post Office received for granting access to its postcode address file in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [244334]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 17 December 2008]: The provision of the postcode address file is an operational matter for which Royal Mail has direct responsibility. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive of Royal Mail, Adam Crozier, to provide a direct reply to the hon. Member.
A copy of the response will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the cost to the Post Office of maintaining and updating the postcode address file was in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [244335]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 17 December 2008]: The provision of the postcode address file is an operational matter for which Royal Mail has direct responsibility. I have therefore asked the Chief Executive of Royal Mail, Adam Crozier, to provide a direct reply to the hon. Member.
A copy of the response will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will investigate the operation by the Post Office of the postcode address file to ensure that it offers users value for money. [244336]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 17 December 2008]: I have no plans to investigate the operation of the postcode address file. The provision of this service is an operational matter for which Royal Mail has direct responsibility.
Postcomm, the postal industry regulator, has responsibility for ensuring that Royal Mail maintains the postcode address file and that the file is made available to anybody who wishes to use it.
Regional Development Agencies: Finance
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with reference to the Answer of 10 January 2008, Official Report, column 782W, on regional development agencies: South East Region, when the evaluation of the effects of the South East England Development Agency’s spending was completed; and if he will place a copy of the evaluation report in the Library. [253486]
Mr. McFadden: The Government have commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct an independent evaluation of the economic impact of RDAs. The evaluation of the impact of South East England Development Agency’s spending is incorporated in the report. The evaluation report has just been completed and I will place a copy in the Libraries of the House shortly.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 25 November 2008, Official Report, column 41W, on departmental expenditure limits (2008-09), for what reason there was a re-allocation of £2.5 million from the London Development Agency to the regional development agencies. [253487]
Mr. McFadden: As part of the management of the “single pot” funding model, the regional development agencies (RDAs) and the London Development Agency (LDA) have the authority to agree “loans” between themselves, as a way of maximising the use of their overall budget allocation. This is often utilised to overcome issues around the timing of expenditure. Whilst there is no need to process such transactions between the RDAs generally (because they are all non voted), funds to the LDA are voted (because it is governed by the Greater London Authority) and any changes are, therefore, necessarily reflected in supplementary estimates.
Regional Development Agencies: Public Appointments
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 25 November 2008, Official Report, columns 43-4WS, on Regional Development Agency (Board appointments), what political activity has been declared by each of the listed Board members. [253488]
Mr. McFadden: The declared political activity of each of the 23 appointed board members named in the written statement of 25 November are:
Cllr Mike Whitby—was leader of the Conservative group on the Birmingham city council and since 2004 has been leader of Birmingham city council.
East of England Development Agency
Nitin Dahad—none.
Shona Johnstone—during the past five years has been a Conservative county councillor and was leader of Cambridgeshire county council in 2007.
Cllr Madeline Russell—Conservative councillor for Biggleswade and since 2005 became leader of Bedfordshire county council.
East Midlands Development Agency
Elizabeth Donnelly—member of the Co-operative party.
Jim Harker—Conservative member of Northamptonshire county council and has been its leader since 2005.
Northwest Regional Development Agency
Anne Selby—none.
John Stageman—none.
Brenda Smith—none.
Lord Peter Smith—member of the Labour party and has been leader of Wigan council since 1991.
South East of England Development Agency
Zenna Atkinson—none.
Jeremy Birch—Labour councillor and has been a member of the party for 30 years.
Les Dawson—none.
Keith Mitchell—Conservative councillor and leader of Oxfordshire county council since November 2001.
South West England Development Agency
Ian Ducat—member of the Labour party.
Peter Madden—none.
Judith Reynolds—none.
Henry Studholme—none.
Steve Smith—none.
Bill Adams—member of the Labour party.
Ajaz Ahmed—none.
Julie Kenny—none.
John Vincent—none.
Sight Impaired
Tom Levitt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what guidelines his Department follows in respect of making printed materials and forms accessible to people suffering red/green colour blindness. [245708]
Mr. McFadden: Most of the Department’s printed materials are produced through the central communications directorate. These are produced following departmental branding guidelines which do not allow the use of red and green together as background and foreground colours.
Small Businesses: Insolvency
Mr. Leech: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many small businesses have gone into (a) administration and (b) liquidation in each quarter since the beginning of 2005. [248991]
Mr. McFadden: The Insolvency Service does not hold information on business size and, therefore, cannot provide an estimate of the numbers of small businesses entering administration or liquidation since the beginning of 2005.
Total numbers of companies entering liquidation and administration are published quarterly and are available on the Insolvency Service’ website :
(Tables 1 and 3 for England and Wales).
Summertime
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what consideration the Government has given to a review of daylight-saving arrangements throughout the year; and if he will make a statement. [254037]
Mr. McFadden: The Government believe that the current summer time arrangements are a satisfactory compromise between those who prefer lighter mornings and those who prefer lighter evenings. There are no plans to commission a review of the arrangements but the Government will continue to listen to arguments for and against change.
Supermarkets
Mr. Drew: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will direct the Office of Fair Trading to investigate supermarket chains with a view to directing them to divest themselves of stores they have acquired through takeovers. [253906]
Mr. Thomas [holding answer 3 February 2009]: Merger control functions in the UK are carried out by the UK's independent competition authorities. Cases are considered on grounds of their impact on competition in the relevant markets. This provides the primary method of protecting the interests of UK consumers and promoting economic growth.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has a duty to make a reference to the Competition Commission (CC) if it believes that the merger may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services. Under section 73 of the Enterprise Act 2002 the OFT may, instead of making a reference to the CC, accept appropriate undertakings to take such action as it considers appropriate.
One recent example is the acquisition by Co-operative Group Limited (Co-op) of Somerfield Limited. Under the terms of the undertakings accepted by the OFT on 15 January, the Co-op will divest stores in 133 areas across the UK to resolve competition concerns raised by the merger.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |