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Column 382
The Human FactorFor children's use at the Visitors' Centres in
PrisonEstablishments :
Fireman Sam
Children's Picturehouse
Flintstones
Cartoon Superstars II
Jetsons 1st Episode
Magic Roundabout
Tom and Jerry
Children's Cartoon Favourites
Postman Pat
Magic of Fairies
Fraggle Rock
Noah's Animals
Cartoon Superstars
Sooty Out and About
Waterbabies
Rainbow Music
Mickey's Christmas Carol
Snoopy and the Peanut Gang
Button Moon
Muppets
Mickey and the Gang
Mr. Ben
Children's Summer Stories
Children's Favourites Vol. II
The Carebears
Hillcraft and Navigation
Alf
Big
Goonies
Nursery Rhymes
Pinnochio
Count Duckula
Bill and Ben
Yogi's First Christmas
Tales of Button Moon
Neigbhours--Scott and Charlene's Love Story
For catering-based training :
1991-92
Meat
Fish
Poultry and Game
Vegetables
Cakes
Pastries
Catering for Health
Eggs
Flour and Yeast
Desserts
Positive Time Skills
Put it in Writing
Civil Service Transfers
Mr. Mallon : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many employees of the Northern Ireland civil service have applied for a job transfer and have stated Newry (i) as their first preference or (ii) as a preference other than first preference.
Dr. Mawhinney : The number of non-industrial staff in the Northern Ireland civil service who have applied for a transfer and have stated Newry as :
(i) first preference is 159 ; and
(ii) as preference other than first preference is 66.
Social Security Agency
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he will make an announcement about the establishment of the social security agency.
Mr. Brooke : The social security agency was launched this morning and will be formally established on 1 July
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1991. I have made arrangements for copies of the framework document and the business plan, which includes challenging quality of service and efficiency targets, to be placed in both Houses of Parliament.EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
Child Protection
Mr. Bernie Grant : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the amounts allocated to local education authorities to enable them to carry out the training initiatives on child protection and child abuse under the new Children Act 1989, as described in consultative paper No. 22 "Working Together".
Mr. Fallon : The consultation paper is concerned with inter-agency co-operation, and emphasises the importance of joint training under the auspices of area child protection committees. Local education authorities and schools may choose to make specific provision for training teachers and certain other education staff in matters relating to child protection, drawing as appropriate on the support available under our programme of grants for education support and training. However, their allocations for this purpose cannot be readily quantified.
Polytechnics and Colleges Employers Forum
Mr. Murphy : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of the total expenditure of the polytechnics and colleges employers forum for 1989-90 and 1990-91 was spent on entertainment.
Mr. Alan Howarth : This is not a matter for Her Majesty's Government.
TUC Courses
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the level of departmental funding of the Trades Union Congress for educational purposes ; what criteria determine the continuity of that funding ; which section of his Department is responsible for vetting materials used on TUC training or education courses which use departmental funding ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : This Department does not provide any funds for the TUC for educational purposes.
Student Loans
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list in respect of the student loans scheme, (i) the most recent figure for loan applications received, (ii) the number of loans made, (iii) the value of loans made and (iv) total costs incurred administering the scheme.
Mr. Alan Howarth : As at 20 June 1991 over 181,000 students had applied for a loan from the Student Loans Company Ltd. Over 153,000 loans had been issued, with a total value of £59.2 million. Between September 1990, when the scheme became operational, and 31 May 1991, the company's running costs were £7.73 million, exclusive of VAT.
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Football
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what measures he has taken following his letter of 31 May to the Professional Footballers Association to bring together the Football Association, the Football League and the Professional Footballers Association to discuss plans for the future of football ; what further measures he intends to take ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins [holding answer 21 June 1991] : I have had detailed discussions with each of the three bodies and have indicated to all of them that I stand ready to help, in an impartial manner, if the three organisations wish me to do so. In pressing the need for unity and for football to speak with one voice I have made it quite clear that the resolution of the various differences is for football alone.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Building Societies
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the Inland Revenue in court challenged the Woolwich tax model of the effects of regulations 3 and 11 (1985).
Mr. Maples : Yes. The Inland Revenue did not accept the conclusions of the Woolwich building society based on its hypothetical tax model.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the dates beginning and ending the financial years for which building societies' payments of members' income tax in (a) January 1984, (b) January 1985 and (c) January 1986 satisfied the Inland Revenue and the dates beginning and ending the period of deduction of tax to which the 1985, 1986 and 1991 legislation and regulations are directed ; and if he will now add the information to a simple chart and place it in the Library.
Mr. Maude [holding answer 21 June 1991] : Payments of tax by building societies in January 1984, 1985 and 1986 under the former annual accounting arrangements satisfied their liability under those arrangements for the tax years 1983-84, 1984-85 and 1985-86 respectively.
The Building Societies Regulations 1986, to which the 1985, 1986 and 1991 legislation relates, required societies to account for tax from 1986-87 onwards at the end of each quarter. In addition, under transitional provisions, societies were required to account for the tax on interest paid to their investors in the gap period between the end of their accounting period in 1985-86--which formed the basis for the January 1986 payment under the annual arrangements--and 5 April 1986.
I have placed a chart explaining the sequence of events in the Library.
Balance of Trade
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing the balance of trade with (a) the other countries of the EC and (b) the rest of the world in (i) visible and (ii) invisibles in 1990 as a balance of payments basis ; and if he will add the figures for imports and exports.
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Mr. Mellor : Information about visible trade with the EC and the rest of the world in 1990 on a balance of payments basis can be found in the "Monthly Review of External Trade Statistics", available in the Library of the House, or on the Central Statistical Office database which may also be accessed through the Library. Comparable information about invisible trade will be published on 4 September in the 1991 edition of "The CSO Pink Book."Insolvency Service
Mr. Gregory : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list his responsibilities in respect of the Insolvency Service.
Mr. Maples : Department of Trade and Industry Ministers determine and answer to Parliament on the general policy framework within which the Insolvency Service executive agency operates. The Treasury has a number of specific responsibilities as set out in the Insolvency Act 1986 for certain issues of finance, accounting and investment (part XIV sections 404-5 and 407-9) and for certain fees (part XV sections 414-5). The Treasury also has certain other order-making powers (part XV section 422) ; and the Insolvency Service executive agency is subject to Treasury staff inspection.
Tour Operators
Sir Dudley Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what considerations underlay his decision to continue to operate the tour operators' margin scheme.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The United Kingdom is obliged, under article 26 of the EC sixth VAT directive, to have a special scheme for taxing tour operators' margins.
Income Tax
Mr. Battle : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the effect on Treasury revenues in 1991-92 and in a full year of the introduction of a 50 per cent. top rate of income tax on annual taxable income above (a) £42,000, (b) £47,000, (c) £52, 000 and (d) £57,000.
Mr. Maude : The yield in a full year at 1991-92 levels of income is estimated to be (a) £1.7 billion, (b) £1.5 billion, (c) £1.4 billion and (d) £1.2 billion. The corresponding yields in 1991-92 are (a) £0.9 billion, (b) £0.8 billion, (c) £0.7 billion and (d) £0.6 billion.
No account is taken of possible behavioural changes or of any effect on receipts of capital gains tax.
Lloyd's Underwriters
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list all the tax concessions available to members of Lloyd's insurance syndicates which may be set against income from sources other than underwriting profits ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norman Lamont : A Lloyd's underwriter carries on the business of insurance, and if he makes a loss in that business, he is entitled to effectively the same reliefs for a trading loss as any other trader. He may set the trading loss against
his income from other sources of the same year
his income from all sources of the previous year
his income from underwriting in a later year.
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The Government have proposed that in common with all other traders, trading losses for 1991-92 and later years may be set against capital gains.The only difference between the reliefs for losses of Lloyd's underwriters and those of other unincorporated traders is that Lloyd's is able to set off losses against total income of the same year and the previous year. Other traders are able to set off losses against total income of the same year and the succeeding year. This difference merely reflects the fact that Lloyd's is taxed on a current year basis whereas other trades are taxed on the preceding year basis.
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the cost of annual premiums for stop-loss insurance policies available to Lloyd's underwriters are set against tax ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norman Lamont : An underwriter is entitled to deduct the cost of stop-loss policies in computing his taxable profits. He is also required to include any recoveries under a stop-loss policy as income in computing his profits. The position is no different from the tax treatment of comparable insurance policies taken out by other trades.
Value Added Tax
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of any recent proposals of the presidency of the Council of Finance Ministers of the European Communities relating to the harmonisation of value added tax.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I wrote to the hon. Gentleman on Wednesday 19 June to bring him up to date on the position we have reached in the indirect tax negotiations in Europe. I attached to my letter a note summarising the previous proposals for the approximation of indirect taxes and the compromise proposals to be presented by the Luxembourg presidency to ECOFIN on 24 June, and an annex giving full details of the presidency proposals.
My letter and its attachments were placed in the Library on Friday 21 June. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will report the meeting of the ECOFIN in Council on 24 June to the House in the normal way.
HEALTH
Waiting Lists
Mr. Cummings : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients are awaiting radiotherapy treatment in the Sunderland, Hartlepool and Durham area health authorities ; how many were on the lists for treatment in each year since 1986 ; and what is the average waiting time for treatment in each of these years.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : There have been no in-patients waiting for radiotherapy treatment at hospitals in these three districts since 1986. Figures on patients waiting for out-patient treatments are not held centrally.
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