| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Population Statistics
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people aged (a) between 65 and 69, (b) between 70 and 74, (c) between 75 and 79 and (d) 80 or over years of age there are in each region within Great Britain. [61151]
Ms Hewitt: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
27 Nov 1998 : Column: 22
National Debt
Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list in rank order the top five creditors to whom the United Kingdom Government are indebted. [60912]
Ms Hewitt: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mrs. Maria Fyfe, dated 27 November 1998:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on the UK national debt.
The ONS does not compile any information relating to the top five countries nor companies nor individuals to whom the UK is indebted. The ONS last published broad splits of "Debt of the public sector: nominal amounts outstanding" in table S1 of Financial Statistics in April 1998. Table S1 provides splits of public sector debt held outside the public sector in terms of sterling and foreign currency both by the private sector and the rest of the world.
The information is collected, largely by the Bank of England, by type of instrument. These instruments are the means by which central government raises money and include a wide range of instrument issues such as British Government Securities (Gilts) and National Savings. No published records are available as to the individual ownership of these. The National Debt currently stands at around £400 billion. The largest component is in the form of British Government Securities (total liability about £280 billion) of which about a half are held by UK life assurance and pension funds, and about £55 billion are held abroad. National savings are held by UK households and account for more than £60 billion. The ONS published detailed instrument information, on an international basis, in the Maastricht First Release, on 28 August 1998.
The Bank of England provides the ONS with the vast majority of information on the National Debt. The Bank of England Statistical Abstract contains information on the holdings of sterling national debt by sector on tables 13.3 and 13.4. The largest holdings are by the insurance and pension funds sectors. Copies of the above publications are available from the House of Commons Library.
Corporation Tax
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he intends to implement the group payment arrangements for quarterly corporation tax payment; and how he proposes to do it. [61045]
Dawn Primarolo: We plan to have the arrangements in place first for companies with accounting periods ending on 31 December 1999, with a first quarterly instalment payment due on 14 July 1999. Details of how the arrangements will work will be published in due course.
Financial Services Authority
Mr. Gibb:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff have transferred from the Insurance Directorate of his Department to the Financial Services Authority. [61040]
27 Nov 1998 : Column: 23
Ms Hewitt:
None. Transfer is intended to take place on 1 January 1999. It is too early to give definitive figures for the numbers of staff who will transfer.
Mr. Gibb:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff in his Department were employed in the Insurance Directorate on (a) 31 December 1996 and (b) 31 December 1997. [61039]
Ms Hewitt:
None, since the Insurance Directorate was until 5 January 1998 part of the Department of Trade and Industry. I understand, however, that the numbers of permanent staff in post, on a full-time equivalent basis, at 1 January 1997 and 1 January 1998 were 91.6 and 93.6 respectively.
Mr. Gibb:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the revenue which would be raised from the abolition of the deductability of interest on overseas investments. [61042]
Dawn Primarolo:
No such estimate has been made.
Mr. Maples:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the occasions since 1 May 1997 on which a Minister in his Department has used (a) an aircraft belonging to the RAF and (b) a privately chartered aircraft together with (i) details of take-off and destination points, (ii) ground waiting time, (iii) dates of departure and return, (iv) purpose of the trip, (v) cost of the trip to his Department and (vi) details of people accompanying the Minister, indicating the total costs of all such travel borne by his Department (1) since 1 May 1997 and (2) between 1 May 1996 and 1 May 1997. [60898]
Ms Hewitt:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Chancellor of the Exchequer gave him on 19 November 1998, Official Report, column 849.
Race Employment and Education Forum
Mr. Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when the Race Employment and Education Forum was established; and how many times it has met. [61171]
Ms Hodge: The Race Employment and Education Forum replaces the Race Relations Employment Advisory Group and was established on 23 September 1998. It has met once, on 20 October 1998.
Mr. Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what budget has been allocated to the Race Employment and Education Forum for (a) 1997-98 and (b) 1998-99. [61172]
Ms Hodge:
There is no separate budget for the Race Employment and Education Forum; its costs are met from the Department's overall budget.
27 Nov 1998 : Column: 24
Mr. Cotter:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment who the members of the Race Employment and Education Forum are; and what were the criteria for their appointment. [61170]
Ms Hodge:
There are twenty two members of the Race Employment and Education Forum. They are:
Mr. Nadeem Ahmad, Principal Policy Officer (Racial Equality), Newcastle upon Tyne City Council; Mr. Stephen Alambritis, Head of Parliamentary Affairs, Federation of Small Businesses;
Mr. Sher Azam MBE, Bradford businessman; Mr. Wally Brown, Principal, Liverpool Community College; Ms Andrea Callender, Campaign Director, Race for Opportunity; Mr. John Cridland Director of Human Resources Policy, Confederation of British Industry; Ms Sandy Finnigan Chief Executive, Careers Bradford Ltd; Mr Len Jackson, Managing Director, Pork Farm Bowyers; Miss Mei Sim Lai, Partner, Pridie Brewster Chartered Accountants; Ms Kaliani Lyle, Chief Executive, Citizens Advice Scotland; Ms Thalia Marriott, Deputy Principal, South Thames College; Ms Gloria Mills, Director of Equal Opportunities, UNISON; Professor Tariq Modood Professor of Sociology, Politics and Public Policy, University of Bristol; Sir Herman Ouseley Chairman, Commission for Racial Equality; Mr. Ambar Paul, Chief Executive, Caparo Group Ltd.;
Mr. Clyde Pile, Managing Director, Glass Processing Midlands; Mr. Mohammed Shafiq, Equal Opportunities Manager, Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, Training and Enterprise;
Mr. Sanjeev Sharma, Head of Human Resources, NatWest Life Assurance Ltd.; Ms Cherry Short, Chair Cardiff and Vale Race Equality Council and CRE Commissioner; Ms Sukhvinder Stubbs, Chief Executive, Runnymede Trust; Ms Christine Taylor-Ozgen, Head of Training and Employment, Refugee Council; Professor Gajendra Verma, Professor of Education, University of Manchester.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |