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DATE 1:12.87
COL.
490
Written Answers VOL
1 DECEMBER 1987
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M5A=N9|12
Ed: Nal12 Maright
Written Answers
ست من
490
I am therefore today writing to interested parties in the cinema and film industries to indicate the terms in which an order under the Fair Trading Act might be framed and to seek their views on this course of action. I am proposing firstly that existing and future long-term arrangements between a distributor and a cinema operator to bar other cinemas locally from showing the same films concurrently might be made unlawful. Secondly, I am proposing that a four-week limit might be placed on the length of time for which "first run" cinemas may exhibit a popular film without making it available to competitors.
Copies of the Director General of Fair Trading's report on the experimental films release scheme together with copies of our consultation letter have been placed in the Library of the House and are available in the Vote Office. I am asking that comments on these proposals should be submitted in writing by 31 January 1988.
Consumer Arbitration Agreements Bill
Mr. Pawsey: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representations he has received about the Consumer Arbitration Agreements Bill introduced by the hon. Member for Rugby and Kenilworth; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maude: I have asked the Department's Advisory Committee on Arbitration Law, chaired by Lord Justice Mustill, to examine the issues raised by the Bill as a matter of urgency. The Committee will consider representations by interested parties. Those interested in submitting evidence should contact the secretary of the committee as soon as possible.
EC (Liquid Containers)
Sir Hugh Rossi: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will publish the programme which Her Majesty's Government were due to submit during the course of the current week in response to the European Commission's Liquid Containers Directive (Directive on Containers of Liquids for Human Consumption 85/339/EEC).
Mr. Butcher [holding answer 30 November 1987]: General publication of the programme would not be appropriate until it has been approved by the Commission as required by directive 85/339/EEC.
Meanwhile, copies of the programme in the form submitted to the European Commission will be sent to all interested organisations in the United Kingdom which are known to my Department. Copies will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. They will also be available, from the Department (212 8728) on request, to anyone who wants them.
Shipbuilding Industry (Merseyside)
Mr. Wareing: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will give the total number of redundancies in the shipbuilding industry in Merseyside during the period from 1 January 1979 to 31 December 1986.
Mr. Atkins [holding answer 30 November 1987]: It is estimated that there was a reduction in employment of some 3,700 in the shipbuilding industry in Merseyside during the period 1 January 1979 to 31 December 1986.
British Telecom
Mr. Gordon Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what information he has as to (a) the number of shareholders to be given bonus shares in British Telecom, under the loyalty bonus scheme, on 30 November 1988, and (b) the number of shares to be given out under the scheme.
Mr. Butcher [holding answer 30 November 1987]: The qualifying date for eligibility for bonus shares in British Telecom is 30 November 1987. Current estimates are that almost 1 million shareholders will qualify for some 55 million bonus shares in total. These will be transferred as soon as practicable after the qualifying date.
Regional Policy
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he has any plans to reform regional policy in such a way as to discourage future company relocations from areas of high unemployment to areas of relatively low unemployment; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins [holding answer 30 November 1987]: Relocation by a particular company is a matter for its commercial judgment.
Batchelor plc
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what representations he has received from Sheffield city council regarding the decision by Unilever to relocate Batchelor plc headquarters from Sheffield to Croydon; what response he has made; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins [holding answer 30 November 1987]: I have received no representations from Sheffield city council about the decision by Unilever to relocate the Batchelors Food headquarters from Sheffield. This is in any case a matter for the company's own commercial judgment.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Daya Bay Power Plant
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 26 October, what remedial action will be taken to ensure the safety of the Daya Bay power plant; who has been identified as responsible for the omission of the reinforcement bars from the first concrete layer; what representations he has received from the Government of China on the implications of these faults for the safety of local residents; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar: Additional bars and concrete reinforcement have been placed in the second layer of the reactor raft in order to ensure that the safety requirements of the original design are met.
The omission of bars was due to
an incorrect interpretation of technical drawings by the contractor and the inadequate enforcement of quality control checks. Improvements have since been made to the quality control arrangements to avoid similar problems in the future.
We have not received any representations from the Government of China on the implications of these faults for the safety of local residents.
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