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Colliery Equipment
Ms Walley : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will give details of all machinery and equipment currently earmarked for removal from Silverdale colliery, North Staffordshire, to the Nottinghamshire coalfield ; and if he will make a statement ; (2) if he will list the machinery and equipment at Silverdale colliery on 20 November.
Mr. Eggar : The deployment of machinery and equipment is a matter for British Coal.
Postage Stamps
Mr. Redmond : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what consideration he has given to the future use of royal emblems on postage stamps ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : I understand that the Post Office has no plans to change the present arrangements.
Bomb-proofing
Mr. Redmond : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the cost, by location, of bomb-proofing the Department's premises.
Mr. Eggar : On security grounds, I do not propose to give this information.
Ships
Mr. Cousins : To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether launch aid support is available in respect of the construction of novel ship designs or ship engines.
Mr. Sainsbury : No. Launch aid is available, under the Civil Aviation Act 1982, to assist specifically the design, development and production of civil aircraft.
Column 557
Post Boxes
Mr. Redmond : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what reasons underline the absence of the royal cipher from the new Post Office postal boxes ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : I understand from the Post Office that all cast iron post boxes installed by Royal Mail continue to bear the royal cipher or Scottish crown. Royal Mail has, however, introduced a range of polypropylene boxes without these emblems. These boxes are installed in street locations to assist postal delivery staff and are not normally intended to have any public posting function. On occasions, however, these boxes have been installed on a temporary trial basis to assess particular posting needs. Where it is subsequently decided to introduce a permanent facility a cast iron box is installed.
Government Car Service
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the annual cost to the Department of the car service for Ministers ; and how many vehicles are involved.
Mr. Eggar : The annual cost of the car service for Ministers is about £380,000, including VAT, for seven cars.
British Gas
Miss Lestor : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects to respond to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission inquiry into British Gas ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Neil Hamilton : My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade is currently considering the representations which he has received as part of the consultation process on the MMC's report on gas. He recognises the need to avoid delay ; but it is also important not to take precipitate decisions on the important matters raised by the report.
Electricity
Mr. Spellar : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received regarding proposals to harmonise electrical plugs and sockets throughout the European Community ; and what response he has made to the Commission regarding such proposals.
Mr. Sainsbury : Several trade associations and other bodies have expressed their respective points of view on the harmonisation work currently being carried out by CENELEC. My Department has commissioned an independent analysis of the costs and benefits for the United Kingdom, and the results of this study will be published in the new year ; written evidence has also been submitted by the Department to the Trade and Industry Committee. We have assured the European Commission that the United Kingdom will continue to participate actively in the work of the various technical committees and working groups that have been established by CENELEC.
Column 558
Concessionary Coal
Mr. Tipping : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list those individuals and organisations who replied to his consultative document on concessionary coal ; and if he will place copies of their submissions in the Library.
Mr. Eggar : The following have submitted views on the Government's consultation paper on the concessionary fuel entitlements of past and present British Coal employees and their dependants following privatisation of the corporation :
British Association of Colliery Managers
British Coal Retired Staff Association (Cannock and District) British Coal Retired Staff Association (North Staffordshire District)
Bruce Lindsay Coal Ltd
R J Budge (Mining) Limited
The Chamber of Coal Traders Limited
Currell, Lewis & Martin Limited
Federation of Small Mines of Great Britain
D J Freeman--Solicitors
Legal and Venture Joint Ventures Limited
The Miller Group Limited
National Association of Colliery Overmen Deputies and Shotfirers The National Association of Licensed Opencast Operators National Union of Mineworkers
National Union of Mineworkers (COSA)--The Ex-COSA Section--Region 3 Pascoe Fuels Limited
Ryan Mining Limited
Small Mines Association of Wales
Southampton Institute of Higher Education--Law Research Centre Union of Democratic Mineworkers
Union of Democratic Mineworkers (Nottinghamshire Section) I have also received a number of responses from individuals. It is a matter for the organisations and individuals concerned whether they wish their correspondence to be made public.
British Coal (Pension Funds)
Mr. Tipping : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list those individuals and organisations who replied to his consultive document on the future of British Coal's pension funds ; and if he will place copies of their submissions in the Library.
Mr. Eggar : The following have submitted views on the Government's consultation paper on British Coal pensions following privatisation of the corporation :
British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme Committee of Management Mineworkers' Pension Scheme Committee of Management
British Coal Corporation
British Association of Colliery Management
GMB/APEX Partnership
National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies and Shotfirers (NACODS)
National Union of Mineworkers
National Union of Mineworkers (COSA)
National Union of Mineworkers (COSA)--The Ex-COSA Section--Region 3 Federation of Small Mines of Great Britain
Small Mines Association (South Wales)
British Coal Retired Staff Association (North Staffordshire District)
British Coal Retired Staff Association (Cannock and District) I have also received some 1,400 responses from individuals.
Column 559
It is a matter for the organisations and individuals concerned whether they wish their correspondence to be made public.Offshore Installations
Dr. Godman : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what proposals he has to modify the Petroleum Act 1987 ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will list the offshore installations and pipeline networks which have been dismantled and removed in the past six years and those scheduled to be demolished and withdrawn from the United Kingdom continental shelf ; and if he will make a statement ; (3) how many programmes involving the abandonment of (a) offshore installations and (b) submarine pipeline networks he has approved over the past five years ; if he will outline the maintenance and inspection regulations concerning such abandoned structures and pipelines ; what advice is given to commercial fishermen associations and other users of the ms predecessor the Secretary of State for Energy have approved the following abandonment programmes for offshore installations and pipelines :
Year Facilities
1988 Piper Alpha
1991 Crawford
1992 Argyll, Duncan & Innes Blair
1993 Angus
Forbes
Part of Staffa--Ninian pipeline
In each case, except Piper Alpha and the Blair pipeline, the abandonment programme provided for complete removal of the facilities.
Maintenance and inspection requirements are decided on a case by case basis in the light of the circumstances of each abandonment proposal and after consultation with other Government Departments. In each case, the President of the Board of Trade has required consultations to be carried out with interested parties, including representatives of fishermen's organisations, and that the results of the consultations be reported in the abandonment programme. My officials meet representatives of fishermen's organisations at regular intervals for discussions on a range of subjects, including abandonment.
I have no proposals at present to modify the Petroleum Act 1987.
Nuclear Industry
Sir John Hannam : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the current status of the terms of reference for the pending review of the nuclear industry ; and what consultations are taking place.
Mr. Eggar : Options for the scope and format of the nuclear review are under consideration within Government. I cannot prejudge the terms of reference. It remains the Government's intention to make a further announcement as soon as possible.
Column 560
Energy Demand
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish a table showing the disaggregated breakdown of energy demand by sector and region ; and if he will indicate the current energy supply availability in Wales by fuel type.
Mr. Eggar : Figures for energy demand are not available in the detail requested. Energy consumption by final user for the United Kingdom in 1992 was :
|Billion therms
------------------------------------------------
Industry |15.0
Transport |19.5
Domestic |17.4
Other final users |8.2
Total final users |60.2
Source: Digest of United Kingdom Energy
Statistics.
The latest available figures for energy supply in Wales are as follows :
|Million tonnes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coal (available for home consumption, 1992) |8.3
Petroleum (inland deliveries, 1991) |4.0
|Terrawatt
|hours
Gas (total available 1991) |31.8
Electricity (net supplied, 1992) |18.3
Sources: Digest of Welsh Statistics, 1993 and Welsh Economic Trends,
1993.
Value Added Tax
Mr. Ainger : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make it his policy to require fuel and power companies to use the interest accrued on VAT payments collected from customers for energy conservation within customers' properties.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 30 November 1993] : Both the Director General of Gas Supply and the Director General of Electricity Supply have a duty to promote energy efficiency. This is primarily a matter for the Energy Efficiency Office.
Fireworks
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make it his policy to keep a record of the countries which export fireworks to Britain ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : I have been asked to reply.
I am replying as the Minister with responsibility for controls on importation of fireworks. The Health and Safety Executive already keeps records of countries which export fireworks to Britain and will continue to do so.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Budget Council
Mr. Barnes : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Chelmsford (Mr. Burns) of 19 November, Official Report, columns 4-6 ,
Column 561
what were the voting figures on (a) the revised expenditure ceilings for 1994 and (b) the letter of amendment to the draft supplementary and amending budget for 1993 recorded in the meeting of the European Community's Budget Council held on 15 November ; and if he will make a statement.Sir John Cope : The Council agreed unanimously to the adjustment of the expenditure ceilings for 1994 which had been determined in the context of the new inter-institutional agreement.
The presidency concluded that the necessary majority existed to establish the letter of amendment to the draft supplementary and amending budget for 1993 ; and no formal vote was therefore taken.
Financial Services Act 1986
Mr. French : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what have been the practical benefits to the private investor of the Financial Services Act 1986 and the regulatory regime which it created.
Mr. Nelson : The implementation of the Act in 1988 has brought significant benefits for the private investor. For example, firms carrying on investment business must be properly authorised. The regulators have taken action against firms not complying with their rules of conduct. A sizeable number have been found unfit to deal with private investors and prevented from doing so. A further example is the establishment of the investors compensation scheme, from which some 5,000 private investors have benefited to date.
State Pension
Mr. French : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of national average earnings the basic state pension will be in (a) 2000, (b) 2010, (c) 2020, (d) 2030, (e) 2040 and (f) 2050 if earnings rise faster than prices by (i) 1.5 per cent. and (ii) 2.5 per cent.
Mr. Portillo : The information is in the table.
Year |1.5 per cent. real|2.5 per cent. real
|earnings growth |earnings growth
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1993 |17.7 |17.7
2000 |16.0 |14.9
2010 |13.7 |11.6
2020 |11.8 |9.1
2030 |10.2 |7.1
2040 |8.8 |5.6
2050 |7.6 |4.3
Notes: The baseline for the calculation is April 1993. The basic retirement
pension was uprated to £56.10 per week on 1 April 1993. National average
earnings in April 1993 were £316.90 (Source: the Department of Employment's
new earnings survey).
National Debt
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the national debt of each EC country, Japan and the United States of America in local currency ; what proportion such debt is of gross national product ; and whether such debt for each country includes public sector pension liabilities where those pension liabilities are not provided by private sector funds.
Mr. Nelson : Data on Government debt in local currencies are available in the IMF's Government finance statistics yearbook and on gross national product in the OECD's national accounts, copies of which are available in the House Library. Contingent liabilities arising from public sector pensions are not included in the Government debt figures in the IMF's Government finance statistics yearbook.
Privatisation
Mr. Gapes : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are (a) the total receipts from the privatisation of Government assets for each year since 1979, (b) the percentage shares of total Government income this represents for each year and (c) the total sums raised by each separate sale.
Mr. Dorrell : The table shows the privatisation proceeds received by the Government for each year since 1979-80 and their scale relative to general Government receipts. Privatisations and secondary sales of shares with net proceeds of less than £50 million in any year have not been shown individually.
Column 561
Net privatisation proceeds
£ billion
|1979-80|1980-81|1981-82|1982-83|1983-84|1984-85|1985-86|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93|1993-94
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amersham International |- |- |0.1 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Associated British Ports |- |- |- |- |- |0.1 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
BAA |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |0.5 |0.7 |- |- |- |- |-
British Aerospace |- |- |- |- |- |- |0.3 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
British Airways |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |0.4 |0.4 |- |- |- |- |- |-
British Gas |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |2.6 |1.8 |1.8 |0.8 |0.5 |- |0.4 |-
British Petroleum |0.3 |- |- |- |0.5 |- |- |- |0.9 |3.0 |1.4 |- |- |- |-
British Steel |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |1.1 |1.3 |- |- |- |-
British Telecommunications |- |- |- |- |- |1.4 |1.3 |1.4 |0.3 |0.3 |0.1 |0.1 |1.8 |3.7 |-
Britoil |- |- |- |0.3 |0.3 |- |0.4 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Cable and Wireless |- |- |0.2 |- |0.3 |- |0.6 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Electricity (England and Wales) - - - - - - - - - - - 3.1 3.4 1.5 -
Electricity (Northern Ireland) |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |0.4 |-
Electricity (Scotland) |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |1.1 |1.0 |-
Enterprise Oil |- |- |- |- |- |0.4 |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
GPFC |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |0.1 |- |- |- |- |-
NTL |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |0.1 |- |-
National Seed Development
Organisation |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |0.1 |- |- |- |- |- |-
Rolls-Royce |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |1.0 |- |- |- |- |- |-
Rover Group |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |0.2 |- |- |- |-
Royal Ordnance |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |0.2 |- |- |- |- |- |-
Water Companies |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |0.5 |1.5 |1.5 |- |-
Miscellaneous<1> |0.1 |0.2 |0.2 |0.2 |0 |0.1 |0.1 |0.1 |-0.1 |0.1 |-0.1 |0.1 |0 |1.2 |-
|--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |---
Total |0.4 |0.2 |0.5 |0.5 |1.1 |2.0 |2.7 |4.5 |5.1 |7.1 |4.2 |5.3 |7.9 |8.2 |<2>5.5
Relative to GGR (per cent.) |0.5 |0.2 |0.4 |0.4 |0.9 |1.4 |1.8 |2.8 |2.9 |3.7 |2.0 |2.5 |3.6 |3.7 |<2>2.4
<1>Includes, in any year, sales with net proceeds of less than £50 million, expenses which could not be netted off the associated sale because they arose in a
financial year in which there were no proceeds from that sale and (in 1992-93) the proceeds of the Treasury's auction of privatised companies' debt.
<2>March FSBR forecast.
Tax Avoidance
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has as to the annual extent of tax avoidance ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : No reliable estimate can be made, but it remains the Government's policy to ensure that opportunities for tax avoidance are minimised. My right hon. and learned Friend's Budget contains a number of anti-avoidance measures which will increase revenue by £1.8 billion over three years.
VAT
Mr. Madden : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if VAT on fuel bills will be inclusive, or exclusive, of any standing charge levied ; what arrangements are available to Her Majesty's Government to vary positive rates of VAT downwards ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir John Cope : Standing charges are regarded as part of the payment for the supply of fuel and power and will therefore be subject to the VAT changes introduced by section 42 of the Finance Act 1993.
Only those goods and services specified in a list annexed to EC directive 92/77/EEC can be moved from the standard rate of VAT to a reduced VAT rate. The reduced rate cannot be lower than 5 per cent. and there are no provisions for the introduction of zero rates of VAT.
Bomb-proofing
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the cost, by location, of bomb-proofing the Department's premises.
Sir John Cope : On security grounds, I do not propose to give this information.
First-time Home Buyers
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to give increased support to first-time buyers.
Mr. Nelson : Housing is now more affordable than for a number of years, due to lower interest rates and house prices. The Government's taxation and expenditure plans are set out fully in the "Financial Statement and Budget Report".
Column 564
Income Tax
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what tax a married man on an income of (a) £900,000 per annum and (b) £15, 000 per annum would have been required to pay in each of the last 10 years assuming no additional tax allowances.
Mr. Dorrell : The information is in the table.
|Tax liability for a
|married man with
|total income<1> of
|£900,000 |£15,000
Year |£ |£
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1983-84 |531,668 |3,662
1984-85 |531,067 |3,554
1985-86 |530,502 |3,464
1986-87 |529,910 |3,290
1987-88 |529,381 |3,025
1988-89 |355,467 |2,726
1989-90 |355,145 |2,656
1990-91 |355,005 |2,569
1991-92 |354,439 |2,496
1992-93 |354,279 |2,359
1993-94 |354,254 |2,334
<1>Assuming all income is earned and that the only allowances and reliefs
available are the married man's allowance for years up to 1989-90 and the
personal allowance and married couple's allowance for subsequent years.
PRIME MINISTER
Kashmir
Mr. Cox : To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the Prime Minister of Pakistan on the policy the Pakistan Government intend to follow regarding Kashmir.
The Prime Minister [holding answer 30 November 1993] : I discussed Kashmir with Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Cyprus in October. I reaffirmed the United Kingdom Government's view that the issue of Kashmir can be resolved only by bilateral negotiation between Pakistan and India. I therefore welcome the joint announcement by the Indian and Pakistani Governments that they will be conducting bilateral talks at senior official level in January.
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