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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 25 July 1989
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Misleading Advertisements
Mr. McCrindle : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many complaints he has received concerning misleading advertisements ; and if he has any plans to amend the Control of Misleading Advertisement Regulations 1988.
Mr. Forth : My Department does not keep records of such complaints. Anyone complaining to the Department about an advertisement whether in respect of misleadingness or otherwise is referred to the appropriate advertising control authority : usually the Advertising Standards Authority or local trading standards department. Complaints about misleading advertisements which cannot be satisfactorily resolved by the authorities may be referred to the Director General of Fair Trading under the Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations 1988. I will ask the director general to write to the hon. Member about the number of complaints he has received. I have no plans to amend the regulations.
Vehicle Mileage
Mr. McCrindle : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has had discussions concerning clocking and the possibility of requiring notification of a car's mileage to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre when relicensing, acquiring, or disposing of a car.
Mr. Forth : I have seen the recommendations to which the hon. Member refers, which were made by the working group led by the Director General of Fair Trading. As my hon. Friend the Minister for Roads and Traffic told the House on 16 March, the Government do not believe that the expensive system proposed for collecting and storing data in order to deter clocking would be sufficiently reliable to warrant the cost and bureaucracy involved. There are already mileage verification services available from private sector companies, and we believe that motor manufacturers could do much to solve the problem by developing tamper-resistant odometers.
Second-hand Cars
Mr. McCrindle : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many complaints he has received concerning the failure of garages to carry out pre-sales inspections of second-hand cars ; and what discussions he has had concerning the improvement of consumer protection in this area.
Mr. Forth : I am not aware of any complaints from consumers received by my Department specifically about the failure of garages to carry out pre -sales inspections of second-hand cars. I receive representations from time to
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time about various aspects of consumer protection in relation to used cars, but I have had no discussions specifically about pre-sales inspections.Creches
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has received any recent representations about pilot or permanent workplace creches and similar incentives further to encourage the return to employment of women in his Department ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Forth : The Department of Trade and Industry uses the joint management and union arrangements which exist within the Whitley machinery to discuss workplace child care. The Department has received no recent representations outside this forum.
The DTI is keen both to retain female staff and to encourage women to return to its employ. With other Departments, the DTI has contributed funds to a play scheme in London for employees' children aged five to 12 years. We have also initiated a programme of action to promote part-time working, and have increased flexible working hours. We are shortly to announce details of a career break scheme.
NESL
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will place in the Library a copy of the letter written to him by the European Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan on 12 July regarding NESL.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : It is not usual practice to publish correspondence of this kind between the European Commission and the Government of a member country. In the particular circumstances of this case, however, a copy of Sir Leon Brittan's letter of 12 July has, with his agreement, been placed in the Library appended to a note by the Department on exchanges between the Government and the Commission concerning NESL.
Summer Time
Miss Hoey : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what assessment has been made of the impact on quality of service for letter deliveries by the Post Office if there is an extra hour of winter morning darkness due to the implementation of single/double summer time ;
(2) what information he has as to what extra costs the Post Office forecasts it will incur if there is an extra hour of winter morning darkness due to the implementation of single/double summer time.
Mr. Forth : Quality of service is a matter for the Post Office Board. I understand the change would increase lighting and heating costs and require some changes in staffing arrangements at post offices.
Astra Satellite
Dr. Woodcock : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster at what power levels the Astra satellite is authorised by international regulatory agreements to broadcast signals to the United Kingdom.
Mr. Atkins : The power level for which the ASTRA (Transmitting space station GDL-6) satellite has been
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co-ordinated with the United Kingdom under the procedures of the ITU/IFRB (International Frequency Registration Board of the International Telecommunication Union) is 53 dBW eirp (Effective isotropic radiated power).Eutelsat
Dr. Woodcock : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what payments from public funds have been made in each of the last five years to British Telecom International in respect of its involvement in the Eutelsat organisation and for what purpose.
Mr. Atkins : No such payments have been made to British Telecom International (BTI). The following payments have, however, been made to EUTELSAT by the British National Space Centre in respect of United Kingdom membership of EUTELSAT :
|£
------------------------------
1984 |513,523
1985 |1,389,568
1986 |1,843,321
1987 |903,063
1988 |3,342,463
These payments are a contribution towards the subscription payable to EUTELSAT by BTI, as United Kingdom signatory, in recognition of the costs associated with demonstrating the commercial applications of the ECS series of experimental telecommunications satellites. The payments will cease by the end of 1994.
Information Technology
Mr. Michael Marshall : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he is now in a position to give his Department's considered response to recommendations Nos. 24-26 of the Select Committee on Trade and Industry's report on information technology concerning the zero rating of value added tax on donations of information technology equipment made to educational institutions for research purposes.
Mr. Forth : The issues governing the zero rating of value added tax and taxation matters generally are complex and range beyond my Department. I can, however, state that I have taken note of the Select Committee's recommendation and can confirm that my Department remains committed to maintaining and improving the climate for investment for research and technology within the existing legislative framework. It is within this context that my officials have been liaising with the Treasury, but the policy regarding all fiscal matters is determined by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Mortgage Arrears
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Attorney-General (1) how many actions for repossession as a result of mortgage arrears were begun in the Coventry county court in each year since 1979 ;
(2) how many county court actions for mortgage repossession occurred in the Coventry county court ; how
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many of these actions resulted in an order for possession of the property ; how many of these orders for possession were suspended ; and how many warrants for eviction were issued, in each year since 1979.The Attorney-General : The number of mortgage actions for possession entered and orders made for possession in Coventry county court in each year since 1983 (the first year for which figures are available) are as follows. No information is collected on how many of these orders were suspended nor how many resulted in evictions.