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Mr. Ryder : Information on value added tax paid by businesses registered in Wales could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. It would not reflect tax collected by businesses in Wales registered elsewhere in the United Kingdom and would include tax accounted for by businesses registered in Wales which carried on business elsewhere.
Mortgages
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to his answer of 26 February, Official Report, column 12 , what was the average increase in repayments per week on the average mortgage in each region between 1 June 1988 and today.
Mr. Lilley : The information is as follows.
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Region Average new Weekly payment<2> Increase
mortgage<1>
|9.8 per cent. |14.5 per cent.
|interest rate |interest rate
|£ |£ |£ |£
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |28,400 |40.14 |59.39 |19.25
Yorks and Humberside |29,600 |41.84 |61.90 |20.06
East Midlands |34,700 |51.26 |75.85 |24.59
East Anglia |44,600 |69.92 |103.45 |33.53
Greater London |60,900 |100.64 |148.90 |48.26
South East |53,200 |86.13 |127.43 |41.30
South West |43,700 |68.22 |100.94 |32.72
West Midlands |33,800 |49.56 |73.34 |23.78
North West |31,300 |44.85 |66.36 |21.51
Wales |30,200 |42.78 |63.30 |20.52
Scotland |26,500 |37.46 |55.42 |17.96
Northern Ireland |24,200 |34.21 |50.61 |16.40
|--- |--- |--- |---
United Kingdom |38,300 |58.05 |85.89 |27.84
<1> Third quarter 1989.
Assuming endowment mortgage. Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make provision for writing down against tax liabilities the increase in mortgage debts of individuals where incurred because of the rise in interest rates.
Mr. Lilley : I cannot comment on tax matters in advance of my right hon. Friend's Budget statement.
Local Authority Expenditure
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of local expenditure is raised (a) locally and (b) nationally.
Mr. Norman Lamont : I refer the hon. Member to table 21.4.13 of the public expenditure White Paper (Cm. 1021).
Column 594
Japanese Banks
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which Japanese banks have been granted a licence by the Bank of England to open a branch in London ; and what reciprocal facilities have been granted to United Kingdom banks.
Mr. Ryder : The following Japanese banks have been authorised by the Bank of England to open branches in the United Kingdom : Bank of Tokyo Ltd
Bank of Yokohama Ltd
Chuo Trust and Banking Company Ltd
Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank Ltd
Daiwa Bank Ltd
Column 595
Fuji Bank LtdHokkaido Takushoku Bank Ltd
Industrial Bank of Japan Ltd
Kyowa Bank Ltd
Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan Ltd
Mitsubishi Bank Ltd
Mitsubishi Trust and Banking Corporation
Mitsui Bank Ltd
Mitsui Trust and Banking Company Ltd
Nippon Credet Bank Ltd
Saitama Bank Ltd
Sanwa Bank Ltd
Sumitomo Bank Ltd
Sumitomo Trust and Banking Company Ltd
Taiyo Kobe Bank Ltd
Tokai Bank Ltd
Toyo Trust and Banking Company Ltd
Yasuda Trust and Banking Company Ltd
In addition the Bank of England has authorised United Kingdom incorporated subsidiaries of a further eight Japanese banks. Five United Kingdom banks have branches in Japan. The Government are not aware of any United Kingdom bank currently seeking authorisation for banking activities in Japan.
Civil Service (Working Patterns)
Mr. Sean Hughes : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many reports have been produced since July 1987 on the possibility of changing working patterns in the Civil Service.
Mr. Ryder : A report on the potential for developing more flexible working patterns in the Civil Service was produced by the Cabinet Office in September 1987. A copy was placed in the House of Commons Library at the time.
Mr. Sean Hughes : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the status of the working patterns reports of September 1987 ; if he will list the recommendations of that report that were accepted by the Government ; and if he will provide a progress report on their implementation.
Mr. Ryder : The report on working patterns was an internal research report which looked at the potential for developing more flexible working patterns in the Civil Service. It was not prescriptive. Departments have been encouraged to make use of the ideas and suggestions contained in the report, where these will help to meet the needs of the work and their staff more efficiently and effectively. A number are now taking forward initiatives in these areas.
National Loans Fund
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which bodies have borrowed from the National Loans Fund over the last year.
Mr. Lilley : In the year to February 1990, the National Loans Fund has made most advances to the Public Works Loan Board. Loans have also been made to the following bodies :
New Town Development Corporations
Housing Corporations and the Northern Ireland Housing
Executive
Regional Water Authorities (pre-privatisation)
British Rail
Civil Aviation Authority
Crown Suppliers
Her Majesty's Stationery Office
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Land Authority for WalesNorth of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board
Royal Mint
Scottish Development Agency
South of Scotland Electricity Board
Welsh Development Agency
Hotels and Guest Houses (Valuation)
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consideration he is giving to allowing valuation officers to assess hoteliers and guest house owners on supported profit figures.
Mr. Lilley : Valuation officers are required to determine the rateable value of hotels and guest houses having regard to the provisions of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. An estimate has to be made of the rent at which the property might reasonably be expected to be let from year to year, and profitability is one aspect that can be taken into account in appropriate cases.
Household Incomes
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average household gross income in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland in 1989-90.
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average household net income in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) England in 1989-90.
Mr. Lilley : Estimates for 1989-90 are not yet available.
Banking Services
Mr. Hanley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to publish the Government's response to the Jack committee report on banking services, law and practice.
Mr. Ryder : It was announced last week that a committee has been set up under the chairmanship of Sir George Blunden to oversee the preparation of a code of banking practice by the British Bankers Association (BBA), the Building Societies Association (BSA), and the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS). This was the central recommendation of the review committee's report. I warmly welcome this initiative by the banks and building societies and am particularly pleased by their confirmation that the consumer interests will be fully consulted. The Government's response to the remainder of the recommendations in the review committee's report will be published shortly.
National Insurance
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing information available to him on the national insurance contributions or equivalents paid by people in (a) Germany, (b) Italy, (c) France, (d) the United States of America, (e) Holland and (f) the United Kingdom, together with the income bands where appropriate.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I have been asked to reply.
Details concerning national insurance contributions or their equivalents for member states of the European Community are contained in the Department of Social Security's publication, "Tables of Social Benefit Systems in
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the European Communities," the 1989 issue of which is available in the Library. For the USA the 1990 contribution rate for employers is 7.65 per cent. each and the rate for the self-employed is 15.3 per cent. The maximum annual contribution for both employers and employees is $3,924,.45 for 1990. For the self-employed it is $7, 848.90.SCOTLAND
Council House Sales
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the sales of council houses in Scotland by quarter up to and including the last quarter of 1989 since 1985.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information on sales to sitting tenants of public sector agencies in Scotland for the periods requested, other than 4th quarter 1989 for which figures are not yet available, is set out in the following table :
Sales of dwellings to sitting tenants of public
authorities Scotland,
January 1985 to September 1989
Period |Local |New towns|Scottish
|authority |homes<1>
----------------------------------------------------
1985
1st quarter |3,260 |397 |697
2nd quarter |2,785 |385 |398
3rd quarter |2,497 |346 |673
4th quarter |2,425 |379 |695
1986
1st quarter |2,764 |271 |455
2nd quarter |2,090 |263 |478
3rd quarter |2,402 |467 |444
4th quarter |3,050 |614 |696
1987
1st quarter |3,411 |375 |325
2nd quarter |2,421 |563 |600
3rd quarter |3,476 |506 |803
4th quarter |4,505 |697 |1,287
1988
1st quarter |6,367 |485 |1,050
2nd quarter |4,305 |524 |1,300
3rd quarter |4,958 |680 |1,508
4th quarter |6,998 |883 |2,597
1989
1st quarter |9,046 |456 |1,765
2nd quarter |6,389 |1,210 |476
3rd quarter |5,717 |1,375 |2,068
<1> Scottish Special Housing Association prior to
2nd quarter 1989.
Leukaemia
Mrs. Ray Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will publish the figures for the number of recorded cases of (a) leukaemia and (b) non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Dunoon and the surrounding area for each of the last 20 years.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The registered number of cases in the postcode area (which includes Dunoon for the period from 1968 to 1987 (latest available year) are as follows :
Column 598
Year |Leukaemia |Non-Hodgkin's
|lymphoma
--------------------------------------------------------
1968 |3 |1
1969 |1 |0
1970 |0 |3
1971 |0 |3
1972 |3 |2
1973 |0 |3
1974 |0 |3
1975 |1 |2
1976 |3 |1
1977 |3 |0
1978 |1 |1
1979 |0 |1
1980 |2 |3
1981 |1 |1
1982 |2 |3
1983 |1 |1
1984 |0 |4
1985 |2 |1
1986 |0 |1
1987 |1 |3
Training Schemes
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in the Official Report the level of grant given towards the employment training scheme to each Scottish district council in 1988-89, 1989-90 and the projected figures for 1990-91.
Mr. Lang : In employment training a basic training grant at a rate of £18 per trainee week is paid to organisations which have a contract as a training manager for employment training. In addition supplementary grants are payable to training managers to cover additional costs associated with the provision of project or higher cost training and are related to individual needs. The amounts paid to individual training managers either as basic training grants or supplementary grants depend on the number of trainees they can attract and the needs of the individual trainees. Fifteen district councils :
Angus
Argyll and Bute
Caithness
Clydesdale
Cumnock and Doon Valley
Dunfermline
East Kilbride
Hamilton
Kirkcaldy
Lochabar
Midlothian
Moray
North East Fife
Ross and Cromarty
Wigtown
are at present training managers, but it is not possible to estimate the amount of grant payments to each of these for the years in question.
Radon Gas
Mr. Buchanan-Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the causes of high radon gas levels in Kincardine and Deeside district ; if he will identify the areas particularly affected ; and if he will summarise the assistance and advice available to householders.
Mr. Rifkind : Studies by the National Radiological Protection Board have indicated that the accumulation of
Column 599
higher than normal concentrations of radon in buildings is influenced by the uranium content and permeability of the underlying rocks and soils, and also by some characteristics of the buildings. Some of these factors combine in the Dee valley to cause higher levels of this naturally occurring gas in a small percentage of houses : such levels have been discovered in the areas of Aboyne, Ballater, Banchory, Braemar and Torphins.The Scottish Office has arranged for the National Radiological Protection Board to provide information and a free radon measurement to any concerned householder in the Kincardine and Deeside district. In addition, grants continue to be available, through the present improvement grants system, for any remedial action which may be necessary.
Steel
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the dates when, with steel as the principal topic, he has met delegations from steelworkers and other organisations in Scotland.
Mr. Lang : During the last six months, my right hon. and learned Friend met a delegation of Ravenscraig shop stewards on 30 November 1989, a delegation of Scottish Labour Members of Parliament on 7 December 1989, and representatives of Strathclyde regional council and the Scottish Trades Union Congress on 8 January 1990.
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list with dates the meetings he has had, or any of his Ministers or senior officials have had, with the chief executive or other board members of British Steel since privatisation.
Mr. Lang : My right hon. and learned Friend met the chairman of British Steel on 26 October 1988. He met the chairman again, with his chief executive, on 26 October 1989.
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he, any of his Ministers, or senior officials had discussions with British Steel about its current capital investment programme before that programme was finalised.
Mr. Lang : The capital investment programme of British Steel is a matter for the company.
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if his Department has formulated an official policy on the issue of a single plate mill strategy in the steel industry.
Mr. Lang : The issue of a single plate mill strategy is a matter for British Steel. My right hon. and learned Friend has made clear his view that the company should give full and careful consideration to the case for investment in Scotland.
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