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Alvis
Lord Astor of Hever asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they propose to withhold the proposed acquisition of Alvis by General Dynamics from European merger scrutiny for reasons of national security; and, if so, whether they propose to require assurances from General Dynamics as to the future operation of Alvis before reaching a conclusion on this proposal.[HL1986]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville): No decision has yet been reached regarding the Government's position on the regulatory scrutiny of the proposed merger.
Northern Ireland: Sub-Post Offices
Lord Rogan asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What discussions they have had with the local authorities and any other organisations in the area before any closure of sub-post offices in Northern Ireland is proposed.[HL2077]
Lord Sainsbury of Turville: These are operational matters for Post Office Ltd and my honourable friend the Minister for Energy, E-Commerce and Postal Services has asked the chief executive to respond direct to the noble Lord.
Legal Fees
Lord Vinson asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the Competition Commission has investigated the current level of legal fees; and, if not, whether any such investigation is planned.[HL2130]
Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The Competition Commission has not recently investigated legal fees.
Decisions on whether any features of a market require investigation on competition grounds are primarily a matter for the Office of Fair Trading.
Renewable Energy
Lord Oxburgh asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Sainsbury of Turville on 22 March (WA 84), whether they have made any calculation of the transportation cost, in forms of average carbon equivalent emissions per MWh of electricity generated, of importing biomass fuel for co-firing.[HL2152]
Lord Sainsbury of Turville: My previous response stated that any attempt to estimate the level of imports of biomass or its source would be highly speculative and the data unreliable. Consequently, it would be also doubtful that we could make any such calculations on transportation costs in terms of average carbon equivalent emissions per MWh of electricity generated as they would again be based on unreliable and not readily available data.
However, a recent study carried out in support of the Renewables Innovation Review made a comparision of the CO2 emissions from imported Baltic woodchips and home-grown willow for combustion CHP. This information is the closest we have to that requested but it is related to CHP rather than co-firing. The results as compared to emissions from combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) were as follows:
| — CO2 emissions for willow combustion CHP: | |
| Using domestic fuel: | 48g/kWh |
| Using imported Baltic woodchips: | up to 138g/kWh (an increase of up to 90g/kWh over UK fuel because of transport) |
| — CO2 emissions from CCGT: | 387g/kWh |
There is a significant increase in emissions from imported fuel compared with the use of domestic resources, but emissions from imports are still just over a third of the emissions from CCGT.
Home and Leisure Accidents Surveillance System
Lord Harrison asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the Department of Trade and Industry is ceasing to collect statistics under its home and leisure accidents surveillance system and to provide the accompanying inquiry service; and, if so, for what reasons.[HL2164]
Lord Sainsbury of Turville: My honourable friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield, the then Consumer Minister, announced withdrawal of support for the home and leisure accidents surveillance system on 2 May 2003, due to increased pressure on resources and the need to focus on DTI core priorities.
Statistics to the end of 2002, the last in the series, were published by DTI on 18 December 2003.
However, the DTI continued to provide the inquiry service until 1 January 2004 and since then the Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents has been contracted to provide this service for a period of a further five years.
Wooden Floors
Lord Harrison asked Her Majesty's Government:
- In view of the number of accidents involving people falling on wooden floors and requiring attendance at hospital, what action they will take to improve advice given by wooden floor manufacturers and fitters to inform the public better.[HL2165]
Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The rising trend in home accidents involving wooden floors is a reflection of the increasing popularity of this type of flooring. The Department of Trade and Industry has no plans to take any specific action with regard to the instructions provided by manufacturers or fitters. As with other similar flooring surfaces, such as ceramic tiles and vinyl, consumers should take the normal precautions to reduce the risk of falling accidents. These include wearing slip-resistant footwear, avoiding polishing under rugs and mats and mopping up immediately any spilled liquid.
British Coal: Litigation
Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether, when they advise miners and widows who miss the cut-off date of 31 March 2004 in the British Coal respiratory disease litigation that claims can still be made at common law, they will also advise them that unsuccessful claimants would be liable for all legal costs.[HL2244]
Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The DTI will continue to provide a freephone helpline, which will give claimants details of the claims process. Claimants will be advised to contact a solicitor to process a claim and they will be informed that they need to raise the issue of costs with their solicitor.
Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Why they have taken six years to settle 117,000 claims under the British Coal respiratory disease litigation; why three-quarters of claims remain outstanding, and when they expect the final settlement of all claims.[HL2245]
Lord Sainsbury of Turville: Delays have been caused by, among other reasons, duplicate claims and solicitors and clients not accepting initial offers. Claims are prioritised to ensure payment to miners who are living and of the 520,000 claims received to date, 227,000 were received in the past six months.
Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What has been the total administrative and legal expenditure under the British Coal respiratory disease litigation as at 31 March 2004 broken down into payments made to (a) claims handlers; (b) medical service providers; (c) Coal Health Claims Unit; Department of Trade and Industry; (d) Nabarro Nathanson, the department's solicitors; (e) the Solicitors Co-ordinating Group; and (f) solicitors representing individual claimants.[HL2247]
Lord Sainsbury of Turville: To date, the total administrative cost of the British Coal respiratory disease litigation liabilities for claim handlers and medical services is £323 million. It is not possible to break this figure down into separate diseases or individual contractors, as the information remains commercial in confidence. To date, we have paid £275.2 million to solicitors with regard to British Coal disease work. The administrative cost of the coal health claims unit is estimated to be £1.7 million for the financial year 2003–04.
Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Why, under the British Coal vibration white finger litigation, they now require elderly miners and widows to produce witness statements from former colleagues, when successive Ministers have given assurances that the miners' word would be taken.[HL2246]
Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The assurances my noble friend is referring to relate to claims in respect of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), whereby if a claimant submits his work history and other documentation supporting his claim, then his word would be taken. This is subject to the claimant's legal representative explaining what steps they had taken to obtain corroborating witness statements and that there is no contradiction in the evidence. This applies to claims submitted by elderly miners and widows.
Vibration white finger claims are handled on the basis of the claims handling arrangement (CHA), agreed between the DTI and the claimants' solicitors group. The CHA includes an occupational group procedure, which sets out the requirement for corroborating witness statements to be provided for the claim to be considered. Discretion in this respect can be exercised for elderly and deceased claimants.
Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What action they are taking, following the recent ruling by the Law Society, to require solicitors who have double charged to make full repayment, with judgment rate interest, of all fees unlawfully deducted from compensation awarded to miners and widows under the High Court schemes for vibration white finger and respiratory disease.[HL2248]
Lord Sainsbury of Turville: My honourable friend the Member for Edinburgh South, as the Minister responsible for coal health claims, has written to solicitors asking them to repay any fees taken from clients on top of the fee they received from the DTI. Those who have failed to reply to my honourable friend's letter have been removed from the DTI's list of solicitors and have been referred to the Law Society.
The Government welcome the decision taken by the Law Society, as the solicitors regulator, that it was against their code of practice for solicitors to charge clients for making compensation claims where the DTI is meeting solicitors' costs. DTI officials continue to meet with the Law Society to progress matters.
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