§ Tom BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on what occasions she and her Department have held meetings since May 1997 with representatives from(a) BP, (b) Shell, (c) Exxon-Mobil, (d) Enron, (e) Conoco, (f) Texaco and (g) Total Final Elf; if she will state the purpose of each meeting; and if she will provide details of the outcomes and agreements reached as a result of each meeting. [33216]
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what meetings(a) she and (b) her senior departmental officials have had with Enron and its subsidiaries in the last two years. [32435]
Number registered in: Financial year Total value (excluding VAT) Number of contracts let England and Wales Scotland Northern Ireland Number of foreign companies 1998–99 10,895,760 276 276 — — — 1999–2000 21,768,872 53 52 — — 1 2000–01 37,449,912 95 95 — — — 2001–02 20,231,791 78 77 1 — — Contracting parties in the 1998–99 financial year:
64WAction, Ameritech, Ascot Systems, ASE Consulting, Belmar-Zenith, Cap Gemini, CMG Admiral, Complete Media, Computacenter, Data Display, Dataware, Dell, Dr. Solomons, EDS, International Computers Ltd., i2, Interskill DBI, KPMG, MFT Computer Systems, Net Tel, OLSY, Reflex Magnetics,
§ Ms HewittMinisters, special advisers and officials in my Department regularly meet a wide range of representatives from business. It is not normal practice to release details of meetings or discussions with private individuals or companies.
As the Prime Minister's reply of 4 February 2002, Official Report, column 698W, makes clear, however, details of meetings between DTI Ministers and representatives of Enron have been disclosed, without setting a precedent, because unsubstantiated and unjustified allegations were made against the Government and the DTI is the lead Department on energy policy.
These details (taken from official records of Ministers' engagements) are as follows:
- My right hon. Friend the Member for Tyneside, North (then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry) met senior Enron executives on 26 May 1999 and opened the Enron Europe HQ on 29 February 2000.
- My right hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Mandelson) (then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry) and my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, West (Mr. Battle) (then Energy Minister) met senior executives from a range of energy companies including Enron on 23 September 1998 to discuss the Review of Energy Sources for Power Generation.
- My hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, West met the chief executive of Enron on 28 April 1998.
- My right hon. Friend the Member for Airdrie and Shotts (Mrs. Liddell), (then Energy Minister) met the senior executives from Enron on 9 February 2000 and on 13 April 2000 (alongside other energy executives) to discuss Transportation of Coal; and visited the offices of Enron at 40 Grosvenor Place on 5 October 2000.
In addition DTI Ministers may have attended receptions or other events at which Enron executives were also present.