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Budget Representations

18. Mrs. Mahon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on the Budget. [7093]

Mr. Waldegrave: As usual, my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer received a large number of representations in the run-up to the Budget and he has also received a number since he made his Budget statement in November.

Pensioners' Savings

20. Mr. Waterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of pensioners have savings or investment income. [7095]

Mr. Jack: Around three-quarters of pensioners now have some investment income.

Government Spending

21. Mr. Patrick Thompson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he has taken to reduce wasteful Government spending. [7096]

Mr. Waldegrave: We have sharply reduced civil service running costs. We have undertaken fundamental expenditure reviews and senior management reviews of nearly all major Departments. All Departments are required to produce annual plans to show how they will improve efficiency by market testing, contracting out and other means and all next steps agencies are set specific efficiency targets.

Economic Growth

24. Mr. Simon Coombs: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what level of growth is forecast in the economy of the south-west region by the end of 1996. [7099]

Mr. Waldegrave: The Government do not produce regional economic forecasts. However, gross domestic product for the UK as a whole is forecast to grow by 3 per cent. in 1996.

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Small Businesses

25. Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what impacts his Budget announcements will have on small businesses. [7102]

Mrs. Angela Knight: The Budget will encourage growth in output and jobs in small firms.

Single Currency

26. Mr. John Townend: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to British banking and industry of the conversion to a single currency; and who will bear the cost. [7103]

Mrs. Angela Knight: The Government have not made a firm estimate of the transitional costs to banks and industry, associated with the change to a single currency, that would be incurred if the United Kingdom participated in the third stage of economic and monetary union. Such costs would be met by those affected, and they would be among the factors that would need to be taken into account, at the appropriate time, when the Government make their assessment of whether it is in the United Kingdom's interest to join a move to the third stage of economic and monetary union.

Under protocol 11 of the EC treaty, the United Kingdom will not be obliged or committed to move to the third stage of economic and monetary union without a separate decision to do so by the Government and Parliament. We will agree to take part in a single currency only if it is in our interests to do so, given the circumstances at the time.

Cider

27. Sir Colin Shepherd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what he estimates will be the additional revenues arising from sales of premium ciders and the change in duty on cider levy and strength greater of 7.5 per cent. alcohol. [7104]

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: The Financial Statement and Budget Report showed that the duty increase on very strong ciders is estimated to raise £10 million in its first full year, over and above what would be gained from increasing the duty in line with inflation.

Public Spending

28. Dr. Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what priority he attaches to cutting public spending as a proportion of gross domestic product. [7105]

Mr. Waldegarave: The Government are determined to reduce the share that they take of national output below 40 per cent. and we are on track to do so.

Low Incomes (Budget Effects)

Mr. Betts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the Budget on the poorest 10 per cent. of the population. [7101]

Mr. Jack: All income tax payers will gain from income tax cuts in the Budget. Pensioners and others on low

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incomes will gain from rising benefits, mostly uprated by 3.9 per cent. from April, or 3 per cent. for income-related benefits. All households stand to gain from our sound economic policies, which have already cut unemployment by over 700,000 since 1992.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Organic Cultivation

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to encourage more farmers to adopt organic methods of cultivation. [7716]

Mr. Boswell: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Cannock and Burntwood (Dr. Wright) on 6 July 1995, Official Report, column 365.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what number of suspected BSE cases were notified during the past 12 weeks. [7990]

Mrs. Browning [holding answer 9 January 1996]: The number of suspected BSE cases notified and placed under restriction in the 12 weeks from 26 September 1995 to 19 December 1995 was 3,996.

Executive Agencies

Dr. Wright: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if answers sent to hon. Members in reply to parliamentary questions by the head of executive agencies in his Department are (a) seen, (b) approved and (c) amended by him before they are sent; and if he will identify such letters to which amendments by him have been made in 1994-95. [7836]

Mr. Douglas Hogg: Parliamentary questions are passed to the head of an executive agency for reply when the matter is one delegated to him or her under the agency framework document. The relevant Minister may see a copy of the reply before it is sent, but would not normally intervene in operational matters. As far as I am aware, no replies have been changed by Ministers in this Department in the period in question.

Fishing Vessels

Mr. Spearing: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from marine heritage organisations concerning EU regulations and consequential United Kingdom legislation requiring owners of sound, seaworthy and hand built traditional wooden vessels used for fishing to be destroyed, or rendered incapable of use on water or being disposed of to any private person or body for uses other than fishing, under any scheme of registration as a condition of receiving de-commissioning grant; and what replies he has sent. [8216]

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Mr. Baldry: I have recently received representations from the following organisations with regard to the decommissioning of traditional wooden fishing vessels:

The 40+ Fishing Boat Association of the British Isles
The Colne Smack Preservation Society
The Historic Warship Preservation Society

In replying to all these bodies, I have made it clear that it is a requirement of Council regulation 3699/93 that decommissioned vessels are permanently excluded from fishing in Community waters. Experience has shown that it is only by requiring vessels to be made permanently unseaworthy that we can guarantee meeting our obligations. It is also a requirement that vessels of less than 25 gross registered tonnes have to be scrapped to qualify for Community aid. Nevertheless, I am always willing to consider any suggestions an applicant may make for alternatives to scrapping which provide the same degree of certainty in protecting public expenditure.

Private Finance Initiative

Mr. Betts: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will provide a breakdown of administration costs incurred to date and forecast for the future on PFI work. [5721]

Mr. Boswell [holding answer 14 December 1995]: Quantifiable administration costs incurred to date on PFI amount to some £20,000 annually. Forecast future costs are broadly similar.

NATIONAL HERITAGE

Aboriginal Artefacts

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what reports she or her predecessors have received from United Kingdom museums regarding the offer for sale of aboriginal artefacts from the Broome area of Western Australia; and if she will make a statement. [8002]

Mr. Sproat: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is not aware of any reports received by her, or her predecessors, from United Kingdom museums regarding the offer for sale of Aboriginal artefacts from the Broome area of Western Australia.

Iron Age Artefacts (Theft)

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what reports she has received alleging the theft and sale to the British museum of historic artefacts from the Salisbury area; and if she will make a statement. [8001]

Mr. Sproat: I understand from the British museum that it purchased a collection of bronze artefacts of the British iron age of unknown provenance.

Research by the museum into the provenance of a group of miniature bronze shields included in this collection led to arrests in 1993. A site at Netherhampton,

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Wiltshire, was excavated by the museum and confirmed as the source of an extensive hoard which included these shields.

On 2 May 1995 the finders of the hoard were convicted. Ownership of the shields has now reverted to the estate of the owner of the land on which the shields were found.

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