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Scottish Tertiary Education Advisory CouncilThe Scottish Agricultural College
Visiting Committees to Detention Centres and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) (5)
West of Scotland Agricultural College--Board of Governors Working Party on Management Training for Leisure and Recreation
Mr. Sykes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many quangos his Department was responsible for (a) in 1979 and (b) in the latest year for which a number is available.
Mr. Lang: In 1979 my Department sponsored 244 non-departmental public bodies. In 1993 there were 160.
Prison Privatisation
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish the present list of Her Majesty's prisons in Scotland which are now under consideration for privatisation.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: There are no Scottish prisons currently under consideration for privatisation.
Patient Complaints
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table detailing the number of patient complaints in each of the last five years, by region.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: This information is not available for the full period requested. Information about complaints since January 1993 is now published in a series of quarterly NHS complaints bulletins, copies of which are held in the Library of the House.
Cattle
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many farmers (a) in total and (b) in each region have entered the voluntary passport system for cattle.
Sir Hector Monro: The use of animal passports is entirely voluntary and the Department has no information on the number of farmers who have decided to use them.
Valuation and Rating Act
Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what use he has made of powers under section 6 (8B) of the Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act 1956; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what use has been made of his powers under section 6 (8A) of the Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act 1956; and if he will make a statement
Mr. Stewart: Section 6(8A) of the Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act 1956 was inserted by the Local Government Finance Act 1988, schedule 12, paragraph 4. The powers have been exercised only once, in the making of the Valuation for Rating (Decapitalisation Rate) (Scotland) Regulations 1990, SI 1990 No. 505.
Finance Statistics
Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the rate of (a) gross domestic product per capita,
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(b) disposable income per capita and (c) average earnings in Scotland in each year since 1974.Mr. Stewart: The information is given in the table.
|Personal |Average gross
|Gross domestic |disposal |weekly earnings
|product per |income<1> per |of full-time
|head |head |employees<2><3>
|(£) |(£) |(£)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1974 |1,267 |1,017 |39.5
1975 |1,628 |1,278 |52.6
1976 |1,927 |1,499 |62.7
1977 |2,190 |1,673 |68.6
1978 |2,452 |1,896 |77.0
1979 |2,802 |2,252 |87.5
1980 |3,212 |2,650 |107.4
1981 |3,542 |3,004 |122.0
1982 |3,894 |3,252 |133.5
1983 |4,266 |3,519 |145.2
1983 |- |- |144.3
1984 |4,455 |3,845 |155.7
1985 |4,920 |4,086 |165.8
1986 |5,331 |4,463 |176.6
1987 |5,813 |4,823 |187.9
1988 |6,419 |5,187 |204.5
1989 |7,054 |5,659 |221.4
1990 |7,752 |6,351 |244.0
1991 |8,123 |6,904 |265.3
1992 |(P)8,616 |(P)7,617 |286.7
1993 |- |- |296.8
1994 |- |- |300.8
(P) Provisional.
Source:
Central Statistical Office Employment Department.
Notes:
<1> Personal disposable income is defined as the income of the personal sector (
households, individuals living in hostels and other institutions,
unincorporated businesses such as farms, the funds of pension and life
assurance schemes, private trusts and all non-profit making bodies such as
universities and charities) less taxes on income, social security contributions,
community charge and current transfers from personal income. It is not a
measure of the spending power of households.
<2> At April each year. Average gross weekly earnings of full-time employees
whose pay was not affected by absence.
<3> 1974 to first row for 1983 compiled on basis of men aged 21 and over and
women aged 18 and over. Second row for 1983 onwards compiled on basis of
employees on adult rates.
Exporters
Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the number of Scottish-based active exporters; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Stewart: This answer necessarily has to be best estimate, as it cannot be definitive. The Scottish Council (Development and Industry) has around 1,800 manufacturing companies on its database, about 1,000 of which could be termed active and significant exporters. There are no data available in relation to active service sector exporters.
Exports pertaining to small and medium sized companies had shown an 18 per cent. increase in 1993 and are now worth over £1.4 billion. Some 110,000 jobs are thought to be dependent on exporting and the SCDI's latest estimates point towards Scotland's spectacular 1993 performance being sustained.
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Farm Incomes
Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of total farm incomes is represented by (a) hill livestock compensatory allowance payments and (b) sheep annual premiums; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Hector Monro: In 1993 the percentages of total income from farming represented by hill livestock compensatory allowances and sheep annual premium were 17 per cent. and 33 per cent. respectively.
For 1992 93 the equivalent percentages for livestock farms in the less- favoured area are set out in the table:
Percentage of net
farm income
represented by:
|Hill livestock
|compensatory |Sheep annual
|allowances |premium
|Per cent. |Per cent.
------------------------------------------------------------------
LFA Specialist sheep |48 |150
LFA Specialist beef |50 |29
LFA Mixed cattle and
sheep |55 |97
Source:
Scottish farm accounts scheme.
Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what acreage has been put into regeneration of the natural habitat in hill farming; and if he will evaluate the effect this will have on hill farm incomes.
Sir Hector Monro: The area of hill farming land which farmers may have put into regeneration is not known to my Department, nor is any effect that this might have on their incomes.
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Unified Business Rate
Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland on what date Her Majesty's Government first decided that there should be a Scottish unified business rate; and to whom this policy was first announced.
Mr. Stewart: The Government's unified business rates policy was first announced by my right hon. and learned Friend, the Member for Edinburgh, Pentlands (Mr. Rifkind) in a speech to the Scottish Young Business Group in Glasgow on 8 May 1989. Powers were subsequently taken in the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 to enable my right hon. Friend to prescribe non-domestic rate poundages for each Scottish local authority from 1990 91 onwards with the intention of reducing poundages progressively to the level of the national non-domestic rate in England.
Labour Statistics
Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many adults were in (a) full-time employment, (b) part-time employment, (c) self -employment and (d) unemployment in each year since 1979; and if he will provide a breakdown by parliamentary constituency.
Mr. Allan Stewart: Information for Scotland is given in the table.
At parliamentary constituency level, self-employed estimates are not available. The numbers unemployed are available but not in a form which will allow comparison over time on a consistent basis. Employees in employment estimates, split into full-time and part-time, are available from the censuses of employment carried out in 1981, 1984, 1987, 1989 and 1991. This information, along with the unemployment information, is on the NOMIS database in the House of Commons Library. Library staff are ready to assist in accessing the information.
Thousands
Employees in
employment
June |Total<1> |Full-time |Part-time |Self-employed|Unemployed<2>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |2,102 |- |- |146 |138
1980 |2,082 |- |- |141 |166
1981 |2,002 |- |- |136 |244
1982 |1,950 |- |- |150 |274
1983 |1,899 |- |- |164 |300
1984 |1,901 |- |- |168 |308
1985 |1,900 |- |- |174 |322
1986 |1,879 |- |- |176 |332
1987 |1,879 |- |- |182 |326
1988 |1,921 |- |- |198 |278
1989 |1,957 |- |- |221 |233
1990 |1,986 |- |- |208 |200
1991 |1,997 |1,490 |507 |223 |222
1992 |2,008 |1,488 |521 |215 |237
1993 |1,984 |1,448 |536 |216 |245
1994 |1,962 |1,416 |546 |222 |-
Source:
Employment Department.
Notes:
<1> Part-time/full-time data for all employees are not available prior to June 1991.
<2> The unemployed figures given are seasonally adjusted.
Non-domestic Rates
Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list each individual corporation, company, group, organisation and other entity he has consulted for the purposes of determining evidence for the purposes of
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re-valuation of non-domestic rates to be effective from 1 April 1995.Mr. Stewart: The valuation for rating of individual subjects is the responsibility of the assessor for each valuation area. It is therefore assessors, not the Secretary
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of State, who gather evidence for the purposes of revaluation. Our consultations with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and relevant ratepayer companies in relation to the formula valuation of certain lands and heritages under section 6 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975 have been informed by evidence on movement in values generally provided by assessors.Sheep Annual Premium
Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what are the reasons for the delay in the payment of sheep annual premiums to farmers; and if he will consider paying compensation in cases where there has been unnecessary delay and inconvenience;
(2) what recent representations he has received on the delay in making sheep annual premiums to farmers; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Hector Monro: The Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department is in the process of changing over to a new computer system designed to cope with the increased complexity of the agricultural subsidy schemes following reform of the common agricultural policy. The changeover has not gone as smoothly as I would have wished, causing delays in the issue of payments under the 1994 sheep annual premium scheme. The Department is doing its utmost to overcome the problems and get the payments out as soon as possible. Next year, the processing of SAP claims should be quicker. I fully recognise the importance of these advance SAP payments to producers and very much regret the delay. However, there is no obligation under the EC regulations governing the scheme to make advance payments of premium so the question of compensation does not arise.
I have received representations about the delay in making payments from the hon. Members for Falkirk, West (Mr. Canavan) and for Gordon (Mr. Bruce) and from the National Farmers Union of Scotland. In addition, officials of the Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department have received representations from some SAP claimants.
Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many sheep annual premiums have been made to date; and what is the total value of such payments;
(2) when he expects the sheep annual premium for this year to be (a) finalised and (b) made to farmers; and if he will make a statement.
Sir Hector Monro: By 18 November, my Department had issued advance payments on 9,335 claims, totalling over £25 million under the 1994 scheme.
Commission regulations 1640/94 and 1765/94 authorised member states to make first and second advance payments under the 1994 scheme based on an estimated amount of premium. Payments of both advances together began in Scotland in the week beginning24 October 1994. Final payments under the 1994 scheme will not be made until next spring after the final rate is announced by the Commission.
Environmental Code of Practice
Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the economic impact of the national voluntary environmental code of practice on businesses; if he will list the businesses which have
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agreed to follow the national environmental code of practice; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Stewart: There are various voluntary codes--promoted by, for example, individual industries, the international chambers of commerce, and the Confederation of British Industry--through which a commitment to environmental management may be demonstrated. The Government welcome such voluntary initiatives but do not keep centralised information on them.
Inward Investment
Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list for each inward invested project attracted to Scotland since 1990 how much the planned investment was worth and the number of jobs guaranteed.
Mr. Stewart: Many inward investors do not publicly announce details of their investment projects and releasing details of these projects would constitute a breach of confidence. The following table, however, gives details of the total number of inward investment and the total number of planned jobs recorded by Locate in Scotland in recent years:
A
|Planned |Planned jobs
|Number of |investment |(new and
Year |projects |(£ million) |safeguarded)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1990-91 |63 |394.1 |10,244
1991-92 |59 |380.9 |6,002
1992-93 |65 |352.0 |8,059
1993-94 |95 |587.6 |11,072
Total |282 |1,714.6 |35,377
The figures for planned investment and planned jobs are those provided by the companies concerned at the time of the investment decision and take no account of subsequent developments. Company plans are of course subject to change and some projects may fail to meet job forecasts, while others may exceed them. Evidence over a period of years suggests that, on average, around two-thirds of planned direct jobs are achieved. Many additional jobs are of course also created indirectly in supplier companies.
Productivity
Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his latest estimate of productivity within the Scottish economy using value added per employee; and if he will analyse the figures by industry.
Mr. Stewart: The information is available only for the manufacturing sector and is set out in the table. Figures are provided for 1991, which is the latest year for which information is available.
|Gross value added
SIC 1980 Class |Industry group |per employee (£)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2-4 |Manufacturing |23,947
| industries
21 |Extraction and |-
| preparation of
| metalliferous ores
22 |Metal manufacturing |15,915
23 |Extraction of minerals |43,514
| nes
24 |Manufacture of non-metallic|27,508
| mineral products
25/26 |Chemical and |40,785
| man-made fibre
| industries
31 |Manufacture of metal |18,776
| goods nes
32 |Mechanical |24,760
| engineering
33 |Manufacture of office |42,128
| machinery and data
| processing
| equipment
34 |Electrical and |22,216
| electronic
| engineering
35 |Manufacture of motor |22,573
| vehicles and parts
36 |Manufacture of other |24,517
| transport equipment
37 |Instrument |24,981
| engineering
41/42 |Food, drink and |25,332
| tobacco
| manufacturing
| industries
43 |Textile industry |13,980
44 |Manufacture of
| leather and leather
| goods
45 |Footwear and clothing |13,499
| industries
46 |Timber and wooden |16,705
| furniture industries
47 |Manufacture of paper |26,433
| and paper products;
| printing and
| publishing
48 |Processing of rubber |22,940
| and plastics
49 |Other manufacturing |16,374
| industries
Source:
Annual Census of Production.
Temporary Sheriffs
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the contribution temporary sheriffs make to the administration of justice in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang: The use of temporary sheriffs when permanent sheriffs are unavailable for court work serves to avoid increases in court waiting periods and inconvenience to court users which would result from cancelled sittings. Their use also makes an important contribution to dealing efficiently with temporary increases in court business. A balance must however be maintained between the respective contributions of permanent and temporary sheriffs and I have accordingly decided, following consultation with the sheriffs principal, to increase by three the number of permanent appointments. Applications for these posts will be invited shortly. The successful candidates will be appointed as floating sheriffs to serve in a number of courts.
Woodlands
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he has for introducing
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a tendering system and locational supplements as part of the woodland grant scheme.Sir Hector Monro: We will introduce a pilot system for inviting people to tender for the establishment of woodlands in the national forest. We will also introduce a flat-rate locational supplement of £600 per hectare for appropriate woodland establishment schemes in priority areas within the central Scotland woodlands area, community forest areas in England which have had their business plans approved, Sherwood and Aman Gwendraeth in South Wales. These schemes will run for a pilot period of three years, starting with 1995 96. Full details will be announced in time for planting to take place in 1995 96.
Mr. Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the Government's policy on the disposal of Forestry Commission woodlands, its target for the area of woodlands to be sold and its target for the amount of woodland sold for which public access should be protected by way of access agreements.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 23 November 1994]: The Government's policy on the disposal of Forestry Commission woodlands is set out at appendix VI of the commission's annual report for the year ended March 1990, a copy of which is held in the Library of the House. When we announced this policy in 1989, we asked the Commission to dispose of 100,000 hectares of forestry land and properties in the period up to the end of the century. As noted in our public expenditure plans, the Commission intends to sell 15,000 hectares in each of the next three years. Every effort will be made to secure an access agreement for all woodlands which are sold.
Mr. Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list by county all Forestry Commission woodlands sold since 1 January 1993, indicating those for which an access agreement was in place.
Sir Hector Monro [holding answer 23 November 1994]: A list, by county, of the Forestry Commission woodlands sold in 1993 is held in the Library of the House. A list of those woodlands sold in 1994 will be placed in the Library early next year. Of the woodlands sold by 30 September 1994, those listed below were subject to access agreements.
County |Name of property
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Derbyshire |Birch Wood
|Britton Wood
|Kings Lot and Longway Bank
North Yorkshire |Gateforth East
|Moreby Wood
|Sutton Wood
Clwyd |Nant y Ffridd (part)
|Nant y Ffridd (part)
Dyfed |Allt y Gwydre
|Court Wood
|Factory Wood
|Taldrum Wood
|Tan y Lan
|Ty'r Dopa
Gwent |Graig Syddi
Powys |Castlering
|Granner Wood
|Hilltop
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GP Fundholders
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide an estimate for the value of fundholding allocations retained by general practitioner fundholders at the year end in each of the last four years by region.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information requested relates to GP fundholder savings which are retained not by the fundholder at year end but by the health board on the fundholder's behalf to be used for the benefit of patients. These figures are available only for those years for which audited health board accounts have been completed. The audited accounts for 1993 94 have not yet been finalised but it is estimated that savings will be about 4 per cent.
|1991-92 |1992-93
Health board |£000 |£000
-------------------------------------------------------------
Argyll and Clyde |56 |Nil
Ayrshire and Arran |- |-
Borders |- |-
Dumfries and Galloway |- |-
Fife |- |-
Forth Valley |- |-
Grampian |103 |95
Greater Glasgow |- |13
Highland |- |-
Lanarksire |- |-
Lothian |29 |39
Orkney |- |-
Shetland and |- |-
Tayside |Nil |12
Western Isles |- |-
Scotland |188 |159
<1> Figures represent gross amounts in all cases.
Contaminated Land
Mr. Kynoch: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what conclusions the Government have reached in the light of the responses to their consultation paper, "Contaminated Land Clean-up and Control", which was announced on 11 March 1994, and the recent consultation exercise on the revision of Scotland's nuisance legislation; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lang [pursuant to his reply 23 November 1994 c. 196 97.]: I have today published a paper which sets out my proposals for dealing with contaminated land and liabilities and concludes the review which I announced on 24 March last year. I will arrange for copies to be deposited in the Libraries of the House. I am grateful to the 91 individuals in the organisations who submitted their views in response to the consultation document.
The Government remain committed to the "suitable for use" approach to the control of existing contamination, relating any need for remedial work to the presence of any unacceptable risks to health or the environment and to the actual or intended use of the site. This approach gained wide support from our respondents. It provides a platform for tackling real hazards where they exist in an orderly and controlled manner, without imposing unnecessary financial and regulatory burdens and without discouraging enterprise.
Subject to parliamentary approval, I intend to use the creation of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency,
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working in conjunction with the enterprise bodies, to develop guidance on remediation. I will expect the agency to take an overall monitoring and reporting role in respect of Scottish land contamination. Our "Development of Contaminated Land", is now set in the context provided by the United Kingdom sustainable development strategy, allowing us to establish a balance between green-field and brown-field development.My proposals are intended both to provide an appropriate and sensible approach to tackling the legacy of past contamination which will not jeopardise public health or the environment, and to take advantage of the opportunity that remediation work offers for regeneration.
Our consultation paper also said that, in the light of the emerging conclusions of the review, the Government would re-assess the justification for the present unique statutory exemptions for abandoned mines. In view of the concerns that have been expressed about water pollution from abandoned mines, the Government will now propose legislative amendments to remove the existing statutory defence and exemptions for mines abandoned after the end of 1999 so that SEPA, as successor to the RPAs, will have the same powers, in respect of those mines, as for other discharges.
The Government will also propose a duty of mine operators to give SEPA six months' notice of any proposed abandonment. This will provide an additional safeguard to ensure that when mines are abandoned this is done in a responsible manner with full regard to the effects on the water environment.
TREASURY
National Audit Office
Ms Primarolo: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the proportion of total public expenditure which came under the remit of the National Audit Office for each year since 1979.
Sir George Young: Public expenditure is usually measured in terms of general Government expenditure, comprising both central and local governemnt. The remit of the National Audit Office--in Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Audit Office--includes all central Government expenditure including grants to local authorities but excluding notional items such as capital consumption. The figures for these items in each year since 1979 are as follows--the percentage of public expenditure within NAO's remit represents the total of central Government expenditure as a proportion of general Government expenditure:
|Central
|Government
|Expenditure
|(excluding
|GGE |notionals) |NAO remit (per
Year |£ millions |£ millions |cent. of GGE)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1978-79 |72,431 |62,688 |86.55
1979-80 |89,992 |77,361 |85.96
1980-81 |108,637 |94,666 |87.14
1981-82 |120,516 |104,033 |86.32
1982-83 |132,672 |118,004 |88.94
1983-84 |140,436 |126,393 |90.00
1984-85 |150,789 |135,069 |89.57
1985-86 |158,474 |144,672 |91.29
1986-87 |164,848 |150,464 |91.27
1987-88 |173,233 |155,366 |89.69
1988-89 |179,798 |161,208 |89.66
1989-90 |200,832 |175,127 |87.20
1990-91 |218,139 |202,592 |92.87
1991-92 |236,268 |223,949 |94.79
1992-93 |260,237 |245,635 |94.39
1993-94 |277,550 |264,365 |95.25
Central Government Accounts
Ms Primarolo: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total value of the central Government accounts, covering public spending and receipts, audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General for each year since 1979.
Sir George Young: The Comptroller and Auditor General is the auditor of all central Government accounts. The value of central Government receipts and payments for each year since 1978 79 covered by NAO's audits is as follows:
|Receipts |Payments |Total
Year |(£ million)|(£ million)|(£ million)
------------------------------------------------------------
1978-79 |56,841 |64,797 |121,638
1979-80 |70,498 |77,361 |147,859
1980-81 |82,583 |94,666 |177,249
1981-82 |97,522 |104,033 |201,555
1982-83 |104,913 |118,004 |222,917
1983-84 |113,019 |126,393 |239,412
1984-85 |123,266 |135,069 |258,335
1985-86 |134,003 |144,672 |278,675
1986-87 |139,980 |150,464 |290,444
1987-88 |154,910 |155,366 |310,276
1988-89 |168,386 |161,208 |329,594
1989-90 |180,620 |175,127 |355,747
1990-91 |204,188 |202,592 |406,780
1991-92 |214,208 |223,949 |438,157
1992-93 |210,343 |245,635 |455,978
1993-94 |217,029 |264,365 |481,394
Customs and Excise Staff
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what plans he has to increase the number of Customs and Excise staff based at Tilbury;
(2) what plans he has to cut the number of Customs and Excise staff employed at Tilbury.
Ms Mowlam: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what plans he has to cut the number of Customs and Excise staff employed at Teesside port;
(2) what plans he has to increase the number of Customs and Excise staff based on Teesside.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: Decisions on the deployment of Customs' staff at particular places are essentially a matter for Customs and Excise based on operation requirements. It would be wrong to give details of Customs' cover for obvious security reasons.
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Taxation, Scotland
Dr. Howells: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total raised in Scotland from forms of taxation, other than income tax and VAT, (a) in 1990, (b) in 1991, (c) in 1992, (d) in 1993 and (e) in the first six months of 1994.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: The total raised from VAT in Scotland was as follows:
|Amount
Year |(£ million)
------------------------------------
1990-91 |2,520
1991-92 |2,850
1992-93 |3,110
1993-94 |3,250
Taxation, Wales
Dr. Howells: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total raised in Wales from forms of taxation, other than income tax and VAT, (a) in 1990, (b) in 1991, (c) in 1992, (d) in 1993 and (e) in the first six months of 1994.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: The total raised from VAT in Wales is estimated as follows:
|Amount
Year |(£ million)
------------------------------------
1990-91 |1,380
1991-92 |1,630
1992-93 |1,740
1993-94 |1,820
Cigarettes and Alcohol
Mr. Henderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many prosecutions, in each region of the United Kingdom since 1 January 1993, have been made by HM Custom and Excise for re-selling cigarettes and alcohol, which were purchased for self-consumption and had been bought, duty-paid, in other parts of the European Union.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To 31 October 1994 Customs and Excise prosecuted 307 individuals for the importation and illegal resale of alcohol and tobacco from other EU countries--178 in London and the south- east, 46 in the south and the south-west, 35 in the midlands and 48 in the north.
Christmas Expenditure
Mr. Bayley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many official Christmas cards he and his Ministers intend to send in 1994; how much these cards will cost (a) to buy, (b) to post and (c) in staff time to sign, address and place in envelopes; and if he will place in the Members' Library a sample copy of the official Christmas card he intends to send this year.
Mr. Nelson: Treasury Ministers expect to send around 1,000 official Christmas cards this year at a purchase price of approximately £300. Postage costs cannot be estimated at this stage, and information relating to staff costs is not
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available. A sample copy of the Treasury Christmas card is being placed in the Members' Library.EC Budget Council
Ms Quin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EC Budget Council held on 16 November.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: I represented the United Kingdom at the Budget Council on 16 November. The Council considered the European Parliament's proposed changes to the draft budget which the Council established in July, Official Report , 17 October 1994, columns 1 4 ; and established a second reading draft budget for 1995.
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The Council's second reading draft budget totals 75,930 million ecu--£59,343 million--in commitment appropriations and 72,000 million ecu--£56,272 million--in payment appropriations. The second reading draft budget is 583 million ecu-- £456 million--in commitments and 924 million ecu--£722 million-- in payments below the financial perspective ceilings and is within the existing own resources ceiling of 1.20 per cent. The following table compares the outcome of the Budget Council with the proposals in the Commission's preliminary draft budget and with the proposals in the European Parliament's draft budget, with reference to the financial perspective ceilings:
Financial Preliminary Parliament Council second
perspective reading
expenditure draft budget<2> draft budget draft budget
ceilings
Commitment |mecu |£ million<1> |mecu |£ million |mecu |£ million |mecu |£ million
appropriations
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Common Agricultural Policy |36,994 |29,219 |36,994 |29,219 |36,449 |28,487 |36,994 |28,913
2. Structural operations |25,264 |19,745 |25,264 |19,745 |25,264 |19,745 |25,264 |19,745
3. Internal policies |4,652 |3,636 |4,610 |3,603 |4,523 |3,544 |4,321 |3,535
4. External action |4,605 |3,599 |4,555 |3,560 |4,572 |3,573 |4,393 |3,433
5. Administration expenditure |3,852 |3,011 |3,827 |2,991 |3,823 |2,988 |3,811 |2,979
6. Reserves |1,146 |896 |1,146 |896 |1,146 |896 |1,146 |896
Total commitments |76,513 |59,799 |76,396 |59,708 |75,775 |59,222 |75,930 |59,343
Total payment appropriations |72,924 |56,994 |72,417 |56,597 |71,318 |55,739 |72,000 |56,272
<1> Throughout this reply the rate of £1=1.2795 ecu has been used (the rate notified in the Official Journal as prevailing on the last working day of last month (31
October).
<2> Including letter of amendment No. 1 to the PDB for 1995.
The European Parliament will consider the draft budget for 1994 at its plenary session in December. The 1995 Community Budget is expected to be adopted by the Parliament on 15 December, to take effect from 1 January.
The Council took no formal votes, the presidency concluding that there was the necessary majority to establish the second reading draft budget for 1995.
The Budget Council also discussed the revision of the financial perspective to take account of enlargement.
Ecofin
Ms Quin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Ecofin meeting on 7 November.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke: I refer to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Southport (Mr. Banks) on 17 November, Official Report, column 2 .
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