§ Mrs. BrowningTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will place a copy of the handwritten contemporaneous note taken by officials of his 10 March meeting with Professor Samann in the Library; [118730]
(2) if the note of his 10 March meeting with Professor Samann which was placed in the Library is the only record that was made of that meeting; [118727]
(3) what briefing he received about the details of each of the 27 contacts between his Department and BMW that took place between 1 December 1999 and 31 March 2000; and if he will make available any briefing he received on those contacts; [118723]
(4) when the note of his 10 March meeting with Professor Samann, which was placed in the Library, was prepared; [118709]
(5) to whom the note of his meeting with Professor Samann on 10 March was circulated; [118728]
(6) if he will make public telegrams from (a) UKREP, (b) the Berlin Embassy and (c) HM Consul-General Munich relating to BMW since 23 June 1999; [118720]
(7) what advice he was given by the British Embassy in Berlin between June 1999 and March 2000 in respect of BMW/Rover; [118753]
(8) what briefing was made available to (a) DTI Ministers and (b) other Government departments about the details of any of the 27 contacts between his Department and BMW, details of which he has placed in the Library; [118718]
(9) if he will publish details of all the 27 contacts between his Department and BMW between 1 December 1999 and 31 March 2000; [118722]
(10) if the note from his PPS, dated 22 December 1999, is the only record that was made of his telephone conversation with Professor Milberg of that date. [118714]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 11 April 2000]The documents released to the Trade and Industry Committee were made available at the specific request of the Select Committee and I refer to the evidence that I gave to the Select Committee.
289WIt has been the practice of successive Administrations not to disclose information which might undermine the long-established conventions protecting the confidentiality of the internal decision-making process. The Code of Practice on Access to Government Information recognises the need for confidentiality of internal opinion, advice, recommendation and deliberation to ensure that matters can be discussed candidly and frankly within Government.
The Code of Practice also recognises the need to protect a third party's commercial confidences.
§ Mrs. BrowningTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) who requested his meeting with Professor Samann on 10 March; [118729]
(2) if the note of his 10 March meeting with Professor Samann, which was placed in the Library, is a full record of the meeting. [118717]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 11 April 2000]I refer to my evidence given to the Trade and Industry Committee on 5 April.
§ Mrs. BrowningTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make available the internal correspondence between Ministers concerning BMW, Longbridge and Rover since 23 June 1999. [118721]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 11 April 2000]These documents contain information that is commercially sensitive.
§ Mrs. BrowningTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) when he first notified the Prime Minister of the deteriorating situation at Rover; [118725]
(2) when he asked his Department to notify the Prime Minister's staff of the deteriorating situation at Rover. [118726]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 11 April 2000]My Department has been in close contact with No. 10 on this issue throughout.
§ Mrs. BrowningTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when BMW first indicated to him that it was reconsidering the ownership of Rover, Longbridge. [118751]
§ Mrs. BrowningTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the standard practice of his Office in respect of making notes of his official telephone conversations. [118724]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 11 April 2000]Telephone calls are monitored and notes are made if the call contained issues of substance.
§ Mrs. BrowningTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action he took following his meeting on 10 March at which Professor Samann stated that there was a risk of 8,000 job losses. [118719]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 11 April 2000]I refer to my evidence to the Trade and Industry Committee on 5 April.
290W
§ Mrs. BrowningTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what contact(a) he and (b) his officials had with Commissioner Monti between 23 June and 11 December 1999 concerning Rover's application for regional selective assistance. [118710]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 11 April 2000]I had a number of discussions with Commissioner Monti in this period covering a range of issues including the application for aid in support of the R30.
§ Mrs. BrowningTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) for what reason he telephoned Professor Milberg on 11 December 1999; [118711]
(2) for what reason no record of his conversation with Professor Milberg on 11 December 1999 was prepared; [118715]
(3) what Professor Milberg said concerning the future of Rover during his telephone conversation on 11 December 1999. [118716]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 11 April 2000]I telephoned Professor Milberg at his home on the afternoon of Saturday 11 December. I made the call from my own home. In my evidence to the Select Committee on 15 February, I gave details of the conversation.
§ Mrs. BrowningTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what discussions took place between Professor Milberg and the BMW board in January following his conversation of 22 December 1999 with Professor Milberg; [118713]
(2) what steps he took to establish if discussions had taken place between Professor Milberg and his board in January following his conversation of 22 December 1999. [118712]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 11 April 2000]My Department monitored the situation to see if a meeting of the BMW Supervisory Board had been called. No such meeting was called in either January or February. After our telephone conversation on 22 December 1999 the first meeting of the BMW Supervisory Board was on 16 March 2000.
§ Mrs. BrowningTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what was the nature of his contacts with BMW between 22 December 1999 and 10 February 2000; [118708]
(2) what contact with BMW took place between 22 December 1999 and 10 February 2000 involving (a) his Department's Ministers or officials, (b) UKREP Brussels, (c) the British Embassy Berlin and (d) HM Consul-General Munich; [118706]
(3) for what reason there is no record of his contact points with BMW between 22 December 1999 and 10 February 2000. [118707]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 11 April 2000]My officials were in regular contact in relation to the 88(2) investigation into the aid for the R30 project during this period. They would have informed me if it had been advisable for me to contact BMW directly.
§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) when Professor Milberg asked him to issue the statement which was distributed to the Press on the afternoon of 30 March; [118761]
291W(2) for what reason he issued a statement from Professor Milberg to the Press on 30 March; [118762]
(3) when he was informed that the text of the statement from Professor Milberg which he issued to the Press on 30 March was not approved by BMW; and what steps he took to inform those present at the press briefing of the official BMW Press Release of the same date. [118760]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 11 April 2000]I refer the hon. Member to my supplementary evidence to the Select Committee.
§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the first three tranches of regional selective assistance for BMW/Rover were due to be paid under the agreement with BMW announced in June 1999. [118269]