| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
New Parliamentary Building
Mr Wigley: To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee what was the original estimate for the cost of building the new building for parliamentary use at Bridge street, Westminster; and what is his latest estimate of this cost. [16436]
Sir Raymond Powell: The House of Commons Commission approved the final sketch design estimate in 1993 at the prices then prevailing with an allowance forecasting the possible rate of inflation in construction costs until the work is completed in 2000. Since 1993, instructions have been given to the project team for various changes to the brief and the date when work is to start. These account for the difference between the 1993 forecast of £219 million and the current figure of £225 million.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Armoured Vehicles (Indonesia)
Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 23 January, Official Report, columns 708-709, if the export licence includes (a) machine guns, (b) automatic cannon and (c) other weapons for installation in Indonesia. [14303]
Mr. Nelson: The licences issued to Procurement Services International and Alvis do not list any weapons for installation in Indonesia.
The Alvis armoured cars licensed for export are equipped with a 90 mm gun and two machine guns as standard. All but two of the other vehicles have either one or two machine guns fitted as standard.
The licence issued to Procurement Services International is for vehicles which were detailed in my reply of 23 January 1997. None of these vehicles is fitted with machine guns or automatic cannon.
Mrs. Clwyd:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 9 December, Official Report, column 29, if he will list the types and amounts of ammunition that are included in the export licence granted to Alvis. [14260]
Mr. Nelson:
Details of goods listed on export licences are a matter between the company and the licensing authority. However, in this case, I can confirm that the
17 Feb 1997 : Column: 374
export licence granted to Alvis covers a limited quantity of 90 mm ammunition and phosphorous grenades for acceptance testing and training purposes.
Mrs. Clwyd:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 9 December, Official Report, columns 29-30, if he will list the types and quantities of ammunition included in the licence for Procurement Services International. [14267]
Mr. Nelson:
No ammunition was included in the licence issued to Procurement Services International.
Mr. McGrady:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action he will take to ensure that the nuclear installations inspectorate requires British Nuclear Fuels plc to adhere to appropriate safety regulations in respect of the highly radioactive waste tanks at Sellafield. [15467]
Mr. Page:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher) on 6 February 1997, Official Report, column 677.
I have every confidence that the Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate will continue to discharge its statutory responsibilities in the regulation of safety standards throughout the civil nuclear industry.
Mr. Peter Atkinson:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the expenses and allowances paid to parties and witnesses appearing before industrial tribunals. [16558]
Mr. John M. Taylor:
Parties, witnesses and some unpaid representatives appearing before industrial tribunals may claim certain expenses and allowances. These have been reviewed recently by my Department. With effect from 1 April 1997, the following may be paid: travel expenses in excess of £5, including the costs of travel by public transport--standard class--or, if a private motor vehicle is used, a mileage allowance of 15p per mile; loss of earnings--or national insurance benefit which would otherwise be payable--subject to a maximum of £40 per day; an overnight allowance of £64.30 (inner London) or £54.30 (elsewhere) to meet hotel and other costs where a night's absence is unavoidable; and other reasonable expenses, subject to certain limits. Such expenses include interpreters' fees, essential child care costs and expenses incurred in securing locum cover.
The daily subsistence allowance presently paid to those absent from home for more than five hours is being withdrawn. The Government do not believe the continued payment of such allowances to those involved in essentially private law disputes is justified.
Mr. Peter Atkinson:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the external financing limit of British Shipbuilders. [16555]
Mr. Lang:
The external financing limit has been adjusted from-£21 million to-£1 million. The original figure rested on the assumption that agreement would be
17 Feb 1997 : Column: 375
reached this year with regard to a claim for payment to British Shipbuilders of £20 million. The matter has now gone to arbitration and receipt is not now expected in this financial year.
Mr. Peter Atkinson:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if British Gas plc will pay stamp duty on demerger. [16594]
Mr. Lang:
Section 75 of the Finance Act 1986 makes provision for the exemption of demergers from stamp duty if certain criteria are met. The intention of the legislation is to ensure that demergers involving no real change of ownership, as is the case with the British Gas demerger, qualify for relief from the duty. There must be an issue of shares to all shareholders of the transferor company, in this case British Gas plc, and after the transfer of shares, the proportion of shares held by each shareholder in the transferor company must be the same as the proportion of shares held by those shareholders in the transferee company, in this case Centrica plc. Except for the Government's special share, the British Gas demerger meets these requirements. The Government intend to continue to hold a special share in British Gas plc which, after the demerger, will be known as BG plc. In order, therefore, to allow the British Gas demerger to qualify for exemption from stamp duty, prior to the demerger, two ordinary shares, one in BG plc and one in Centrica plc, will be transferred to the Secretary of State and, on the demerger taking effect, a further share in Centrica plc will be issued to the Secretary of State. These arrangements will ensure that the British Gas demerger meets the conditions for this relief.
Mr. Ainger:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the British companies involved in (a) the manufacture and (b) the export of land mines and related equipment. [16003]
Mr. Nelson:
I refer the hon. Member to the response given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Defence Procurement to the hon. Member for Blaneau Gwent (Mr. Smith) on 12 February 1997, Official Report, columns 180-81.
Mr. Milburn:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will translate the column headed "Non-North Sea oil taxes and NICs" in table 4A9, page 88 of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report 1997-98", into cash figures at 1997-98 prices. [15253]
Mr. Waldegrave
[holding answer 11 February 1997]: The table shows the information requested. However, cash figures for tax receipts over a long run of years--even if measured at constant prices--are of only very limited interest if they are not set in the context of what has happened to national income over the same period. This is why the historical time series for spending, receipts and borrowing in tables 4.A8 and 4.A9 of the 1997-98 "Financial Statement and Budget Report" are all expressed as ratios to gross domestic products.
17 Feb 1997 : Column: 376
| Cash figure | |
|---|---|
| 1965-66 | 109.1 |
| 1966-67 | 107.9 |
| 1967-68 | 119.5 |
| 1968-69 | 135.1 |
| 1969-70 | 142.4 |
| 1970-71 | 144.1 |
| 1971-72 | 144.3 |
| 1972-73 | 143.5 |
| 1973-74 | 160.6 |
| 1974-75 | 168.2 |
| 1975-76 | 174.7 |
| 1976-77 | 186.5 |
| 1977-78 | 182.6 |
| 1978-79 | 180.8 |
| 1979-80 | 188.1 |
| 1980-81 | 188.6 |
| 1981-82 | 195.6 |
| 1982-83 | 199.8 |
| 1983-84 | 211.8 |
| 1984-85 | 216.7 |
| 1985-86 | 225.8 |
| 1986-87 | 244.6 |
| 1987-88 | 257.5 |
| 1988-89 | 266.3 |
| 1989-90 | 268.3 |
| 1990-91 | 253.0 |
| 1991-92 | 244.9 |
| 1992-93 | 232.3 |
| 1993-94 | 234.6 |
| 1994-95 | 252.3 |
| 1995-96 | 262.1 |
| 1996-97 | 268.9 |
| 1997-98 | 280.9 |
| 1998-99 | 292 |
| 1999-00 | 304 |
| 2000-01 | 316 |
| 2001-02 | 327 |
Non-North sea taxes and NICs are rebased to 1997-98 prices using the GDP deflator. Forecasts and projections of the GDP deflator were published in table 3.11 and 5A.1 of the 1996 "Financial Statement and Budget Report".
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |