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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 28 March 1995
TREASURY
Russia (Loans)
Mr. Elletson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the sizes of current and projected International Monetary Fund loans to Russia; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nelson: Special drawing rights 719 million was drawn under a first credit tranche stand-by arrangements approved in August 1992. Loans totalling SDR 2,156 billion were made in the form of purchases under the systemic transformation facility in July 1993 and April 1994.
The IMF board will shortly be considering a request from the Russian Federation for a stand-by arrangement equivalent to SDR 4, 313.1 million.
Schedule D
Mr. Berry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the yearly gross taxation revenue, and net tax yield after allowance under schedule D from 714s and SC60s over the last five years. [16394]
Sir George Young: It is impossible to provide details of the tax revenue, gross or net, from 714-holding subcontractors. But deductions made by contractors from payment to subcontractors, on account of tax and national insurance contributions, which are paid over to the Revenue under the SC60 system have been running at about £1 billion per annum over the last five years. Part of this will be repayable to the subcontractors, although the amount is unquantifiable.
South Thames TEC
Mr. Fraser: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the Inland Revenue proposes to petition for the compulsory winding-up of South Thames training and enterprise council. [16298]
Sir George Young: The normal rules of Inland Revenue confidentiality preclude provision of information about the affairs of named individuals and entities.
Bank of England
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what part is played by the Bank of England in determining monetary policy; and if he will make a statement; [16987]
(2) if he will make it his policy to ensure that public pronouncements by officials of the Bank of England purporting to state or interpret Government policy are submitted to his office for prior approval. [16989]
Mr. Nelson: The Bank of England is an important source of advice to the Government on monetary policy.
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The advice the Governor gives at his monthly meeting with my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor is now open to parliamentary and public scrutiny through publication of the minutes. The bank also publishes its own independent inflation report. However, all monetary policy decisions are the responsibility of my right hon. and learned Friend.Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions Her Majesty's Customs and Excise investigated the importation of obscene material in the five years prior to 1993 94; and in how many of these cases prosecutions resulted. [16798]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: The information requested is not available in that form. Centrally collated statistics for the period prior to 1991 92 do not distinguish between cases detected and cases where, following a detection, a full investigation was undertaken. In many cases when the detection involved only very small quantities of prohibited material a full investigation would not be justified and offence action is confined to the seizure of the offending goods. Between 1 April 1988 and 31 March 1993 the following numbers of individuals were prosecuted by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise in connection with importation of indecent or obscene material: April 1988--March 1989: 105
April 1989--March 1990: 98
April 1990--March 1991: 88
April 1991--March 1992: 52
April 1992--March 1993: 48
From 1 April 1991 records have been kept centrally on the numbers of full investigations which have followed from Customs detections and the following information is available. Between 1 April 1991 and 31 March 1993 Customs launched full investigations in the following numbers of cases of importation of obscene or indecent material: April 1991--March 1992: 106
April 1992--March 1993: 94
National Fund
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the present value and status of the national fund; and what was the effect of the recent collapse of Barings on the valuation of the fund. [16802]
Mr. Nelson: The value of the national fund at 16 March 1995 was £114 million. The trustees of the fund are Baring Brothers and Co Ltd. The valuation of the fund has not been affected by the recent collapse of Barings.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the last White Paper was produced which covered the latest position of the national fund. [16804]
Mr. Nelson: The last White Paper which covered the latest position of the national fund was produced in December 1984, giving a statement of the progress of the fund during the years ended 31 March 1982 and 31 March 1983.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what fee or other monetary benefit is obtained periodically by the trustees of the national fund. [16806]
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Mr. Nelson: A management fee is paid annually to the trustees. In the financial year 1992 93 the fee amounted to £118,719.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to change the trustees of the national fund, following the takeover of Barings by ING Bank of the Netherlands. [16801]
Mr. Nelson: The Chancellor has no powers to change the trustees of the national fund. The trustees were chosen by the original donor who provided anonymously the gift which established the fund in 1927.
Tax Fraud
Mr. Pope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Inland Revenue staff are currently employed in the prevention of tax fraud; and what was the financial benefit of such work in the last financial year for which figures are available. [16824]
Sir George Young: It is not possible to identify the number of Inland Revenue staff engaged purely in the prevention of tax fraud. But about 4,500 staff were involved in counter-evasion work--including the investigation of suspected fraud--during the year1993 94. The total yield from this work was approximately £1.5 billion.
Smuggled Drugs
Mr. Alan Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the value of smuggled drugs seized by Customs officers in Wales in each of the last three years. [16843]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: Customs officers operate within geographically- based Executive units called collections. Wales is covered by two collections: South Wales and Borders; and Liverpool. It is therefore difficult to give accurate statistics for Wales as a whole. However, the street level value of seized drugs for the Welsh locations in these collections for each of the past three years is:
|1992 |1993 |1994
Year |£ |£ |£
-------------------------------------------------------
Value |768,261 |15,385,870|38,926,638
National Debt
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the value of the national debt for each year since 1965. [16805]
Mr. Aitken: The table shows the national debt, in nominal terms and as a percentage of GDP, at the end of each financial year since 1965.
National Debt
|Percentage of
End March |£ billion |GDP<1>
--------------------------------------------------------
1965 |30.441 |87.42
1966 |31.341 |84.31
1967 |31.986 |81.58
1968 |34.194 |81.47
1969 |33.984 |74.66
1970 |33.079 |66.85
1971 |33.442 |60.59
1972 |35.840 |58.29
1973 |36.885 |52.05
1974 |40.125 |50.83
1975 |45.925 |46.65
1976 |56.572 |47.93
1977 |67.166 |48.54
1978 |79.180 |49.49
1979 |86.885 |46.83
1980 |95.314 |43.15
1981 |113.036 |46.23
1982 |118.390 |44.13
1983 |127.927 |43.71
1984 |142.884 |45.36
1985 |158.029 |46.11
1986 |171.367 |46.20
1987 |185.814 |45.85
1988 |197.430 |43.88
1989 |197.320 |39.66
1990 |192.981 |35.68
1991 |198.703 |35.00
1992 |214.528 |36.20
1993 |248.781 |40.11
1994 |306.897 |46.62
<1>GDP adjusted for the abolition of domestic rates,
centred on end-March.
Trusts
Mr. Matthew Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to amend the Trustee Investments Act 1961 to relax the proportion of wider to narrower range investments for all trusts in line with the change announced for charities. [17105]
Mr. Nelson: I am able to announce that the Government intend to undertake a consultation exercise to establish the views of trustees, and other interested parties, on the proposal to amend the Trustee Investments Act 1961 to increase the proportion of wider to narrower range investments from 50:50 to 75:25 for all trusts. A consultation document has been issued for this purpose.
Bank of England Deputy Governor
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he intends to consult with members of the official Opposition on the appointment of a replacement deputy governor of the Bank of England; [16302]
(2) what account is taken of conflicts of interest in appointing a replacement deputy governor to the Bank of England; [16304] (3) if the contract for the appointment of a replacement deputy governor of the Bank of England will preclude severance, redundancy, or ex-gratia payments for termination of appointment for loss of earnings during any remaining contract period after the next general election; [16303]
(4) if he will publish the terms and conditions of the contract in the case of the appointment and employment of the replacement deputy governor of the Bank of England. [16305]
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Mr. Nelson [holding answer 27 March 1995]: The appointment and employment of the deputy governor is covered by the Bank of England Act 1946 and the bank's charter. The deputy governor is required to give his exclusive services to the bank. The terms and conditions of employment of the deputy governor are matters for the bank's court of directors who act on the advice of the remuneration committee of non-executive directors. It is not the bank's practice to publish details beyond what is included on remuneration in the bank's annual reports and accounts.
It is not the practice to consult members of the official Opposition about appointments of deputy governors of the Bank of England.
Advice Centres
Mr. Bill Michie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 22 March, Official Report, column 240, what factors led him to decide against considering relief on VAT on fuel for advice centres. [16637]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory [holding answer 27 March 1995]: As a general principle, selective reliefs from VAT, such as that suggested for advice centres, would complicate the operation and administration of the VAT system; create borderlines which would be difficult to define and so become matters of ambiguity and dispute; and cause inequity of treatment. Selective reliefs of this sort are therefore an unwelcome feature of any tax system.
Deregulation
Mr. Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will ensure that his ministerial management information system for establishing objectives for his Department, includes deregulation objectives (a) for him and (b) for each of the Ministers within his Department. [15560]
Sir George Young [holding answer 27 March 1995]: Inland Revenue's and Customs and Excise's current management plans give the Department's deregulation objectives which are also reflected at all planning levels within each department. Copies are available in the Library.
The Treasury's latest departmental report--Cm 2817--sets out the department's mission and strategic objectives. These include strengthening the long-term performance of the economy by improving the use of resources and the efficiency of markets. Deregulation is a key ingredient.
Each Treasury Minister pursues deregulation in the policy areas for which he is responsible. I am the Minister with special responsibility for promoting deregulation across all the Chancellor's Departments.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what targets he has for withdrawing regulations within his Department. [15557]
Sir George Young [holding answer 27 March 1995]: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 27 March 1995, Official Report, column 435, by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Corporate Affairs.
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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Press Officers
Mr. Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many press officers there are in (a) his Department, excluding the Overseas Development Administration, and (b) the Overseas Development Administration currently; and what the figures were in 1979. [16562]
Mr. Goodlad: There are currently nine press officers employed in the FCO news department compared with 11 in 1979.
The comparable figures for the ODA press office are three and three.
Public Relations
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department spent on public relations during the financial year 1993 94; how much contracts with the private sector cost; and if he will list the activities covered by these contracts. [16292]
Mr. Goodlad: The FCO diplomatic wing spent £17.6 million in 1993 94 on various forms of publicity about Britain, almost entirely for use overseas. Virtually all this sum was for products and services supplied either by the Central Office of Information or the private sector.
Only £390,000 was for publicity material intended primarily for distribution in the United Kingdom, of which consular advice and information accounted for £295,000. Contracts with the private sector were for the printing and production of booklets ad leaflets. The ODA spent £448,000 in 1993 94 on editorial work, publications and exhibitions. £105,000 of this was for private sector contract for set-up costs and organisation of the mobile exhibition as part of a regional campaign to promote awareness of overseas development issues.
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what guidelines his Department has issued to its agencies and other public bodies under its authority in respect of the employment of public relations companies and the procedures to be adopted in relation to requesting tenders for public relations companies. [16273]
Mr. Goodlad: This Department has not issued guidance in respect of the employment of public relations companies.
The FCO diplomatic wing's agency--the Wilton Park conference centre--uses the FCO's standard guidance on purchasing and supply and its senior staff have participated in relevant FCO training courses. The aid wing's agency-- the National Resource Institute, uses similar guidance from the Overseas Development Administration. The FCO has not provided its public bodies with guidance on tendering.
Indonesia
Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the exact dates of ministerial visits to Indonesia since 1 January 1990 (a) naming the Ministers and (b) the reason for the visit in each case. [16508]
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Mr. Goodlad: As part of our efforts to promote good bilateral relations with the Governments of south east Asia, Foreign Office Ministers visited Indonesia from 14 to 18 June 1990--Lord Brabazon--28 April to 2 May 1991--Lord Caithness--12 to 15 October 1992--Mr. Goodlad--3 to 5 April 1993 --Secretary of State--and 6 to 7 April 1994--Mr. Goodlad.
Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Indonesia about the arrest of three non-Governmental organisations activists from the Alliance of Independent Journalists and one from PIJAR, between 10 March and 17 March in Jakarta; and when he next intends to raise these cases with the Government of Indonesia. [16504]
Mr. Goodlad: Our embassy staff in Jakarta are following developments in these cases closely. Once we are fully aware of the facts, we will decide, in consultation with EU partners, whether an approach to the Indonesian authorities would be appropriate.
Dr. Godman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he had on the issue of the human rights record of Indonesia, with particular reference to East Timor when he last met Senator Gareth Evans, Foreign Secretary of the Federal Government of Australia. [16416]
Mr. Goodlad: It is not our practice to disclose details of such discussions.
Rwanda
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how the judges for the international tribunal for Rwanda are to be selected; and what United Kingdom involvement there will be at (a) the judicial and (b) any other level. [16602]
Mr. Douglas Hogg: The Secretary General has invited states to nominate candidates as judges of the trial chambers of the international criminal court for Rwanda. Nominations will be forwarded to the Security Council which will draw up a shortlist of between 12 and 18 candidates. From that list the General Assembly will elect six judges.
We are currently seeking to identify a candidate for a judge's position. We are also looking for personnel to work within the prosecutor's office.
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which states have indicated their willingness to accept responsibility for the custody of convicted persons from the Rwanda genocide tribunal. [16600]
Mr. Douglas Hogg: The statute of the international criminal tribunal for Rwanda states:
"Imprisonment shall be served in Rwanda or any of the States on a list of States which have indicated to the Security Council their willingness to accept convicted persons, as designated by the International Tribunal for Rwanda."
States have not yet been called upon to indicate whether they are willing to detain convicted persons.
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action is being taken by the UN authorities to prevent the training of Hutu militiamen in or near Rwandan refugee camps in Zaire. [16599]
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Mr. Douglas Hogg: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is working in partnership with the Government of Zaire to ensure security in the camps. We have contributed £0.5 million towards the costs of the international liaison group established to oversee the agreement. The United Nations has no mandate to take further action within Zaire as the Government of Zaire are responsible for the governance of their own territory.
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which Governments have made contributions to the trust fund for the international tribunal for Rwanda. [16601]
Mr. Douglas Hogg: Contributions to the trust fund for the international tribunal for Rwanda have been pledged or contributed by Switzerland, New Zealand, Chile, Norway, the USA, Israel and Lebanon.
The United Kingdom has pledged £200,000 towards the cost of seconding British personnel to the tribunal.
Departmental Report
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the cost of producing and circulating the last departmental annual report; what was the circulation list; how many copies were produced; how many copies were sold; and at what price. [16646]
Mr. Goodlad: Publication and marketing of the FCO's--including the ODA--1995 departmental report, cover price £16.70, are the responsibility of HMSO.
Some 2,000 copies of the report were distributed directly by the FCO to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, key contacts within Government and aid organisations overseas, the media and members of staff. The FCO and ODA spent £33,023 on art work for the 1995 report.
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the cost of producing and circulating the departmental annual report for each of the last 10 years in real terms. [16647]
Mr. Goodlad: Publication and marketing of the FCO's--including the Overseas Development Administration--Departmental report are the responsibility of HMSO.
Departmental Reports were published for the first time in 1991. The cost in real terms of art work for the last three years of publication was as follows:
1993: £17,524
1994: £26,333
1995: £33,023
Figures for previous years are not available.
Iraq
Mr. Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress the Government of Iraq has made in identifying the fate of Kuwaitis missing since the Gulf war. [16607]
Mr. Douglas Hogg: Iraq has submitted its initial findings on a number of the 607 International Committee of the Red Cross case files on the detainees passed to Iraq over two years ago. The response has not been sufficient to enable any of the files to be closed. We have made clear to the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister that the lack of
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progress to date is unacceptable. The United Kingdom will continue to play a role in the tripartite commission and its technical sub-committee set up last December to speed up the review of ICRC case files.Stability Pact
Ms Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EU conference on regional stability held in Paris. [15687]
Mr. Douglas Hogg: The stability pact concluding conference which took place in Paris on 20 21 March was attended by all participating States of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The Pact's aim has been to help nine prospective members of the EU--Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania --resolve problems, especially concerning frontiers and minorities, before enlargement, by promoting good neighbourliness on the basis of OSCE principles. The conference adopted the stability pact and transferred it to the OSCE which is entrusted with its implementation. The EU joint action under the common foreign and security policy has now been successfully completed.
Mr. Stephen Crouch
Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 23 February what was the nature of the discussions which took place with Mr. Stephen Crouch at the British Embassy in Amman in September 1994. [16722]
Mr. Douglas Hogg: No discussions were held at the British embassy, Amman in September 1994 between officials and Mr. Stephen Crouch. A member of the embassy staff encountered Mr. Crouch at a reception in honour of Qatar's national day. No issues of substance were discussed.
Foreign Affairs Council
Dr. Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Foreign Affairs Council held in Brussels on 6 March 1995. [17205]
Mr. David Davis: The chairman of the Consultative Commission on Racism and Xenophobia--established by the Corfu European Council in June 1994--briefed the Council on proposals for a racism-xenophobia observatory and for education support targeted on urban areas. On openness and transparency, Danish proposals were remitted to the Committee of Permanent Representatives for further work.
The Commission described the state of play in negotiations with Israel, Morocco and Tunisia, and the presidency briefed the Council on preparations for the forthcoming Euro-Mediteranean conference. The Council discussed relations with Russia, and in particular preparations for the visit to Moscow on 9 March by Foreign Ministers of the Troika.
The Council discussed the situation in former Yugoslavia and agreed a negotiating mandate for a trade and co-operation agreement with Croatia.
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