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12 Feb 2009 : Column 2291W—continued
Departmental Public Relations
Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the cost of his Department's contracts with public relations consultancies was in each year since it was established. [251263]
Mr. McFadden: The Department spent the following via the Central Office of Information (COI) and directly with public relations agencies in the last full financial year 2007-08:
Geronimo Communications, Enterprising Britain: £172,630.27
Gavin Anderson (UK) Ltd, Renewable energy: £109,326.38
GCI London, Employing People: £30,030
Highlight PR, Queen's Awards: £17,254.61
Trimedia Harrison Cowley Ltd, Fireworks safety: £15,000
Trimedia Harrison Cowley Ltd, Consumer Protection Regulations: £73,000.
This includes spend by the former DTI before the establishment of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in June 2007.
Departmental Recycling
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much (a) paper, (b) plastic and (c) other waste was produced by his Department in each year since its establishment; and what proportion of such waste was recycled. [252871]
Mr. McFadden: Since it was formed on 28 June 2007, BERR has produced the following weights of paper, plastics and other waste on its HQ estate, with the proportion recycled shown in brackets:
| Tonnes | ||||||
| Paper | Recycled (%) | Plastics | Recycled (%) | Other waste | Recycled (%) | |
It is not possible to separate out the waste recycling figures for BERR and DIUS at Kingsgate House, since they are co-located.
Departmental Secondment
John McDonnell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on how many occasions (a) Ministers and (b) officials from his Department have (i) met and (ii) talked on the telephone to representatives of (A) Anglo American plc, (B) BHP Billiton plc, (C) Rio Tinto plc, (D) Vedanta plc and (E) Xstrata plc since April 2007; and how many staff from each such company have been seconded to his Department in that period. [245899]
Mr. McFadden: There were two meetings and one telephone discussion between BERR Ministers and Rio Tinto plc over this period. In addition we have identified two meetings and one telephone discussion between the Permanent Secretary and Rio Tinto. He also met with BHP Billiton pc on one occasion.
The Chief Executive of Anglo American plc is a member of the Business Council for Britain and has attended two meetings since her appointment at which BERR Ministers were present. The Permanent Secretary was also at one of these meetings. In addition, there has been one-face-to face meeting between the Chief Executive of Anglo American and BERR Ministers over this period.
No meetings or discussions with Verdanta plc or Xstrata plc have taken place since April 2007 involving BERR Ministers or the Permanent Secretary.
There has been regular contact between BERR officials and companies in the mining sector, but to identify all these discussions would incur disproportionate cost as this information is not held centrally. No staff from these companies have been seconded to the Department over this period.
Electronic Equipment: Waste Disposal
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will publish each of the producer compliance schemes established under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations; and how much waste equipment (a) is required to be collected and (b) was collected in the latest period for which figures are available under each scheme. [251757]
Ian Pearson [holding answer 5 February 2009]: The Environment Agency in England and Wales and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) are responsible for approving Producer Compliance Schemes (PSC) under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations. A list of approved PCSs is available at
The collection data requested are not available as they are commercially sensitive.
EU Internal Trade
Mr. Cash: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will bring forward legislative proposals to provide equal rights in employment for UK nationals in the United Kingdom to those afforded under (a) the EU Posted Workers Directive and (b) other EU legislation. [255449]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 9 February 2009]: Such legislation is already in place: all workers in the UK, whether they are UK citizens, migrant or posted workers have the same key employment rights.
Mr. Cash: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps the European Commission has taken since the Forum on Workers' Rights and Economic Freedom in October 2008 to safeguard the rights of posted workers within the UK. [255450]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 9 February 2009]: The Council of Ministers and the European Commission have invited the social partners to analyse the challenges posed by the expansion in the various forms of labour mobility in the Union and in particular of their impact on the European Union’s competitiveness, protection of workers’ rights, the functioning of national labour markets, and the various modes of industrial relations, taking account of recent rulings of the European Court of Justice. The Commission’s high level committee of experts will examine ways to improve the implementation of the directive and to exchange information, experience and good practice.
Mr. Cash: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the conclusions of the expert committee on the posting of workers established after the meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council on 9 June 2008. [255663]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 9 February 2009]: After the Council meeting on 9 June 2008, the Commission was asked to set up an expert committee to examine questions and difficulties which might arise in the practical application of the posting of worker legislation. The Commission published details of the Committee’s remit on 18 December 2008 (Commission document C (2008) 8640 final). I look forward to the conclusions of this group.
Fire Services: Working Hours
Sir Alan Beith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the potential effect of levels of fire cover provided by retained firefighters of the provisions of the EU Working Time Directive. [255388]
Mr. McFadden: The UK Government recognise that losing the individual’s right to opt-out of the 48 hour working week as set by the working time directive, would have a detrimental effect on the hours which firefighters working the retained duty system could be available for duty, especially the substantial numbers who work full-time for their primary employer. Many other workers also use this important flexibility and so and we remain firmly of the view that this right should remain. We, along with a majority of other member states will be fighting for the retention of the opt-out as this dossier progresses through the European negotiation process.
Official both from my Department and the Department for Communities and Local Government have worked very closely with the Retained Firefighters’ Union and will continue to keep them informed throughout the process.
Israel: Arms Trade
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform which arms export licences for arms sales to Israel have been approved in each of the last five years; and which of those licences were for components intended to be incorporated into larger equipment for onward export to third countries. [254161]
Ian Pearson: The Government publish detailed information on export licences issued, refused and revoked, by destination, including the overall value and a summary of the items covered by these licences, in its Annual and Quarterly Reports on Strategic Export Controls. Information on export licences issued for incorporation before onward export is given separately for each destination in the Reports.
The Government’s Annual Reports, published since 1997, and Quarterly Reports, published since 2004, are available from the Libraries of the House and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website at:
Manufacturing: Government Assistance
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what financial assistance the Government is providing to (a) commercial vehicle manufacturing companies and (b) JCB; and if he will make a statement. [254441]
Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the statement I made on the support for the automotive sector on 27 January 2009, Official Report, column 165-67.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Shepherd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many responses to letters received in his Department from hon. Members were outstanding in each month since September 2008. [253813]
Mr. McFadden: To date the Department has the following letters from hon. Members outstanding:
| Number | |
The majority of letters outstanding from December 2008 and January 2009 are concerns around the current economic difficulties faced by consumers and small businesses and are being answered as quickly as possible.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when the Secretary of State plans to reply to the letter of 22 December 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. M. Gutteridge. [253873]
Mr. McFadden: The issue raised by my right hon. Friend falls within the portfolio of Her Majesty’s Treasury, your letter was transferred on 5 February and you will receive a response in due course.
Mr. Malins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Woking of 25 November 2008 on Cookson Electronics. [254707]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 9 February 2009]: The matter raised by the hon. Member fell within the portfolio of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The letter was officially transferred and the hon. Member was informed on 22 December 2008.
Minimum Wage: Social Security Benefits
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many people have had their benefits uprated as a result of the national minimum wage in (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) the North East and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency. [252561]
Mr. McFadden: The answer given relates directly to the number of workers affected by the national minimum wage uprating in the form of higher wages and does not take account any change in state benefit.
Information on earnings is taken from the ONS’ Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) dataset for 2008. Information for individual parliamentary
constituencies is not readily available in the ASHE dataset, however, information is available on a Government office region basis.
(a) The number of workers in the UK that stand to benefit directly in the form of higher hourly wages from the October 2008 national minimum wage upratings is estimated to be around 1,125,000.
(b) The number of workers in England that stand to benefit directly in the form of higher hourly wages from the October 2008 national minimum wage upratings is estimated to be around 906,000.
(c) In the North East, 64,000 workers are estimated to benefit directly from higher hourly wages as a result of the October 2008 national minimum wage upratings.
Mobile Phones: Contracts
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will review the decision of Ofcom not to require the UK's telecommunications sector to reduce its mobile termination rates, with particular reference to the likely effect of the decision on consumers. [250340]
Mr. McFadden: I do not intend to review Ofcom's action on 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.
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether his Department has made a recent estimate of the cost to UK consumers of (a) maintaining the current mobile termination rate regime and (b) introducing the new rates proposed by the European Commission. [250389]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 22 January 2009]: Mobile termination rates are regulated by Ofcom and the benefit to consumers has a central place in reaching decisions on the appropriate rates. The Commission have issued a draft Recommendation for consultation and Ofcom and other European regulators are in discussion with the Commission about the approach taken. If the recommendation is issued, Ofcom will take the utmost account of the recommendation.
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