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Public Record Office
Mr. Gill: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what changes he plans to make to the running costs limit of the Public Record Office, class VIII, vote 3 for 1996-97. [2373]
Mr. Streeter: The running cost limit has been reduced by £189,000 from £22,711,000 to £22,552,000, to reflect a transfer from running costs to capital. The capital expenditure will be defrayed on the fitting out of central London office premises, through which the office provides services to the public.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Terrorism
Miss Hoey: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the Government's reasons for not providing compensation for victims of terrorism in England. [1342]
Mr. Nelson: I refer the hon. Lady to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Manchester, Blackley (Mr. Eastham) on 27 June 1996, Official Report, column 202.
Miss Hoey: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimate he has made of the cost of providing, in each of the three years before the commencement of the IRA ceasefire and in 1996 to date, compensation for losses caused by terrorism in England, Scotland and Wales on a similar basis to that provided in Northern Ireland. [1419]
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Mr. Nelson: There is no justification for a compensation scheme because, unlike Northern Ireland, insurance cover is readily available elsewhere in the United Kingdom. No estimate of the cost of such a scheme has therefore been made.
Miss Hoey: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the regulation of the premiums for terrorism insurance levied on people living or working in inner London. [1354]
Mr. Nelson: Individuals living or working in Inner London will normally be covered for any losses caused by acts of terrorism by their personal domestic household policies and/or comprehensive motor policies, as appropriate. Premiums are determined by normal competition between insurers.
Insurance policies for businesses or other non-personal policyholders will normally have a limit on the level of claims payable, unless the policyholder has bought full terrorism cover. Were insurance is provided by a member of the scheme established in accordance with the Reinsurance (Acts of Terrorism) Act 1993, the additional terrorism premium is set by the Pool Reinsurance Company Ltd. in the light of advice of consultant actuaries and after consultation with my Department.
Departmental Cash Limits
Mr. Hargreaves: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what changes will be made to cash and running cost limits within class IV of the estimates for 1996-97. [2431]
Mr. Lang: Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class IV, vote 1--programmes and administration--will be increased by £13,930,000 from £1,301,655,000 to £1,315,585,000. This net increase results from:
- (i) to take-up of running cost and capital end-year flexibility (£17,437,000) as announced by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 12 July 1996 (Official Report, cols 326-331);
(ii) agreed changes to NIREX payments (£1,760,000);
(iii) an adjustment to the classification of Gas Consumer Council receipts from appropriations-in-aid to consolidated fund extra receipts (£2,894,000); and
(iv) other miscellaneous changes (£194,000);
offset by
(v) a net reduction to provision in respect of AEA Technology privatisation costs (-£3,855,000); and
(vi) the movement of provision from the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme to the non-cash limited Shipbuilding Intervention Fund (-£4,500,000).
- (i) the take-up of running costs end-year flexibility (£15,654,000);
(ii) an adjustment in Insolvency Service fee income required for accounting purposes (£1,500,000);
(iii) the transfer of all Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service provision to running costs (£659,000);
offset by other minor net transfers of provision (-£31,000).
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The net effect of all the agreed changes to NIREX payments--including reductions to nationalised industries external financing limits of £2,990,000, which are not reflected in this vote--gives an overall benefit to the Exchequer of £1,230,000.
Also, subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class IV, vote 11--Office of Telecommunications--will be increased by £1,118,000 from £9,094,000 to £10,212,000 and the running cost limit will be increased by £1,059,000 from £8,677,000 to £9,736,000. The increase is required to meet new requirements, arising from European and UK legislation, to ensure that pro-competition policies are implemented and to meet additional litigation costs.
In addition, subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class IV, vote 12--Office of Gas Supply--will be increased by £2,000,000 from £7,743,000 to £9,743,000 and the running costs limit similarly increased from £8,452,000 to £10,452,000. The requirement results from additional running costs associated with the extension of domestic competition, further assessment of network code and the referral to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission on price controls.
Additionally, subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class IV, vote 13--Office of Electricity Regulation--will be increased by £4,150,000 from £10,232,000 to £14,382,000 and the running costs limit by £4,100,000 from £10,694,000 to £14,794,000. These changes reflect the extra resources required by the Director General of Electricity Supply to fulfil his obligations under the Electricity Act 1989.
All such increases will be charged to the reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.
Mr. Hanson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much has been allocated to each local education authority to (a) improve school security and (b) meet the recommendations of the Government working party on school security. [1493]
Mr. Robin Squire:
The Government have accepted all the recommendations of the working group on school security, including for provision of substantial additional funding to improve school security through the grants for education support and training--GEST--programme from 1997-98. The grant will be distributed according to the number of pupils and the number of schools in each authority. Local education authorities will be informed in December of their allocations for the coming financial year.
1 Nov 1996 : Column: 278
This new specific grant will be in addition to the funding already available to local education authorities generally for capital and current spending on schools. That will continue to allow for expenditure on school security.
Dr. Lynne Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will instruct Ofsted to open its data base derived from inspection of schools to accredited researchers, with particular reference to those investigating the effect of class size on the quality of education. [2322]
Mr. Robin Squire:
No. This is a matter for Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools. I know that he takes every opportunity to bring the information held by Ofsted into the public domain.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the Inland Revenue's policy in respect of overseas computer access to British taxpayers' confidential files after the commencement of tax self-assessment. [959]
Mr. Jack:
I refer to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Southport (Mr. Banks) on 16 October, Official Report, columns 912-13.
Mr. Ian McCartney:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish, by region (a) the unemployment claimant count statistics and (b) the unemployment statistics as measured by the labour force survey, showing the percentage difference between the two in each case. [832]
Mrs. Angela Knight
[holding answer 28 October 1996]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
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