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Mr. Grist : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 15 March.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Overseas Projects (Environmental Impact)
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what advice is available to United Kingdom industry on the need to consider the environmental impact of overseas projects and investments.
Mr. Forth : The Department provides a full range of overseas market advice to companies as part of the export initiative. More detailed advice on environmental controls and requirements in other countries is available from the environmental inquiry point at Warren Spring laboratory, established under the DTI's environmental programme as a free source of information on environmental concerns in
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strategic planning. The Overseas Development Administration has published a manual of environmental appraisal, which is available to companies on request.Electrical Equipment
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to secure the safety of electrical equipment made in Europe which does not conform to British safety standards.
Mr. Forth : The safety of most electrical equipment traded throughout the European Community is judged on its compliance with the low voltage directive, implemented in the United Kingdom through the Low Voltage Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1989. Conformity may be established in a number of ways, primarily through harmonised European standards or, in their absence, by compliance with national safety standards. However, neither method is mandatory. The fundamental requirement is for the product to be safe.
Barlow Clowes
Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many investors on Barlow Clowes have benefited from the scheme he announced on 19 December.
Mr. Redwood : By 28 February, 13,724 cheques had been dispatched by my agents, totalling £145 million. A further 260 claims were being processed and a further 210 investors appear to have been unable to meet the deadline for claims for understandable reasons, such as absence overseas, and their cases will be considered if there is good reason. Of the remaining 66 cases, some would not appear to qualify because they have already assigned their rights in return for payments from others, while others are being investigated further to establish whether they benefited directly or indirectly from the circumstances leading up to the liquidation.
My agents have received assignments of rights from all the investors who are being paid out. My Department will now obtain necessary information from these investors and will be considering all the claims that may be pursued in order to secure the maximum net recovery for the taxpayer.
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EC Industry Ministers
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what subjects he raised at the last Council of Industry Ministers.
Mr. Douglas Hogg [holding answer 15 March 1990] : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Renfrew, West and Inverclyde (Mr. Graham) on Wednesday 14 March at columns 476-77.
Advisers
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list all those organisations who have received fees for advice given to his Department since April 1985, giving in each case the period over which they were retained and the matters on which they advised.
Mr. Forth [holding answer 13 March 1990] : My Department uses widely the services of many organisations to give advice on a broad range of issues. The length of period during which the advice is sought and given varies according to the subject.
The information sought by the hon. Member can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
If the hon. Member would care to write clarifying the information he seeks, I shall consider his request.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Tax
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing the number of (a) working heads and (b) dependants facing marginal tax and benefit withdrawal rates in excess of 40 per cent. in the manner of his answer to the late hon. Member for Kensington on 25 March 1988, Official Report, column 244.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The latest available information is set out in the table. The table shows the number of tax units where the head faces a combined withdrawal rate above 50 per cent., and the total number of individuals, including spouses and children, in their families.
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Marginal deduction rates 1989-90 Working heads of tax units (000s) Great Britain Numbers facing combined rates of over 50 per cent. Notes: (i) Marginal deduction rates shown are for heads of tax units in receipt of family credit or housing benefit where at least one partner works 24 hours or more a week. They incorporate the October 1989 National Insurance contribution changes. (ii) Estimates based on 1985 and 1986 FES data uprated to 1989-90 levels. (iii) * denotes an estimate of fewer than 2,500.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people face marginal tax rates, both including and excluding social security of (a) over 40
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per cent., (b) over 50 per cent., (c) over 60 per cent., (d) over 70 per cent., (e) over 80 per cent., (f) over 90 per cent. and (g) over 100 per cent. ; (i) now and (ii) in each year since 1978 -79.Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Available estimates are set out in the table. The first table shows the number of tax units facing combined marginal tax/benefit withdrawal rates in the requested ranges, in 1985 and as currently projected for 1989-90. These are the only years for which estimates on a comparable basis are available. The second table shows the number of tax units facing marginal rates of income tax in the requested ranges. Estimates are provided for 1985-86 and 1989-90, to be comparable with those provided incorporating social security withdrawal rates, and also for 1978-79.
Table 1: Marginal deduction rates-working heads of tax units, in
Great Britain
Numbers with marginal deduction rates in specified range<1>
|Thousands |Thousands
100 and over |70 |-
90 to 99 |60 |40
80 to 89 |160 |130
70 to 79 |- |180
60 to 69 |160 |5
50 to 59 |230 |<4>
40 to 49 |n.a. |30
<1>Marginal deduction rates shown are for heads of benefit units
in receipt of family credit (previously family income
supplement) or housing benefit where at least one partner works
24 hours or more a week.
<2>Based on 1982, 1983 and 1984 Family Expenditure Surveys.
<3>Projection based on 1985 and 1986 FES. Shows the position
post October 1989 national insurance contribution changes.
<4>Denotes an estimate of fewer than 2,500.
n.a. Denotes not available.
Table 2
Marginal rate of income tax-tax units, Great Britain
Numbers with marginal rate of income tax in specified range<1>
|thousands |thousands |thousands
100 per cent. and over |- |- |-
90 to 99 per cent. |20 |- |-
80 to 89 per cent. |50 |- |-
70 to 79 per cent. |60 |- |-
60 to 69 per cent. |90 |- |-
50 to 59 per cent. |170 |170 |-
40 to 49 per cent. |590 |530 |-
<1> Estimates based on 1978-79 and 1985-86 Surveys of Personal Incomes. Estimates allow for taxpayers in the aged withdrawal band (where
the marginal rate of income tax was 55 per cent. in 1978-79, 50 per cent. in 1985-86 and 37.5 per cent. in 1989-90) and for Investment
Income Surcharge rates of 10 per cent. and 15 per cent. in 1978-79.
Benefit Rights (Publicity)
Mr. Alex Carlile : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether he has proposals to help make people who are eligible to apply for benefits aware of their rights to claim benefits ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The Government's policy on take-up of benefits is set out in the White Paper on the Government's expenditure plans 1990-91 to 1992-93, chapter 14, paragraph 27, which is in the Library.
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Local Government Finance
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will bring forward plans to raise the capital limit for the community charge benefit.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : We continue to keep under review the capital limits for all income-related benefits.
Mr. Maxton : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a table for the following household types : (a) single pensioner, (b) other single adult, (c) two adults, (d) three or more adults and (e) all households listing (i) the number receiving rate bills, (ii) the total value of their gross rate bills, (iii) the numbers entitled to rebates and (iv) the total value of rebates in 1987-88 and 1988-89 in Scotland.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Information is not available in the form or detail requested. The latest available information is in the table.
|1987-88 |1988-89
Number of households (000s) |1,950 |1,967
Gross value of domestic rate bills excluding water rates (£ million) |918 |968
Numbers receiving rate rebates (000s) |785 |688
Rate rebate expenditure (£ million) |212 |170
Sources : Scottish Office statistics. Housing benefit expenditure and caseload return from local authorities. Mr. Hayward : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the cost of giving the community charge relief at 20 per cent. of full charge to those adults of working age who currently remain at home caring for immediate relatives who are in receipt of attendance allowance.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The information requested is not available.
Social Fund
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the current refusal rate for social fund applications in each social security office ; and what was it in March 1989.
Mr. Scott : Information regarding the numbers of social fund applications processed and awards made is placed in the Library for each month since the start of the scheme. The information sought can be derived from that source.
Mobility Allowance
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people have had their mobility allowance withdrawn in each of the last 10 years on the grounds that they were no longer deemed to be able to benefit from enhanced facilities for locomotion ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : Very few recipients have their mobility allowance withdrawn on the grounds that they will no longer, from time to time, be able to benefit from enhanced facilities for locomotion. I regret that records of the number of cases are not kept.
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Income Support
Mr. Patchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many persons in Barnsley, East, who are in receipt of income support, receive the single parents' supplement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : In February 1990, there were 1,690. Source : 100 per cent. count of cases in action, which include a number where benefit payment has ceased but other action is continuing. Data are provisional and subject to amendment.
Mr. Patchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many persons in south Yorkshire, who are in receipt of income support, receive the single parents' supplement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : In February 1990, there were 19,894. Source : 100 per cent. count of cases in action, which include a number where benefit payment has ceased but other action is continuing. Data are provisional and subject to amendment.
Occupational Pensions
Mr. Cash : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he proposes to appoint a new chairman of the occupational pensions board.
Mr. Newton : I have reappointed Mr. Jeremy Rowe CBE as chairman of the board for a further three years from 6 April 1990.
Community Care Grants (Preston)
Mrs. Wise : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in how many refusals of community care grants at the Preston social security office one of the grounds for refusal has been insufficient funds.
Mr. Scott : On 21 occasions at the Preston South local office and 318 occasions at the Preston North local office, the social fund officer refused applications for community care grants, giving as a reason that they had insufficient priority to be met from the budget. These figures are provisional and cover the period April 1989 to February 1990.
Occupational Pensions
Mr. Gill : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he has any further proposals concerning occupational pensions ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Newton : There has been a wide welcome for the general aims of the provisions in the current Social Security Bill which seek to give members of occupational pension schemes greater protection. One of the provisions in the current Social Security Bill requires pension increases to be paid when a scheme winds up. I have received representations saying that I should go further and place a similar requirement for pension increases on schemes which continue as well. Others have pointed to the possible consequences for businesses and have said that the current wind-up provisions could in certain cases lead to employers facing additional contingent liabilities for which they had not been able to plan.
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I have carefully considered all these representations, and the discussions in Committee, and have concluded that we can strike a better balance. I shall bring forward an amendment for the Report stage of the Bill.The amendment will make two requirements. First, in future schemes will have to pay annual increases to members for their pension rights which they build up after an appointed day. In respect of their rights, members will be guaranteed increases in line with the retail price index up to 5 per cent. a year. Schemes will of course continue to be free to pay more than this if they wish, as indeed some already do.
Secondly, where schemes have a surplus of assets over liabilities the first call on such a surplus will be to pay increases to members for pension rights which they have built up before the appointed day (including pensions now in payment). The target rate of increase will be the rise in the RPI up to 5 per cent. a year, but the rate to be guaranteed by each scheme will depend on the amount of its surplus. Employers will not be able to take a contribution holiday or refund until increases are guaranteed at the target rate.
The position when a scheme winds up will follow the general requirements for pension increases. In the event of a scheme winding up employers will have to ensure that members receive increases at the prices--5 per cent. rate for pension rights they have built up after the appointed day. For pension rights based on service before then, increases will depend on (a) the extent of increases already guaranteed as a result of the new requirements and (b) any additional surplus emerging when the scheme winds up.
We shall consult the industry about implementation, but I intend that these proposals should take effect no later than the end of 1991.
Together with the Bill's other proposals to establish a pensions ombudsman, to improve help and advice for scheme members and control the extent of self-investment, I believe that these revised proposals to strengthen the pension increase rights of scheme members constitute a significant further step forward in the development of occupational pensions.
Administration Costs
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the total number of staff administering the social security programme per 100,000 claimants for each year from 1978-79 to 1989-90 consistent with the information given in table 14.28 of the current public expenditure White Paper.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 5 March 1990] : The total number of staff administering the social security programme per 100, 000 receiving benefits for the years 1979-80 to 1988-89 is in the table.
1979-80 |384
1980-81 |372
1981-82 |353
1982-83 |339
1983-84 |325
1984-85 |311
1985-86 |316
1986-87 |314
1987-88 |326
1988-89 |326
1989-90 |<1>
Figures for 1978-79 are not available for work on social security administration as a separate item.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Vietnam
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made and what information he possesses concerning changes in the levels of employment and of remuneration following recent changes in economic organisation in Vietnam ; and what assessment he has made of their consequential effects on illegal movements to Hong Kong.
Mr. Maude : There are no reliable statistics on current levels of employment and wages in Vietnam. One of the short-term effects of economic reform in Vietnam is likely to be higher unemployment and cuts in real wages. Any changes in the Vietnamese economy will take time to affect clandestine movements of people to Hong Kong. In the longer term, sustained economic improvement, already evident in small businesses, services and rural areas, should begin to deter would-be emigrants.
Drug Abuse
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the level of contributions from the United Kingdom and other countries to the United Nations fund for drug abuse control.
Mr. Maude : Since 1982 the United Kingdom has contributed or pledged a total of £11.05 million to the United Nations fund for drug abuse control. This includes an annual contribution to UNFDAC's general purpose fund and contributions (or pledges) to a range of individual country projects. The United Kingdom is the fifth largest donor after Italy, the United States, the Federal Republic of Germany and Sweden.
Hong Kong
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the current position he has arranged with other countries issuing passports to Hong Kong residents.
Mr. Maude : We have for some months been encouraging our friends and partners to follow our lead in providing assurances to Hong Kong people to give them the confidence to remain in the territory. A few countries are already taking action of this kind ; the other countries that we have approached have undertaken to consider our proposal.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what negotiations he has had with the Chinese authorities to ensure that they honour passports issued before 1997 to Hong Kong residents when that country takes over the colony.
Mr. Maude : We have had a number of discussions with the Chinese authorities on nationality questions. We have made it clear to the Chinese authorities that the granting of British citizenship to certain Hong Kong residents falls
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entirely within the competence of the British Government, and is consistent with the provisions of the 1984 joint declaration.Israel
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Israeli Government, over the use of tear gas and rubber bullets by their security forces to disperse Palestinian women, who staged anti-occupation marches on the West Bank and in Arab East Jerusalem to coincide with International Women's Day.
Mr. Waldegrave : We regularly remind the Israelis of our concern about their excessive use of force in suppressing manifestations of the intifada in the occupied territories.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had, or intends to have, with the Israeli Government on its policy on the establishment of further Jewish settlements in the occupied territories.
Mr. Waldegrave : The Israeli Government are well aware of our view, expressed by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in her speech to the Board of Deputies of British Jews on 18 February, that the Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, including east Jerusalem, are illegal.
Iraq
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department had with Nizar Hamdoun of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, during his visit to the United Kingdom attending the conference at Chatham house on Iraq in the 1990s, in respect of the detention and trial for spying of The Observer journalist Farzad Bazoft and British nurse Daphne Parish ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Waldegrave : I raised the case of Mrs. Parish and Mr. Bazoft when I met Nizar Hamdoun on 8 March. I expressed our serious concern for the two and emphasised the importance of a fair trial. Mr. Hamdoun took note of these points and emphasised the sensitivity of these cases for the Iraqi authorities. Similar representations were made to Mr. Hamdoun at a senior official level.
East Germany
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the establishment of property rights and a coherent law of contract in East Germany.
Mr. Waldegrave : Revising property and contract law seems likely to be one of the priorities of a new GDR Government after elections on 18 March. It is also to be expected that these questions will be covered in discussions between the two German states on a currency union.
Human Rights (Women)
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on those countries where women do not have the vote ; and to which of those countries he has made representations on their observance of human rights for women.
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Mr. Waldegrave : There are, of course, many countries where neither men nor women have the vote. Women are also under a variety of specific electoral disabilities in a number of different parts of the world. We do not have a complete list of these. Our support for universal suffrage and equal treatment for women is clear from our ratification of the relevant international instruments, particularly the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, and the international covenant on civil and political rights.Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has made representations to the Kuwait Government on their observance of human rights for women.
Mr. Waldegrave : No. As already stated, our position on female suffrage is clear from our ratification of both the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and the international covenant on civil and political rights.
NATIONAL FINANCE
European Investment Bank
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guarantee obligations the Government have in respect of exchange losses on loans given by the European investment bank.
Mr. Ryder : The Government have guarantee obligations against exchange losses on outstanding foreign currency loans from the European investment bank under the official exchange cover scheme and the exchange risk cover scheme for the private sector. However, there has been virtually no borrowing under the official exchange cover scheme since changes in the scheme were announced at the end of 1987, and the scheme for the private sector was closed in 1985.
Income Tax
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many women pay tax on schedule E ; and what are their average earnings.
Mr. Lilley : In 1989-90 there are about 7illion women with earnings taxed under schedule E and their average earnings are approximately £7,750. These estimates include taxpayers with earnings from full-time or part-time work.
The estimates are based on a projection of the 1987-88 survey of personal incomes and are provisional.
Retail Prices Index
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the current retail prices index for the United Kingdom calculated on the same basis as the similar indices are in (a) France and (b) Germany.
Mr. Lilley : It is not practicable to perform such calculations taking account of the many differences between these countries in methods and concepts used in constructing consumer price indices.
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Taxation and Expenditure
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list in the Official Report, for the years (a) 1978-79, (b) 1987-88 and (c) 1988-89 : (i) the total national tax revenue raised and (ii) the central Government public expenditure spent, in each region of the United Kingdom.
Mr. Lilley : (i) Estimates of the total national tax revenue are not made on a regional basis. However, figures giving a partial coverage are available and include estimates of the income tax liability of residents in the regions. Figures for 1978-79 have been published by the CSO in "Regional Trends" No. 16 and for the latest figures, which are for the year 1987-88, I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 12 February ( Official Report, column 18 ).
(ii) Apart from expenditure which is the responsibility of territorial Departments, all Government expenditure is both planned and controlled on a national basis. Information on expenditure broken down by standard regions within England is thus not available on a consistent basis. Published figures giving a partial coverage are published by the CSO in "Regional Trends'. They include estimates of social security cash benefits, current expenditure by regional health authorities and regional preferential assistance to industry.
Taxation
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce legislation to allow United Kingdom shipping companies whose employees work on vessels registered in the United Kingdom to be exempt from paying income tax and national insurance contributions ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lilley : I cannot anticipate the Budget statement.
Mr. Denzil Davies : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the earnings of a married man in the present fiscal year, assuming a mortgage of £30,000 and a mortgage interest rate of 14 per cent., would be paid in income tax and national insurance payments if his earnings were (a) £15,000, (b) £20,000, (c) £25,000, (d) £50,000, (e) £100,000 and (f) £250,000.
Mr. Major : The information is in the table :
Percentage of earnings paid in income tax
and national insurance contributions<1> by
married man<2> at 1989-90 levels of income
£ per annum|per cent.
15,000 |16.1
20,000 |20.6
25,000 |21.9
50,000 |29.7
100,000 |34.8
250,000 |37.9
<1> Based on the post-October 1989 rates.
<2> Calculations assume that the married
man has no other forms of income and that
he does not receive any tax allowances or
reliefs other than mortgage interest relief
of £4,200 per annum-the interest paid on
his £30,000 mortgage at a rate of 14 per
cent.-and the married man's allowance.
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European Community Budget
Mr. Denzil Davies : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the total budget of the EC, in the latest available year, was made up from the contributions of (a) the United Kingdom, (b) the Federal Republic of Germany and (c) France.
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Mr. Major : The information in the table relates to the 1990 European Community budget, which totals 43,815 mecu :
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Girobank
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Derbyshire, North-East of 26 February, Official Report, columns 12-13, if he will arrange for an examination of the operation of the Girobank keyway account.
Mr. Ryder : No. I see no reason to do so.
Mortgages
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the effect on the retail prices index of raising the ceiling on relief on mortgage interest to (a) £35,000, (b) £40,000 and (c) £45,000 ; and what would be the effect on the retail prices index of restricting relief in each of these cases, and in circumstances where the present ceiling is unchanged, to the standard rate of income tax.
Mr. Lilley [holding answer 13 March 1990] : Using the current calculations, as for the latest retail prices index, the approximate effect of raising the maximum level of mortgage to which tax relief on interest payments applies would be as follows :
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