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Departmental Staff
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she has taken to relocate staff in (a) his Department and (b) the agencies for which she is responsible to the regions of the United Kingdom with the highest levels of unemployment; and what plans she has further to decentralise the location of her Department and its agencies. [70462]
Clare Short:
The Department for International Development (DFID) operations are already decentralised. We have two offices in the UK: 414 staff are located in East Kilbride and 755 in London. In addition DFID has offices
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abroad in Bangkok, Harare, Bridgetown, Dhaka, Delhi, Nairobi, Pretoria and Suva employing, mainly under contract, 207 UK-based and 280 locally recruited staff.
I also refer my hon. Friend to "Civil Service Statistics 1998" which is available in the Library of the House and which provides a regional breakdown of staff.
In April 1998 my Department announced that 43 jobs from DFID's London office would be moved to East Kilbride. I have no plans to relocate any further parts of my Department. My Department has no agencies.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the British aid schemes currently operating in the former states of the Soviet Union giving assistance to the educational and health care systems; what private or semi-private British aid initiatives are operating in conjunction with these; and if she will make a statement. [71175]
Clare Short:
We are operating a wide range of know-how fund projects in the countries of the former Soviet Union in the health and education sectors. I will place a list in the Library of the House. These projects are undertaken with a variety of partners. They are usually implemented on a contractual basis with UK or other organisations. A variety of health care professionals contribute their time for free to our Health Small Partnerships Scheme in Russia and Ukraine.
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if LISA style pensions are to be used as freestanding top-ups to existing (a) personal and (b) occupational pension plans. [69890]
Ms Hewitt:
The Treasury's proposal, currently under consultation, is for an investment vehicle to help launch stakeholder pensions. As the Chief Secretary stated in his answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Preseli Pembrokeshire (Ms Lawrence) on 3 February 1999, Official Report, column 677-78, this financial instrument could also be used by any other kind of pension: personal pensions, occupational pensions and additional voluntary contributions to occupational schemes.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what consultations he has had with trades unions representing the staff of the Office for National Statistics regarding the current review of that department; [69679]
Ms Lawrence:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in reviewing the way the Office for National Statistics delivers its outputs in order to ensure that it makes the best use of the resources available. [71996]
Ms Hewitt:
I am today releasing the findings of a review of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
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This has concluded that there is scope within ONS to achieve efficiency savings rising to around £20 million per year. The review has been guided by a Steering Group under the Chairmanship of Peter Ellwood, Group Chief Executive of Lloyds TSB, and draws on work carried out by the consultants KPMG.
ONS has achieved significant efficiency savings since its creation three years ago. The review identified ways of building on its forward efficiency plans through further streamlining of activities within ONS and the development of closer working arrangements with appropriate private sector organisations. The proposed changes would allow ONS to focus professional resources and management attention where they can add most value.
These findings will be made available to staff in the ONS. I will invite the trade unions to give me their reactions to the findings before making any decisions on the way forward.
Ann Clwyd:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action HM Customs and Excise is taking to investigate recent allegations that two British companies have been involved in supplying weapons to rebels in Sierra Leone. [70663]
Dawn Primarolo:
The investigation of alleged breaches of United Kingdom export controls is a matter for the Commissioners of HM Customs and Excise. It is not the Commissioner's general practice to comment publicly about the existence or nature of such investigations.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the current exchange rates for the euro on the balance of trade with Euroland. [70615]
Ms Hewitt:
The trade balance reflects a variety of factors and it is difficult to isolate the effects of the exchange rate. In the three months to November 1998, shortly before the introduction of the Euro, the UK had a trade in goods deficit with the Eurozone economies of £1.8 billion, compared with £1.5 billion in the previous three months.
Mr. Maude:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on (a) the use of and (b) the cost of focus groups by the Financial Services Authority for its advertising campaigns. [71129]
Ms Hewitt:
This is a matter for the Financial Services Authority.
Mr. Ben Chapman:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the total amount of Government expenditure by Malawi on debt servicing in (i) 1980, (ii) 1985, (iii) 1990, (iv) 1995 and (v) the latest available year. [71392]
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Ms Hewitt:
The World Bank publication Global Development Finance: Country Tables 1998 gives the following figures for 1980, 1989, 1990, 1995 and 1996. It does not give data for 1985.
(2) what plans his Department has to privatise the work of the Office for National Statistics. [69849]
| Year | Debt service paid (US$m) |
|---|---|
| 1980 | 68 |
| 1989 | 58 |
| 1990 | 103 |
| 1995 | 105 |
| 1996 | 68 |
Pensions Mis-selling Advertisement
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from the Ice Cream Alliance regarding the Financial Services Authority advertising campaign on pensions mis-selling. [71132]
Ms Hewitt: The Chief Executive of the Ice Cream Alliance wrote to the Chancellor and the Financial Secretary on 2 February.
EMU Preparations Standing Committee
Ms Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the outcome of the most recent meeting of the Standing Committee on Preparations for EMU. [71945]
Ms Hewitt: My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer held the most recent meeting of the Standing Committee on 27 January 1999. I have arranged for copies of the minutes to be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Pensions Mis-selling
Ms Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on progress in the review of personal pensions mis-selling. [71946]
Ms Hewitt: The Personal Investment Authority (PIA) has confirmed that it is satisfied that all 41 major firms are devoting sufficient energy and resources to the review of personal pension mis-selling. It judged that all the firms monitored by the Treasury have made sufficient progress towards their priority review targets to be removed from the published list. The Treasury has acted on the PIA advice and suspended publication of figures.
However, firms will still be monitored and expected to conclude the priority review, and make swift progress with phase 2. The Treasury reserves the right to resume publication of information about firms' progress should it prove necessary.
The regulators' advertising campaign for phase 2 of the pension review is now well under way. Younger people should take the opportunity of finding out whether they might be due redress for mis-selling. Anyone who receives a letter from their pension firm should read it carefully and decide whether they wish to put their case forward for review.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the Exchequer's average receipt from (a) a small and medium-sized enterprise and (b) a company with
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more than 100 employees arising from (i) the increase in the road fuel escalator to 6 per cent., announced in the 1997 Budget, (ii) the indexation of vehicle excise duty, announced in the 1997 Budget, (iii) the bringing forward of fuel duty increases, announced in the 1998 Budget, (iv) the increase in diesel duty differential, announced in the 1998 Budget, (v) the increase in duty on super-unleaded petrol duty, announced in the 1998 Budget and (vi) the increase in company car fuel tax, announced in the 1998 Budget. [71664]
Ms Hewitt:
The effect of these measures across enterprises and companies will vary considerably; this reflects the differing circumstances of individual enterprises and companies.
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