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Inheritance Tax

Mr. Tipping: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which tourist information centres have been informed of the locations of countryside open to the public by virtue of conditional exemption from inheritance tax; and when it became his policy to pass such information to them. [22676]

Mr. Jack [holding answer 25 March 1996]: The owner of land conditionally exempted from inheritance tax--or capital transfer tax--must publicise the agreed public access arrangements. The agreement may include provision for publicity through tourist information centres. This has been the position since 1975 when capital transfer tax replaced estate duty.

Each case is considered individually by the appropriate heritage advisory agency, taking account of all relevant factors, including the existing level of publicity. Although the extent of public access may already be widely known, for example where substantial public access is already given, the owner will generally be required to take specific steps to publicise the public access arrangements, for example by advertising the access arrangements in a local tourist office or town hall. For new designations of scenic land in England, owners are required to display at all points of entry on to their land map boards showing the agreed public access.

It is for the owner to take the necessary steps to provide the agreed form and level of publicity and, where appropriate, to inform the relevant tourist centre(s). The

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advisory agencies monitor owners' compliance with the agreed public access arrangements including matters relating to publicity

I am unable to provide the requested information about tourist information centres as it is not held centrally. And, in any event, providing such information may help identify individual cases of tax exemption, thus compromising the normal rules on taxpayer confidentiality.

Mr. Tipping: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the total area of land and the number of locations in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales which have been granted conditional exemption from inheritance tax on the basis of public access having been granted. [22677]

Mr. Jack [holding answer 25 March 1996]: The area of land exempted from inheritance tax--or capital transfer tax--and to which public access arrangements apply is around 56,000 hectares in England; 48,000 hectares in Scotland; and 2,000 hectares in Wales.

The information requested about the number of locations which have been granted conditional exemption is not available. This is because in some cases, a designation may cover more than one site. However, there have been 153 designations of land for conditional exemption from inheritance tax--or capital transfer tax--in England; 28 in Scotland and eight in Wales.

Income Tax (Savings and Investments)

Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the annual cost of exempting the first (a) £200, (b) £250, (c) £400, (d) £500, (e) £750, and (f) £1,000 of income from savings and investments from income tax. [22775]

Mr. Jack [holding answer 26 March 1996]: The full-year costs at 1996-97 income levels are given in the table. The estimates do not take account of any behavioural effects which might result from the introduction of such an exemption.

Exemption limit	Cost in full year at 1996-97 income levels
£	£ million
200	620
250	720
400	990
500	1,100
750	1,500
1,000	1,700

HEALTH

Yorkshire Regional Health Authority

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will instruct the NHS executive heads to report the details of the irregular payments to the top managers of the Yorkshire regional health authority to the fraud squad of the North Yorkshire policy authority. [21722]

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Mr. Malone: The police were notified of certain details concerning the former Yorkshire regional health authority. The majority of issues covered in the inquiry set up by the chief executive of the national health service were, however, not criminal in nature.

Mr. Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for which health service bodies each of the 17 persons in receipt of irregular payments from the former Yorkshire regional health authority now works. [22731]

Mr. Malone: The Information is as follows:

	Number
York Health Services NHS trust	1
Royal Hull Hospitals NHS trust	2
Northallerton Health Services NHS trust	2
East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS trust	1
Harrogate Healthcare NHS trust	1
Bradford Hospitals NHS trust	1
Alexandra Healthcare NHS trust	1
North Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS trust	1
Trent RHA (until 31 March 1996)	1
North Yorkshire HA	1
United Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS trust	1
Northern and Yorkshire RHA (until 31 March 1996)	1
No longer in NHS	2
Place of employment unknown	1

Mr. Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the last chairman of the Yorkshire regional health authority was provided with a car in connection with his chairmanship; and what was the cost of such provision. [22912]

Mr. Malone: Sir Bryan Askew was not provided with a lease car in connection with his chairmanship of the former Yorkshire regional health authority.

Mr. Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the reports of the district auditor into cases of irregular severance payments to the former director of personnel of the former Yorkshire regional health authority, and to the former district general manager of Scunthorpe district health authority, to be available. [23431]

Mr. Malone: This is a matter for the auditor.

Mr. John Greetham

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many miles have been travelled on national health service business by Mr. John Greetham since he became chair of the Northern and Yorkshire regional health authority. [22894]

Mr. Malone: According to the latest information available, John Greetham travelled 29,885 miles on national health service business between April 1994 and November 1995.

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what national health service appointments have previously been held by Sir John Greetham; what national health service posts he currently holds; what posts he will hold

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on 1 April; and if he will indicate the remuneration received for membership of each such post. [22896]

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Mr. Malone: The information requested is listed below:

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Post	From	To	Annual remuneration entitlement
Regional Chairman for the Northern and Yorkshire region of the NHS executive	1 April 1996	31 March 1998	£20,925
Chairman, Northern and Yorkshire regional health authority	1 April 1994	31 March 1996	£20,925
Chairman, St. James' University Hospital NHS trust	17 December 1990	31 March 1994	£19,285
Non-executive member, York district health authority	1990	1990	Nil
Non-executive member and later vice-chairman, Yorkshire regional health authority	1984	1990	Nil
Non-executive member, Scarborough district health authority	1980	1984	Nil
Non-executive member, North Yorkshire family practitioner committee	1978	1980	Nil

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Electronic Systems

Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to link electronic systems holding identifiable health information in his Department to other Government Departments. [22910]

Mr. Horam: The Department of Health's network does not handle identifiable health information, being concerned only with anonymised statistical aggregates. Identifiable health information is used by NHS organisations under strict rules set out in recent guidance from the Department of Health. Where the care and treatment of individuals is shared between NHS staff and local authority care staff, identifiable health information has to pass between the responsible clinicians and care workers. Any proposals to use the NHS networking system for this purpose have to follow the very strict controls laid down in the guidance.

Contracts

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines are currently in force in his Department and its executive agencies relating to competitive tendering and the use of single negotiated tenders; on what grounds single negotiated tenders can be used; and what procedures are in place within his Department to ensure that the use of single negotiated tenders in competitive tendering processes is justified in all cases. [22852]

Mr. Horam: The Government's public purchasing policy consolidated guidelines require goods and services to be acquired by competition unless there are convincing reasons to the contrary. In addition, the EU procurement directives and the World Trade Organisation Government procurement agreement require most contracts above specified thresholds to be awarded following competition, subject to certain specified exceptions. The central unit on procurement's guidance note No. 40 provides an overview of best practice in the competitive tendering process.

Two internal publications within the Department of Health, the "Purchasing and Supply Manual" and "Guidance Notes on the use of Management Consultants", provide guidance to staff in the Department and its executive agencies on the whole range of procurement matters.

Single negotiated tenders are permissable only where: (i) when the work is an extension of a recently completed project and it can be clearly demonstrated that the value

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of staying with the same supplier outweighs any possibility of reduced costs that would occur from competitive tendering--further work must be shown to be essential to complete the project; (ii) the expertise is not available from any other source; (iii) unforeseeable circumstances that require extreme urgency of action. A trained purchaser must be involved if the contract value exceeds £50,000.

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many contracts for goods or services have been awarded by his Department and its executive agencies on the basis of single negotiated contracts in each of the last three years; if he will list the companies involved and the value of the contract in each case; what percentage this represented of contracts awarded by his Department and its agencies after competitive tendering; and, in each case, why the contracts were awarded on the basis of a single negotiated tender. [22867]

Mr. Horam: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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