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Liquor Duty

Mr. Gill : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect on the balance of payments and Treasury receipts resulting from lower liquor duties in mainland Europe.

Sir John Cope : The effect of cross-border shopping on the balance of payments is difficult to assess. It takes place for a variety of reasons. Duty differentials encourage personal imports, but are only one factor. Duty free shopping arrangements are another. The overall effect on the balance of payments will depend on where cross-border shopping is taking place and the country of origin of the product purchased as well as the amounts purchased. Receipts of duty on alcoholic drink held up well in 1993.

Taxation

Sir David Knox : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish figures for each of a single person, a single-wage married couple and a single-wage couple with two children, showing the percentages of earnings taken in (a) income tax, (b) national insurance contribution, (c) VAT, (d) local authority rates/community charge and (e) other indirect taxation, at 75 per cent., 100 per cent. and 150 per cent. of average male manual earnings, in 1979-80, 1989-90 and the latest year for which such figures are available.

Mr. Dorrell : The information available is given in the tables.


Percentage of gross earnings paid in      

direct taxes in 1979-80                   

                       Multiples of       

                       average male manual

                       earnings           

                      |3/4 |1   |1"       

------------------------------------------

Single                                    

  Income tax          |20.2|22.6|25.1     

  NICs                |6.5 |6.5 |5.8      

Married, no children                      

  income tax          |15.2|18.9|22.6     

  NICs                |6.5 |6.5 |5.8      

Married, two children                     

  Income tax          |4.7 |11.0|17.3     

  NICs                |6.5 |6.5 |5.8      


Percentage of gross earnings paid in      

direct taxes in 1989-90                   

                       Multiples of       

                       average male manual

                       earnings           

                      |3/4 |1   |1"       

------------------------------------------

Single                                    

  Income tax          |17.1|19.1|21.0     

  NICs                |8.1 |8.3 |8.2      

                                          

Married, no children                      

  Income tax          |12.6|15.7|18.8     

  NICs                |8.1 |8.3 |8.2      

                                          

Married, two children                     

  Income tax          |4.0 |9.2 |14.5     

  NICs                |8.1 |8.3 |8.2      


Percentage of gross earnings paid in      

direct taxes in 1993-94                   

                       Multiples of       

                       average male manual

                       earnings           

                      |3/4 |1   |1"       

------------------------------------------

Single                                    

  Income tax          |16.0|18.3|20.5     

  NICs                |7.1 |7.6 |8.0      

                                          

Married, no children                      

  Income tax          |12.1|15.3|18.6     

  NICs                |7.1 |7.6 |8.0      

                                          

Married, two children                     

  Income tax          |3.5 |8.9 |14.3     

  NICs                |7.1 |7.6 |8.0      

Notes to tables:                          

<1> Income tax payments are calculated on 

the assumption that the households        

receive no tax reliefs other than the     

standard allowances and only have income  

from employment. All earners, are assumed 

to pay class 1 NI contributions at the    

contracted-in-rate.                       

<2> In order to provide comparability     

with 178-79, when support for children    

was given partly through child tax        

allowance, child benefit is treated as a  

negative income tax for the married       

couple with two children.                 

<3> Average male manual earnings are      

taken to be the average gross weekly      

earnings of all full-time manual males on 

adult rates with pay unaffected by        

absence. Average male manual earnings     

stood at £101.10 in 1979-80 and £225.60   

in 1989-90. They are assumed, on the      

basis of an illustrative assumption of    

3.5 per cent growth in 1993-94, to be     

£281.50 in 1993-94.                       

Ms Corston : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the cost to the Treasury in (a) 1994-95, (b) 1995-96 and (c) 1996-97 of tax expenditures and structural reliefs ; and what specific changes in this cost will be brought about by the changes announced in his last Budget.

Mr. Dorrell : The latest estimate of the cost of tax expenditures and structural reliefs, which are for 1993-94, were published in a Treasury booklet "Tax Ready Reckoner and Tax Reliefs" in July 1993. A copy of this was placed in the Library. Preliminary estimates for 1994-95 will be published later this year.

Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of the Government's tax policies on the economic well-being of people on low incomes and below the pension age.

Mr. Dorrell : I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 3 March at column 880 .

Arms Sales

Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Cambridge (Mrs. Campbell) of 21 March, Official Report , column 22 , if he will set out the reasons for the unavailability of the information on arms exports requested.


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Mr. Nelson : The question to which the hon. Member refers asked for the proportion of gross domestic product derived from the sale of armaments. This information cannot be supplied as the term "armaments" is not defined in the classifications used for national accounts purposes. The value of exports of defence equipment can be estimated from overseas trade statistics and is published in table 1.11 of "UK Defence Statistics", a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.

Exchange Rate Mechanism

Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the cost to the Exchequer of the loss in value immediately after the withdrawal from the exchange rate mechanism of the sterling purchased by the Bank of England two weeks prior to United Kingdom withdrawal.

Mr. Nelson : For good reasons of market management, it has been the practice of successive Governments not to publish intervention figures. Whether or not intervention results in a profit or loss depends on a number of factors, including the cost at which foreign currency assets are bought and sold, and the rate at which reserves are rebuilt and foreign currency borrowing is repaid. No unambiguous estimate can therefore be made of any profit or loss arising from intervention.

Royal Yacht

Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the cost to Customs and Excise of hiring the royal yacht for a reception ; who was invited ; and if he will make a statement.

Sir John Cope : According to records going back to 1980, Customs and Excise have made no use or application for use of the royal yacht.

Brian Charrington

Mr. Fraser : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assistance will be given by his Department to the investigation by Thames Valley police into the conduct of the Brian Charrington case by Cleveland police force.

Sir John Cope : Customs and Excise will co-operate fully with the Thames Valley police inquiry team.

Inland Revenue Adjudicator

Dr. Wright : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases the Inland Revenue adjudicator has dealt with since being established ; and how many cases have been adjudicated in favour of the complainant.

Mr. Dorrell : Since the adjudicator took up appointment on 1 July 1993, she has completed 98 investigations. She has found wholly or partly in favour of the complainant in 63 cases.

Capital Gains Tax

Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost to the Exchequer in (a) 1992-93, (b) 1993-94 and (c) 1994-95 of raising the threshold for capital gains tax to £5,800.


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Mr. Dorrell : The capital gains tax annual exempt amount was increased in 1992-93 to £5,800 in line with the statutory indexation formula. Therefore there was no cost to the Exchequer measured against an indexed base.

Taxation

Mr. David Porter : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has further to reduce tax evasion ; if he will make it his policy to abolish the road fund licence and recoup the lost revenue from additional petrol duty ; and if he will make a statement.

Sir John Cope [holding answer 28 March 1994] : The Government devote substantial resources to tackling tax evasion.

We have no plans to abolish vehicle excise duty and recoup the lost revenue from additional petrol duty. I also refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Chelmsford (Mr. Burns) on 9 February 1994 atcol. 248.

Mr. Christopher Thompson

Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what plans he has to review the case of Mr. Christopher Thompson of 18 Bootham terrace, York, in relation to the treatment by Customs and Excise of his VAT liabilities and those of his competitors ; (2) what account he has taken in considering the case of Mr. Christopher Thompson of 18 Bootham terrace, York, in the past of Mr. Thompson's affidavit about competitors' tax affairs and the reported inaccuracy of advertisements for their services.

Sir John Cope [holding answer 28 March 1994] : None. His complaints, which relate to events before and during 1979, have been reviewed carefully over the last 15 years by Customs and Excise, by Ministers and by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, and full account has been taken of all the many thousands of documents that Mr. Thompson has sent, both direct to customs and via Members of Parliament and others.

VAT on Fuel

Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 1 December, Official Report, column 567, if value added tax would be applied to standing charges for electricity and gas if billed separately.

Sir John Cope [holding answer 28 March 1994] : Separate billing of standing charges for electricity or gas would not affect the VAT liability of these charges. They remain part of the consideration for a single supply of fuel and power. Were they to be viewed otherwise, they would now be liable to VAT at the standard rate.

Nurse Training Courses (VAT)

Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance he is giving health trusts about value added tax exemption for essential training courses for nursing staff who are converting from state enrolled nurse to state registered nurse.

Sir John Cope [holding answer 28 March 1994] : None. There is no VAT on in-house training. Nursing training provided by external suppliers is exempt.


Column 640

Lower Earnings Limit

Mrs. Roche : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer at what level the national insurance lower earnings limit has been set in each year since 1989 (a) in money terms and (b) at 1994 prices.

Mr. Hague : I have been asked to reply.

Because the lower earnings limit has moved broadly in line with the increase in prices, the value of the limits applying since 1989 at 1994 prices will be approximately £57, that is the limit for 1994-95. The cash value of the limits requested is in the table.


Year       |Cash LEL             

           |£ per week           

---------------------------------

1989-90    |43                   

1990-91    |46                   

1991-92    |52                   

1992-93    |54                   

1993-94    |56                   

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Civil Aircraft Trade Agreement

Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the time scale for completion of negotiations on the aerospace part of the GATT negotiations postponed from December 1993.

Mr. Sainsbury : Members of the GATT civil aircraft committee reached an agreement on 14 December 1993 that negotiations on a new GATT agreement on trade in civil aircraft would continue for a further year, ending in December 1994.

Post Offices

Mr. Cousins : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish tables showing the number of sub-agency and Crown status post offices in each English region, Wales and Northern Ireland in each year since 1989 ; how many of each category of post office in each case opened or closed in each year since 1989 ; and how many changed status.

Mr. Heseltine : The number of directly operated main post offices, other main post offices and sub post offices in operation in each of the years from March 1989 to February 1994 are shown in tables 1 to 6 by current Post Office Counters English regions, and with Northern Ireland and Wales shown separately. Because of administrative boundary changes during the period, the historic apportionment between regions is a best estimate. Figures of sub office closures and openings are available from March 1993 only and are shown in table 7 ; for 1992-93 they are available only at disproportionate cost, and are not available for earlier years. The number of Crown post office conversions is shown on a cumulative basis in the column "other main post offices", with openings and closures not linked to Crown office conversions shown separately for each year.


Column 641


Table 1                                                                                                                           

Regional breakdown of offices-March 1989                                                                                          

Post Office Counters     |Directly            |Other Main          |Sub Offices         |Total                                    

Regions                                                                                                                           

                         |Operated            |Post Offices                                                                       

                         |Main Post                                                                                               

                         |Offices                                                                                                 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northern Ireland         |28                  |0                   |663                 |691                                      

Wales                    |109                 |0                   |1,995               |2,104                                    

North East               |131                 |0                   |2,836               |2,967                                    

North West               |147                 |0                   |1,863               |2,010                                    

Midlands                 |137                 |0                   |2,247               |2,384                                    

South West               |139                 |0                   |2,449               |2,588                                    

North Thames/East Anglia |346                 |0                   |3,072               |3,418                                    

South East               |263                 |0                   |2,219               |2,482                                    

                         |---                 |--                  |---                 |---                                      

Total                    |1,300               |0                   |17,344              |18,644                                   


Column 641


Table 2                                                                                                                           

Regional breakdown of offices-March 1990                                                                                          

Post Office Counters     |Directly            |Other Main          |Sub Offices         |Total                                    

Regions                                                                                                                           

                         |Operated            |Post Offices                                                                       

                         |Main Post                                                                                               

                         |Offices                                                                                                 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northern Ireland         |<1>1 24             |3                   |657                 |684                                      

Wales                    |94                  |15                  |1,978               |2,087                                    

North East               |113                 |18                  |2,801               |2,932                                    

North West               |128                 |19                  |1,856               |2,003                                    

Midlands                 |<1>1 120            |17                  |2,220               |2,357                                    

South West               |127                 |12                  |2,397               |2,536                                    

North Thames/East Anglia |323                 |22                  |3,043               |3,388                                    

South East               |248                 |15                  |2,184               |2,447                                    

                         |---                 |--                  |---                 |---                                      

Total                    |1,177               |121                 |17,136              |18,434                                   

<1> Two main offices closed.                                                                                                      


Column 641


Table 3                                                                                                                           

Regional breakdown of offices-March 1991                                                                                          

Post Office Counters     |Directly            |Other main          |Sub-offices         |Total                                    

Regions                                                                                                                           

                         |operated main       |post offices                                                                       

                         |post offices                                                                                            

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northern Ireland         |24                  |3                   |647                 |674                                      

Wales                    |<1>1 78             |30                  |1,949               |2,057                                    

North East               |<1>2 92             |38                  |2,766               |2,896                                    

North West               |<1>1 111            |35                  |1,834               |1,980                                    

Midlands                 |<1>1 107            |<2>1 29             |2,192               |2,328                                    

South West               |<1>2 <2>1 111       |27                  |2,335               |2,473                                    

North Thames/East Anglia |<1>2 293            |50                  |2,987               |3,330                                    

South East               |218                 |45                  |2,150               |2,413                                    

                                                                                                                                  

Total                    |1,034               |257                 |16,860              |18,151                                   

<1> Nine main offices closed.                                                                                                     

<2> Two new main offices opened.                                                                                                  


Column 641


Table 4                                                                                                                           

Regional breakdown of offices-March 1992                                                                                          

Post Office Counters     |Directly            |Other main          |Sub-offices         |Total                                    

Regions                                                                                                                           

                         |operated main       |post offices                                                                       

                         |post offices                                                                                            

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northern Ireland         |22                  |5                   |648                 |675                                      

Wales                    |67                  |40                  |1,897               |2,004                                    

North East               |<1>1 83             |<2>3 48             |2,742               |2,873                                    

North West               |103                 |43                  |1,824               |1,970                                    

Midlands                 |<1>1 93             |42                  |2,187               |2,322                                    

South West               |<1>2 98             |40                  |2,309               |2,447                                    

North Thames/East Anglia |262                 |<2>1 83             |2,987               |3,332                                    

South East               |192                 |70                  |2,130               |2,392                                    

                                                                                                                                  

Total                    |920                 |371                 |16,724              |18,015                                   

<1> Four main offices closed.                                                                                                     

<2> Four new main offices opened.                                                                                                 


Column 643


Table 5                                                                                                                           

Regional breakdown of offices-March 1993                                                                                          

Post Office counters     |Directly            |Other main          |Sub offices         |Total                                    

regions                                                                                                                           

                         |operated main       |post offices                                                                       

                         |post offices                                                                                            

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northern Ireland         |21                  |6                   |652                 |679                                      

Wales                    |59                  |49                  |1,878               |1,986                                    

North East               |73                  |<2>2 61             |2,701               |2,835                                    

North West               |<1>2<2>1 96         |49                  |1,816               |1,961                                    

Midlands                 |78                  |56                  |2,156               |2,290                                    

South West               |87                  |<2>251              |2,259               |2,397                                    

North Thames/East Anglia |<1>3<2>1 233        |<2>1 102            |2,961               |3,296                                    

South East               |187                 |<2>287              |2,105               |2,379                                    

Total                    |834                 |461                 |16,528              |17,823                                   

<1> Five main offices closed.                                                                                                     

<2> Nine new main offices opened.                                                                                                 


Column 643


Table 6                                                                                                                           

Regional breakdown of offices-February 1994                                                                                       

Post office counters     |Directly            |Other main          |Sub offices         |Total                                    

regions                                                                                                                           

                         |operated main       |post offices                                                                       

                         |post offices                                                                                            

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northern Ireland         |19                  |8                   |650                 |677                                      

Wales                    |54                  |54                  |1,865               |1,973                                    

North East               |70                  |65                  |2,668               |2,803                                    

North West               |89                  |56                  |1,805               |1,950                                    

Midlands                 |65                  |65                  |2,073               |2,203                                    

South West               |80                  |58                  |2,253               |2,391                                    

North Thames/East Anglia |224                 |<1>2 117            |2,974               |3,315                                    

South East               |172                 |<1>1 103            |2,105               |2,380                                    

Total                    |773                 |526                 |16,393              |17,692                                   

<1> Three new main offices opened.                                                                                                


Column 643


Table 7                                                                                                                           

Regional breakdown of changes to sub-offices-March 1993-February 1994                                                             

Post office counters     |Net closures of     |Conversions         |New sub-            |Net reduction                            

regions                                                                                                                           

                         |sub-offices         |to main offices     |offices                                                       

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northern Ireland         |2                   |-                   |-                   |2                                        

Wales                    |13                  |-                   |-                   |13                                       

North East               |32                  |1                   |-                   |33                                       

North West               |10                  |1                   |-                   |11                                       

Midlands                 |83                  |-                   |-                   |83                                       

South West               |10                  |-                   |4                   |6                                        

North Thames/East Anglia |<1>-10              |-                   |3                   |-13                                      

South East               |0                   |-                   |-                   |0                                        

                         |-------             |-------             |-------             |-------                                  

Total                    |140                 |2                   |7                   |135                                      

<1> This figure relates to re-opening of sub-offices which have previously been temporarily closed.                               

Regional Challenge

Mr. Frank Field : To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Monmouth (Mr. Evans) of 8 March, Official Report, columns 204-5, how regional challenge and the envisaged competition between local deprived communities in a locality will help to achieve sustainable regeneration ; what is meant by the term "Community support framework areas"; and if he will place in the Library, information regarding the rules of this competition and how bids will be judged.

Mr. Sainsbury : Regional challenge, an alternative method of selecting projects for European regional development fund grant, will improve the use of this fund for sustainable regeneration because the competition will


Column 644

stimulate better applications, which should involve the co-operative participation of appropriate authorities and bodies and the private sector.

Detailed rules will be published in due course.

The community support framework areas in England will be : Objective 1

Merseyside

Objective 2

North East

Yorkshire and Humberside

East Midlands

West Midlands

Greater Manchester/Lancashire/Cheshire

Greater London

West Cumbria

Thanet

Plymouth

Objective 5(b)

South West


Column 645

Shropshire/Herefordshire/Worcestershire (the Marches) Staffordshire/Derbyshire (Midlands Uplands)

Northern Uplands

Lincolnshire

East Anglia

I do not intend to include west Cumbria, Thanet and Plymouth in the first regional challenge competitions.

Regional Enterprise Grants

Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was (a) the total money spent, (b) the percentage of that money allocated according to decisions made by Ministers on competitive bids and (c) the percentage of that money allocated according to some statistical measure of need in the last available operational year of the regional enterprise grants.

Mr. Sainsbury : In the 1992-93 financial year payments of regional enterprise grants in England totalled £5.7 million. The other questions are not applicable to this scheme.

Rover Group

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much public money was invested in the Rover Group from 1977 to privatisation ; and what is his estimate of the replacement cost of the assets sold by British Aerospace to BMW.

Mr. Sainsbury : Between 1975, when the Government took a majority shareholding in the company that became British Leyland, and of which Rover was part, until privatisation, some £3.5 billion was invested in BL in the form of grants, loans and equity.

The group last made profits, after tax, on ordinary activities in the 1975- 76 financial year. By 1988, Rover's accumulated losses amounted to £1,600 million.

We are not in a position to estimate the replacement cost of the assets sold by British Aerospace to BMW.

Manufacturing

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he will ensure that the forthcoming White Paper on competitiveness will include an analysis of United Kingdom and world exports of manufactures since 1979 similar to that in the article published in the 18 November 1966 issue of the Board of Trade journal.

Mr. Sainsbury : The White Paper on competitiveness will be presented to the House later in the year.

Charter Markets

Sir Michael Neubert : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many charter markets he had visited in his official capacity prior to publication of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Bill.

Mr. Neil Hamilton : I have not visited a charter market in an official capacity.

Overseas Investment

Mr. Pawsey : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the level of United Kingdom overseas investment in 1979 ; what it was in 1993 ; and what was the percentage increase.


Column 646

Mr. Heseltine : The level of United Kingdom overseas investment was £5.9 billion in 1979 and £16.9 billion in 1993. This represents a percentage increase of 186 per cent.

Tobacco Companies (Grants)

Ms Primarolo : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many regional selective assistance grants were given to tobacco companies in the United Kingdom in each year since 1989-90 ; and if he will list the companies.

Mr. Sainsbury : No regional selective assistance grants have been given to tobacco companies in the United Kingdom since 1989-90. Reference to "regional selective assistance grants" in answer to an earlier question from the hon. Lady on 1 February 1994, Official Report, column 613, should have read "selective financial assistance to industry". This assistance is available to companies in Northern Ireland only under the Industrial Development (Northern Ireland) Order 1982 and the Employment and Training (Northern Ireland) Act 1950.

Arms Exports (Indonesia)

Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what type, quantity and value of arms have been exported to south-east Asia by Britain for each year since 1985 ; and what proportion of sales in that region have gone to Indonesia.

Mr. Heseltine : For reasons of commercial confidentiality, it has been the consistent policy of successive Governments not to disclose particulars of defence trade with other countries.

Trade and the Environment

Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will place in the Library a copy of the draft work programme on trade and the environment, recently agreed in Geneva, for the general agreement on tariffs and trade and World Trade Organisation meeting in Marrakesh.

Mr. Heseltine : I have today placed a copy of the draft ministerial decision on trade and environment in the Library of the House.

Concorde

Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the life expectancy of Concorde.

Mr. Sainsbury : The Department of Trade and Industry has made no such assessment.

Legislation

Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he intends to publish compliance cost assessments of the burden on businesses of legislation.

Mr. Neil Hamilton : The Government publish compliance cost assessments with all proposals for United Kingdom and EC legislation that have an impact on business. The arrangements for publishing CCAs for proposed domestic legislation were set out in my written answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester, North (Mr. Jenkin) on 19 October, Official Report, column


Column 647

202. The arrangements for publishing the assessments for proposed EC legislation were set out in the written answer by my right hon. Friend the Lord President to the Council to my hon. Friend the Member for Hertfordshire, South-West (Mr. Page) on 19 July, Official Report, column 24.

Local Business Partnerships

Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the 18 pilot local business partnerships set up by his Department's deregulation unit.

Mr. Neil Hamilton : The 18 pilot local business partnerships, established by local authorities and the business community with the help of my Department, are located at :

Kent county council, Tunbridge Wells borough council, Suffolk county council, Ipswich borough council, Nottinghamshire county council, Gedling district council, Barnsley metropolitan borough council, London borough of Hounslow, South Ribble borough council, West Sussex county council, East Sussex county council, Cardiff city council, Warwickshire county council, Hertfordshire county council, Oxfordshire county council, Hereford and Worcester county council, Berkshire county council and Lewes district council.

In addition to these 18 pilot partnerships, a new partnership has been established at Hastings borough council and I understand that launches for new partnerships are already planned this year by Gloucestershire county council, Essex county council and Rother and Wealden district councils.

I am keen to encourage the creation of other partnerships and to this end hosted a series of regional seminars in late-1993 to help promote them. The response to these seminars was encouraging and officials in my Department's deregulation unit are planning a number of initiatives to follow up on the many expressions of interest.

Public Appointments

Mr. Vaz : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what percentage of public appointments made by his Department in 1993 were of (a) Asians and (b) black people ; and if he will list their names.

Mr. Eggar : In 1993 the Department of Trade and Industry made 887 public appointments. Of these, 0.34 per cent. were Asian appointments, 0.34 per cent. black appointments and 0.12 per cent. other ethnic origin appointments.

Names cannot be provided as ethnic origin information was obtained in confidence from those concerned.


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