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Mr. Dorrell : The agreements in these cases would normally be to settle appeals, which inspectors or other proper officers of the Crown may do under section 54 of the Taxes Management Act, 1970. The grade level of the inspector or other officer responsible would depend on the size and difficulty of the case and could vary from pay bands A to C--formerly principal inspector/grade 5 and below. The officer responsible for handling the case would also deal with any contract agreement with the taxpayer for the payment of unassessed tax, where settlement was reached in this way. There is no written guidance to officers specifically on agreements covering cases of possible tax avoidance, but technical advice is given by head office specialists on many areas of avoidance.
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Mr. Cousins : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what internal procedures are in force to decide whether to undertake prosecutions for tax non-payment or avoidance ; what grade of officer would normally decide such matters ; and if he will place the written guidance to officers covering such matters in the Library.
Mr. Dorrell : The Inland Revenue take proceedings in examples of all categories of serious tax fraud provided there is evidence to the standard of proof required by the criminal courts. Investigation of cases for possible criminal proceedings is the responsibility of officers in parts of the special compliance office. After legal advice from the office of the solicitor of Inland Revenue, in accounts fraud cases decisions to proceed are taken at under secretary level and in other cases at pay band A-- formerly principal inspector/grade 5--level. I am arranging for a copy of the board's current order covering such matters to be placed in the Library.
Inland Revenue (Performance Reviews)
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what performance review procedures are in force for special investigation offices of the Inland Revenue ; what factors are taken into account in such reviews, and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : For staff in the special investigation offices the same procedures apply as in the rest of the Inland Revenue : individual performance is reviewed regularly against objectives set out in the agreement made between job holder and immediate line manager at the beginning of the year. A formal assessment is made at the end of the year.
The performance of each special investigation office is regularly reviewed by senior officers from the headquarters of the special compliance office by means of analysis of management information, visits and discussions and scrutiny and quality assessment of casework.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much Mr. Ernest Stern is to be paid as vice-president of the European bank for reconstruction and development ; whether United Kingdom income tax is payable on this salary ; and what assessment he has made of the implications of the level of the salary for the vice-president of the European bank for reconstruction and development for the salaries of other senior managers in international institutions.
Mr. Nelson [holding answer 5 July 1993] : Mr. Stern has not been appointed as vice-president of the EBRD.
Tax Evasion
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 29 June, Official Report, column 455, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by the Inland Revenue on tax evasion investigations in each year since 1988-89.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 5 July 1993] : Approximate numbers of staff units were as follows :--
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Year |Number ---------------------- 1988-89 |2,900 1989-90 |3,100 1990-91 |3,200 1991-92 |3,400 1992-93 |3,500
Council Tax
Mr. Burns : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints about council tax valuation bandings in the Chelmsford parliamentary constituency have been resolved since 1 April.
Mr. Nelson [holding answer 5 July 1993] : Valuation lists for council tax are maintained in billing authority areas and not by parliamentary constituencies. As at 30 June 1993, 100 proposals seeking alterations to council tax bands have been resolved in the area covered by Chelmsford borough council. With regard to the arrangements for dealing with proposals to alter council tax valuations I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Planning on Tuesday 29 June, Official Report, column 416.
Mr. Burns : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints have been received about valuations for council tax purposes in the Chelmsford parliamentary constituency since 1 April.
Mr. Nelson [holding answer 5 July 1993] : Valuation lists for council tax are maintained in billing authority areas and not by parliamentary constituencies. As at 30 June 1993, 1,600 proposals seeking alterations to council tax bands have been received in the area covered by Chelmsford borough council. With regard to the arrangement dealing with proposals to alter council tax valuations, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Planning on Tuesday 29 June, Official Report, column 416.
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many appeals against banding for the council tax in the area of Waveney district have been determined to date ; how many are still awaiting determination ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nelson [holding answer 5 July 1993] : As at 30 June 1993, 58 proposals seeking alterations to council tax bandings have been resolved in the area covered to Waveney district council and there are 1,112 proposals awaiting determination. With regard to the arrangements for dealing with proposals to alter council tax valuations, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Planning on Tuesday 29 June, Official Report, column 416.
Uniform Business Rate
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many appeals against valuation for the uniform business rate in the area of Waveney district have been determined since its inception ; how many are still awaiting determination ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Nelson [holding answer 5 July 1993] : As at 30 June 1993, 1, 117 appeals against assessments in the non-domestic rating list for the area covered by Waveney district council have been resolved. There are 654 awaiting determination.
Capital Allowances
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Chancellht into effect from the beginning of the 1992-93 tax year.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 5 July 1993] : If the Finance Bill proposals for the taxation of foreign exchange gains and losses had been introduced from April 1992, corporation tax receipts in 1992-93 would not have been affected because mainstream corporation tax is not due for payment until nine months after the end of the accounting period. Accruals of tax would have started to be affected but many of the accounting periods first affected are not yet finished. Also, the tax change may itself have affected the levels of borrowing.
Corporation Tax
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much corporation tax has been repaid in each year since 1986-87 by industry, classified as in table 9.3 of Inland Revenue statistics 1992.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 5 July 1993] : Information on total repayments of corporation tax was given in my reply to the hon. Member on 28 June, Official Report, column 372. I regret that further information by industry is not available.
Non-domicile Tax Status
Mr. Byers : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to discover how many individuals benefit from non-domicile tax status ; and how much revenue has been lost to the Exchequer through the availability of this status.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 5 July 1993] : The answer to the first part of the question could be calculated only at
disproportionate cost. Information is not available under the present law to answer the second part of the question.
Mr. Asil Nadir
Mr. Byers : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations the holder of his office received from right hon. and hon. Members concerning the conduct of Inland Revenue special office 2's investigation into the affairs of Mr. Asil Nadir.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 5 July 1993] : I am not aware that any such representations have been received.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
British Nuclear Fuels plc
Mr. Dafis : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what criteria he applied when deciding whether to approve British Nuclear Fuels plc corporate plans from 1985 onwards.
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Mr. Eggar : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Southwark and Bermondsey (Mr. Hughes) on 5 July, Official Report, column 36.
Japan
Mr. Callaghan : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what recent representations he has received regarding access for British exports to the Japanese market.
Mr. Needham : In recent years, great strides have been made by Japan in opening her markets, but problems persist in a few areas. The Department is in regular contact with the exporters concerned. Like our EC partners, United Kingdom Ministers and officials take every opportunity to impress on Japan the need for unrestricted access to her markets.
Aid, Rochdale
Mr. Callaghan : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the aid given by his Department to firms in the borough of Rochdale.
Mr. Sainsbury : In the three years ending 30 March 1993, the following sums were paid to firms in the borough of Rochdale :
|£
----------------------------------------------------------------
Regional Selective Assistance:
(This represents 103 payments made to about
55 projects). |3,090,055
Support for Products Under Research (SPUR):
One Offer of |21,187
Payment made on 5 November 1992 of |18,009
Enterprise Initiative Consultancies:
Number of Initiatives=132 |-
Number of Companies Assisted=108 |-
Cost of DTI |523,366
Company Law Reform
Mr. Cash : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish a list of the members of each of the DTI working groups examining the scope for company law reform.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : The following is a list of the external members of the working groups formed to date :
Financial Assistance for the Purchase of a Company's Own Shares :
Ms Rosemary Cairns, Mr. Clive Edrupt, Mrs. Wendy Gadd, Mr. Martyn Jones, Mr. William Knight, Mr. Neil Matthewson, Mr. Ronald Paterson, Mr. Stuart Russell.
Private Companies
Mr. Robin Bell, Mr. Richard Brown, Ms Rosemary Cairns, Mrs. Judith Freedman, Mr. Jeremy Pope, Mr. Derek Scott, Mr. Christopher Swinson, Mr. Piers Wolf.
Group Law
Ms Rosemary Cairns, Ms Harriet Creamer, Mr. Michael Garner, Mr. Michael Levitton, Mr. Stuart Murray, Professor Daniel Prentice, Miss Isobel Sharpe, Mr. Kevin Sweeney, Ms Pauline Wallace.
Registration of Company Charges
Mr. Trevor Aldridge QC, Mr. Peter Graham, Mr. Michael Hall, Mr. Bruce Patrick, Mr. Michael Ryden.
Company Voluntary Arrangements
Miss Mary Arden QC, Mr. W. G. Bradford, Professor I. Fletcher, Mr. I. Fletcher, Mr. Mark Goldstein, Mr. Mark Homan, Mr. J. Pollard, Mr. H. Rajak.
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I intend to consult widely on proposals for reform enabling everybody concerned to have a full opportunity to comment.European Regional Development Fund
Mr. French : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much money each country in the European Community has received from the European regional development fund in each of the last five years.
Mr. Sainsbury : The amount of European regional development fund grant received by each member state of the European Community in the years 1987 to 1991 is given in the table. Figures for 1992 are not yet available.
million ecu, current prices
|1987 |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991
---------------------------------------------------------------
Belgium |23 |30 |41 |44 |46
Denmark |17 |10 |15 |19 |11
Germany |73 |97 |164 |89 |95
Greece |294 |313 |418 |543 |537
Spain |345 |544 |980 |1,407 |1,489
France |311 |436 |284 |331 |323
Ireland |135 |137 |191 |250 |412
Italy |564 |597 |787 |910 |711
Luxembourg |4 |7 |1 |0 |18
Netherlands |20 |13 |29 |33 |35
Portugal |223 |331 |397 |452 |971
United Kingdom |527 |578 |612 |465 |530
|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
Total |2,536 |3,093 |3,919 |4,543 |5,178
Mr. French : To ask the President of the Board of Trade which regions in the United Kingdom currently benefit from the European regional development fund.
Mr. Sainsbury : All regions designated for objectives 1, 2 and 5(b) of the European structural funds are eligible for the European regional development fund. Northern Ireland is designated for objective 1. The areas designated for objective 2 were listed in the Official Journal of the European Communities No. L 112 of 25 April 1989 and No. C 177 of 18 July 1990, and those designated for objective 5(b) in No. L 198 of 12 July 1989.
In addition Gibraltar and parts of London, Kent and Stoke-on-Trent benefit from the European regional development fund under article 10 of Council regulation (EEC) 4254/88.
Insurance (Commission Disclosure)
Mr. French : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received about commission disclosure in general insurance business ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has received no recent representations specifically on the subject of commission disclosure in general insurance business. The Insurance Brokers Registration Council has a code of conduct, and the Association of British Insurers a code of practice, both of which require commission disclosure in general insurance business by independent intermediaries on request.
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Sellafield (Incidents)
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what recent incidents have been reported from the British Nuclear Fuels reprocessing plant.
Mr. Eggar : Details of all incidents at British Nuclear Fuels plc's reprocessing plant at Sellafield are recorded in site logs and published in widely circulated weekly site newsletters. Copies are available in the Library of the House.
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Eddisbury (Mr. Goodlad) to a question from the then Member for Sherwood on 30 April 1987, Official Report , columns 203-4 .
Coal Privatisation
Mr. Nigel Evans : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what Government assistance will be available to support management and employee teams bidding for the privatisation of British Coal.
Mr. Eggar : Government support for management and employee teams bidding for the privatisation of British Coal will be at a maximum rate of 50 per cent. of the eligible costs of employing consultants and or advisers. Support for any team will not exceed £200,000.
Foreign Affairs Council
Mr. Kynoch : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on issues discussed and decisions taken at the meeting of the European Community's Foreign Affairs Council on 2 July.
Mr. Sainsbury : I attended a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on 2 and 3 July. Subject to a reservation by the Irish Republic, which at present remains outstanding, the Council reached conclusions on the regulations on the future of the European structural funds. The Council also heard a report by the Commission on the state of play in the GATT Uruguay round.
Subject to the Irish reservation, the outcome on the structural funds was as follows. It is fully satisfactory for the United Kingdom.
1. The Objective 1 regions, which receive the highest grants, will include Northern Ireland, Merseyside and the whole of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise area, including the Argyll, Bute and West Moray areas, which the European Commission had proposed to omit. 2. The clear priority of the European Social Fund will remain Objective 3, training for the unemployed, particularly the long-term unemployed and young people. Expenditure on this will be at least four times greater than expenditure on Objective 4, for training people affected by industrial change, particularly those threatened with unemployment. Moreover the majority of expenditure on Objective 4 will be for people employed in small and medium-sized enterprises. 3. The introduction of future Community Initiatives, which will be limited to 9 per cent. of the total of the Funds, will be subject to control by a new management committee of Member States. Maritime border areas will also be eligible for assistance.
4. There will be new simplified procedures for the administration of the Funds, balanced by a new requirement for cost-benefit appraisal and for strengthened monitoring and evaluation to improve value for money. Assistance will henceforth be allocated where appraisal shows commensurate benefits.
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The total size of the funds, up to 1999, had already been settled by the Edinburgh European Council. If the Irish reservation is withdrawn it should be possible for the Council to adopt the reguations definitively at its meeting on 19 and 20 July. But several matters remain to be settled before the new arrangements can be implemented, with effect from 1 January 1994 :1. No firm decisions have yet been taken on the financial allocations to any region.
2. The maps of Objective 2 and 5(b) areas have to be drawn. This will be done by a new procedure based on national proposals and taking due account of national priorities. This represents a major improvement on the present system. The Government intends to launch this procedure in the United Kingdom as soon as the regulations have been adopted definitively.
3. The United Kingdom's and other Member States' plans for the future use of the Funds will have to be drawn up and approved. 4. The Council is to discuss the future content of the Community Initiatives during the Autumn.
The Commission's report on the Uruguay round covered in particular progress in the current quadrilateral talks between the Community, the United States, Canada and Japan. The Council fully supported the Commission's efforts to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion by the end of the year.
Council of Energy Ministers
Mr. Nigel Evans : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on issues discussed and decisions taken at the meeting of the European Community's Council of Energy Ministers on 25 June.
Mr. Eggar : The Council considered several major issues and received reports from the Commission on other matters of interest. I represented the United Kingdom.
The Council reached political agreement on the ALTENER programme for the promotion of renewable energy sources and the SAVE directive, an energy efficiency measure. Formal adoption will take place at an early date.
The Commission also reported on progress in implementing the Community's nuclear safety assistance programmes to the countries of eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The Council called for the urgent implementation of practical measures to improve safety at nuclear plants in the region.
Progress was made on the Commission's proposals for a new coal state aids decisions to replace the existing one which expires at the end of this year. The United Kingdom emphasised the importance of moving towards economic viability in the light of international market prices for coal and the Council agreed on the need for the Community's coal industry to make progress in that direction through reduction of production costs and capacities in order to achieve degression of aids.
Under the heading of the internal energy market, the Council discussed the proposed directives on liberalisation of the gas and electricity markets. The Commission outlined new ideas on access to networks in response to the invitation by the Council on 30 November to modify its proposals. The Council agreed that discussions should continue while the opinion of the European Council is awaited. The Commission also gave a preview of the second report on the internal energy market. The Council discussed the hydrocarbons licensing directive and agreed
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that outstanding issues should be resolved with the intention of achieving a common position under the Belgian presidency. The Council also considered the progress of negotiations on the European energy charter.The Commission reported on forthcoming proposals for a directive on the energy efficiency requirements for household refrigerators and freezers and for guidelines on trans-European energy networks. The Presidency reported on discussions in ECOFIN on the proposed CO /energy tax.
Warren Spring Laboratory
Mr. Mullin : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what consideration he has given to relocating Warren Spring Laboratory to share facilities with the Building Research Establishment at Garston.
Mr. McLoughlin [holding answer 29 June 1993] : None.
Mr. Mullin : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what conditions of service will be offered to Warren Spring Laboratory staff who are transferred to the Atomic Energy Authority.
Mr. McLoughlin [holding answer 29 June 1993] : The staff will become employees of the Atomic Energy Authority. The Transfer of Undertaking (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 will apply to this transfer. This means that those staff who transfer to AEA will take with them their current DTI terms and conditions.
Training
Ms. Walley : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many non -United Kingdom owned companies and subsidiaries of non-United Kingdom owned companies are providing training services in the United Kingdom.
Miss Widdecombe : I have been asked to reply.
This information is not available.
EMPLOYMENT
Market Testing
Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much the market-testing programme has cost his Department since November 1992.
Miss Widdecombe : The Employment Department group's market-testing programme is being developed within existing resources.
Public Bodies
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment to whom each of the executive non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department is responsible ; whether the public bodies or their members in each case are subject to (a) surcharge, (b) investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner, (c) scrutiny by the Audit Commission or National Audit Office, (d) the statutory provisions for open Government which apply to local authorities, (e) performance indicators and (f) provisions under the citizens' charters ; and whether the chairpersons and members of the boards of each of these bodies are required to declare an interest.
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Mr. Michael Forsyth : The following executive non-departmental public bodies are sponsored by this Department :
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service
Commissioner for the Rights of Trade Union Members
Construction Industry Training Board
Engineering Construction Industry Training Board
Equal Opportunities Commission
Health and Safety Commission
Health and Safety Executive
National Council for Vocational Qualifications
Remploy Ltd.
Wages Councils
Women's National Commission
With the exception of the special arrangements which exist in relation to the Health and Safety Commission and Executive, all are responsible to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. The Health and Safety Commission is responsible to my right hon. Friend and other Secretaries of State which have a relevant interest, and the Health and Safety Executive is responsible to the Commission.
(a) These bodies and their members are not subject to surcharge ;
(b) The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, Commisioner for the Rights of Trade Union Members, Equal Opportunities Commission, Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety Executive are subject to investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner as they come within the ambit of schedule 2 to the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967, as amended ;
(c) the bodies either subject their accounts to full audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General, head of the National Audit Office, or, in the case of the National Council for Vocational Qualifications and Remploy Ltd., provide him with access to their books and records ;
(d) none of these bodies is subject to any statutory provisions for open government which apply to local authorities ;
(e) performance indicators are agreed as part of the normal departmental planning process ; and
(f) citizens charter provisions are agreed where appropriate. No register of interests is kept by the Department.
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