| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Public Sector Borrowing Requirement
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when, and under what authority, the Office for National Statistics was given the duty of determining the allocation of expenditure to the PSBR. [44720]
Mrs. Liddell:
In the mid-1960s, when estimates of borrowing started to be produced for the public sector as a whole, a joint technical group of officials from Treasury, the Central Statistical Office, the Bank of England and some other Government Departments was set up to consider issues of definition, classification and measurement. Such matters remain the responsibility of the technical committee. The Office for National Statistics determines what constitutes the public sector by reference
10 Jun 1998 : Column: 586
to international standards for national accounts. The PSBR figures are produced jointly by the Office for National Statistics and the Treasury.
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the guidance on the basis of which the Office for National Statistics determines whether expenditure incurred by or on behalf of the Government and any of its agents or partners is to be part of the public sector borrowing requirement. [44721]
Mrs. Liddell:
The principles used are set out in Treasury Working Paper 61 of December 1993. To summarise them, cash expenditure by any part of the public sector determines the PSBR, except when such expenditure is the repayment of debt incurred by Government. As explained in my reply to an earlier question (ref: 3658N), the definition of the PSBR is the joint responsibility of the Office for National Statistics and the Treasury. The Office for National Statistics determines what constitutes the public sector by reference to international standards for national accounts.
Mr. Derek Twigg:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to raise the limit below which delivery of an inheritance tax account is not required for administering a deceased person's estate. [45539]
Dawn Primarolo:
The Inland Revenue has today laid Regulations increasing the limit from £180,000 to £200,000. The increased limit will come into operation on 1 July 1998, for estates of persons dying on or after 6 April 1998. It will simplify the administration of some 5,000 estates.
Sierra Leone
Sir Alastair Goodlad: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) when she was first informed of the involvement of Sandline International in Sierra Leone; [42300]
- (2) when her Private Office was first informed of the involvement of Sandline International in operations in Sierra Leone; [42304]
(3) when she was first informed of the existence of the Customs and Excise investigation into the involvement of Sandline International in operations in Sierra Leone; [42302]
(4) when her Private Office was first informed of the existence of the Customs and Excise investigation into the involvement of Sandline International in operations in Sierra Leone; [42298]
(5) what meetings she or her officials have had with representatives of Sandline International since May 1997; [41940]
(6) when she was informed of possible breaches of the UN Security Council Resolution 1132 concerning Sierra Leone; [41942]
(7) what contacts officials in her Department have had with representatives of Sandline International. [41939]
10 Jun 1998 : Column: 587
Clare Short: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the speech by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in the House on 18 May 1998, Official Report, columns 604-11, in which he announced the investigation by Sir Thomas Legg KCB QC into allegations about Government involvement with the supply of arms to Sierra Leone by UK citizens and firms, and said that the Terms of Reference would be placed in the Library. The Foreign Secretary intends to publish the report of the investigation.
Sir Alastair Goodlad: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) when her Private Office was first informed of the plan for military intervention to restore the Government of President Kabbah of Sierra Leone; [42303]
- (2) when she was first informed of the plan for military intervention to restore the Government of President Kabbah of Sierra Leone. [42299]
Clare Short: The Government did not have prior knowledge of the military intervention by the Military Observer Group of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOMOG) of 5 February 1998.
Sir Alastair Goodlad: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what (a) British aid to Sierra Leone was delivered by and (b) deliveries of British aid to Sierra Leone were assisted by Sandline International or organisations hired on behalf of Sandline International. [41941]
Clare Short: None. Neither Sandline International nor any organisation acting on their behalf have assisted the delivery of British aid to Sierra Leone.
Indigenous People
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the role of her Department in assisting the World Bank group in the promoting of dialogue between indigenous people and (a) project organisers and (b) private sector organisations. [41042]
Clare Short:
The World Bank's indigenous peoples policy--first introduced in 1982 and revised in 1991--is currently being revised again as part of the programme of revisions to the Bank's Operational Policies (OPs). We have strongly encouraged the Bank to undertake wide consultation on its OPs, as we have for other areas of policy development and project implementation. We have
10 Jun 1998 : Column: 588
also played a leading role in helping the Bank to increase its capacity to address social development issues, including those relating to indigenous peoples.
The Bank has prepared an Approach Paper outlining the revision process, and is currently designing a consultation strategy for stakeholder input--including that from indigenous peoples and their organisations. Consultation will take place over several months. We expect the revised policy to include guidance for private sector investments, drawing on the experience of the recently established Social Unit in the International Financial Corporation (IFC) and the Bank's Social Development Department, which undertakes training for Bank, IFC and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) staff on indigenous peoples and economic development.
Mr. Streeter:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the progress made at the recent G8 summit in Birmingham in relation to the redemption of debt of developing countries; and if she will make a statement. [44993]
Clare Short:
At the G8 Summit in Birmingham on 15-17 May, we made useful progress in speeding up the implementation of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt Initiative. The Communique set out the objective of getting all those countries which need debt relief under the Initiative, likely to be around 20 in number, into the process by the year 2000. This constitutes a significant step towards meeting the aims of the Government's Mauritius Mandate. And following a British initiative, the Summit also agreed on the need to look at ways of providing more and earlier debt relief to help heavily indebted post-conflict countries. We shall be pressing in all appropriate forums for the implementation of these targets.
Reviews
Mr. Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list, for each of the last four years, the departmental inquiries and reviews instigated by Ministers which have been chaired by individuals outside his Department; and in each case if he will give the date of establishment and the name of the chairman. [44367]
Mr. Ron Davies:
The information is listed as follows:
10 Jun 1998 : Column: 587
10 Jun 1998 : Column: 589
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |