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BATES
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what was the original estimated cost of the battlefield artillery target engagement system when the project was originally undertaken; and what was the total outturn cost of the BATES 1 facility; [18224]
- (2) what was the original estimated cost of the BATES 2 project; what has been the total expenditure on it to date; and what is the latest total estimated outcome cost of the BATES 2 facility. [18225]
Mr. Arbuthnot:
The release of cost figures for BATES phase 1 would prejudice continuing negotiations with the contractor and I am therefore withholding them under exemption 7 of the "practice on access to Government information". BATES phase 2 is expected to cost about
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£80 million, slightly less than the original estimated cost. Less than £1 million remains to be spent.
EU Member States (National Accounts)
Mr. David Shaw: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the accounting treatments being adopted by each EU member state in their 1996 and 1997 national accounts which differ from United Kingdom practice; and what assessment he has made of the expected effect of each difference. [15333]
Mrs. Angela Knight: 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.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. David Shaw, dated 3 March 1997:
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The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to reply to your recent question on the accounting treatments being adopted by each EU member state in their 1996 and 1997 national accounts which differ from United Kingdom practice; and what assessment he has made of the expected effect of each difference.
There is a requirement for certain statistics relating to European Monetary Union convergence to be compiled and reported to Eurostat in line with the European System of Accounts, second edition (ESA79). For the purposes of excess deficit criteria, the European System of Accounts (ESA95) Regulation 2223/96 requires that 1 September 1999 reports will be the last to be submitted on an ESA79 basis.
ESA79 is used as the basis for accounting treatment for the debt and deficit criteria for EMU. There are some differences in treatment between member states. In these cases, in order to ensure better comparability for the debt and deficit procedure, after consultation with statistical experts from member states, The Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) takes decisions on methodological rules to be applied by member states. Eurostat visits member states to check compliance with these rules. However, no specific assessment has been, or could realistically be, made of the effects of differences in treatment in other countries' own accounts from UK practice. UK accounting treatment is described in United Kingdom National Accounts--The Blue Book, published annually by the Office for National Statistics.
Council Directive 89/130/EEC, Euratom, of 13 February 1989 (known as "the GNP Directive") requires that member states provide data on Gross National Product at market prices (GNPmp) on an ESA79-basis for own resource purposes annually to the Commission. The Directive also requires member states to provide the Commission (Eurostat) with an inventory of the procedures and basic statistics used to calculate GNPmp and its components. The GNP Committee has the job of examining compliance of GNPmp data with ESA79 definitions, and examining the statistical sources and the procedures used for calculating GNPmp and its components.
Data for 1996 have not yet been compiled by member states. What treatment has been adopted--and any differences between countries--will not become clear until these accounts are published, or submitted to Eurostat. Therefore any comparison of differences in treatment between the UK and other member states could not yet be done for latest years.
For the national accounts in general, in advance of the introduction of ESA95, there is no statutory framework which determines treatment to be adopted by each member state in their national accounts as a whole. As I mention above, Eurostat does however maintain copies of inventories describing the procedures and basic statistics in that part of the accounts used to calculate
data on Gross National Product at market prices (GNPmp) and its components, required under the GNP Directive for own resource purposes.
Executive Agencies
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department estimates it cost to establish each executive agency set up by his Department since the start of April 1992. [16976]
Mrs. Angela Knight: The costs involved in the setting up of the executive agencies of the Chancellor's Departments have been included in the published running costs for the years in which the agencies were established.
Economic and Monetary Union
Mr. Michael Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if it is his policy that the United Kingdom may enter European currency union without an accompanying fiscal union among participating member states. [17044]
Mr. Kenneth Clarke: Yes. If the United Kingdom were to join EMU we could face sanctions if we were consistently to run up budget deficits of more than three per cent. of GDP and do nothing to correct them. Within that constraint, our budgetary choices would rightly remain a matter for national Governments and Parliaments.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the progress being made by each of the countries of the European Union in meeting the convergence criteria for EMU in 1996. [18123]
Mr. Clarke [holding answer 28 February 1997]: Most countries made progress towards meeting the convergence criteria for EMU in 1996. On the information available at present, my judgment is that it is very unlikely, though not impossible, that performance against the criteria will be sufficiently clear and sustainable for EMU to proceed on 1 January 1999.
Excess Winter Mortality Rates
Mr. Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what have been the excess winter mortality rates for each of the last 10 years expressed in terms of excess (a) numbers and (b) percentages for (i) people over the age of 65 years, (ii) single parent families, (iii) people in receipt of income support, (iv) people with disabilities and (v) others; [17431]
- (2) what have been the excess winter mortality rates in England for the past 10 years expressed (a) in excess numbers and (b) as percentages. [17423]
Mrs. Angela Knight: 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.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Alan Simpson, dated 3 March 1997:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply to your recent question asking what have been the excess winter mortality rates in England for the last 10 years expressed in (a) in excess numbers and (b) as percentages.
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The figures you requested are shown in the following table:
| Period | Excess winter deaths | Excess winter deaths index |
|---|---|---|
| 1986-87 | 24,654 | 14.8 |
| 1987-88 | 31,493 | 18.7 |
| 1988-89 | 20,326 | 12.1 |
| 1989-90 | 44,370 | 26.5 |
| 1990-91 | 35,718 | 21.6 |
| 1991-92 | 33,015 | 20.1 |
| 1992-93 | 24,194 | 14.6 |
| 1993-94 | 25,029 | 14.7 |
| 1994-95 | 25,757 | 15.6 |
| 1995-96(3) | 37,990 | 23.1 |
(3) Provisional.
Mr. Simpson:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the weekly number of excess deaths for December 1996 and January 1997; and what were the figures for the same periods in each of the last five years.[17382]
Mrs. Knight:
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.
Excess Winter Deaths are defined as the number of deaths in the four months from December to March, minus the average of the numbers in the preceding autumn (August-November) and the following summer (April-July).
The Excess Winter Deaths Index is the number of excess winter deaths expressed as a percentage of the average of the number of deaths in the autumn and the summer periods.
You also asked for the excess winter mortality rates for each of the last 10 years expressed in terms of excess (a) the numbers and (b) percentages for (i) people over the age of 65 years, (ii) single parent families, (iii) people in receipt of income support, (iv) people with disabilities and (v) others.
Information on parental status, income, or physical impairment is not collected at death registration and we are therefore unable to provide data in terms of these characteristics.
(4) Provisional data.
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| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1991 | 10,269 |
| 1992 | 10,051 |
| 1993 | 10,406 |
| 1994 | 9,954 |
| 1995 | 10,242 |
| 1996 | (5)10,164 |
(5) Provisional.
I hope this reply has been helpful.
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