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Table B
Calculations using the
income base for each year
Per cent.
Share of in
Quantile group of t1994-95
--------------------------
Top 1 |11 |17
Top 5 |24 |34
Top 10 |35 |45
Bottom 50 |18
All taxpayers |100|100
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Overseas Ownership
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 16 February, Official Report, column 787, what is his estimate of the amount by which output and employment would have increased if the goods and services acquired by overseas residents for £91 billion had remained under British ownership and control.
Mr. Portillo : Direct inward investment in the United Kingdom can involve either the purchase of existing assets or investment in new plant and machinery. Decisions to locate production in the United Kingdom are an endorsement of the skills and productivity of United Kingdom workers and recognition that the United Kingdom is a good place to do business.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 16 February, Official Report, column 787, what is his estimate for the latest two years of the amount of tax paid on the £91 billion together with (a) the reduction in the wealth of the United Kingdom as a result of the profit and know-how element accruing to the foreign owners and (b) the reduction in output and employment in technology as a result of foreign control.
Mr. Portillo : Investment itself does not generally attract tax-- apart from transaction taxes. Estimates of the United Kingdom taxes paid on profits due abroad can be found in table 5.1 of the Blue Book. For the latest two years the figures are £3,960 million in 1991 and £3,498 million in 1992.
The presence of foreign-owned firms strengthens competition and encourages innovation in the United Kingdom. Inward investment increases or safeguards employment and output.
Value Added Tax
Sir David Steel : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to repay VAT that has already been levied on sports clubs' membership subscriptions in breach of article 13A.1(m) of the EC sixth VAT directive.
Sir John Cope : Customs and Excise will invite claims from non- profit-making clubs registered for VAT for a refund of any net overpayment of VAT since 1 January 1990 once the new VAT exemption has been implemented. Copies of an information paper giving further details and including a draft Treasury order have been placed in the Library.
Overseas Investment
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 16 February, Official Report, column 787, what is his estimate of amount of income earned on the £122 billion invested abroad in the latest two years for which an estimate is reasonably possible ; how much of that income was remitted to the United Kingdom and how much United Kingdom tax was paid on (a) both gross earnings and (b) the net remittal ; and what is his estimate of (i) the amount by which the income and wealth of the United Kingdom would have increased if the £122 billion had been invested in the United Kingdom and (ii) the amount of tax which would have been collected thereon.
Mr. Portillo : Estimates of the earnings by United Kingdom residents are published in table 5.2 of the Pink
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Book. In the last two years the figures were £12,773 million in 1991 and £14,077 million in 1992. The amount of income remitted back to the United Kingdom is shown in the same table. Estimates of the United Kingdom taxes paid on income earned abroad, whether or not remitted to this country, are not available.It is unclear what the level of United Kingdom income and wealth would be if there were no direct investment overseas or inward investment to the United Kingdom. But the implied interference with decisions made by companies and individuals suggests that they would both be considerably lower.
Economic Policy
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the objective of the Government's economic policies.
Mr. Nelson : The overall objective of the Government's economic policy is to promote sustained economic growth and higher living standards.
Economic Recovery
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in which sectors of the economy the recovery has taken place ; and what criteria he has used in judging that these sectors have recovered.
Mr. Portillo : The recovery has proceeded across a broad front. Since the trough of the recession in the first quarter of 1992 the manufacturing, energy and service sectors, which together comprise over 90 per cent. of gross domestic product, have all shown sustained rises in output.
Inspectors of Taxes
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what criteria he adopts for assessing the performance-related pay of inspectors of taxes ; and when they were adopted.
Mr. Dorrell : Under a performance management system introduced in 1992 each inspector of taxes, in common with other staff in the Inland Revenue, draws up with his/her line manager an annual performance agreement which excludes measurement in terms of individual amounts of tax assessed on or collected from taxpayers. His/her achievement against the agreement is assessed into one of three categories of performance. This determined performance pay awards for Inland Revenue staff in August 1993. A similar process will take place in April 1994 for 1994 performance pay.
Staff Transfers
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the schemes his Department operates to assist staff facing financial hardship following a transfer, showing (a) the particular criteria and rules applying to each one, including the circumstances under which any loans can be written off, (b) the total amount loaned or granted under the schemes in 1992-93 and so far in 1993-94 and (c) the number of staff assisted in 1992-93 and so far in 1993-94.
Mr. Nelson : When staff have to relocate as a result of the needs of the Department, assistance is given to meet
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reasonable costs involved in relocation, including the cost of professional fees, stamp duty and removals. In addition, payments may be made to cover the cost of bridging finance taken to purchase a new property. Where an officer experiences difficulty in selling his existing property and this results in financial hardship the Department may :1. relax the conditions attached to advances of salary ; 2. base additional housing costs allowance (AHCA) on actual price differentials rather than average prices ;
3. relax the conditions attached to payment of housing cost supplements (HCS) ;
4. as a last resort write off part of the bridging loan after sale.
Each individual case is assessed the treated on its own merits. For 1992-93 and 1993-94 the number of cases where write-off action has been taken is :
1992-93 1 case £4,850 written off
1993-94 1 case £4,000 written off
Energy Management Systems
Sir Cranley Onslow : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what investment his Department has made in energy management systems ; and what economies in public expenditure have resulted over the past two years.
Sir John Cope : The building management system in the Treasury building in Parliament street is currently being enhanced at a cost of £11,000. When completed, this will allow accurate monitoring of energy usage and should lead to economies.
Tobacco Taxation
Mr. Barron : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contribution to treasury finance is made by taxation from tobacco consumed by children under 16 years of age in the United Kingdom.
Sir John Cope : It is estimated by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys that around 842 million cigarettes are smoked each year by children between the ages of 11 and 15 in the United Kingdom. The excise duty on that number of cigarettes is about £65 million.
Personal Allowances
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 17 January, Official Report, column 356, what is his estimate of the numbers of additional income tax payers aged over 65 years in 1994-95, over the figures for 1992-93, as a result of freezing the rate of age- related personal allowances in two years ; and how much extra income tax will be raised as a result.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 14 February 1994] : Compared with indexing the 1992-93 personal allowance for those aged 65 or over to 1994- 95 levels by reference to the statutory formula, the revenue yield from leaving this allowance unchanged in the last two Budgets is £140 million and about 160,000 more people will pay tax. If account is also taken of the effect of changes in the level of the married couple's allowance for those aged 65 or over, then about 140, 000 more people will pay tax than would do so under statutory indexation of all allowances. However, 200,000 elderly couples on low incomes gain as a result of increasing the age-related MCA. Since 1979, pensioners' average income has increased by 42 per cent.
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By April 1994, pensioners in receipt of income support will have seen their incomes rise by at least 11 per cent. since April 1992.Council Tax
Mr. Rendel : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what working definition of separate property is used by his Department for the purposes of assessing council tax ; and whether granny annexes are liable for a separate charge to the house in which they are contained.
Mr. Nelson [holding answer 28 February 1994] : The view taken by the Valuation Office agency is that for council tax purposes separate living accommodation does not necessarily mean accommodation which can be sold separately from the main building but rather a unit which has all the necessary facilities to allow it to be used as separate accommodation--for example, living and sleeping space, washing and cooking facilities and WC located within a single area.
Any annexe satisfying this test, whether or not it is a granny annexe, is required to be banded and is liable to a separate charge from the house within which it is self-contained.
DEFENCE
Royal Naval Auxiliary Service, Yeovilton
Mr. Harvey : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will consider the viability of transferring any overload of RNAS Yeovilton's capacity to RAF Chivenor ;
(2) what assessment he has made into RNAS Yeovilton's capacity to take squadrons from RNAS Portland.
Mr. Hanley : As part of the defence cost study, "Front Line First", my Department is examining the scope for further rationalisation of the defence estate, including naval support infrastructure, to enable reductions to be made in support costs.
It is too early to speculate on the outcome of these studies.
Mr. Harvey : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to locate the Royal Navy's EH101 helicopters at RNAS Yeovilton ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : There are no current plans to locate the EH101 at RNAS Yeovilton.
Mr. Harvey : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the Fleet Air Arm squadrons based at RNAS Yeovilton.
Mr. Hanley : The Fleet Air Arm squadrons based at RNAS Yeovilton are Nos. 845, 846 and 707.
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Royal Naval Auxiliary Service, Portland
Mr. Harvey : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the Fleet Air Arm squadrons based at RNAS Portland.
Mr. Hanley : The Fleet Air Arm squadrons based at RNAS Portland are Nos. 702, 772 and 815.
Malaysia
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in what currency defence purchases by the Malaysian Government under the 1988 memorandum of understanding are made ; how the rate of exchange between the United Kingdom and Malaysian currency is determined ; and whether payments can be or have been deferred.
Mr. Aitken : This is a matter for the customer and the supplier.
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what occasions under the 1988 memorandum of understanding the Malaysian Government have rejected the recommendation of contractors put forward by GEC or British Aerospace.
Mr. Aitken : The choice of supplier is a matter for the customer. My Department does not make such recommendations.
Defence Export Services Organisation
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the individuals who have resigned for the Defence Export Services Organisation since 1979 in order to take up employment with a defence contractor ; and if he will name the defence contractor in each case.
Mr. Aitken : The information is not available for the period before January 1990. Since then, two members of the Defence Export Services Organisation resigned, in 1992, to take up employment with Vosper Thornycroft (UK) Ltd. and Short Bros. Ltd. respectively.
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the present establishment of the Defence Export Services Organisation ; if he will list those individuals who have been seconded from the private sector to the Defence Export Services Organisation since 1979 ; and what were the lengths and dates of such secondments and the company or organisation from which each individual was seconded.
Mr. Aitken : The total establishment of the Defence Export Services Organisation is 707. This includes marketing, military and project management staff together with staff engaged in disposals and export policy. Records before 1981 are incomplete, but show that the following individuals have been seconded from the private sector to the DESO since 1979 :
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Name |From whom seconded |Duration of secondment ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sir Ronald Ellis |Bus Manufacturers Holding Co. |September 1976 to September 1981 Sir James Blyth |Lucas Aerospace |October 1981 to 1985 J. P. Weston |British Aerospace |April 1982 to 1985 G. Dawson |Scicon |November 1982 to October 1984 A. F. J. Barrow |Lloyds Bank |November 1983 to 1985 R. D. Douglas |Rolls Royce plc |October 1984 to October 1986 Sir Colin Chandler |British Aerospace |1985 to September 1989 P. Curry |Morgan Grenfell |1986 to February 1988 H. L. Meyers |Rolls Royce plc |November 1986 to July 1989 G. W. Findlay |Grindlays Bank plc |February 1988 to February 1990 D. J. Hastie |British Aerospace |April 1988 to October 1989 S. Brett |British Aerospace |August 1988 to August 1989 S. Barker |Westland Helicopters |July 1989 to July 1991 A. J. Barron |Midland Montague |May 1990 to November 1991 Sir Alan Thomas |Raytheon |July 1989 to date M. Faulkner |Trafalgar House |April 1992 to date D. Mitchell |British Aerospace |October 1993 to date
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will identify those employees who, since 1979, have left employment with a defence contractor in order to take up a post within the Defence Export Services Organisation ; and if he will identify the contractor in each case.
Mr. Aitken : The only staff to join the Defence Export Services Organisation from defence contractors have been on short-term secondment.
Army Bands
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answers of the Minister of State for the Armed Forces on 10 February, Official Report, column 485, and 22 February, Official Report, column 133, if he was aware that the uniformed band of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was performing at a Conservative party function when he delivered a speech at Ayton castle on 28 January ; and what payment was received by the regiment from the Roxburgh and Berwickshire Conservative and Unionist Association for its performance.
Mr. Hanley : My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Defence became aware when he arrived at the function that a uniformed band was playing. The band left before my right hon. and learned Friend gave his speech and was paid expenses of £182.42.
Redundancy
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration he has given to improving the redundancy package available to members of the armed forces ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : The terms of the redundancy package have been designed specifically to meet the requirements of the armed forces and compare very favourably with those offered by other employers. There is no need to improve them.
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many redundancy applications he received from (a) officers and (b) soldiers during the third phase of the Army redundancy proposal.
Mr. Hanley : Some 792 officers and 6,942 soldiers who met the promulgated qualifying criteria applied to be considered for redundancy in the third phase of the Army's programme. Records of applications from other officers and soldiers who were ineligible for consideration are not available.
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War Pensions
Mr. Lewis : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the number of war pensions claims outstanding due to access being denied to records in offices closed due to the discovery of asbestos within them.
Mr. Hanley : Access to records required for the consideration of war pensions claims has been restored fully with effect from Monday 28 February 1994. There is a backlog of some 25,000 claims due to the closure of the archive and my Department will do its best to deal with them expeditiously.
Sir David Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will arrange for appropriate identity cards to be issued to war pensioners so as to enable them to make use of concessions offered both in the United Kingdom and abroad.
Mr. Hague : I have been asked to reply.
A card confirming the status of an individual as a war pensioner will be available on request from the war pensions unit by mid-1994.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Benevolent Fund
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the organisations located within the boundaries of Pendle borough council that have received grants from the Duchy's benevolent fund since 1974.
Mr. Waldegrave : To list the organisations within the boundaries of Pendle borough council that have received grants from the Duchy's benevolent fund since 1974 would entail disproportionate cost. However, figures available for 1993 are as follows :
Invalids-at-Home :
A grant of £150 to an invalid in Colne.
A grant of £500 to a handicapped person in Barnoldswick. Lancashire Palatinate Fund :
A grant of £64 to a handicapped person in Barnoldswick.
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many applications for financial assistance from the benevolent fund recommended for acceptance by his principal advisers he has rejected in each year since 1987.
Mr. Waldegrave : I have not rejected any applications for financial assistance from the Duchy benevolent fund recommended by my principal advisers ; nor, according to records available, has any of my predecessors.
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Duchy Council
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when Sir Simon Towneley last attended a meeting of the Duchy Council.
Mr. Waldegrave : On 21 February 1994. I refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave him on attendance at meetings of the Duchy Council on 23 February, Official Report, column 252. Sir Simon Towneley's name was omitted from that list in eror. His attendance record is 100 per cent.
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his oral answer of 14 February, Official Report, column 664, what specialist expertise is brought to the Council of the Duchy of Lancaster by the Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire.
Mr. Waldegrave : Sir Simon Towneley has a long record of public service to the county. He also has personal experience of estate management maters and has served for over 30 years as a member of the Agricultural Lands Tribunal. His knowledge and experience range over a variety of relevant subjects and are of benefit to the Duchy Council.
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will consider appointing to the Council of the Duchy of Lancaster one or more hon. Members who represent Lancashire constituencies.
Mr. Waldegrave : No. The Duchy is not a political institution and the Chancellor of the Duchy is not acting in a political capacity in the conduct of its affairs. Representation of a Lancashire constituency would not of itself constitute a criteria for membership of the Council.
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps he takes to ensure that members of the Duchy Council who are absent from meetings are kept abreast of matters coming before the Council and of its recommendations and advice to him.
Mr. Waldegrave : Members of the Duchy Council receive a written report from the Duchy Office prior to meetings and minutes of the meetings after they have taken place.
Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his answer of 17 February, Official Report, column 976, how many individual meetings he has had with the Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire ; and when and where they took place.
Mr. Waldegrave : I have had no individual meetings with the Lord- Lieutenant of Lancashire.
Agencies (Management)
Mr. Mans : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the departmental management of agencies.
Mr. Waldegrave : The efficiency unit report "Making the Most of Next Steps", published in May 1991, made a number of proposals to carry forward the development of executive agencies in government. The Government
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welcomed the report and the clear principles of delegation to agencies combined with strategic management by Departments on behalf of Ministers which it set out. Since then much progress has been made by increasing and clarifying the accountability of agency chief executives and the flexibilities and discretion available to them, the use of open competition for chief executive posts, and improved target setting procedures. The next steps reviews in 1991, 1992 and 1993 have reported on progress in implementation.With a steadily increasing proportion of the civil service--now over 60 per cent.--working in executive agencies, the management of agencies and their working relationships with Ministers and Departments is increasingly important to the effective and efficient delivery of Government services. My Department, in consultation with the Treasury, therefore commissioned a study of these issues. The study was carried out by a French civil servant, Ms Sylvie Trosa, on secondment to the OPSS.
Ms Trosa was asked to examine the organisational arrangements in Departments for advising Ministers on the strategic management of agencies, the effectiveness of these arrangements, in particular in relation to the setting of key targets and monitoring agency performance and to consider whether there was duplication or overlap between departments and agencies.
The report concludes that, while next steps has made good progress, there is more to be done to ensure that maximum benefits are achieved from the delegated, clarified management arrangements that have been put in place. In addition to a full analysis of the current position, the report makes a number of detailed recommendations. I have asked the next steps project manager, in consultation with the Treasury, Departments and agencies, to consider Ms Trosa's findings and to prepare a detailed action plan for taking forward the report's recommendations.
I warmly welcome the contribution agencies have made to improved standards of public services under the citizens charter. They have also contributed to the Government's policy of increased openness, through the publication of framework documents, key targets, reports and accounts. The Government have also published regular next steps reviews, reporting on progress within individual agencies and across government as a whole. I am today placing in the Library of the House a copy of this latest study, which is a useful and challenging examination of an important aspect of the next steps programme.
Public Bodies
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list those non-governmental bodies in which absence from meetings over a specified period entails loss of membership.
Mr. Waldegrave : In some cases, the legislation governing executive non-departmental public bodies gives Ministers the power to remove members from office if they have been absent from meetings without permission for longer than a specified period. However, we do not hold specific information on this issue centrally in relation to the position of each individual NDPB.
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