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Business Appointment Rules

Mr. Derek Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps he has taken to monitor the effectiveness of the business appointment rules and the way in which they are followed in individual Departments. [9780]

Mr. Freeman: The Cabinet Office--Office of Public Service--continually monitors the general effectiveness of the rules as part of its consideration of the cases which Departments and agencies are required to refer to it under the rules. The chairman and deputy chairman of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments review a sample of these cases annually.

Mr. Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the business appointment rules; and if he will make a statement. [9884]

Mr. Freeman: The business appointment rules for Crown servants are at chapter 4.3 annexes A and B of the "Civil Service Management Code", a copy of which is in the Library of the House.

Government Policy Reviews

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which reviews of Government policies have been undertaken by the Cabinet Office in each of the last five years. [9996]

Mr. Freeman: The process of policy review is continuous and integral to much of the work of Cabinet Office. The Cabinet secretariat supports the work of the Cabinet and its Committees in all areas of Government policy. The Office of Public Service has policy responsibility for: the citizens charter programme; deregulation initiative; competitiveness agenda; efficiency scrutiny programme; co-ordination of the market testing

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programme and the next steps executive agencies programme; and development of an inter-departmental strategy for information technology. OPS also has responsibility for a number of civil service management, personnel and organisational issues.

Several Cabinet Office reviews of Government policies have culminated in the publication of a White Paper, including:














PRIME MINISTER

Consultants

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Prime Minister (1) what estimates he has made of the amount spent on external consultants by his Department's non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years; [10170]

The Prime Minister: For these purposes my office is part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Member to the replies given today by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

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TREASURY

Local Government Finance

Mr. Pawsey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 20 November, Official Report, column 570, about the total amount spent by local government, what was the total amount spent by local government in 1979 at current prices. [5902]

Mr. Waldegrave: In the financial year 1979-80 the total amount spent by local government, by national accounts definitions, and adjusted to 1996-97 prices was £68 billion.

Mr. Pawsey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 20 November, Official Report, column 570, about local government funding, what was the figure for 1995-96 at current prices. [5903]

Mr. Waldegrave: As set out in the "Financial Statement and Budget Report 1997-98" (HC 90), total central Government support to local authorities in the United Kingdom in 1995-96, including credit approvals, was £61,815 million; in 1996-97 prices this is equivalent to £63,360 million.

Computers

Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect which the century date change for computer systems will have on the introduction of a single currency; what discussions he has had with his European Union colleagues on this matter; and if he will make a statement. [6664]

Mrs. Angela Knight: In assessing the implications of the century date change, the Treasury has made no assessment of the effect on the introduction of the single currency. My right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has not had any discussions with colleagues in the Council of Economic and Finance Ministers--ECOFIN--on this matter.

Economic and Monetary Union

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will investigate the reasons for the delay in the delivery of his letter dated 31 October concerning the European Monetary Institute report on economic and monetary union to the Select Committee on European Legislation; and if he will make a statement on his Department's liaison with the Committee. [6805]

Mr. Kenneth Clarke: The letter in question was misdirected as a result of an administrative error. I shall ensure that the correct procedures are followed in future.

The European Legislation Committee published a report on 9 December entitled "European Documents on

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Economic and Monetary Union: The Scrutiny Process". Paragraph 29 of its report said--


Nuclear Power Stations (Decommissioning)

Mr. Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost savings to the Treasury from changing the time scale over which nuclear power stations are to be decommissioned. [8048]

Mr. Waldegrave: There are no plans to change the time scale over which nuclear power stations are decommissioned and therefore no estimates of cost savings have been produced.

Mr. Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions (i), he, (ii) his Ministers and (iii) his officials have had regarding changing the time scale over which nuclear power stations are to be decommissioned. [8049]

Mr. Waldegrave: The time scale for decommissioning nuclear power stations was addressed in the White Paper, "The Prospects for Nuclear Power in the UK" (Cm 2860) published in May 1995. The financial effects of different decommissioning strategies were considered prior to the privatisation of British Energy. Since then this issue has not been the subject of discussions by me, by my ministerial colleagues or by my officials.

Taxation Statistics

Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of earnings of a married couple with two children and with one earner on average male earnings is estimated to have been paid (a) in income tax, (b) in income tax and national insurance and (c) in total direct and indirect tax in (i) 1978-79 and (ii) 1992-93; and what the corresponding figures are expected to be in 1997-98. [9499]

Mr. Jack: I refer to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, Central (Mr, Darling), Official Report, 11 December 1996, column 190-202 and to the "Tax Benefit Reference Manual", a copy of which has been placed with the House of Commons Library.

Staff

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for his Department (a) how many people in total are employed, (b) how many of the total number of staff are (i) male and (ii) female and (c) how many (I) men and (II) women are employed on a (1) full-time and (2) part-time basis. [9493]

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Mrs. Angela Knight: To total number of current Treasury staff in post is as follows:

MaleFemaleTotal
Full-time524353877
Part-time03939
Total524392916

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