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Lost Work Days
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the number of work days lost, in each of the work categories used by his Department, since May 1979, as a result of (a) the closure or restructuring of firms, (b) the withdrawal of local authority services, (c) the reduction in the size of Government Departments and the armed services and (d) changes in the scope of charitable employment. [11725]
Mrs. Angela Knight: The information is not available in the form requested. The available information closest to that requested is for the net change in jobs for the whole economy in the United Kingdom. There was a net increase of 141,000 jobs between September 1979 and September 1995.
Information providing estimates of employment in the public sector for 1979 to 1994 is published in the January 1995 edition of Economic Trends. A copy of the publication is available in the Library.
VAT (Higher Education)
Mr. Bayley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much value added tax was paid by further education colleges and sixth form colleges in (a) 1992-93, (b) 1993-94 and (c) 1994-95; and how much he estimates will be paid by these colleges in 1995-96. [11630]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: There are no figures available on the amount of VAT paid by colleges.
Mortgage Interest Tax Relief
Mr. McAllion: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total cost of mortgage interest tax relief in Scotland in each year since 1993-94; what it is estimated to be for 1996-97; and what the costs would have been in each of these years if relief had been available at 25 per cent. [11930]
Mr. Jack: The cost of mortgage interest tax relief in Scotland was estimated to be £300 million in 1993-94 and £240 million in 1994-95. In 1994-95 the rate of relief was 20 per cent. If relief had been available at 25 per cent., the cost would have been about £300 million. The estimated cost of the relief for 1993-94 is based on the regional distribution of the cost of mortgage interest relief from analyses of family expenditure surveys up to 1993. The estimate for 1994-95 is a projection based on applying the same regional distribution as in 1993-94 to the total figure for 1994-95. It is not possible to provide reliable estimates for regions for 1995-96 and 1996-97.
Gross Domestic Product
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of the Secretary of State for Wales of 19 January 1996, Official Report, column 838, what are the reasons for the unavailability of the gross domestic product figures for the years after 1991. [11963]
Mrs. Angela Knight:
Gross domestic product figures by county for 1993 would normally have been published in December 1995 in Economic Trends. However, extensive revisions to the figures for earlier years are necessary due to source data on the new standard
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industrial classification, SIC(92), becoming available. Since these data became available very late, it was not possible to produce county estimates at that time. The county figures will now be published by the end of March 1996.
Mr. Sheerman:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement regarding reinterpretation of the VAT legislation in relation to VAT exemption on computerised access equipment for blind and partially sighted computer users. [12397]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory:
Customs and Excise has not made any reinterpretation of VAT law. Specialised adaptations specifically for disabled people are relieved from VAT when supplied to a disabled person. General purpose computer equipment is, and always has been, liable to VAT.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of departmental expenditure on administration for (a) 1979-80, (b) 1989-90, (c) 1991-92, (d) 1993-94, (e) 1994-95, (f) 1995-96 and (g) 1996-97. [11449]
Mrs. Angela Knight:
Departmental expenditure on administration is included in the running costs published in the departmental report of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's departments.
Mr. Bruce:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of his Department's expenditure on newspapers and magazines in (a) 1993-94, (b) 1994-95 and (c) 1995-96, to date; and if he will list the publications purchased for the latest year for which information is available. [11452]
Mrs. Knight:
Departmental expenditure on newspapers and magazines is included in the running costs published in the departmental report of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's departments.
Mr. Bruce:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the annual telephone costs to (a) his Department, (b) his Department's agencies and (c) his Department's non-departmental public bodies staff for each of the years (i) 1979-80, (ii) 1989-90, (iii) 1991-92, (iv) 1993-94, (v) 1994-95, (vi) 1995-96 and (vii) 1996-97; and if internal telephone directories are available to staff in all areas of (a) to (c). [11370]
Mrs. Knight
[holding answer 25 January 1996]: Expenditure on telephone costs by Her Majesty's Treasury, and agencies and non-departmental public bodies associated with HM Treasury, are included in the running costs published for the Department and each agency.
Mr. Bruce:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the total expenditure of his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies on publicity for each of the years (a) 1979-80, (b) 1989-90, (c) 1991-92, (d) 1993-94, (e) 1994-95 and (f) 1995-96 (i) to date and (ii) as estimated for the whole year; what estimate he has made of such expenditure for 1996-97; and if he will break these figures down to
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indicate expenditure on (1) advertising and (2) press and public relations. [11368]
Mrs. Knight
[holding answer 25 January 1996]: Expenditure on publicity for HM Treasury, and the agencies responsible to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is included in the running costs published for the Department and each agency.
Mr. Matthew Banks:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the recent Council meeting of the Economic and Finance Ministers of the European Union. [12926]
Mr. Kenneth Clarke:
I represented the UK at the Economic and Finance Council of the European Union in Brussels on 22 January.
There was a public debate on the incoming Italian presidency's work programme. The Italian programme concentrates on continuing work towards economic and monetary union and fighting unemployment. I agreed with both these priorities and in particular stressed the importance of member states creating the right conditions to stimulate employment. I also encouraged the Council to respect EC budgetary restraints and to make rapid progress in the campaign against fraud and waste within the Community.
The Commission presented a proposal for extending the mandate for the European investment bank to lend to Asia and Latin America, which expired at the end of 1995, for one year. There was no discussion and the Council will return to this at a later date.
Mrs. Bridget Prentice:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will list the average (a) weekly earnings, (b) total hours, (c) average hourly earnings and (d) median hourly earnings, including and excluding overtime, for (i) all part-time females and (ii) all part-time males on adult rates in each London borough, broken down to show (A) manual and (B) non-manual workers; [11860]
(3) if he will list the proportion of full-time employees on adult rates with weekly earnings of less than (a) £150, (b) £200 and (c) £250 per week, including and excluding overtime, in each London borough for all full-time (i) females and (ii) males on adult rates broken down to show manual and non-manual workers. [11859]
Mrs. Angela Knight:
As the information is contained in a number of tables, I will place a copy in the Library of the House.
(2) what proportion of employees on adult rates earn less than (a) £3.20, (b) £3.50, (c) £4, (d) £4.60 and (e) £6 per hour in each London borough, including and excluding overtime for (i) all full-time males, (ii) all part-time males, (iii) all full-time females and (iv) all part-time females on adult rates, broken down to show manual and non-manual workers; [11858]
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