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Valuation Office
Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many representations he has had since 1 January 1995 about (a) delays in hearing appeals against valuation of business premises for rates and (b) reductions in manpower in the Valuation Office; and if he will make a statement. [26338]
Mrs. Angela Knight: Ministers within the Treasury have received around 10 inquiries relating to alleged delays in the hearing of business rate appeals and a further five inquiries in connection with reductions in manpower within the Valuation Office agency.
European Union
Mr. David Shaw: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 22 April, Official Report, column 10, on net EU receipts, if he will set out
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the formula and basis of calculation of (i) the gross contribution and (ii) the abatement in respect of 1995-96 and the previous year. [26788]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: The basis of the Community's revenue system, which leads to the member states' gross contributions to the European Community budget, and a broad description of the basis used to determine the UK's abatement are contained in chapter 8 of the "Departmental Report of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's smaller Departments--The Government's Expenditure Plans 1996-97 to 1998-99", Cm 3217. This chapter also outlines the main differences between the UK's gross contributions in the financial years 1994-95 and 1995-96.
Mr. Shaw: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Dover of 22 April, Official Report, column 10, relating to net EU receipts, in which documents produced by Her Majesty's Government the column "Public sector receipts" is analysed; and if he will set out the Departments which receive the funds and give details of their use. [26787]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: Details of the amounts of the UK's receipts from the Community budget by Department and by main Community funds, for the period 1990-91 to 1998-99, are given in table 8D of the "Departmental Report of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's smaller Departments--The Government's Expenditure Plans 1996-97 to 1998-99", Cm 3217. Similar details of the amounts in earlier years are given in the earlier departmental reports. Details of the use to which these funds are put can be obtained from the relevant departmental Ministers.
Serco Ltd.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contracts his Department and his agencies have with Serco Ltd.; what is the current cost; when each contract ends; what are the penalties involved should he seek early termination of the contract; and if he will make a statement. [26641]
Mrs. Angela Knight: The Treasury, Royal Mint, Office of HM Paymaster General, Valuation Office and Office for National Statistics have no contracts with Serco Ltd.
The Inland Revenue has a contract with Serco for administration services at the Inland Revenue offices, Castle Meadow road, Nottingham. This includes typing, secretarial, messenger, porter post room, switchboard, help desk, training/conference room booking services, etcetera. The current cost is £1,123,343.97--February 1995 to January 1996--and the contract ends on the 31 January 1998 with an option to extend to 31 January 2000.
There are no penalties if the contract is terminated early, due to a default in the service, or for a breach of the contract.
If Inland Revenue wishes not to continue with the contract for reasons other than the above, it needs to give six months' notice and would be liable to pay reasonable commitments, liabilities and expenditure which otherwise would be an unavoidable loss to Serco by reason of termination of the contract.
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HM Customs and Excise estates department has call-off contracts with Serco Ltd. to provide works managers services for their properties in the south-east of England. These contracts cover headquarters properties based in Southend, investigation division properties based in London, all properties covered by south-east England and Anglia collections and a number of, but not all, properties covered by South London and Thames collection.
Due to the call-off nature of the contract and the delegation to regional managers, it is not possible to provide accurate figures as to the total value of supplies made under this contract, but a broad estimate would be a value of £500,000.
The contract for HQ Southend expires on the 31 May 1997; all other contracts listed above expire on 2 April 1998.
There are no penalty clauses for termination of the contract. In addition to usual causes for termination, the client is entitled to terminate the contract by giving not less than 30 days' notice.
Mr. Khabra:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will undertake a cost-benefit analysis of the effects of reducing value added tax on energy-saving materials from 17.5 per cent. to 8 per cent; and if he will make a statement. [26831]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory:
I have no plans to reduce the rate of value added tax on energy-saving materials.
Ms Armstrong:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps Her Majesty's Government are taking to monitor the performance of Government Departments in the timely payment of creditors. [26835]
Mrs. Angela Knight
[holding answer 25 April 1996]: Departments are currently required to publish details of their payment performance in their departmental reports. Following the Prime Minister's statement at the Your Business Matters national conference, a league table of all Departments' payment performance will be published every year, and the Treasury is currently considering a new, rigorous and consistent method to collect this data.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the income tax yield from the self-employed in the latest year for which figures are available. [27034]
Mr. Jack
[holding answer 26 April 1996]: In 1995-96, it is estimated that £8.6 billion income tax was received in respect of income from trades, professions and vocations, net of repayments made. No estimate is available of tax paid by self-employed people on their other income.
Ms Quin:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the policy of his
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Department in pressing for changes to the administrative procedures of the EU Poland and Hungary Assistance for Economic Restructuring programme.
[25903]
Mr. Hanley:
The improvements we have been seeking PHARE's procedures include greater decentralisation of programme management from Brussels to recipient countries, effective monitoring and evaluation of programmes and a larger role for EU delegations in co-ordination and information.
Mrs. Ann Winterton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library copies of the material which he has received from the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the United Nations Fund for Population Activity concerning their budgets and programmes in China.[26546]
Mr. Hanley:
The China country programme of the United Nations Population Fund--UNFPA--has a current allocation of $500,000 which will be spent on women's development and mother and child health care projects, and for contraceptive quality assurance work. The International Planned Parenthood Federation has an allocation for the China Family Planning Association in 1996 of $1 million which is for audio-visual equipment and vehicles. Copies of relevant documents will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mrs. Winterton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the work of the United Nations Fund for Population Activity in China with particular reference to encouraging population control policies which do not involve coercion. [27132]
Mr. Hanley:
Our judgment is that the United Nations Population Fund performs an essential role in promoting adherence to voluntary and non-coercive approaches to family planning in all countries of the world, including in China. UNFPA is currently engaged in an intensive dialogue with the Government of China about the nature of any future assistance to that country. UNFPA has made it clear that it is prepared to support activities only in countries where birth planning restrictions have been lifted.
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Mrs. Ann Winterton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those occasions during the last year when Ministers from his Department have made representations in respect of Chinese population control programmes and policies; what was the outcome on each of those occasions; and if he will make a statement. [26547]
Mr. Hanley:
Ministers raised human rights issues, which include allegations of coercion in family planning programmes, with a vice-minister of the state family planning commission in September 1995; during meetings with Chinese leaders in October 1995 and January 1996; and with the Chinese Foreign Minister in April 1996. These meetings have had the common objective of persuading the Chinese Government to adhere to international human rights standards. All meetings have served to underline to the Chinese Government the seriousness with which human rights issues in China are viewed in the United Kingdom, and have supported the current intensive efforts of the United Nations Population Fund to encourage the Chinese Government to implement family planning programmes which are responsive to freely-expressed demand for services, rather than seek to meet particular birth quotas or targets.
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