§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the economic impact on business associated with(a) the Deregulation (Wireless Telegraphy) Order 1996 (S.I., 1996, No. 1864) and (b) the Contracting Out (Functions in Relation to the Management of Crown Lands) Order 1998 (S.I., 1998, No. 215). [108807]
§ Mr. Chris Smith[holding answer 7 February 2000]: I have been asked to reply in view of my Department's responsibility for the two statutory instruments in question. As I said in reply to my hon. Friend on 27 January 2000, Official Report, columns 301–02W, the 1996 Order was estimated to have saved TV dealers £10,000 a year each. The impact on business in general of the 1998 Order has not been estimated, but will have been negligible; the benefits to Exchequer funding by grant-in-aid is however estimated to be a saving of £7 million per year.