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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 30 October 1995
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Dementia Relief Trust
Ms Short: To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee if he has considered an application for an exhibition relating to the Dementia Relief Trust to be displayed in the Upper Waiting Hall.. [40713]
Mr. Michael J. Martin: I understand that, under procedures agreed by the Administration Committee, arrangements have been made for the exhibition to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall from Monday 6 November to Friday 10 November 1995.
TREASURY
Direct and Indirect Taxation
Mr. Nigel Griffiths: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will update his answer of 19 December to the hon. Member for Oxford, East (Mr. Smith), Official Report, columns 944-50 , providing a table giving estimates for the burden of direct and indirect taxes in 1996 97 based on the 1995 96 indexed tax and national insurance regime. [39098]
Mr. Jack: The burden of direct and indirect taxes in 1996 97 will depend on the level of income and on spending patterns. Figures showing the impact of tax on specimen households will be available after the Budget in the usual way, based on revenue forecasts and economic assumptions published in the "Financial Statement and Budget Report". It would be misleading to provide figures on the basis of speculative assumptions.
National Lottery
Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the tax revenue arising from the sale of national lottery tickets for each of the last 12 months. [39743]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: The sale of national lottery tickets began in November 1994. The receipts of lottery duty for each month since are:
|£ 000's
-------------------------------
December 1994 |11,629
January 1995 |32,755
February 1995 |29,979
March 1995 |29,542
April 1995 |32,860
May 1995 |64,191
June 1995 |52,756
July 1995 |50,962
August 1995 |60,433
September 1995 |45,611
Steam Rollers
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to remove vehicle excise duty from steam rollers, preserved working models; and if he will make a statement. [38116]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: It would not be appropriate to comment on detailed tax issues in the run-up to the Budget.
Mr. Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total estimate revenue which will be raised by the imposition of vehicle excise duty on steam rollers, preserved working models, and the proportion of this sum expressed as a percentage of the overall revenue raised by vehicle excise duty. [38117]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: These vehicles will pay less than £30,000 in total in vehicle excise duty, representing around 0.01 per cent. of total VED receipts. Steam rollers pay the lowest rate of duty of any of the HGV tax classes, which represents a substantial saving over full rates of duty.
Personal Pension Schemes
Mr. Denham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the reduction in employer contributions to public sector superannuation schemes as a result of members opting out to join personal pension schemes. [38266]
Mr. Waldegrave [holding answer 25 October 1995]: No separate assessment has been made of employer contributions as a result of members opting out. Actuaries perform regular valuations on public service schemes. If they advise that employers' contribution rates needs adjusting to take account of the number of opted-out members, and any other factors, appropriate action to adjust the rate would be taken.
Departments with superannuation votes bid for the sum of money that they estimate they need to cover the cost of pensions. This takes into account the level of employer contributions which are appropriated in aid against expenditure. If there are significant numbers opting out then, other things being equal, there will be an increase in the vote.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Magistrates Courts
Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the names and salaries of the inspectors of magistrates courts, and give their place of residence; and if he will make a statement. [39231]
Mr. John M. Taylor: Inspectors are currently paid on a civil service grade 7 salary range of £26,535 to £41,092 in London and £25, 392 to £39,324 outside London. Progression through the range is subject to satisfactory performance.
Senior inspectors' salaries range between £35,113 and £38,211. They are also eligible for performance-related non-pensionable cash bonuses of up to a maximum of
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15 per cent. of annual salary, subject to an overall maximum of 50 per cent. for the four-year period covered by their contracts. All senior inspectors and inspectors are on four-year fixed-term appointments with the possibility of extension.The names and places of residence are as follows:
Northern Team
Mr. Colin Monson (Senior Inspector)--North Yorkshire
Mrs. Sally Radford--North Yorkshire
Mr. Steve Jacobs--North Humberside
Mrs. Rachael Jenkinson--Derbyshire
Western Team
Miss Julia Eeles (Senior Inspector)--Gloucester
Mr. Malcolm Dodds--Avon
Mrs. Janet Macpherson--Avon
Mrs. Margaret Sleight--Avon
Eastern Team
Ms Sue Steel (Senior Inspector)--London
Mr. Michael Hughes--Hampshire
Mrs. Margaret Scorer--London
Ms Louise Goodfellow--London
Central and Southern Team
Mr. Duncan Gear (Senior Inspector)--Bedfordshire
Mr. Robert Spencer--North Humberside
Ms Susan Mew--Somerset
Mr. Jones: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department which petty sessional divisions in Wales, within magistrates courts committees, have benches of (a) under 10 and (b) under 20 and if he will make a statement. [39228]
Mr. Taylor: The number of petty sessional divisions in Wales with a bench strength of (a) under 10 and under 20, on the latest information available, is as follows:
Magistrates courts committees may at any time submit to the Lord Chancellor, under section 23 of the Justices of the Peace Act 1979, proposals for reorganising the petty sessional divisions within their area or the Lord Chancellor may call for a review.
(a) Benches with under 10
justices
|Number
--------------------------------
Gogledd Preseli |9
Machynlleth |7
North Meirionnydd |9
Ystradgynlais |9
(b) Benches with under 20 justices
|Number
-----------------------------------
Berwyn |15
Brecon |18
Carmarthen North |10
Ceredigion Ganol |14
De Ceredigion |12
Gogledd Ceredigion |19
Upper Rhymney Valley |13
Pwlheli/Porthmadog |17
Radnor and Brecknock |18
South Anglesey |18
South Meirionydd |19
Mr. Jones: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department which magistrates courts areas in Wales have been inspected by Her Majesty's inspectorate; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Taylor: The magistrates courts committee areas in Dyfed and Powys have already been inspected, in the 1995 96 inspection programme. The inspection reports will be published by the end of December 1995 and March 1996 respectively, with versions in Welsh.
Mr. Jones: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what extra resources he will provide to make magistrates court premises more welcoming, including the installation of vending machines; and if he will make a statement. [39230]
Mr. Taylor: The provision of refreshments and other facilities for court users is a matter to be determined locally by the magistrates courts committee. Each committee decides, in conjunction with the local authority, how its revenue budget is to be used in any year. Approval for capital projects is subject to the availability of funding and other priorities.
Mr. Jones: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many inspectors of magistrates courts are resident in Wales; and if he will make a statement. [39232]
Mr. Taylor: There are no inspectors of magistrates courts resident in Wales at present.
Mr. Jones: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many inspectors will inspect in Wales, in which HM inspectorate team they will inspect; and if he will make a statement. [39227]
Mr. Taylor: Each inspection of a Welsh magistrates courts committee will be carried out by the Western inspectorate team--consisting of a senior inspector and three inspectors. They will be joined on each inspection by an associate inspector, a staff member from a magistrates courts committee outside the Western team inspection area.
Mr. Jones: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement concerning his policy on smoking in magistrates courts. [39229]
Mr. Taylor: Where, if anywhere, smoking is permitted in a magistrates court is a matter of local policy to be determined by the magistrates courts committee.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the current breakdown by party political affiliation of members of the Doncaster bench. [38998]
Mr. Taylor: The current breakdown by party political affiliation of members of the Doncaster bench on the latest information available is as follows:
Conservative: 92
Labour: 50
Lib/Dem: 25
Independent/Not Known: 11
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Mr. Jones: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many additional inspectors of magistrates courts he plans to employ, and if he will make a statement. [39233]
Mr. Taylor: There are no plans at present to increase the number of inspectors beyond the current complement of one chief inspector, four senior inspectors and 12 inspectors.
Maxwell Brothers Trial
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if the pay telephone available at the Maxwell brothers trial is now available for normal calls in addition to calls to the emergency services; and if he will make a statement. [39079]
Mr. John M. Taylor: The question concerns a specific operational matter on which the chief executive of the Court Service is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.
Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 30 October 1995:
The Parliamentary Secretary has asked me to reply to your question about the availability of the pay-telephone at the Maxwell brothers' trial.
A pay-telephone from which all outgoing calls can be made has been available for public use outside the courtroom since the trial began on 31 May 1995.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the dates of the equipment failure in respect of the Maxwell brothers trial to date; which of the problems have now been solved; and if he will make a statement. [39105]
Mr. Taylor: The question concerns a specific operational matter on which the chief executive of the Court Service is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.
Letter from M. D. Huebner to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 30 October 1995:
The Parliamentary Secretary has asked me to reply to your question about equipment failure at the Maxwell brothers' trial. On the first day of the trial, 31 May 1995, there was a problem of interference between the lapel microphones worn by counsel and the instantaneous transcription equipment used by the court reporters. This was resolved within 45 minutes by using fixed desk microphones for counsel. There have been no equipment failures since then.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Ministerial Information Systems
Mr. Allen: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action has been taken to progress MINIS arising from the report of spring 1995; and if he will make a statement. [39613]
Mr. Horam: The multi-departmental scrutiny of Government's management information and planning systems produced its report in May 1995. The report noted many examples of good practice in both the public
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and private sectors. Its recommendations provided a checklist of best practice for Departments and agencies to use in developing integrated systems to suit their particular needs.The report has been widely welcomed. Departments and agencies have now produced action plans in response to the scrutiny. These plans are being considered by the Prime Minister's adviser on efficiency. Departments and agencies are already taking steps to ensure that their information and planning systems are up to the level of the best, so aiding the Government's continuing quest for greater efficiency.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to install an electronic/computer diary giving details of media events organised by other Government Departments; what estimate he has made of the cost of obtaining, installing and operating such a diary; and if he will make a statement. [39648]
The Deputy Prime Minister: A dedicated IT-based network linking the offices of Cabinet Ministers will start to become operational next month. Work began on the network in early 1995. By cutting down on paper-based management systems and bringing up-to-date information to all Ministers' offices more quickly, it will improve efficiency and effectiveness both in individual Departments and in the dispatch of collective ministerial business. The forward diary of policy announcements will be only one of the uses to which the new infrastructure is put. The total start-up cost, including hardware and software development, is likely to be in the order of £150,000. Annual running costs are likely to be about £10,000.
Engagements
Mr. Hain: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 18 October 1995, Official Report , column 279 , (1) on which days he was in the office in August; [38757]
(2) if he will list the others referred to; [38743]
(3) if he will list those occasions on which his attendance was required outside London. [38758]
The Deputy Prime Minister: I have nothing further to add to the reply that I gave the hon. Member on 18 October.
Office Refurbishment
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what has been the cost to date of refurbishing his Department's offices. [39016]
The Deputy Prime Minister: In the current financial year expenditure on refurbishment of the Cabinet Office building at 70 Whitehall is estimated at £1,445,000 excluding VAT. Most of this expenditure results from a major programme to replace old wiring in part of the building, which was becoming dangerous. Recent changes in ministerial accommodation did not result in additional expenditure on refurbishment.
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Public Appointments, South Yorkshire
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) if he will list the public appointments for which his Department is responsible in the county of South Yorkshire, indicating in each case the duration of the appointment, the date when a new appointment is due, and the salary; [39432]
(2) if he will list all the non-departmental public bodies to which his office makes appointments in the county of South Yorkshire, with the total annual budget for each body and the number of appointments made or renewed for each body in each of the last four years. [39462]
The Deputy Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 26 October 1995, Official Report, column 749 .
Employee Fraud
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what was the total number of cases of all forms of fraud committed by employees of his (a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies for each year from 1991 92 to 1994 95; and for each of these years, what was the total monetary sum (1) misappropriated in such frauds and (2) subsequently recovered. [39124]
The Deputy Prime Minister: There were no known frauds committed by employees of the Cabinet Office during this period. The information in respect of those agencies and non-departmental bodies for which the Deputy Prime Minister has responsibility is as follows:
|Total |Total
|Number of |misappropriated|recovered
Year |cases |£ |£
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agencies
1993-94 |1 |200 |200
1994-95 |1 |558 |558
Non-departmental
public bodies
1991-92 |1 |100 |100
Executive Agencies
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage of central Government has been in the hands of executive agencies in each year since 1979. [39840]
The Deputy Prime Minister: Executive agencies are set up under the next steps programme which began in 1988. Prior to that, no such agencies existed. The figures show the percentage of home civil servants working in next steps agencies or on next steps lines at 1 April of each year. The first next steps agency in Northern Ireland was launched in 1990, and figures for the Northern Ireland civil service are shown separately.
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Proportion of home civil
servants working on next
steps lines at 1 April each year
|Percentage
---------------------------------
1989 |1
1990 |11
1991 |40
1992 |51
1993 |60
1994 |63
1995 |67
Proportion of civil servants in
Northern Ireland working on next
steps lines at 1 April each
year.
|Percentage
---------------------------------
1989 |none
1990 |6
1991 |7
1992 |26
1993 |30
1994 |31
1995 |41
Mr. Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list those agencies which do not have (a) a Fraser figure and (b) a ministerial advisory board. [39833]
The Deputy Prime Minister: The following agencies do not have a Fraser figure--so-called by reference to the report by Sir Angus Fraser to the Prime Minister in 1991, "Making the Most of Next Steps: The Management of Ministers' Departments and their Executive Agencies":
Army Base Repair Organisation
Army Base Storage and Distribution Agency
Army Technical Support Agency
Central Office of Information
Central Statistical Office
Chessington Computer Centre
Civil Service College
Defence Accounts Agency
Defence Analytical Services Agency
Defence Animal Centre
Defence Clothing and Textiles Agency
Defence Postal and Courier Services
Defence Transport and Movements Executive
Disposal Sales Agency
Duke of York's Royal Military School
Employment Service
Government Property Lawyers
HM Land Registry
HM Prison Service
HMSO
Hydrographic Office
Industrial Research and Technology Unit
Logistic Information Systems Agency
Meteorological Office
Military Survey
Naval Aircraft Repair Organisation
Naval Recruiting and Training Agency
Ordnance Survey
Paymaster
Queen Victoria School
RAF Maintenance Group Defence Agency
RAF Signals Engineering Establishment
RAF Training Group Defence Agency
Recruitment and Assessment Agency
Royal Mint
Service Children's Schools (North West Europe)
Social Security Benefits Agency
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