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Whisky
Mr. Barry Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the percentage increase in revenue from whisky sales since the reduction in the duty in the 1995 Budget; and what conclusions he has drawn from this for future policy on duty levels. [2555]
Mr. Oppenheim: The monthly receipts from excise duty on spirits for 1995 and 1996 January to September are shown in the table. The receipts cover all alcohol products subject to spirit duty, not just whisky.
| 1995 | 1996 | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Month | £ million | £ million | change |
| January | 236a | 119 | -50 |
| February | 51 | 76 | +49 |
| March | 74 | 108 | +46 |
| April | 112 | 115 | +3 |
| May | 106 | 117 | +10 |
| June | 129 | 128 | -1 |
| July | 121 | 108 | -11 |
| August | 115 | 122 | +6 |
| September | 128 | 123 | -4 |
| October | 130 | -- | -- |
| November | 228 | -- | -- |
| December | 281b | -- | -- |
Spirit duty is generally paid on the 29th of the month for goods cleared during the previous 15th to 14th of the month.
1. January 1995 receipts were boosted as a result of the Financial Statement of 8 December 1994 which announced an increase in the rate of duty with effect from 1 January 1995.
2. December 1995 receipts represent goods cleared both before and after the Budget of 28 November 1995.
Economic Criteria
Mr. Renton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which members of the European Union he currently forecasts will meet the Maastricht economic criteria in 1997. [2141]
6 Nov 1996 : Column: 544
Mr. Kenneth Clarke [holding answer 4 November 1996]: An assessment of which countries meet the conditions for joining the single currency on 1 January 1999 will be made by the Council of Ministers in early 1998. At present there are considerable uncertainties surrounding this and other issues relating to the single currency.
VAT
Mr. Barry Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total amount of VAT refunded to clubs as a result of the recent misdirection by Customs and Excise. [2584]
Mr. Oppenheim: The total amount refunded to non-profit making organisations supplying sporting services is estimated at £150 million VAT plus £30 million interest.
Gold Reserves
Mr. Butcher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of Britain's gold reserves are held in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) the USA (c) western Europe and (d) elsewhere. [2396]
Mrs. Angela Knight: In accordance with best practice, part of the United Kingdom's gold reserves are held at the Bank of England and the remainder in secure facilities abroad. Because the number of appropriate locations is limited, for security reasons we do not disclose the amounts held at different sites.
Manchester Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Mr. Alfred Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent submission he has received from the Manchester chamber of commerce and industry; what reply he will be sending; and if he will make a statement. [1833]
Mr. Oppenheim [holding answer 5 November 1996]: The Manchester Chamber of Commerce wrote to my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor on 25 October enclosing their budget submission. In common with all Budget submissions, it will be read carefully, and analysed further as appropriate. The Chancellor will be replying shortly to thank the Manchester chamber of commerce for sending in its proposals, but a full statement would not be appropriate in the run-up to the Budget.
Computers (Century Date Change)
Mr. Ingram: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the cost effects of the millennium date change on the computer systems operated by his Department. [2603]
Mrs. Angela Knight [holding answer 5 November 1996]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 17 June 1996, Official Report, column 308.
6 Nov 1996 : Column: 545
Aid Budget
Mr. Alfred Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has had from the Bishop of Manchester in relation to the aid budget; what reply he is sending; what action he will be taking; and if he will make a statement. [869]
Mr. Waldegrave: The Bishop of Manchester wrote to my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor on 24 October regarding the future level of the United Kingdom aid programme. My right hon. Friend Baroness Chalker, the Minister responsible for overseas development, will be responding shortly. Decisions on the overseas aid programme will be announced in the Budget.
Public Pension Liabilities
Mr. Matthew Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the implications for public finances of unfunded future public pension liabilities in the EU.[3156]
Mr. Kenneth Clarke: Thanks to this Government's policies the United Kingdom's net unfunded public pension liabilities are lower as a proportion of gross domestic product than those of other major EU member states.
Article 104b--the "no bail-out" clause--of the Maastricht treaty makes clear that a member state cannot be liable for another member state's commitments in any area of spending. The treaty therefore ensures that the UK will not have to pay for the liabilities of another member state, regardless of whether or not we join the economic and monetary union.
Rules on excessive deficits, reinforced by the proposed stability pact currently under negotiation, are designed to ensure that member states participating in EMU cannot follow irresponsible fiscal policies which could destabilise the market and affect other participating member states. If a member state needs to address a build-up of liabilities of any kind, it will not be able to fund them through excessive borrowing.
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Member states have future liabilities of various kinds, not just of pensions, all of which need to be considered when assessing the future state of the public finances. Furthermore a meaningful assessment should consider assets as well as liabilities. Isolated study of pensions liabilities are therefore not a useful guide to the future financial stability or fiscal policy of any nation state. The convergence criteria of the Maastricht treaty provide a clearly defined basis for forming judgments on eligibility for economic and monetary union in due course.
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the services provided by his Department and its agencies covering North Staffordshire for each of the last three years, giving details of (a) the number of staff employed and (b) the efficiency savings (i) required and (ii) achieved for each of those years. [37]
Mr. Burt:
A full range of services on all Social Security issues is provided to the people of North Staffordshire via the local offices at Hanley, Longton and Newcastle, where the Benefits Agency, Child Support Agency, and Contributions Agency are sited.
The number of staff employed at these sites is shown in the table:
| Year | BA | CSA | CA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993-94 | 386 | 16 | 22 |
| 1994-95 | 389 | 16 | 22 |
| 1995-96 | 362 | 16 | 17 |
Figures as at 1 April 1996.
| 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BA | CSA | CA | BA | CSA | CA | BA | CSA | CA | ||||
| Target | 44.60 | (3)-- | 2.603 | 55.00 | (3)-- | 4.005 | 75.00 | 5.728 | 12.670 | |||
| Achievement | 67.94 | (3)-- | 3.800 | 79.27 | (3)-- | 7.106 | 98.46 | 8.746 | 13.729 | |||
(3) No efficiency target for CSA in 1993-94 and 1994-95. It is not possible to break down these figures to local level.
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Local managers are expected to seek out further efficiencies. For north Staffordshire, these include:
In 1993-94--centralisation of telephone, switchboard, typing, finance and visiting services and a reduction of two management posts;
In 1994-95--reorganisation and co-location of various benefit sections and a reduction of three management posts, and
In 1995-96--centralisation of Social Fund and returned order book operations and a further reduction of two management posts.
Fraud
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what account he has taken in respect of his legislative proposals to counter fraud of the problems
6 Nov 1996 : Column: 546
identified in official reports published by the Australian and New Zealand data protection commissioners; and if he will make a statement on how his proposals would avoid such problems in the United Kingdom. [209]
Mr. Heald: We shall take into account the experiences of other countries involved in data matching exercises and are in contact with the Data Protection Registrar about the Department's legislative proposals.
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