| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Late Payments
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list the suppliers to her Department who are owed outstanding amounts, indicating the amounts and the due date on which the account should have been settled. [13546]
30 Oct 1997 : Column: 872
Mrs. Roche:
All Departments are required to pay all their bills within agreed contract terms, or 30 days from receipt of the goods or service or a valid invoice, whichever is the later, where no such terms exist. The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Government will publish a league table of departmental payment performance for 1996-97 shortly.
Ann Clwyd:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the value of the export credits furnished to Indonesia in each of the last five years; and what percentage of these were allocated to defence exports. [12342]
Mrs. Roche:
According to readily available information, figures show that the value of ECGD supported export credits to Indonesia in each of the past five years was as follows:
| Year | Total £ million | Per cent. attributable to defence |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 100.0 | 8 |
| 1994 | 232.9 | 47 |
| 1995 | 649.8 | 64 |
| 1996 | 337.0 | 43 |
| 1997 to date | 56.9 | 2 |
NORTHERN IRELAND
Sex Offenders
Rev. Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been (a) charged and (b) convicted under the Sex Offenders Act 1997 in relation to Northern Ireland. [12753]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 27 October 1997]: The Sex Offenders Act 1997 came into being on 1 September 1997 and to date no persons have been charged or convicted under the Act in Northern Ireland.
Rev. Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many sex offenders have registered their place of abode by category of offence. [12754]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 27 October 1997]: A total of 49 persons in Northern Ireland have registered as required under current legislation. This figure is made up as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Indecent assault on children | 33 |
| Indecent assault | 7 |
| Gross indecency | 4 |
| Rape | 1 |
| Attempted rape | 1 |
| Incest | 1 |
| Unlawful carnal knowledge | 1 |
| Taking indecent photographs | 1 |
30 Oct 1997 : Column: 873
Drumcree Disturbances
Rev. Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prosecutions of (a) members of the loyalist community and (b) members of the nationalist community have taken place in respect of the Drumcree disturbances. [12864]
Mr. Ingram: As a result of disturbances during the period 5 to 13 July 1997, 35 persons have been prosecuted. Of these police perceive 19 to come from the loyalist community and 16 to come from the nationalist community.
WALES
Voluntary Sector
Mr. Opik: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on his proposals to promote and create partnerships between his Department and the voluntary sector, and for the allocation of funding to the voluntary sector in Wales. [12861]
Mr. Ron Davies: Officials are currently discussing with representatives of the voluntary sector the development of a compact between the Government and the voluntary sector in Wales. I expect this compact to set out the principles, including those relating to funding, which will govern our future relationship. We will consult on the final form which the compact should take.
Late Payment
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the suppliers to his Department who are owed outstanding amounts, indicating the amounts and the due date on which the account should have been settled. [13538]
Mr. Ron Davies: All Departments are required to pay all their bills within agreed contract terms, or 30 days from receipt of the goods or service or a valid invoice, whichever is later, where no such terms exist. Such detailed information on payment performance for the current financial year could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Treasury will shortly be publishing a league table of departmental payment performance for 1996-97.
Local Government Funding
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received from local authorities in Wales concerning the negative impact of proposed changes in the distribution of financial support to local government in Wales with particular reference to the more economically deprived counties. [13360]
Mr. Ron Davies:
In addition to comments and proposals on the distribution arrangements for the forthcoming revenue settlement from the Welsh Local Government Association, I have received representations from a number of individual local authorities. I discussed the arrangements with the association on 27 October. I will also be consulting Cardiff county council and Rhondda Cynon Taff county borough council on the options
30 Oct 1997 : Column: 874
I am considering a package of measures which will implement the proposed changes to the distribution formula whilst protecting individual authorities' spending power and limiting the impact on council tax payers. For the longer term, I propose to commission, jointly with the Welsh Local Government Association, an independent review of the concept of expenditure need and the main factors that influence it. This review should be completed in time for early consideration by the Welsh Assembly.
Local Government Reorganisation
Mr. Caplin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what resources he will make available to authorities that have been or are to be reorganised on 1 April 1995, 1996, 1997 or 1998 for reorganisation costs incurred by them in 1997-98; and if he will make a statement. [14067]
Ms Armstrong: On 18 July I invited authorities that have been or are to be reorganised on or before 1 April 1998 to submit estimates of the amount of expenditure they expect to incur on transitional costs of reorganisation in 1997-98. On the basis, inter alia, of the information provided by the authorities, I have decided the revised maximum amounts that it would be appropriate to allocate towards such costs in 1997-98. In the initial round, priority was given to authorities that were reorganised on 1 April 1997 and will be reorganising on 1 April 1998; I have adopted the same priorities for the mid-year stage of the scheme. The majority of the authorities to be reorganised in 1998 requested at the beginning of the scheme that allocations in respect of redundancy be deferred until this round. Accordingly, the allocations listed below for authorities reorganising in 1998 are intended to cover redundancy costs.
(3) Supplementary credit approval to be issued. The figure includes SCA issued in May 1997. Isle of Wight council, Buckinghamshire and Dorset county councils did not submit bids.
30 Oct 1997 : Column: 875
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |