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16 Mar 2009 : Column 953W—continued
Competition: Tribunals
Dr. Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether the confidential dossier drawn up by his Department making the case for waiving competition law submitted in evidence to the Competition Appeal Tribunal in the December 2008 hearing of the case of Merger Action Group v. Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform still exists in (a) electronic and (b) paper form. [261384]
Mr. Thomas [holding answer 6 March 2009]: The information relevant to my noble Friend, the Secretary of State's decision of 31 October on the proposed merger between HBOS and Lloyds TSB still exists in both paper and electronic form. The great majority of that information has been published in accordance with the requirements of the Enterprise Act 2002. However, some information has not been published. This is in accordance with the provisions contained in Part 9 of the Enterprise Act which reflects the need to exclude from disclosure (so far as practicable):
any information whose disclosure the authority thinks is contrary to the public interest;
commercial information whose disclosure the authority thinks might significantly harm the legitimate business interests of the undertaking to which it relates;
information relating to the private affairs of an individual whose disclosure the authority thinks might significantly harm the individual's interests.
Consumers: Safety
Harry Cohen: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many consumer products were withdrawn from sale for health and safety reasons in 2008. [261198]
Mr. Thomas: These figures are not collected by central Government. However during 2008 127 consumer products were notified by the UK under RAPEX, (the EU rapid alert system for all dangerous consumer products, with the exception of food, pharmaceutical and medical devices), which is operated under the Directive on General Product Safety (2001/95/EC).
Financial Services: Electoral Register
Mr. Drew: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will commission research into the impact on the credit services and debt collection industry of the combined effect of the proposed abolition of the edited electoral roll and the implementation of the Consumer Credit Act 2006. [261632]
Mr. Thomas: In line with the commitments made during the passage of the Consumer Credit Act 2006, the Government will review the Act after it has been in force for three years.
The Government are committed to holding a public consultation to establish how removing the provisions that govern the edited register would impact not just on individuals but the economy as a whole. This will enable the Government to build a firmer evidence base about the advantages and disadvantages of the edited register and consider the way forward on the basis of the responses to the consultation. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the edited register and its Ministers will make a decision in due course on when the public consultation should take place.
Home Information Packs
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) of 21 October 2008, Official Report, column 230W, on home information packs, what information the Office of Fair Trading holds on the number of penalty charge notices issued for breach of home information pack duties. [257759]
Mr. Thomas: The enforcing authorities in respect of the HIPS provisions are local weights and measures authorities, typically trading standards services. The OFT is not an enforcer and has no powers under the Act. The OFT cannot direct local authorities as to the priority they give or level of enforcement activity they take in relation to compliance with the HIP provisions. However, the Act requires that where a penalty charge notice (PCN) is issued the local authority informs the OFT. This is because the OFT has a duty, as the national regulator for estate agents, to consider the fitness of a person to be allowed to work as an estate agent and to take appropriate action, including warning or banning an agent, where their conduct falls short of legal requirements. The OFT would consider the receipt of a PCN as part of that process and a “trigger” to consider fitness under the Estate Agents Act 1979.
Retail Trade: Government Assistance
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps his Department is taking to assist owners of small retail outlets. [261141]
Mr. McFadden: Small retailers are in the same position as any other small business in terms of access to the generic support on offer to small businesses. A package of support to small businesses worth £l billion in tax cuts and £2 billion of loan guarantees was announced in the pre-Budget report 2008. Building on this, a number of measures to provide real help for business were launched in January 2009, including schemes to improve access to finance, help with cashflow and provide additional support for training.
We have improved small businesses' experiences of Government through Business Link and by establishing businesslink.gov.uk—a “one-stop shop” of online advice on how to start and grow a business. This has made it easier for businesses to access information on regulation, best practice, and financial support.
We are providing more help for small businesses to weather current conditions through advice and support services. For example, Business Link—with over 910,000 customers already—has to date (5 March 2009) carried out nearly 32,000 free “health checks” for businesses since October 2008, offering hands on advice to help identify problems early and survive in the current financial climate. Some 13 per cent. of these businesses were in the wholesale and retail sector.
Street Trading: Penalty Notices
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether he plans to give local authorities the power to issue fixed penalty notices for illegal street traders. [258452]
Mr. Thomas: The Department intends to consult shortly on possible amendments to the current street trading regime. This consultation demonstrates the Government's commitment to presenting options for change following the publication on 10 February of research into street trading and pedlary commissioned from Durham university.
We are also considering whether local authorities should be given access to new powers available under Part 3 of the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008, which could allow them to impose civil sanctions (including fixed monetary penalties) for certain offences committed under street trading legislation.
Trade: Channel Islands
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent discussions he has had on trade between the UK and the Channel Islands. [261140]
Mr. Thomas: I have had no recent discussions regarding trade between the UK and the Channel Islands.
Justice
Departmental Legislation
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East of 9 October 2008, Official Report, column 785W, on departmental legislation, if he will update the information placed in the Library to include new offences created in 2008. [262510]
Maria Eagle: The information that the hon. Member requests goes across a number of Departments and both primary and secondary legislation. There are no immediate plans to update the information to include new offences created in 2008.
Departmental Translation Services
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Birkenhead of 25 February 2009, Official Report, column 839W, on departmental translation services, what the cost for language translators and interpreters is for (a) his Department and its predecessor and (b) its agencies in each of the last five years. [262502]
Mr. Straw: The Ministry of Justice cannot provide the total cost for language translators and interpreters for each of the last five years, as this information is not centrally collated and can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
However, figures are available for the 2007-08 financial year for some parts of the business:
| £ | ||
| Translators | Interpreters | |
| (1) This figure is the total cost for interpreters' services in Her Majesty's Crown court in 2007-08. This is paid from the central funds budget. | ||
There are no central records on expenditure in magistrates courts. This can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Tribunals are unable to differentiate between the cost of translators and interpreters. The total cost of those services in 2007-08 was £6,058,000. This figure includes services for people with visual and hearing impairments and travel expenses.
Information for Her Majesty's Prison Service and the Probation Service is not held centrally and is available only at a disproportionate cost. I have asked for immediate work to be undertaken to improve the data that should be available to my Ministry and to Parliament, in this subject area.
Departmental Visits Abroad
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much expenditure was incurred in respect of overseas visits that (a) he, (b) other Ministers in his Department and (c) his Department's senior officials undertook in 2008. [262176]
Mr. Straw: Since 1999, the Government have published a list of all overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers costing over £500. Information for the financial year 2007-08 was published on 22 July 2008, Official Report, column 102WS and for the first time, included details of overseas visits undertaken by all Ministers. All travel by Ministers is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.
In respect of senior officials (taken to mean members of the senior civil service), details of foreign travel is not collated centrally as separate reporting of these details is not a requirement, and as such details could be gathered only at a disproportionate cost.
All travel undertaken by all Ministry of Justice staff members, both SCS and non-SCS, is undertaken in line with the published rules for official travel within the staff handbook. The rules are in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Civil Service Management Code.
Included in the following table are details of the official visits undertaken in 2008 by Ministers at the Ministry of Justice, as well as details of the officials accompanying Ministers during these visits:
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