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Saudi Arabia
30. Mr. John Marshall: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the estimated level of exports to Saudi Arabia during the current year. [13535]
Mr. Nelson: It is too early to make a realistic estimate of what our exports to Saudi Arabia will be this year. Provisional figures for 1995 indicate that last year we exported goods and services worth £1.64 billion to the Kingdom, an increase of 8 per cent. on 1994. I very much hope this level can be maintained and even exceeded in the coming year.
Mr. Cohen: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what resources Her Majesty's Government provided for use as collateral to assist the bid by British Aerospace and Rolls-Royce to provide engines for Blackhawk helicopters being purchased by Saudi Arabia. [14207]
Mr. Oppenheim:
No such purchase has been made.
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31. Mr. McAvoy:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his estimate of the cost to public funds of the privatisation of the nuclear industry. [13536]
Mr. Eggar:
The Department has provision for expenditure of £25 million in 1995-96 on restructuring and privatisation of the nuclear power generation industry. Estimates for expenditure in 1996-97 will be published in the supply estimates in due course.
32. Mrs. Anne Campbell:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will set out his policy on the establishment of innovation incubators as an aid to industry. [13637]
Mr. Page:
The Department of Trade and Industry is committed to encouraging and co-ordinating measures to support the development of high technology and innovative businesses with growth potential. These measures go wider than innovation incubators, and include, for example, services provided through business links and syndicates of "business angels".
34. Ms Church:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the impact on British firms of late payment by Government Departments. [13539]
Mr. Page:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Stockport (Ms Coffey).
36. Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has had from the National Funerals College about improvements in the funeral industry. [13541]
Mr. John M. Taylor:
I have received one such representation and will be replying to it in due course.
Mr. Dunn:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action is being taken to prevent unfair subsidies being paid by the Italian Government to paper mills in that country. [14927]
Mr. Oppenheim:
We recognise that all member states can provide state aid for legitimate purposes which is fully justified within the state aid rules, but we are concerned about aid which unfairly disadvantages unaided competitors.
My Department is not aware of unfair subsidies being paid to Italian paper mills, but would be happy to investigate if further details can be provided.
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the effect of staff levels at the Medical Research Council of increased earmarking of Medical Research Council funds. [14722]
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Mr. Ian Taylor:
On 1 October 1994 the Medical Research Council staff level was 3,094. The corresponding figure for 1 October 1995 was 3,057. The allocation of funds for specific priorities has no discernible effect on staff levels.
Mr. Janner:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what are his plans for the funding of industrial tribunals during 1996. [14953]
Mr. John M. Taylor:
The industrial tribunals' running cost budget for 1996-97 will be determinded as part of the Department's MINIS 96 exercise, which is currently still under way. The allocation of the Department's programme expenditure will be announced in the departmental expenditure plans report to be published in March.
Mrs. Jane Kennedy:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what statistical studies his Department has undertaken of the contribution to British export performance of (a) high technology, (b) medium technology and (c) low technology sectors of manufacturing industry. [14485]
Mr. Oppenheim:
The Department has not recently undertaken any such studies. However, statistics relating to this issue are available in the 1995 issue of the "Industry and Technology Scoreboard of Indicators" published by the OECD. This can be obtained from the Library of the House.
26. Mr. John Greenway:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his latest assessment of United Kingdom export performance. [13531]
Mr. Nelson:
The latest available export data make very encouraging reading. In the three months to November the United Kingdom's visible exports reached record levels and were 13 per cent. higher than for the same period last year. The UK is still the only G7 country with a significant invisibles trade surplus. These excellent results are confirmation that UK industry has retained, and even improved, its competitive position in world markets in recent years.
Mr. Meacher:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the statutory minimum wage, or collectively organised rate then statutorily made binding, in pounds sterling on a purchasing power parity basis in each year since 1979 in (a) each EU state, (b) the USA, (c) Japan, (d) Australia, (e) Canada and (f) New Zealand; and what percentage of the national average wage these levels represented. [14321]
Mr. John M. Taylor:
I refer to my reply of 15 January, Official Report, columns 467-77. In addition, the minimum wage rate in New Zealand is currently NZ$250 for a 40-hour week, which translates to £107.12 at purchasing power parity exchange rates.
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The other information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, I refer the hon. Member to the OECD "Jobs Study" which carries a discussions of development in the minimum wage rates of some countries over time, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
Mr. Pawsey:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what inward investment from outside the United Kingdom took place in the midlands region in each year since 1985; what percentage this constituted of total United Kingdom investment; what were the principal sources of the investment; what were the industries principally involved; and what estimate he has made of the number of jobs which resulted. [14253]
Mr. Oppenheim:
The midlands remains a diverse region of the United Kingdom and continues to attract inward investment from many countries and sectors. Principal sources of investment are the United States, Germany and Japan, with automotive/automotive components, electronics, food processing, textiles, textile machinery, chemicals/chemical handling, plastics and general engineering forming the principal industries. The breakdown of project numbers and associated jobs over the period covering both the west and east midlands is as follows.
| Year | Number of Mids projects | Number of UK projects | Mids per cent. of UK total | Associated jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985-86 | 106 | 420 | 25 | 9,365 |
| 1986-87 | 77 | 356 | 21 | 8,613 |
| 1987-88 | 76 | 363 | 20 | 11,606 |
| 1988-89 | 96 | 348 | 21 | 12,052 |
| 1989-90 | 109 | 375 | 29 | 26,858 |
| 1990-91 | 88 | 356 | 24 | 13,617 |
| 1991-92 | 47 | 332 | 14 | 5,778 |
| 1992-93 | 43 | 303 | 14 | 4,062 |
| 1993-94 | 105 | 404 | 25 | (13)49,797 |
| 1994-95 | 106 | 453 | 23 | 23,936 |
(13) Figures include safeguarded jobs associated with BMW acquisition of Rover.
All the figures given are based on numbers of projects notified to the Invest in Britain Bureau at the time of the decision to invest. Companies are under no obligation to notify their investment decision and the figures take no account of subsequent developments.
Structural Funds (Northamptonshire)
Mr. William Powell: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much has been allocated to schemes in Northamptonshire under (a) the European regional development fund and (b) other structural funds in each of the last five years. [14310]
Mr. Oppenheim: No part of Northamptonshire has been designated under any of the regionally based European structural funds programmes. There have therefore been no offers of grant from such programmes from 1991 to 1995.
The county has been, and continues to be, eligible to receive grants from programmes which are not geographically restricted, namely from the European social fund--ESF--under objective 3 of the funds, and
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from the European agricultural guidance and guarantee fund--EAGGF--under objective 5a, as well as grant from the European regional development fund--ERDF--and ESF under a number of Community initiatives applying to the whole of the United Kingdom.
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