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Mr. Maples : The rises, expressed as percentages of the level in the previous year or quarter, are given in the table :
Annual |per cent. ------------------------------ 1979 |5.8 1980 |1.5 1981 |-0.7 1982 |-0.2 1983 |2.8 1984 |2.4 1985 |2.6 1986 |4.5 1987 |3.3 1988 |5.7 1989 |5.4
Quarterly |Per cent.
----------------------------------------
1979 |Q1 |0.9
|Q2 |0.9
|Q3 |0.7
|Q4 |5.2
1980 |Q1 |-3.6
|Q2 |0.1
|Q3 |1.7
|Q4 |-0.4
1981 |Q1 |0.4
|Q2 |-1.9
|Q3 |-0.6
|Q4 |0.7
1982 |Q1 |-0.7
|Q2 |1.7
|Q3 |-1.0
|Q4 |0.4
1983 |Q1 |1.0
|Q2 |2.1
|Q3 |-0.4
|Q4 |0.7
1984 |Q1 |0.5
|Q2 |0.5
|Q3 |0.5
|Q4 |1.7
1985 |Q1 |-1.4
|Q2 |2.8
|Q3 |0.1
|Q4 |1.0
1986 |Q1 |0.5
|Q2 |2.7
|Q3 |0.5
|Q4 |0.2
1987 |Q1 |-0.6
|Q2 |2.4
|Q3 |1.2
|Q4 |1.2
1988 |Q1 |1.3
|Q2 |1.7
|Q3 |0.7
|Q4 |2.3
1989 |Q1 |1.0
|Q2 |2.2
|Q3 |-0.1
|Q4 |0.7
1990 |Q1 |1.6
|Q2 |0.7
|Q3 |1.0
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Corporation Tax
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Chancellor of the exchequer what corporation tax had been payable by (a) BT plc, (b) Cable and Wireless plc and (c) British Steel plc since they were privatised.
Mr. Maude : Details of the tax affairs of identified taxpayers are confidential and may not be revealed without the express permission of those concerned.
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the cost in 1991-92 and in a full year of reducing the small companies rate of corporation tax to 20 per cent.
Mr. Maude [holding answer 25 February 1991] : Table 4.5 of the 1990 autumn statement shows the direct effect of a 1 percentage point change in the small companies rate is £35 million in 1991-92. The corresponding full-year effect is £55 million.
Subject to the qualifications in that table, the costs associated with a 5 percentage point reduction, to 20 per cent., may be expected to be broadly pro rata to the effects of a 1 percentage point change.
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the cost in 1991-92 and in a full year of raising the lower limit for the reduced rate for corporation tax from £200,000 to (a) £250,000 and (b) £300,000 ; and how many firms would be affected in each case.
Mr. Maude [holding answer 25 February 1991] : The costs would be as follows :
Lower limit |1991-92 |Full year of marginal relief £ |£ million |£ million ------------------------------------------------ 250,000 |20 |30 300,000 |35 |50
The figures assume company incomes at 1990-91 levels, that the upper limit for marginal relief remained at £1 million and that the change took effect from 1 April 1990. In each case about 30,000 companies would be affected.
Savings (Advertising)
Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much expenditure has been incurred by the Inland Revenue on a television and newspaper advertising campaign to inform savers who are non-taxpayers that they will no longer need to pay tax on their savings after 6 April ; what considerations underlay the decision to authorise such expenditure in addition to direct mailing ; and what assessment was made of the costs and benefits of this additional expenditure.
Mr. Maude : The figure is £6,384,000. Advertising was the only effective way to explain the change to the up to 15 million non-taxpayers affected by it. The advertising campaign and the delivery of a leaflet to all households are complementary features of the publicity for the new system. They are designed to encourage as many as possible of those affected to register for payment of interest without deduction of tax and so reduce the number who make repayment claims. The costs of the publicity will be more than offset by the consequential saving on administrative costs in making fewer repayments.
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Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much expenditure has been incurred to produce and send leaflets to every household in Great Britain explaining that savers who are non-taxpayers will no longer need to pay tax on their savings after 6 April.
Mr. Maude : A total of £1,365,000.
Inflation
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average percentage increase in inflation during the period (a) 1974 to 1979 and (b) 1979 to 1990.
Mr. Maples : Between December 1973 and December 1979 the average annual rate of inflation, as measured by the retail prices index, was 16 per cent. per annum. This compares with 7.2 per cent. for the period December 1979 to December 1990.
Kuwaiti Bank Holdings
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, Central (Mr. Darling) of 4 February 1991, Official Report, column 7, what information he has on the total value of investments and bank holdings in Britain by all Kuwaiti sources as of August 1990, and the comparable figures for 1988, 1986 and 1984.
Mr. Maples : Figures for Kuwaiti bank holdings in Britain as of August 1990 are not available. However, United Kingdom banks and other financial institutions' external liabilities to Kuwait on 29 June 1990 were $10,871 million. Comparable figures for 1988, 1986 and 1984 are not available.
The information requested on investments is not available.
Public Expenditure
Mr. Ridley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by what percentage public expenditure changed between 1983-84 and 1989-90 in real terms ; and what percentage of gross domestic product public expenditure was in each of those years.
Mr. Norman Lamont : Figures on general Government expenditure, excluding privatisation proceeds, in real terms and general government expenditure, excluding privatisation proceeds, as a proportion of gross domestic product were set out in table 2.1 of the statistical supplement to the 1990 autumn statement. The figures show that general Government expenditure, excluding privatisation proceeds, rose by 4 per cent. in real terms between 1983-84 and 1989-90. As a proportion of gross domestic product it fell from 46 per cent. to 39 per cent. over the same period.
The Gulf
Mr. Kaufman : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list (a) the cost to date to the United Kingdom of the Gulf war, (b) the amounts of assistance to the United Kingdom's Gulf costs either provided or promised, stating the sums of money from each relevant country or organisation, and (c) the increased revenue to the Treasury resulting from increases in oil prices since 2 August 1990.
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Mr. Norman Lamont [holding answer 18 February 1991]: (a) The additional costs to the defence budget of the Gulf conflict so far assessed are some £1 billion, including equipment lost and munitions used. Eventual defence costs, which would be spread over some years, are uncertain, but, allowing for continuation of the campaign, could be around £3 billion. There are also small costs on other public expenditure programmes and about £160 million of claims have been paid by ECGD to exporters against defaults by Iraq.(b) Assistance promised to date amounts to about £1.4 billion. This includes in cash £660 million from Kuwait, about £275 million from Germany, about £250 million from the United Arab Emirates, about £15 million from Hong Kong and about £8 million from Denmark. Within this total we estimate that the assistance received to date is worth about £350 million. This includes half the German cash contribution, £25 million cash contribution towards transport costs from Japan and assistance in kind, such as the provision of food, fuel, water and accommodation by Saudi Arabia under the agreement for host nation support. Assistance in kind has also been received from Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Kuwait, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and UAE. (c) Government revenues have so far been little affected by the increase in the oil prices for a period after last August. The increase in revenue attributable to the higher oil prices in the second half of 1990 is likely to be around £1 billion. More than half this will be received in March this year, and the remainder in 1991-92.
Mr. Higgins : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the various cash contributions towards the costs of the Gulf war promised by other countries to date, the dates when he expects each contribution to be paid ; if the proceeds will be paid into the Consolidated Fund ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norman Lamont [holding answer 22 February 1991] : The following financial contributions have been promised to date : Japan--$50 million (£25 million ; received 18 January)
Germany--DM800 million (about £275 million ; £137 million received 20 February)
Kuwait--£660 million
United Arab Emirates--$500 million (about £250 million)
Hong Kong--HK$230 million (about £15 million)
Denmark--KR90 million (about £8 million)
The second tranche of the German contribution is expected to be paid in March. The dates of the other payments are not yet known. The Japanese contribution has been appropriated in aid of class 1--Defence--votes. The first part of the German contribution--DM400 million--has just been paid into our foreign currency reserves and the sterling equivalent will be credited to the Consolidated Fund.
Insolvent Companies
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consultations he has had with the Governor of the Bank of England as regards the setting up of a lifeboat fund for technically insolvent companies.
Mr. Maples [holding answer 25 February 1991] : None. However, the so-called "London approach", in which the Bank of England plays a facilitating role, where appropriate, can help to ensure that difficulties between
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companies and their creditors are resolved in an orderly fashion and on the basis of the fullest possible information. The Government very much support this approach.Vehicle Tax
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total revenue from motor taxation in 1989-90 ; and what is his estimated revenue for 1990-91 divided into its constituent parts.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 25 February 1991] : Following is the available information :
|1989 |1990-91
|£ billion |£ billion
|(forecast)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Vehicles excise duty |2.9 |3.0
Hydrocarbon oil excise duty |8.7 |9.6
Car tax |1.5 |1.4
Value-added tax |5.2 |<1>-
|--
Total |18.3
<1>- not available
Tax Burden (Distribution)
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the regional distribution of (a) the personal tax burden and (b) the overall tax burden.
Mr. Maude [holding answer 25 February 1991] : The amount of income tax payable by region for 1987-88, the latest year for which information is available, is shown in table 11.7 of Regional Trends 25 (1990 edition). Regional information for taxes overall is not available.
TESSAs
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has on the likely size of deposit in a TESSA in the first year.
Mr. Maude [holding answer 25 February 1991] : It is too early to make a firm estimate.
Income Tax
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for each region of the United Kingdom (a) the number of higher rate tax payers, (b) the number of basic rate tax payers and (c) the number who pay no national insurance or income tax.
Mr. Maude [holding answer 25 February 1991] : The latest available information for (a) and (b) relates to 1987-88 and has been published in table 11.7 of Regional Trends 25 (1990 edition). I regret that information relating to (c) is not available.
Irradiated Food
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what advice he intends to give to Government Departments about the use of irradiated food in central Government establishments ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maples [holding answer 25 February 1991] : The sale of irradiated foods is subject to the Food Labelling (Amendment) (Irradiated Foods) Regulations 1990.
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It is a matter for individual Government Departments and establishments to determine policy for the use of irradiated foods with the provider of their catering services. Current civil service catering organisation policy is not to accept or knowingly use irradiated foods.TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Computers
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will make it his policy to seek amendment to the EC draft software directive to allow organisations to back up their computer systems for use in disaster recovery of vital database systems ;
(2) whether he will make it his policy to ensure that the EC draft software directive does not place the owners of proprietary products in a monopoly situation ;
(3) whether he will make it his policy to ensure that the EC draft software directive is not used by large suppliers of IT products as a means of stifling competition.
Mr. Leigh : The directive, like existing United Kingdom copyright law, provides that persons who newly create computer programs are given exclusive property rights in those programs in the same way as authors of other copyright works. This encourages the production of new programs and fair competition between program creators, thus producing greater choice for the consumer. The directive will ensure that rights cannot be used to prevent either the independent development of interoperable programs or the making of back-up copies of programs.
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what representations he has received from British computer users concerning the restrictions placed on them by contracts prepared to conform to the EC draft software directive and what response he has made ;
(2) if he will make it his policy to seek amendment to the EC draft software directive to draw a distinction between the copying of programs with the primary purpose of transfer into a system for immediate resale and commercial gain and the copying of programs with the primary purposes of system maintenance and research ; (3) what representations he has received from British computer users concerning the effects of the EC draft software directive on their software maintenance rights ; and what response he has made ; (4) what representations he has received from the British banking community concerning the impact of the copyright restrictions proposed by the EC draft software directive on the efficiency and standardisation of a bank's operating environment ; and what response he has made ;
(5) what assessment his Department has made of the implications of the EC draft software directive on the freedom of choice of maintenance services for software licensees ;
(6) what assessment his Department has made of the implications of the EC draft software directive on the small and medium enterprises commonly known as third-party maintenance organisations ; (7) what assessment his Department has made of the implications of the Council of Ministers common position on the EC draft software directive on the applicability of the fair dealing exception in respect of computer software.
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Mr. Leigh : I do not expect the directive to change existing practices in software maintenance significantly. Under existing United Kingdom copyright law, copyright owners are free to make whatever contractual arrangements they wish with users of their works, subject only to the general law of contract. This will continue to be the case under the directive except that owners of copyright in computer programs will not be able to prevent decompilation of those programs by persons wishing to create interoperable programs, under certain conditions. The creation of independent computer programs intended to maintain interoperability within computer systems will therefore be possible, free of contractual restraint.
The fair dealing provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 will continue to apply to computer programs on points not covered by the directive. Representations on these matters have been received from the computer users of Europe group, which represents many United Kingdom bodies, including at least one in the banking sector.
Miss Emma Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what assessment his Department has made of the implications of the EC draft software directive on the use of open systems ;
(2) if he will make a statement on his Department's policy towards current de facto standards used by the information technology business whilst open international standards are emerging ; and what assessment his Department has made of the implications of the EC draft software directive on the continued use of these de facto standards ;
(3) if he will make it his policy to allow information properly learnt, pursuant to the EC draft software directive, to be used to develop both new non-infringing hardware and new non-infringing software ;
(4) what assessment his Department has made of the implications of the EC draft software directive on the trade in those software products containing interfaces to other pieces of software which are so widely used as to be considered as de facto standards ; (5) what representations he has received from British computer users concerning the effects of the EC draft software directive on the ability of compatible vendors to create and market competing computer programs ; and what response he has made.
Mr. Leigh : Open systems, de facto standards, trade in software products incorporating those standards and competing computer programs have all developed in the United Kingdom in parallel with strong protection of computer programs under United Kingdom copyright law. I expect this situation to be unchanged under the proposed directive, which protects only the particular expressions of a computer program, not the ideas and principles which underlie it, and contains exceptions to the rights of copyright owners in order that interoperable programs may be developed.
Stock Exchange
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received about the closure of the Newcastle branch of the London stock exchange.
Column 445
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if his Department was consulted by the London stock exchange about the reduction in its regional representation in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Redwood : No. This is a matter for the international stock exchange.
Electricity Prices
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has met representatives of those sectors of industry which face severe difficulties as a consequence of increases in the price of electricity where this increase provides comparative disadvantages in regard to the maintenance of international trade.
Mr. Redwood : My right hon. Friend has had no recent meetings with industrialists on the subject of electricity prices, but is well aware of their concerns.
Import Restrictions
Mr. Oppenheim : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list all items and products subject to either tariffs of more than 5 per cent., bilateral or EC-wide import quotas, voluntary restraint agreements of any type or anti-dumping duties.
Mr. Redwood : On the subjects of import quotas, voluntary restraint arrangements and anti-dumping duties, I refer my hon. Friend to my hon. Friend the Minister for Trade's replies of 17 January 1991 at columns 593- 94, 4 February 1991 at column 26 and 5 February 1991 at column 78 . On the question of anti-dumping duties, there are certain changes to the list that was placed in the Library of the House. Linear Tungsten Halogen Lamps from Japan is now subject to definitive anti-dumping duties of 35.6 per cent. and 46.5 per cent. which will expire on 20 January 1996. The definitive anti-dumping duties in force against two of the products on the list--clogs from Sweden and hydraulic excavators from Japan--have now expired. Provisional anti-dumping duties of between 2.1 per cent. and 17.4 per cent. have been imposed on small-screen colour television receivers from Hong Kong and China ; these are due to expire on 24 May 1991. With regard to the Community's common customs tariff, a very wide range of products is subject to rates of more than 5 per cent. Full details are contained in the Official Journal of the European Communities which can be found in the Library of the House.
Company Liquidations
Mr. McCartney : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the statutory provisions that relate to the setting up of a second company by the owners of a company while the original company is in receivership.
Mr. Redwood : There are no additional statutory provisions that relate to the formation and promotion of a company by the directors, shareholders or beneficial owners of another company that is in administrative receivership. If, however, action is taken to disqualify a director of a failed company from holding office in the future, the person concerned would have to obtain the
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leave of the court before setting up or taking part in the management of another company. Leave is granted only in exceptional circumstances.ENERGY
Statistics
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what information he has on the proportion of energy used (a) in housing, (b) commercial, (c) industrial and (d) public buildings in 1989 and 1990.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The estimated proportions of United Kingdom expenditure on energy in 1989 accounted for by different categories of building are as follows :
Housing 27 per cent. ; Public 4 per cent. ; Commercial 9 per cent. ; Industrial 3 per cent.
Data for 1990 is not yet available.
Source : Table 9 of the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics 1990 and Building Research Establishment publications.
Coal Mining Subsidence
Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how much money British Coal holds for provision of coal mining subsidence damage.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The corporation's annual report and accounts for 1989-90 show a cumulative provision of £243 million to cover its latent liability to meet the cost of surface damage expected to arise. The financial arrangements which the corporation makes for settling claims in any particular year are a matter for the corporation.
OFFER
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many of the total staff of the Office of Electricity Regulation are on secondment from Government Departments and, in particular, from his Department.
Mr. Wakeham : The total number of OFFER staff on loan from other Government Departments is 22. Of these, four are from the Department of Energy.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the total staff of OFFER.
Mr. Wakeham : The total number of full-time equivalent staff in post at OFFER stands at 200.5.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) how many appointments to OFFER are subject to his decision ;
(2) how many of the appointments to OFFER which he makes are presently filled by people seconded from his Department.
Mr. Wakeham : The Director General of Electricity Supply alone is appointed by me. He is not seconded from my Department.
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) how many appointments to OFFER are subject to consultation with him or his Department ;
(2) how many of the appointments to OFFER on which he is consulted are filled by people on secondment.
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Mr. Wakeham : I and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry are consulted by the director general prior to the appointment of the 12 chairmen of the consumers' committees. None of these appointments is filled by a person on secondment. My Department is naturally consulted where any appointment is to be filled by a person on secondment from the Department.Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) whether he or any of his Ministers or officials have been in contact with Professor Littlechild since he wrote to the chairman of the Electricity Consultation Committee on 18 February ;
(2) what contact he or any of his Ministers or officials had on 12 February with the Deputy Director General of Electricity Supply about electricity disconnections.
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Mr. Wakeham : I, my ministerial colleagues and officials are in regular contact with the Director General of Electricity Supply and OFFER on regulatory matters concerning electricity.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Housing
Rev. Ian Paisley : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the amount spent by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive on (a) maintenance and repairs, (b) building new houses, (c) administration and (d) improvement and repair grants, for each year since 1979.
Mr. Needham : The chief executive of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive has advised me that the information requested is as follows :
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|Maintenance |New build |Supervision and|Improvement
|and repairs |management |and repair
|grants
|£ million |£ million |£ million |£ million
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1978-79 |25.3 |62.3 |13.3 |15.9
1979-80 |31.1 |54.4 |15.9 |24.8
1980-81 |35.5 |68.3 |21.5 |28.8
1981-82 |33.8 |67.5 |24.8 |28.9
1982-83 |48.2 |93.3 |27.9 |34.3
1983-84 |45.1 |99.4 |31.9 |45.5
1984-85 |50.5 |89.0 |33.8 |58.4
1985-86 |54.4 |81.5 |36.7 |60.2
1986-87 |58.3 |63.9 |37.7 |56.5
1987-88 |62.6 |55.7 |37.3 |45.2
1988-89 |64.7 |55.9 |43.3 |36.4
1989-90 |70.1 |51.3 |46.3 |33.7
Rev. Ian Paisley : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the average increases in Housing Executive rents in Northern Ireland for each year since 1979.
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