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Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what factors underline the relative rates of increases in the price of (a) services and (b) goods since 1979; and what effect the Government's exchange rate policy has had on such price increases. [26545]
Mr. Nelson: The relative rates of increase in the prices of goods and services depend on a number of factors such as the relative changes in costs, competitive pressures and the exchange rate.
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Bank of England
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will instigate an inquiry into briefings given to journalists by Bank of England personnel within the period 15 May to 22 May on the recommendations on monetary policy actions which will be made by the Governor of the Bank of England at the next monthly monetary policy meeting; and if he will make a statement. [26452]
Mr. Nelson: I have no reason to believe that the Bank has given briefings to journalists on the advice it intends to give at the next monthly monetary policy meeting; or indeed that the Bank would have formulated its advice so far in advance of the next meeting. The Bank has made it clear, as has the Chancellor, that such advice is confidential until released in the published minutes.
Tourism
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the trade surplus or deficit on tourism in each year since 1970 at 1994 prices; and what assessment he has made of the contributions to the variations made by the monetary and exchange rate policies of successive Governments. [26541]
Mr. Nelson: Figures for the balance of trade in tourism are available on the Central Statistical Office database, which can be accessed through the Library of the House.
The balance of trade in tourism is influenced by many factors, and it is not possible to isolate with any confidence the effects stemming from monetary and exchange rate policies.
Casinos
Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates have been made regarding the loss of revenue to the Exchequer from casinos as a result of the 48-hour rule on admission; and if he will make a statement. [26586]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: No such estimates have been made. The 48-hour rule is a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary.
Vehicle Excise Duty
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the proposed rates of new vehicle excise duty for (a) tower waggons, (b) street cleansing vehicles and (c) vehicles used in the construction industry. [26495]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: From 1 July 1995 tower wagons and street cleansing vehicles will pay the full rates of vehicle excise duty as set out in paragraphs 6 and 14 of schedule 4 of the Finance Act 1995. These can vary from £125 to £5,000 per annum, depending on weight and other considerations such as axle configuration. Copies of the Finance Act 1995 are held in the House of Commons Library. All vehicles used in the construction industry that weigh less than 3,500 kg will pay £135 VED per annum. Mobile cranes, works trucks, digging machines and road rollers that weigh more than 3,500 kg will pay £150. Other construction industry vehicles will pay the full rates of VED set out in the Finance Act 1995.
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated new revenue arising from the changes in vehicle excise duty; and if he will make a statement on their impact on costs to industry. [26493]
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Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: The Finance Act 1995 introduced a number of changes to vehicle excise duties that produced new revenue:
|£ Million
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Increase in excise duty on cars |55
Changes to the exemptions and concessions from
VED |25
Changes to the definition of goods vehicles |5
Other changes |30
The freezing of duty on lorries cost £10 million in revenue. The projected costs to industry of complying with the changes to vehicle excise duty can be found in the compliance cost assessment prepared and published by the Department of Transport.
Extra-statutory Payments
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the total level of extra-statutory payments authorised by all spending departments in each financial year since 1983 84. [26601]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: This information is not held centrally.
Fuel Excise Duty
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what are the current duty rates per tonne for (a) coal, (b) orimulsion and (c) heavy duty fuel oil. [26780]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: The current excise duty rates are as follows:
|Rate
---------------------------------------------------
Coal: |nil
Orimulsion: |nil
Heavy fuel oil: |£16.70 per tonne
Retail Prices Index
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what plans he has to change his target for underlying inflation from the RPIX to the RPIY measure, [26704]
(2) whether the policy indicated by his predecessor to the Treasury Select Committee to keep RPIX inflation below 2 per cent. remains Government policy; and what is his target for underlying inflation beyond the end of the current Parliament. [26703]
Mr. Nelson: The Government's aim is to keep underlying inflation in the range 1 to 4 per cent., and to bring it down into the lower half of this range by the end of the present Parliament. I have no plans to change the objective for that period.
Council Tax Appeals
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many appeals are outstanding in (a) Pendle, (b) the north-west and England in respect of the valuation of properties for council tax.
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Mr. Nelson: The number of council tax appeals outstanding as at 3 April 1995 is:
(a) Pendle: 189
(b) North-west: 12,701
(c) England: 143,712
VAT-registered Businesses
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses registered and deregistered for VAT in (a) Pendle and (b) the north-west for each year since 1991. [26728]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: Customs does not have information concerning the number of businesses registered and deregistered in the Pendle constituency. The local VAT office at Blackburn covers, in addition to Blackburn, the towns of Bolton, Burnley, Accrington and Clitheroe. Figures for the north-west cover Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside. The numbers of registrations and deregistrations for VAT since 1991 are as follows:
Z
|Registration |Deregistration|Registration |Deregistration
|at Blackburn |at Blackburn |in the |in the
Year |Office |Office |North-west |North-west
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1991 |2,298 |2,911 |18,644 |21,484
1992 |2,114 |2,369 |17,326 |21,370
1993 |2,099 |2,523 |16,412 |20,752
1994 |1,904 |2,339 |15,174 |18,600
1995<1> |395 |561 |3,776 |4,352
<1> To end March.
Central Statistical Office
Ms Corston: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what account he took of the proposed merger between the Central Statistical Office and the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys announced in his answer of25 April to the hon. Member for Southport (Mr. Banks), Official Report, columns 407 08, of the responsibilities for the preparation and analysis of data about absolute and overall poverty agreed at the world summit for social development in March 1995, with particular reference to articles 18 to 41. [26770]
Mr. Nelson: The purpose of the proposed merger between the Central Statistical Office and the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys is to meet a widely perceived need for greater coherence and compatibility in Government statistics, for improved presentation and for easier public access. In making his announcement about the proposed merger by right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor took no specific account of the responsibilities for the preparation and analysis of data about absolute and overall poverty agreed at the world summit for social development in March 1995. The CSO and OPCS are, however, contributing to development of the statistical response to the social summit in the context of the merger proposals.
European Community Budget
Mr. Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons the words "by command of Her Majesty" did not appear on the front cover of this year's statement on the European Community budget, Cm 2824. [27076]
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Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: The information requested was given in the House of Lords in the reply Lord Henley gave to Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 23 May, Official Report, House of Lords, column 52.
Biodiesel Fuel
Mr Ainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what investigations he has carried out into the effect of not announcing the rate of excise duty on biodiesel produced from crops on the development of those fuels under section 11 of the Finance Act 1993. [27089]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: No such investigations have been instituted since those few businesses involved in the production of biofuels have had regular meetings and correspondence with officials in Customs and Excise and are fully aware of the Government's intentions.
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the proposed commencement order for excise duty on biodieselfuels. [26658]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: The House will be aware of our obligation to impose excise duty on mineral oil substitutes, such as DERV substitutes from rape methyl ester, which arises from the mineral oil structures directive 92/81/EEC.
A draft of the necessary Treasury order to implement the charge to duty will be set to the interested parties before the House rises for the summer recess. Subject to comments received in response to that draft, the Government's intention is to make the order effective from early autumn.
Balance of Trade
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what factors contributed to changes in the balance of trade with (a) France and (b) Germany since 1991. [26873]
Mr. Nelson: The balance of trade with France and Germany is affected by a variety of factors, including price and non-price competitiveness, domestic demand, and overseas demand.
Output
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information the Governor of the Bank of England has provided to him in the last year in respect of (a) a shortage of productive capacity and (b) overheating in any of the import-competing and export industries. [27079]
Mr. Nelson: My right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor meets regularly with the Governor to discuss the prospects for inflation and the current state of the economy. The Governor's views are reported in the published minutes of the monthly monetary meetings. The Bank also publishes its views in its quarterly inflation report.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the current capacity working of each of the principal importing-competing and export industries. [27084]
Mr. Nelson: Direct quantitative measures of capacity output by industry are not available. However, business survey indicators, for example from the CBI, suggest that capacity utilisation has been rising. This is to be
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welcomed, provided companies are able to invest when they need to expand capacity.Churchill Papers
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what value was placed on Sir Winston Churchill's papers at the time of his death; and if duty was paid thereon. [26863]
Sir George Young: As with any such matter, the normal rules concerning taxpayer confidentiality prevent me from giving details of the tax affairs of a particular individual.
EMPLOYMENT
International Labour Organisation
Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of Statefor Employment what is the United Kingdom'sannual subscription to the International Labour Organisation. [26849]
Mr. Portillo: The UK's contribution to the ILO for 1994 amounted to £7,921,651.
Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much the International Labour Organisation's annual meeting will cost (a) the International Labour Organisation and (b) the United Kingdom. [26851]
Mr. Portillo: The ILO has made provision in its budget of $5.4 million to cover the costs of this year's international labour conference in Geneva. The UK contributes to those costs through its subscription to the ILO. The cost of sending UK delegation to the conference is estimated to be about £58,000.
Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what will be the cost to public funds of trade unions' attendance at the International Labour Organisation annual meeting. [26852]
Mr. Portillo: The cost to public funds is estimated to be £18,000.
Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the benefits to the United Kingdom of membership of the International Labour Organisation. [26853]
Mr. Portillo: In recent years, the ILO's purchase of goods and services for its technical co-operation programmes has provided consultants and others in the United Kingdom with financial benefits of about £2.25 million per annum.
Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total budget of the International Labour Organisation. [26854]
Mr. Portillo: The ILO's total budget for 1995 is 334,214,933 Swiss francs, which represents about £176.8 million at current exchange rates.
Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment he has made of the impact of the United Kingdom's membership of the International Labour Organisation on the rate of United Kingdom unemployment. [26859]
Mr. Portillo: The United Kingdom's membership of the ILO has no impact on the rate of unemployment in the United Kingdom.
Column 95
Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the format and purpose of the International Labour Organisation's annual meeting. [26860]
Mr. Portillo: The ILO's annual conference takes place every June and lasts for three weeks. National delegations consist of trade union, employer and Government representations. All the costs are met by Governments. Each year, the conference aims to adopt new conventions which, if ratified, apply to labour markets throughout the world.
International Labour Organisation
Dr. Strang: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will list the steps the Government have taken to denounce convention 101 of the International Labour Organisation; if he will set out the date on which the Government took each step to denounce convention 101; and if he will list all remaining steps that have to be taken in order for convention 101 to be fully denounced by the United Kingdom Government; [27164]
(2) if he will list the steps the Government has taken to denounce convention 99 of the International Labour Organisation; if he will set out the date on which the Government took each step to denounce convention 99; and if he will list all remaining steps that have to be taken in order for convention 99 to be fully denounced by the United Kingdom Government. [27163]
Miss Widdecombe: The opportunity to denounce ILO conventions arises only once in every 10 years. There is a 12-month period during which each convention can be denounced. In the case of convention 99, that period began on 23 August 1993. In accordance with the procedure provided under ILO convention 144, the Government wrote to the CBI and TUC to seek their views on 1 July 1993. The Government announced their decision to denounce the convention on 20 July 1994 and formally notified the ILO on 16 August 1994. The denunciation was registered by the ILO on 16 August 1994 and will take effect on 16 August 1995, one year after registration.
Staff
Ms Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many posts were lost in (a) the Employment Department and (b) agencies for which the Employment Department is responsible, listing thetotal lost posts agency by agency in (i) 1993 94 and(ii) 1994 95; and how many posts are proposed to be lostin 1995 96. [25083]
Miss Widdecombe: The information is not available in the form requested. Figures for the Employment Department group's overall staff numbers are contained in the Department's annual report, a copy of which is in the Library.
Fair Pay
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the Council of Europe's policy on fair pay. [25000]
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Miss Widdecombe: The Council of Europe's social charter includes provisions calling for "fair remuneration". The Council of Europe's Committee of Experts is responsible for interpreting the social charter. However, the experts' view of what constitutes fair remuneration has never been endorsed by any member state within the Council of Europe, and the experts are currently reviewing their policy on this matter.
Part-time Workers
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many (a) males and (b) females were employed part time in each year since 1987; and what percentage of total employment this represents. [26282]
Mr. Oppenheim: The information requested is provided in the following table:
Part-time employment<1> in Great Britain at spring of each year
Thousand
|Per cent. |Per cent.
|of total |of total
Year |Males |employment<2>|Females |employment
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1987 |643 |2.6 |4,587 |18.8
1988 |710 |2.8 |4,689 |18.6
1989 |719 |2.8 |4,823 |18.5
1990 |772 |2.9 |4,834 |18.4
1991 |784 |3.1 |4,842 |18.8
1992 |978 |3.9 |4,920 |19.5
1993 |1,004 |4.0 |4,967 |19.9
1994 |1,081 |4.3 |5,036 |20.0
<1>This comprises of employees, self-employed, participants on Government
employment and training programmes and unpaid family workers.
<2> Male and female employment.
All figures are adjusted for seasonal variation.
Source:
Labour force survey.
Contracting Out
Ms Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment for each piece of work subject to a building process under the auspices of (a) his Department and (b) agencies for which his Department is responsible (i) who the successful bidders were where work was contracted out and (ii) which contracts were won by in-house bidders in (1) 1993 94, (2) 1994 95 and (3) 1995 96. [25543]
Miss Widdecombe: The following table provides details of completed market tests undertaken by the Department and its agency, the Employment Service, as part of the Government's "Competing for Quality" programme for 1993 94, 1994 95 and 1995 96.
1993-94 competing for quality programme
|Activity |Outcomes
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employment |Office Services: |Contracted out
Department |Records Management |(Rockall Data Services)
|Design Studio |Retained in-house
|Journals and three |Retained in-house
|facility houses
|Information Systems |Retained in-house
| Services
|Office Services: Post |Retained in-house
| and Messengers
|Management Services |Retained in-house
|Library Services |Retained in-house
|Training and |Retained in-house
|Development (London)
|Training and |Retained in-house
|Development (Sheffield)
Employment |Field Staff Training: |Contracted out (British
Service |First Aid |Red Cross)
|Buildings Maintenance |Contracted out (Simons
|and New Works |Facilities Management
|PLC Graham and
|Stibbald Peter, Fall
|Cowie Associate HSB
|Partners Drivers, Jonas
|WS Atkins Procord Ltd
|Watts and Partners)
|Field Staff Training: |Retained in-house
|Procedural Training
|Internal Audit |Retained in-house
|Recruitment (London |Retained in-house
|and South East Region)
|Management Services |Retained in-house
|IT Small Systems |Retained in-house
|Field Staff Training: |7 regions-retained
|Management and |in-house 2 regions
|People Development |contracted out
|(Manchester College of
|Art and Technology)
|Regional Office |6 regions-retained
|Support Services |in-house 3 regions-
|contracted out (Burns
|International)
Health and |Library and Information|Retained in-house
Safety
Executive
1994-95
Health and |Field Support, Norwich |Contracted out
Safety |(Manpower PLC)
Executive
1995-96
Tests not yet completed
Graduate Unemployment
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for City of Durham (Mr. Steinberg) of 9 May, Official Report, columns 437-38, on training and employment, if he will break down the information by region.
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Mr. Paice: Regional information on graduate unemployment, on the ILO definition, is given in the following table. Information on the proportion of trainees on government training programmes who move from their training into related areas of employment is not available at regional level.
ILO Unemployed Graduates of working age by region
Autumn 1994 (Great Britain, not seasonally adjusted)
Great Britain: 185,000
North: N/A
Yorks and Humber: 19,000
East Midlands: 12,000
East Anglia: N/A
South East: 73,000
South West: 14,000
West Midlands: 10,000
North West: 17,000
Wales: N/A
Scotland: 17,000
Source: Labour force survey.
N/A--not available, estimate below 10,000.
Departmental Performance
Ms Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what performance indicators and performance targets there are for measuring the performance of his Department in (a) answering letters from members of the public and (b) answering telephone calls from members of the public; how performance is monitored; and what are the latest figures for performance measured against the target set. [26239]
Miss Widdecombe: Performance commitments for responses to inquiries from the public are included in statements of service standards issued by the main providers of services to the public within the Employment Department group. These commitments and the methods of monitoring performance against them vary according to the nature of the service provided. Particular commitments, and the latest available figures for achievement against those commitments, are as follows:
Employment Service
Commitment: responses to letters within five working days Achievement: achieved in 98.7 per cent. of cases
Commitment: telephone calls answered within 30 seconds
Achievement: achieved in 99.4 per cent. of cases--in sample survey
Health and Safety Executive
Commitment: responses to all enquiries or complaints within 10 working days
Achievement: achieved in 96 per cent. of cases
Redundancy Payments Service
Commitment: responses to letters within five working days Achievement: achieved in 100 per cent. of cases.
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