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Mr. John M. Taylor : The Law Commission is reviewing the law and procedures relating to decision-making on behalf of mentally incapacitated adults.
Probate Registry
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the future of the Probate Registry, Cardiff-road, Llandaff, Cardiff, subsequent to the removal of the registry to the new county court complex.
Mr. John M. Taylor : There are no plans to change in any way the status or operation of Llandaff district probate registry following its relocation at the new county court complex currently being built.
Courts and Legal Services Act
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when he intends to bring into force section 13 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990.
Mr. John M. Taylor : It is intended to bring section 13 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 into effect at the end of 1994.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Whiskies
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people and/or jobs are involved directly or indirectly in (a) the whisky and (b) the whiskey industry in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Nelson : I regret the information is not available. The standard industrial classification does not separately identify the whisky or whiskey industries from other industries involved in spirit distilling and compounding.
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by what percentage per capita consumption of (a) all alcoholic drinks and (b) whisky or whiskey has changed in the United Kingdom since 1979.
Sir John Cope : The following figures relate to expenditure by domestic consumers and exclude business expenditure. Consumption per capita of all alcoholic drinks declined in real terms by 6 per cent. between 1979 and 1992. Figures relating to whisky and whiskey are unavailable for years prior to 1984. Consumption per
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capita for whisky and whiskey combined fell in real terms by 21 per cent. between 1984 and 1992. Separate figures for whisky and whiskey are unavailable.Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the sale of whisky and whiskey in the United Kingdom at the last date for which figures are available expressed as a percentage of the figure for 1979.
Sir John Cope : Figures for sales of whisky and whiskey for years prior to 1984 are unavailble. Between 1984 and 1992 sales of whisky and whiskey combined rose from £1,561 million to £2,053 million at current market prices. This represents an increase of 32 per cent. Expressed in terms of constant 1990 prices, expenditure on whisky and whiskey combined fell by 19 per cent. from £2,105 million in 1984 to £1,704 million in 1992. These figures relate to expenditure by domestic consumers and exclude business expenditure.
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the average retail cost of a 70 cl bottle of Scotch whisky in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) each of the other EC states and (c) the United States of America.
Mr. Nelson : In September 1993 the retail prices index sample gave an average price £10.94 for a 70 cl bottle of whisky in the United Kingdom. Scotch whisky is not specified in the RPI sample which is mainly made up of blended brands. The information for (b) and (c) can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the total earnings from export of (a) whisky and (b) whiskey, distilled in Northern Ireland for each year since 1979.
Mr. Nelson : I regret that trade figures are not available for production from different parts of the United Kingdom, and whiskey distilled in Northern Ireland is therefore not separately distinguished. The value of exports of whisky from the United Kingdom as a whole in each year is as follows.
|£ million
------------------------------
1979 |710
1980 |748
1981 |787
1982 |875
1983 |864
1984 |937
1985 |1,001
1986 |1,075
1987 |1,142
1988 |1,298
1989 |1,480
1990 |1,727
1991 |1,853
1992 |1,981
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the actual and percentage change in the duty imposed on a 70 cl bottle of whisky since 1979.
Sir John Cope : The following is the information :
Date of change |Alcohol duty on 70|Per cent. change
|cl spirits (40 per|from previous rate
|cent. above)
|£
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
27 March 1980 |3.32 |13.7
11 March 1981 |3.81 |14.6
10 March 1982 |4.05 |6.4
16 March 1983 |4.25 |5.0
14 March 1984 |4.33 |1.9
20 March 1985 |4.42 |1.9
20 March 1990 |4.86 |10.0
19 March 1991 |5.31 |9.3
10 March 1992 |5.55 |4.5
Total change in duty since 1979 is 90 per cent. as compared with 135 per cent. in the general RPI.
Wine
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the volume of wines imported from (a) countries within the EC and (b) countries outside the EC at the last year for which figures are available, expressed as a percentage of the figure for 1979.
Mr. Nelson : The available information on the physical volume of trade in wines, separately distinguishing countries which are now members of the European Community, is as follows :
|Volume in 1992 as
|percentage of
|volume in 1979
------------------------------------------------------
EC members |148
Other countries |225
Alcohol Duties
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consideration he has given to basing the excise duty on wine, beers and spirits on alcohol content and not category of beverage ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir John Cope : No Government have ever accepted that relative alcoholic strength should be the sole determining factor for setting duty rates. Unitary taxation would greatly limit my right hon. and learned Friend's room for manoeuvre on fiscal policy, by removing the flexibility to take account of other factors.
Alcohol Contents
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the alcohol contents of (a) a single measure of whisky or whiskey and (b) a glass of wine as sold in public houses in England and Wales ; and what is the excise duty imposed in each case.
Sir John Cope : Following is the information :
|Alcohol content |Excise duty (pence)
|(millilitres)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spirits measure
(1/6 gill at 40 per cent. abv) |9.5 |18.8
(12.5 cl at 11.5 per cent. abv) |14.4 |16.5
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Wheel Clamping
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of contributions made to the Exchequer by companies involved in wheel clamping.
Mr. Dorrell : I regret that information is not available. The classification of companies for direct and indirect taxation does not permit wheel clamping companies to be identified separately.
VAT
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how his Department has calculated the effect on carbon dioxide emissions of the imposition of VAT on fuel ; and what proportion of the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions will fall on (a) domestic fuel supplies and (b) industrial and other supplies.
Sir John Cope : I refer the hon. Member to the memorandum submitted by Her Majesty's Treasury to the House of Commons Treasury and Civil Service Committee's inquiry into the March 1993 Budget--TCSC 4th Report, 1992-93 session, March 1993 Budget, Cmnd 5788.
EC Contributions
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer under what provisions the United Kingdom is required to increase its gross national product percentage contribution to the EC ; and by what date any necessary legislation is required to be passed.
Sir John Cope : The Edinburgh European Council agreed, as part of its conclusions on the Community's finances over the period to 1999, that the current ceiling of 1.2 per cent. of EC GNP on the Community's own resources should remain in force until 1994 ; and that the ceiling should then rise to 1.21 per cent. of EC GNP in 1995 and by gradual steps thereafter to 1.27 per cent. in 1999. In order to give effect to this agreement from 1 January 1995, it will be necessary to amend the Community's own resources decision--88/376/EEC, Euratom--and for the amended decision to be adopted by the member states. In the case of the United Kingdom, adoption would mean amending section 1(2) of the European Communities Act, 1972. The member states' actual contributions to the EC budget are determined in the annual budgetary procedure, within the ceiling in force.
Income Tax
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the revenue raised by (a) an increase of 1p on income tax across all bands of income tax and (b) the sums resulting from such an increase on each individual band of income tax.
Mr. Dorrell : At 1994-95 levels of income and assuming statutory indexation of allowances and the basic rate limit with the lower rate band set at £3,000 as announced in the March 1993 Budget the full-year yields are as follows :
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|£ million<1>
---------------------------------------------------------
1p increase in the lower rate |100
1p increase in the basic rate |1,800
1p increase in the higher rate |450
1p increase in each rate |2,350
<1> The figures include consequential effects on the
yield from capital gains tax and the figure for the
lower rate includes the effects of the change on advance
corporation tax and on consequent liability to
mainstream corporation tax.
Taxation
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the sums of money actually collected by the Inland Revenue for the fiscal years 1988-89, 1989-90, 1990-91 and 1991-92, in (a) capital gains tax, (b) inheritance tax, (c) corporation tax and (d) dividend withholding tax.
Mr. Dorrell : Information on tax receipts by head of tax can be found in table 1.2 of "Inland Revenue Statistics 1993". There is no dividend withholding tax.
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the sums of money reclaimed and paid to foreign trusts, persons and companies, from dividend withholding tax for the fiscal years (a) 1988-89, (b) 1989- 90, (c) 1990-91 and (d) 1991-92.
Mr. Dorrell : The United Kingdom does not have a dividend withholding tax.
Bankruptcies
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total sum of money owed to the Treasury as a result of personal and corporate bankruptcies and liquidations for each of the fiscal years 1988- 89, 1989-90, 1990-91 and 1991-92.
Mr. Dorrell : The total sum of money owed to the Treasury as a result of personal and corporation bankruptcies and liquidations covering the fiscal years 1988-89, 1989-90, 1990-91 and 1991-92 is as follows :
(£ thousand) Year |Inland Revenue |Customs and Excise ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1988 |469,500 |173,800 1989 |375,540 |151,800 1990 |393,946 |190,300 1991 |631,698 |514,200 1992 |1,308,826 |751,700
The figures for the Inland Revenue are for the accounts year which ends on 31 October each year and the figures for Customs and Excise are for the calendar year.
Taxation
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department has taken to examine the tax position of unincorporated bodies receiving funds from bank accounts in offshore tax havens ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : An unincorporated body which is resident in this country is liable to United Kingdom tax on its
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worldwide income, on which it makes returns. The Inland Revenue subjects a proportion of total returns to detailed inquiry, which may involve the examination of foreign source income.Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates he has made of the number of United Kingdom persons, individual and corporate, who have set up trusts and companies offshore since 1980 ; and if he will place all such estimates in the Library.
Mr. Dorrell : I regret that information on which to base such an estimate is not available.
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases which have been investigated by the Inland Revenue and are currently being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office and by the Metropolitan police and regional fraud squads, involve the use of offshore tax havens in the perpetration of the suspected fraud.
Mr. Dorrell : Figures are not available.
Jet Engine Fuel
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to impose taxation upon jet engine fuel.
Sir John Cope : Decisions on changes in taxation are a matter for the Budget statement.
Tax Avoidance
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will list, by date, each study into tax avoidance via offshore ownership made by the Inland Revenue or the Treasury, or on behalf of his Department, since 1984 ; and if he will place all such studies and reports in the Library ;
(2) what reports have been compiled by the Treasury and the Board of the Inland Revenue into tax avoidance and evasion via offshore trusts and companies since 1985 ; and if he will place those reports in the Library.
Mr. Dorrell : Whilst developments in this area are kept under constant review, no reports or studies have been produced for publication.
Foreign Landowners
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his Department's estimate of the acreage of land in England and Wales owned by foreign companies and trusts.
Mr. Dorrell : No figures are held on which such an estimate could be based.
Composting Plants
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to offer tax incentives to encourage investment in commercial composting and anaerobic digestion plants.
Mr. Dorrell : The hon. Member would not expect me to make a statement on taxation matters at this time of year.
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Prime Ministers
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals he has to change the severance payments for Prime Ministers under the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Portillo : Section 4 of the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 excludes Prime Ministers from receiving a severance payment under the Act.
There are no proposals to change this arrangement.
Foreign Trusts
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the number of persons, trusts or corporations resident in the United Kingdom, who are the beneficiaries of trusts set up abroad ; and if he will place in the Library all reports by his Department into the above matter since 1983.
Mr. Dorrell : I regret that information on which to base the estimate requested in the first part of the question could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. No reports have been published on matters concerning the second part of the question.
Offshore Sterling Deposits
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the average level of sterling deposits, governmental and cash, held in (a) Switzerland, (b) Luxembourg, (c) Liechtenstein, (d) Monaco, (e) Jersey, (f) Guernsey, (g) the Isle of Man, (h) Bermuda, (i) Bahamas, (j) the British Virgin Islands and (k) the Cayman Islands ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nelson : The most recent published figures for sterling deposits in Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands are as follows :
|£ billion
-------------------------------------------
Jersey |21.9
Guernsey |9.2
Isle of Man |8.0
British Virgin Islands |nil
Cayman Islands |3.1
Figures for Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Bermuda and the Bahamas are not available in the form requested.
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate for the volume of cash transferred to tax havens abroad from the United Kingdom which appears to be associated with fraud, for each year since 1988.
Mr. Dorrell : Reliable estimates cannot be made.
Mr. Mandelson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates he has for capital remittances made for profits and gains in the United Kingdom, to companies and trusts in Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Bermuda, Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco and Switzerland, for each of the fiscal years since 1985.
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Mr. Dorrell : I regret that information on which to base such an estimate is not available.
Jet Engine Fuel
Rev. William McCrea : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans the Government have to impose taxation upon jet engine fuel.
Sir John Cope : Decisions on changes in taxation are a matter for the Budget statement.
National Savings
Mr. Loyden : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the future of national savings.
Mr. Nelson : I meet the Director of Savings regularly. National Savings continues to play an important role in the Government's funding programme, and in providing opportunities for the public to invest in savings products.
Privatised Utilities
Mr. Hain : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, for each privatised utility, he will publish information, for the latest year available, in respect of (a) total Government holding, expressed as a percentage of the utilities' share, and (b) the current value of the Government holding.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 22 October 1993] : The table shows the ordinary shares held by the Government in the privatised utility companies as a percentage of issued share capital and by market valuation.
Government shareholdings in privatised utility companies
Company |Shareholding as a|Value of
|proportion |shareholding
|Per cent. |(£ million)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
British Gas |0.0 |0.2
BT |1.1 |304.9
Anglian Water |0.9 |14.4
Northumbrian Water |0.4 |1.8
North West Water |0.8 |15.3
Severn Trent |1.0 |20.3
Southern Water |0.7 |7.4
South West Water |0.1 |0.7
Thames Water |0.9 |20.0
Welsh Water |0.7 |6.6
Wessex Water |0.5 |4.1
Yorkshire Water |0.8 |8.7
Eastern Electricity |1.7 |26.9
East Midlands Electricity |1.1 |14.6
London Electricity |1.1 |14.9
Manweb |1.8 |14.1
Midlands Electricity |1.4 |18.5
Northern Electric |1.7 |13.1
Norweb |1.6 |17.7
Seeboard |2.0 |17.0
Southern Electric |1.2 |20.4
South Wales Electricity |1.4 |9.2
South Western Electricity |1.9 |14.2
Yorkshire Electricity |1.3 |16.4
National Power |39.3 |2,063.9
PowerGen |40.7 |1,430.6
Scottish Hydro-Electric |3.4 |53.4
Scottish Power |3.6 |118.3
Northern Ireland Electricity |3.8 |20.0
Note: Values of shareholdings calculated at close, 19 October.
Column 427
Low Incomes
re (a) students, (b) persons between 18 and 65 years of age, (c) pensioners and (d) males between 18 years and 65 years ; and what is his estimate of the loss in revenue if none of these persons paid income tax.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 22 October 1993] : Of the estimated 23.2 million people who have incomes below £100 per week in 1993-94 about 1.2 million are aged 16 or 17, 15.7 million are aged between 18 and 65, of whom 5.2 million are males, and 6.3 million are aged 65 or over.
The loss in revenue if none of these people paid income tax would be about £400 million.
PRIME MINISTER
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Tyler : To ask the Prime Minister who is responsible for deciding the maximum permissible cost of answering a written parliamentary question ; if that cost is different for different Departments ; and how often that amount is reviewed.
Mr. Newton : I have been asked to reply.
If an answer to any written question is likely to cost more than £450- -the current cost threshold, calculated by the Treasury--the answering Minister will decide whether to refuse to answer on the ground of disproportionate cost, or whether to answer it whole or in part regardless of cost. This threshold, which applies to all Departments, is reviewed annually.
Cabinet Committees
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Prime Minister when he next proposes to issue the list of ministerial committees of the Cabinet.
Mr. Newton : I have been asked to reply.
An updated list of the ministerial committees of the Cabinet, with their terms of reference and membership, will be published shortly.
Civil Rights (Disabled Persons) Bill
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Prime Minister what meetings the Minister for Social Security and Disabled People has had with the sponsors of the Civil Rights (Disabled Persons) Bill and representatives of the all-party disablement group in the House about the Government's response to the Bill and their alternative proposals since the Prime Minister's meeting with the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe (Mr. Morris) and supporters of his Bill on 23 February ; what was the date and duration of each meeting ; and if he will publish the papers tabled for discussion at the meetings.
Mr. Newton : I have been asked to reply.
There have been two meetings, on 25 March and 17 May, each lasting about an hour. No papers were tabled at either meeting.
Column 428
Child Migrant Scheme
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Prime Minister if he will consider moving total responsibility for funding the Child Migrant Trust from the Department of Health in such a way as to ensure that the various Departments with present or previous responsibility for the child migrant scheme contribute towards to the cost of the trust's work.
Mr. Newton : I have been asked to reply.
Responsibility for child welfare transferred in 1971 from the Home Office to the Department of Health and the territorial Departments. We can see no advantage in changing the Government's responsibilities for funding this kind of activity in the way suggested.
Official Hospitality
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Prime Minister how much was spent on official hospitality in his Department in the financial year 1992-93.
Mr. Newton [holding answer 20 October 1993] : I have been asked to reply.
The expenditure by the Office of my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, on official hospitality in the financial year 1992-93 was £30,023. This is a reduction of £10,953 or 27 per cent. compared with 1991-92.
TRANSPORT
Speed Control
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 19 January, Official Report, column 175, when he now expects the village speed control working group to publish its final report and recommendations ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key : Monitoring results from the individual trial sites are all expected to be received before the end of the year, and analysis is under way. A final report will now be made in spring 1994. In advance of the report, valuable lessons are already being learnt as the trials progress. The messages in the report will be disseminated widely to local highway authorities and other groups who have an interest in this area. To follow on from the village speed working group--VISP--I am planning a further series of trials of traffic calming measures for villages on trunk roads next year, starting with Thorney in Cambridgeshire.
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