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Public Service Management
Miss Widdecombe : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of his recent Audit Commission lecture on public service management.
Mr. Major : I have already done so.
Capital Gains Tax
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the estimated gain to the Exchequer in 1988-89 and 1989-90 of reducing capital gains tax exemptions from £5,000 to (a) £1,000 and (b) £2,000 ; and what would be the number of people who would have chargeable gains on this basis.
Mr. Norman Lamont [holding answer 19 June 1989] : I regret that precise estimates are not possible, but the figures for gains realised in each of these years could be of the order of :
Annual exempt amount |Increase in revenue |Increase in number of
|taxpayers
|£ million |'000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
£1,000 |300 |500
£2,000 |200 |200
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the estimated gain to the
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Exchequer in 1990-91 of reducing capital gains tax exemptions from £5,000 to (a) £1,000 and (b) £2,000 and the number of people who would have chargeable gains on this basis allowing for the impact of independent taxation.Mr. Norman Lamont [holding answer 19 June 1989] : I regret that no sufficiently firm estimate can be made.
Water Privatisation
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he gave specific approval for additional moneys to the water authorities for pre- flotation advertising.
Mr. Norman Lamont [holding answer 20 June 1989] : The Government allowed for expenditure on the water authorities' current corporate awareness advertising campaigns when approving the water authorities' overall financing limits.
PRIME MINISTER
NATO (Weapons Deployment)
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on what is meant in terms of length of time by the phrase, "for the foreseeable future," in regard to the need for a continued mix of conventional and nuclear weapons in Europe deployed by NATO.
The Prime Minister : This agreement was reached by 16 Governments. It is not for any one Government to vary the normal meaning of the words.
Australian Prime Minister
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Prime Minister if, during her meeting with the Prime Minister of Australia on his forthcoming visit to Europe, she has any plans to raise (a) initiatives to be taken to strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation treaty in the lead up to the 1990 non-proliferation treaty review conference, and (b) the arrangements for safeguards on uranium imported to the United Kingdom from Australia.
The Prime Minister : We discussed non-proliferation matters. The answer to the second part of the question is no.
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Prime Minister if, during the forthcoming visit of the Prime Minister of Australia, she plans to raise (a) the amendment conference for the 1963 partial nuclear test ban treaty and (b) the French nuclear testing programme in the Pacific and its effect on the treaty of Rarotonga.
The Prime Minister : Nuclear testing in the Pacific was discussed.
Conventional Force Cuts, Europe
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Prime Minister what is the basis for her statement at the NATO press conference in Brussels on 30 May that President Bush's plan for conventional force cuts in Europe within six months to a year is a very optimistic timetable.
The Prime Minister : The practical details (such as definitions, counting rules and verification arrangements)
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of a negotiation as complex as this are daunting. Negotiating satisfactory arrangements within the timetable we have set ourselves will be hard work, but we have made a good start.Apartheid
Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Prime Minister if she will use the opportunity of her planned discussions with Mr. F. W. de Klerk to urge the South African Government to negotiate an end to apartheid.
The Prime Minister : Yes. We want to see the peaceful abolition of apartheid through negotiation.
Rain Forests
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on her discussions on rain forest issues with Dr. Ghillean Prance during her official visit to Kew gardens.
The Prime Minister : During my visit to the Royal botanical gardens at Kew on 16 June, I spoke to a number of experts with whom I discussed, among many other things, the problems of tropical reafforestation which follow the destruction of natural habitats.
Dr. Clark : To ask the Prime Minister whether she will host a conference in Britain for private companies to enable discussions to take place in order to reduce the damage caused to rain forests throughout the world ; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : I share the widespread concern about the depletion of the tropical rain forests, and this was among the subjects discussed at the seminar which I held at Downing street on 26 April which involved individuals from the world of science and of business. I have no present plans for a further conference.
Ministerial Meetings
Mr. Wray : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list, for each year since 1986, all the ministerial talks and meetings held by her or other Ministers with Ministers or representatives of the Governments of (a) Guatemala, (b) Haiti, (c) Honduras, (d) El Salvador and (e) South Africa.
The Prime Minister : The following table lists those meetings at ministerial level of which we have records. Ministers have had additional informal bilateral meetings in the margins of international conferences.
In addition to these formal and informal meetings with their opposite numbers, Ministers in London regularly see the ambassadors of these countries in the course of their normal duties.
Country |Date
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1986
El Salvador |None
Guatemala |7 May |Lady Hooper met President Cerezo
| at inauguration of President
| Arias in San Jose
|17 November |Lady Young met President Cerezo
| at Miami Conference
Haiti |November |Lady Young met General Henri
| Namphy (then President) at
| Miami Conference
Honduras |17 November |Lady Young met President Azcona
| at Miami Conference
|15 December |Lady Young met Foreign Minister
| Lopez Contreras in London
South Africa |23 July |Foreign Secretary met State
| President PW Botha and
| Foreign Minister Pik Botha in
| South Africa
|27 July |Foreign Secretary met Foreign
| Minister Pik Botha and Minister
| of Trade and Industry de Villien
|29 July |Foreign Secretary met Foreign
| Minister Pik Botha, Finance
| Minister du Plessis and State
| President PW Botha
|October |Chancellor of The Exchequer met
| Finance Minister du Plessis
1987
El Salvador |11-12 May |Foreign Minister Acevedo Peralta
| met Foreign Secretary and Lady
| Young in London
Guatemala |11 February |Lady Young met President Cerezo
| and Foreign Minister Quinones
| in Guatemala
|21 September |Foreign Secretary met President
| Cerezo in New York
|20 October |Mr. Eggar met Minister of
| Economy Lizardo Sosa Lopez in
| London
Honduras |None
South Africa |28 November |Mrs. Chalker met Deputy Foreign
| Minister Kobus Meiring in
| South Africa
1988
El Salvador |9 March |Mr. Eggar met Foreign Minister
| Acevedo Peralta in London
Guatemala |8 March |Foreign Secretary and Mr. Eggar
| met Vice-President Carpo
| Nicolle in London
|December |Mr. Eggar met President Cerezo in
| Miami
Honduras |27-28 April |Foreign Secretary and Mr. Eggar
| met Foreign Minister Lopez
| Contreras in London
South Africa |1 November |Mrs. Chalker met Deputy Foreign
| Minister Kobus Meiring in
| South Africa
1989
El Salvador |1 June |Mr. Alan Howarth, Whip, attended
| inauguration of President
| Cristiani as a Ministerial
| Representative, saw members of
| incoming administration
Guatemala |2-3 March |Mr. Eggar met Vice-President
| Carpo Nicolle, Foreign Minister
| Palencia and Interior Minister
| Valle Valdizan in Guatemala
| City
Haiti |February |Mr. Eggar met Foreign Minister
| Serge Charles at inauguration of
| President Perez of Venezuela
Honduras |27 February |Mr. Eggar met Minister of Health
| in Honduras
South Africa |15 March |Foreign Minister Pik Botha met
| Prime Minister and Foreign
| Secretary in London
|1 April |Foreign Minister Pik Botha met
| Prime Minister in Namibia
|24-25 April |Prime Minister and Foreign
| Secretary met Finance Minister
| du Plessis in London
|23 June |Prime Minister and Foreign
| Secretary met Minister of
| National Education de Clerk
Economic Assistance
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Prime Minister if she will ensure that the principle of making economic assistance and trade credits conditional on an improvement in democratic and human rights is applied in the case of Iraq as well as in that of Poland.
The Prime Minister : We regularly make clear to the Iraqi Government our concerns over their human rights record, but we do not believe that unilateral economic measures would be effective in ending human rights abuses. Only by maintaining a working relationship can we hope to achieve changes. I announced a number of steps on 10 June following my meeting with General Jaruzelski to support progress towards democracy and a market economy, including the contribution of £5 million a year for five years towards a "Know How" fund. Our policy on export credit guarantees for Poland is governed by economic considerations.
China
Mr. Cox : To ask the Prime Minister if she will ensure that the current events in China and the repression by the Chinese authorities will be discussed as a matter of urgency at the EEC summit in Madrid ; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : I can assure the hon. Member that the current repression by the Chinese authorities will be discussed at the forthcoming Madrid European Council.
Mr. Cox : To ask the Prime Minister if Her Majesty's Government will protest to the Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom on the executions now taking place in China ; and if she will make a statement.
The Prime Minister : My right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary told the House on 6 June that he had summoned the Chinese charge d'affaires to make clear our attitude to the violent suppression of peaceful protest in Peking. As I made clear in the House on 22 June, I was among the first to condemn the recent executions in China, about which representations have also been made to the Chinese authorities by the 12 EC member states.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Disability Benefits
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if, in the light of the Social Security Advisory Committee's report, "Benefits for Disabled People : A Strategy for Change", he plans to increase spending on disability benefits.
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Mr. Scott : Current expenditure plans, Command 615, provide for spending on benefits for the sick and disabled to increase by over £3 billion by 1991-92. We shall give careful consideration to the report of the Social Security Advisory Committee when we reach conclusions on the implications of the results of the surveys of disability carried out by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. It is too soon to say how this will affect existing expenditure plans.
Social Fund
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security which of his Department's offices in the Greater London area have spent more than 100 per cent. of their profile allocation for social fund loans and social fund grants for (i) April 1989 and (ii) May 1989.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information is as follows :
Loans
April 1989
Balham
Barking
Canning Town
Cricklewood
Ealing
Edgware
Greenwich Park
Kennington Park
Paddington
Poplar
Romford
Shoreditch
Southwark
Walthamstow
Wood Green
May 1989
Bexley
Brixton
Camberwell
Canning Town
Croydon
Crystal Palace
Ealing
Edmonton
Eltham
Greenwich Park
Harlesden
Highgate
Hounslow
Kensington
Oval
Paddington
Peckham
Poplar
Southwark
Thames North
Tottenham
Walthamstow
Woodgrange Park
Wood Green
Woolwich
Community care grants
April 1989
Barking
Barnet
Canning Town
Cricklewood
Crystal Palace
Ealing
Edgware
Eltham
Euston
Finsbury Park
Harrow
Hither Green
Kennington Park
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KensingtonNeasden
Oval
Paddington
Peckham
Poplar
Romford
Southwark
Stoke Newington
Twickenham
Wood Green
Woolwich
May 1989
Balham
Barking
Bexley
Camberwell
Canning Town
Croydon
Ealing
Euston
Finsbury Park
Greenwich Park
Harrow
Hendon
Kensington
Leytonstone
Oval
Peckham
Shoreditch
Walthamstow
Wood Green
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