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Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is the latest figure for (a) the estimated expenditure by his Department on press and public relations during 1988-89, and (b) the budget for 1989-90 ;
(2) what is the latest figure for (a) the estimated expenditure by the armed forces on press and public relations during 1988-89 and (b) the budget for 1989-90.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Ministry of Defence expects to spend £2, 419,000 on press and public relations in 1988-89. This comprises expenditure on films, exhibitions, publications and equipment, and covers expenditure on single-service activities as well as on central defence work. In addition, the estimated staff costs are £4,962,000. The estimated figures for 1989-90 are £2,784,000 and £5,210,000 respectively.
Trident
Mr. Kaufman : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he now expects to place the order for the fourth Trident submarine.
Mr. Sainsbury : The formal response from Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd to the tender invitation for the construction of SSBN07 was received by my Department on 19 February, and it is planned to place the order for the submarine later this year. Both the tender and the order for SSBN08 will follow in due course.
EMPLOYMENT
Training and Enterprise
Mr. Holt : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement about the setting up of training and enterprise councils.
Mr. Cope : In launching training and enterprise councils on 10 March the Prime Minister underlined the need for and the benefits of this important initiative which will re-shape the way this country approaches training and help for growing business.
We have had already an excellent response to our proposals from business leaders throughout the country. Groups are even now preparing their applications to become training and enterprise councils and I shall award the first development contracts in early July.
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The first training and enterprise councils will be operational in early 1990.Training (Expenditure)
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of the funds spent by employers on training in 1986-87 was spent on training women, and how much was spent on child care provision allowing (i) parents and (ii) women to attend training.
Mr. Cope : The information is not available.
Child Care Facilities
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether the provision of child care facilities is one of the stringent criteria which he states in the White Paper. "Employment for the 1990s", every organisation that participates in the youth training schemes has to satisfy to secure approved training organisation status ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Cope : The provision of child care facilities is not one of the criteria used in assessing suitability for YTS approved training organisation status and there are no plans to introduce such a criteria.
Retail Prices Index
Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has on the components of the retail prices index of the member states of the European Community.
Mr. Lee : The prices index for the European Community is a simple average of the consumer price indices produced by individual member states. In each case the coveragte of goods and services in the national index conforms broadly to the classification of household consumption established by the Community's Statistical Office (the European System of Ingegrated Economic Accounts, ESA), the main components of which are :
Food, beverages and tobacco.
Clothing and footwear
Gross rent, fuel and power.
Furniture, furnishings and household equipment and operation. Medical Care and health expenses.
Transport and communication.
Recreation, entertainment, education and cultural services. Miscellaneous goods and services.
However, the precise definition of the component categories differs from one country to another. In particular, in the "gross rent" category most of the national indices include imputed rents to represent the "shelter" costs faced by owner-occupiers, whereas the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland include mortgage interest payments for this purpose.
Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has as to whether any country other than the United Kingdom includes mortgage interest payments in their retail prices index.
Mr. Lee : Mortgage interest payments are included in the consumer price indices of the Republic of Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and a number of smaller countries throughout the world.
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Hotels
Mr. Robert Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the number of hotels of over 15 bedrooms in (a) England and Wales and (b) Scotland in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Lee : The national tourist boards' records currently show 5,376 hotels with more than 15 bedrooms in England, 530 in Wales and 1,098 in Scotland. Comparable figures over a period of years are not available.
European Tourism Year
Mr. Butterfill : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps his Department is taking to promote European Tourism Year in 1990 (a) nationally and (b) on the south coast.
Mr. Lee : In conjunction with the British Tourist Authority, my Department is actively promoting the objectives of the Year. The British Tourist Authority is organising a conference to launch the idea to industry representatives and to encourage their participation in the Year. This will be held on 25 May. It is intended that the Year will highlight the importance of the tourism industry throughout the country including the south coast.
Income Support (Claims)
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether the computer paying unemployment benefit is programmed to draw to the attention of those claimants whose benefit is about to expire the need to make a separate claim for income support.
Mr. Lee : The unemployment benefit computer is programmed to notify claimants automatically of their right to claim income support. A letter is normally sent two weeks before entitlement to unemployment benefit is due to exhaust allowing a claim for income support to be made before payment stops.
Working Hours
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he has taken to advise unemployment benefit offices of the decision R(U)5/88 : requalification for UB--hours of work of school teachers ; and what steps he proposes to take to identify other part-time workers whose contract of employment requires hours of service or availability that are not directly remunerated.
Mr. Lee : All unemployment benefit offices were given written notice of the implications of R(U)5/88 (previously CU/009/1986) in March 1988. These instructions were subsequently updated in October 1988 and continue to apply.
The decision specifically applied to part-time teachers and their contractual arrangements. It has no implications for other groups of part- time workers. There are no plans at present to change the rules applying to other groups.
Advertising
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest figure for the estimated spending in 1988-89 by his Department on (a) television
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advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) newspaper advertising and (d) other promotional material ; and what is the 1989-90 budget for each of these categories of spending.Mr. Cope : The latest estimated spending as requested for 1988-89 is as follows :
|c|Expenditure|c| £ million TV |Radio|Press|Other|Total ------------------------------------ 3.7 |0.5 |3.9 |9.7 |17.8 Note: This is the first year in which employment service expenditure is included. Training Agency expenditure is not included.
Detailed decisions on expenditure by media for 1989-90 have not yet been taken.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest figure for the estimated spending in 1988-89 by the Manpower Services Commission on (a) television advertising, (b) radio advertising, (c) newspaper advertising and (d) other promotional material ; and what is the 1989-90 budget for each of these categories of spending.
Mr. Cope : The latest estimated spending by the Training Agency (formerly MSC) as requested for 1988-89 is as follows :
|c|Advertising|c|
|£ million
-------------------------------
Television |12.6
Radio |-
Press<1> |6.5
Other |9.2
|-------
Total |28.3
<1> Includes a small amount of
radio advertising. This cannot
be identified separately.
Detailed decisions on expenditure by media for 1989-90 have not yet been taken.
Press and Public Relations
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the latest figures for the number of staff presently employed, and the full complement of staff including vacant posts, in the press and public relations office of the Manpower Services Commission ; and what is the proposed complement for 1989-90.
Mr. Cope : The number of staff presently employed in the Training Agency (formerly MSC) press and public relations office is nine. There are no posts vacant.
Detailed decisions on the complement for 1989-90 have not yet been taken.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the figures for the number of staff presently employed, and the full complement of staff, including vacant posts, in the press and public relations office of his Department ; and what is the proposed complement for 1989-90.
Mr. Cope : Sixty people are presently employed, with five posts vacant. The proposed complement for 1989-90 is 68.
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Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest figure for (a) the estimated expenditure by his Department on press and public relations during 1988-89, and (b) the budget for 1989-90.
Mr. Cope : The estimated expenditure by the Department of Employment on press and public relations for 1988-89 is £1.458 million. The budget for 1989-90 is £1.627 million. The figures represent general administrative expenditure relating to costs for staff, accommodation and for regional services.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest figure for (a) the estimated expenditure by the Manpower Services Commission on press and public relations during 1988-89 and (b) the budget for 1989-90.
Mr. Cope : The estimated expenditure for 1988-89 by the Training Agency (formerly MSC) on press and public relations is £715,000. Detailed decisions on expenditure for 1989-90 have not been taken.
Privatisation
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what was the total sum paid out in fees to outside organisations in the furtherance of privatisation by his Department in 1979-80 and each year to date ; and what is the estimate for 1989-90.
Mr. Cope : There were no fees paid to outside organisations in the furtherance of privatisation by my Department in the financial years 1979- 80 to 1987-88 inclusive.
Fees to the value of £526,212 have been incurred in 1988-89. No firm estimates for 1989-90 are yet available.
Working Women
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the annual percentage change in the number of full-time working women since 1979.
Mr. Lee : Between September 1979 and September 1988, the latest date for which figures are available, the annual percentage changes in the female full-time work force in employment in Great Britain were as follows :
|c|September of each year|c|
|c|Percentage change since
preceding year|c|
|Per cent.
------------------------------
1980 |-3
1981 |-4
1982 |-2
1983 |+1
1984 |+3
1985 |+1
1986 |+1
1987 |+4
1988 |+5
The estimates have been adjusted for the effects of seasonal variations. The work force in employment is the sum of employees in employment, the self employed, Her Majesty's Forces and participants in work-related Government training programmes. In classifying the work force in employment between full and part time, all programme participants are counted as in part-time employment.
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Bridging Allowance
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many young people in Halifax have applied for bridging allowance since September 1988.
Mr. Cope : As at 9 February the benefit-related payment system shows that 289 young people had received bridging allowance in Halifax since September 1988. There may also be a very small number who received clerical payments.
New Businesses
Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many new businesses were registered for value added tax during 1988 in the Wyre Forest constituency.
Mr. Cope : I regret that the information requested is not available.
16 and 17-year-olds (Benefits)
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many 16 and 17-year-olds in Halifax have lost benefits since September 1988 because they are unemployed or have been unable to take advantage of their guaranteed YTS place.
Mr. Cope : The guaranteed offer of a YTS place to all 16 and 17-year -olds not in full-time education or employment means that there is now no need for young people to be unemployed. I am satisfied that the Training Agency has more than sufficient YTS places available in Halifax for those who apply for one.
Restaurants
Mr. Robert Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the total number of restaurants categorised as such in each of the last 10 years in (a) England and Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland.
Mr. Lee : The information available relates to numbers of businesses, which may include more than one individual restaurant. For the years 1980 to 1986 the table below shows the available estimates for numbers of businesses in Great Britain which were classified as restaurants, snack bars, cafes, etc., supplying food for consumption on the premises only. Comparable figures for earlier years are not available.
|Number of businesses
---------------------------------------------------------------
1980 |11,512
1981 |11,735
1982 |11,817
1983 |12,119
1984 |12,692
1985 |13,362
1986 |14,348
NATIONAL FINANCE
Short Sea Trades
70. Mr. Brazier : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest available estimate of the fiscal
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advantages available to shipowners in the short sea trades in (a) West Germany, (b) the Netherlands and (c) the United Kingdom.Mr. Norman Lamont : I am advised that in the Federal Republic of Germany shipping companies can benefit from delayed taxation of profits carried forward from the sale of a vessel. Similar arrangements apply in the Netherlands. These are generalised provisions not specific to shipping.
United Kingdom shipowners benefit from relatively low rates of United Kingdom taxation and generous writing down allowances. In addition investment in shipping attracts favourable treatment in the timing of depreciation allowances and in the business expansion scheme.
Corporation Tax
Mr. Bright : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been paid in corporation tax in the United Kingdom by lower rate small companies in each of the last five fiscal years.
Mr. Norman Lamont : Estimates of mainstream corporation tax paid at the small companies rate are as follows :
|£ billion
------------------------------
1983-84 |0.4
1984-85 |0.5
1985-86 |0.6
1986-87 |0.7
1987-88 |<1>0.8
<1> Provisional.
Over the same period, total receipts of mainstream corporation tax are estimated to have risen from £4.1 billion to £10.8 billion.
Computerised Information (Confidentiality)
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the adequacy by safeguards of Her Majesty's Customs and Excise computer system against unauthorised entry.
Mr. Lilley : Her Majesty's Customs and Excise completed a thorough review of information systems security arrangements in 1988. As a result, existing measures have been strengthened including the establishment of a computer security committee and the development of an information system security strategy in accordance with CCTA-approved methods.
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give consideration to the potential risks of unauthorised entry into the Customs and Excise computer system.
Mr. Lilley : These risks are kept under regular review by a computer security committee which uses the CCTA-approved risk analysis and management methodology.
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in view of the computerisation of Inland Revenue files, what steps he proposes to take to ensure the safeguarding of these files from unauthorised entry by internal or external computer hackers.
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Mr. Norman Lamont : Appropriate safeguards are built into the Inland Revenue's various on-line computer systems from the earliest design stages to prevent unauthorised access and ensure the integrity of the computer files. In particular, data transmission takes place over private circuits which denies external hackers the opportunity of calling up the systems. Terminals used by staff to access the on-line systems are subject to password control, and transactions are recorded in audit trails.
The Inland Revenue's computer systems are continuously monitored for possible abuse, and reviewed whenever either a significant change is made to an existing system or a new security threat emerges. The Department has in place a structure of security committees to oversee and monitor this control process.
Village Halls
Mr. Heddle : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with organisations and others responsible for village halls on the question of short-term relief from the possible effect of value-added tax on non-domestic construction work by way of grant aid or a special reclaim scheme.
Mr. Lilley : Customs and Excise officials are currently engaged in discussions with representatives of village halls about the implications of the European Court of Justice judgment on VAT zero rates.
Clothing Industry (Liquidations)
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many clothing industry liquidations there were in London in 1986, 1987 and 1988 reported to the Inland Revenue.
Mr. Norman Lamont : The Inland Revenue does not have a record of the number of liquidations specifically reported to it. The numbers of clothing industry liquidations extracted by it from the London Gazette were :
Calendar year |Number ------------------------------------------ 1986 |2,688 1987 |1,284 1988 |456
Tax Informers
Mr. Sean Hughes : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax informers were there in 1987-88 ; how many of those were subsequently proved to be giving true information ; and how many were subsequently proved to be giving false information.
Mr. Norman Lamont : The Inland Revenue does not have records on informers from which such information could be obtained.
Cigarettes
Mr. Amos : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will express in real terms the ratio of the price of an average priced packet of 20 cigarettes to the average weekly wage in each of (a) 1959, (b) 1969, (c) 1979 and the latest year for which figures are available ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lilley : The ratio of the average price of a packet of 20 cigarettes to the average weekly wage in the relevant financial years is shown below :
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|Per cent.
------------------------------
1959-60 |1.1
1969-70 |1.0
1979-80 |0.6
1988-89 |0.6
Income Tax
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish estimates of the tax yield from a 1p increase in (a) the basis rate and (b) the higher rate of tax, in each county, metropolitan district and London borough area.
Mr. Norman Lamont : I regret that estimates by county of the effect of increasing the basic and higher rates of income tax by 1p in 1989-90 are not available.
Privatisation
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total sum paid out in fees to outside organisations in the furtherance of privatisation by the Treasury in 1979-80 and each year to date ; and what is the estimate for 1989-90.
Mr. Norman Lamont : The gross expenses incurred by Her Majesty's Treasury in connection with the sale of shares in Cable and Wireless and British Petroleum were as follows :
Thousands
|1983-84 |1984-85 |1985-86 |1987-88
|£ |£ |£ |£
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
British Petroleum |22,108 |656 |- |-
Cable and Wireless |12,011 |440 |- |-
Cable and Wireless |- |- |21,400 |-
British Petroleum |- |- |- |<1>146,707
<1>Excluding subscription for new shares and expenses of the Bank of
England share purchase arrangement.
These expenses include fees paid to outside organisations, but those fees
could be identified separately only at disproportionate cost.
Any costs incurred by Her Majesty's Treasury in connection with the privatisation programme in 1989-90 will be announced in due course in the usual way.
Press and Public Relations
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the latest figures for the number of staff presently employed, and the full complement of staff including vacant posts, in the press and public relations office of Central Office of Information ; and what is the proposed complement for 1989-90.
Mr. Lilley : The press office of the Central Office of Information is staffed by one information officer. No increase is proposed for 1989-90.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the latest figure for (a) the estimated expenditure by the Central Office of Information on press and public relations during 1988-89 and (b) the budget for 1989-90.
Mr. Lilley : The latest estimated cost of the press office of the Central Office of Information for 1988-89 is £44,350. The budget figure for 1989-90 is £48,200.
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