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Civil Contingencies Committee

Mr. Baker: To ask the Prime Minister on how many occasions since 1 May the Civil Contingencies Committee has met; and what matters have been discussed. [15691]

The Prime Minister [holding answer 3 November 1997]: It is not the practice to disclose details of proceedings of the Civil Contingencies Committee.

Mr. Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what is the membership of the Civil Contingencies Committee. [15692]

The Prime Minister [holding answer 13 November 1997]: The composition of the Civil Contingencies Committee is as follows:

Home Secretary (Chairman)

Head of the Economic and Domestic Secretariat, Cabinet Office (Deputy Chairman)

The Prime Minister's Chief Press Secretary

Representatives of:

Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions

HM Treasury

Home Office

Department for Education and Employment

Ministry of Defence

Department of Health

Department of Culture, Media and Sport

Northern Ireland Office

Welsh Office

Office of Public Service.

17 Nov 1997 : Column: 17

Its terms of reference are:

"To co-ordinate the preparation of plans for ensuring in an emergency the supplies and services essential to the life of the community; to keep these plans under regular review; to supervise their prompt and effective implementation in specific emergencies; and to report as necessary to the appropriate Ministerial Committee".

Political Party Funding

Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Prime Minister if he requires lobbyists and people asking ministers directly to make decisions favouring particular interests to disclose (a) in private and (b) in public any substantial help, services or funding provided to the minister's political party. [16114]

The Prime Minister: Ministers are required to take decisions on the merits of each case, not on the basis of whether the people concerned have provided assistance or funding to their political party.

Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Prime Minister if he will incorporate in the rules for ministers a requirement for disclosure before September 1998 of knowledge by ministers of help, services or funding exceeding £5,000 provided before May 1997 to the minister's political party. [16113]

The Prime Minister: I have asked the Committee on Standards in Public Life--chaired by Sir Patrick Neill--to undertake a wide ranging review of party funding and make recommendations to the Government.

Yemen

Mr. Vaz: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his recent meeting with the President of Yemen. [16471]

The Prime Minister: President Saleh's visit was the first by a Yemeni president to the UK. We discussed a number of bilateral and regional issues on 11 November, including trade and economic co-operation, UK aid to Yemen, the situation in Iraq, and Yemen's application to join the Commonwealth. I welcomed President Saleh's recent political reforms, and thanked him for the Government of Yemen's help in securing the release of the British hostage who was kidnapped in Yemen last month.

Environment Agency

Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Prime Minister which Department has lead responsibility for the Environment Agency. [16211]

The Prime Minister: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions is the lead Minister responsible for the Environment Agency.

Telephone Tapping

Mr. Baker: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick) of 30 October 1997, Official Report, column 861, on the interception of telephones of hon. Members, if the policy applies to other forms of electronic surveillance. [15728]

17 Nov 1997 : Column: 18

The Prime Minister: I can confirm that the policy described in my previous Answer applies in relation to the use of electronic surveillance by the Security Service as well as to telephone interception.

TREASURY

Investors Compensation Scheme

Mr. Letwin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations his Department has made to the Investors Compensation Scheme in respect of its handling of compensation for Knight Williams and Co. clients. [15944]

Mrs. Liddell: Officials keep in touch with developments in the Knight Williams case but the handling of claims for compensation is a matter for the Investors Compensation Scheme itself.

Economic and Monetary Union

Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his oral statement of 27 October, Official Report, columns 583-84, concerning the constitutional issues relating to European economic and monetary union, if he will list the issues; what published sources Ministers of the Crown assessed in reaching their conclusions; what consultations they had with constitutional lawyers concerning their assessment; and if he will place in the Library the written documents relating to that assessment. [15031]

Mr. Gordon Brown: As I said in my Statement to the House, joining the single currency would involve a pooling of national sovereignty in relation to aspects of economic and monetary union pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Treaty of Rome as amended by the Treaty of Maastricht. Provided this step was endorsed by Parliament in accordance with the provisions of the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993 and had been endorsed by the people in a referendum, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and I are satisfied that there is no overriding constitutional bar to participation by the United Kingdom in stage 3 of economic and monetary union.

Public Expenditure

Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he intends to revise the Government's public expenditure plans for (a) 1999-2000 and (b) 2000-01; and if he will make a statement. [13291]

Mr. Darling [holding answer 6 November 1997]: New plans for 1999-2000 and 2000-01 will be announced following the conclusion of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Low Pay

Mr. Pond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many and what percentage of (i) male and (ii) female employees had total earnings below the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions; and what percentage of these were part-time workers in (a) 1980, (b) 1990 and (c) the most recent available figures; [15509]

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(2) if he will list for April 1997 the number and proportion of manual, non-manual and all part-time employees on adult rates earning less than (a) £4.61, (b) £6.15 and (c) £6.60 per hour excluding overtime for (i) men, (ii) women and (iii) in total for (1) each county and unitary authority in England, (2) each unitary authority in Wales, (3) each London borough, (4) each unitary authority in Scotland, (5) Great Britain as a whole, (6) England as a whole and (7) each Government office region; [15555]

(3) how many and what percentage of (i) male and (ii) female employees with total earnings below the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions are (a) under 18, (b) 18 to 24, (c) 25 years or older and (d) below pension age; [15508]

(4) if he will list for April 1997 the number and proportion of (a) full-time, (b) part-time and (c) all employees in Great Britain whose earnings excluding overtime payments are less than (i) £4.61 an hour, (ii) £6.15 an hour and (iii) £6.60 an hour, broken down into (1) 16-17, (2) 18-24, (3) 25-44 and (4) 45-65-year-olds; [15556]

(5) if he will list for April 1997 the number and proportion of manual, non-manual and all full-time employees on adult rates earning less than (a) £4.61, (b) £6.15 and (c) £6.60 per hour excluding overtime for (i) men, (ii) women and (iii) in total for (1) each county and unitary authority in England, (2) each unitary authority in Wales, (3) each London borough, (4) each unitary authority in Scotland, (5) Great Britain as a whole, (6) England as a whole and (7) each Government office region; [15558]

(6) if he will estimate the average weekly hours of work and average hourly and weekly earnings of men and women with total earnings below the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions; [15510]

(7) what proportion of men and women with total earnings below the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions have been in their current employment for over 26 weeks; [15623]

(8) if he will list for April 1997 the number and proportion of (a) full-time, (b) part-time and (c) all employees on adult rates of pay in Great Britain whose earnings excluding overtime payments are less than (i) £4.61 an hour, (ii) £6.15 an hour and (iii) £6.60 an hour, broken down by standard occupational classification and by standard industrial classification; [15557]

(9) if he will estimate the (a) number and (b) percentage of (i) men and (ii) women with total earnings below the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions whose annual earnings exceed £1,600 in the last year for which figures are available. [15513]

Mrs. Liddell: 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. Chris Pond, dated 17 November 1997:

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me, as the Director of the Office for National Statistics, to reply to your recent questions (15508, 15509, 15510, 15513, 15555, 15556, 15557, 15558 and 15623) on earnings.

17 Nov 1997 : Column: 20

The available information, from the New Earnings Survey April 1997 and the Labour Force Survey, is given in the attached tables.

Information for employees earning below the lower earnings limit whose annual earnings exceed £1600 is not available. The LFS does not collect such data and the NES sample largely excludes employees earning below the lower earnings limit.

I will arrange for a copy of this letter and the attached tables to be placed in the House of Commons Library.

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