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Debt (Late Payment)

Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the response by business to the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. [76433]

Mr. Wills: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley, South (Mr. Alexander), on 10 March 1999, Official Report, columns 261-62.

Special Representative on the Digital Economy

Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the job description of the Special Representative on the Digital Economy. [76197]

Mr. Wills [holding answer 12 March 1999]: The Special Representative on the Digital Economy (the e-Envoy) will have two roles:

1. To spearhead the implementation of the strategy, set out in the Competitiveness White Paper, for:

a) achieving the Government's goal of making the UK, by the end of this Parliament, the best environment in the world in which to trade electronically

b) ensuring that UK businesses and consumers fully realise the potential this opens up

2. To advise the Secretary of State and Prime Minister on future development of the strategy. In particular:

Monitoring progress on implementation of the strategy, and keeping the strategy under regular review in the light of international developments.

Reviewing existing Government policies and activities relevant to the goals set out at No. 1, with a view to identifying gaps and areas for accelerated effort.

Executive responsibility for implementing the agreed strategy will principally lie with relevant departments, but the e-Envoy will also take on specific functions where agreed by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and the Prime Minister. In particular, the e-Envoy will act as public figurehead for the Government on e-commerce issues in international discussions; promote the UK as a centre for e-commerce business and investment; and publicly champion e-commerce in the UK, spreading awareness and promoting uptake by businesses and consumers.

Fixed Capital Formation

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the current rate of fixed capital formation (a) nationally, (b) in each region and (c) in other OECD countries. [76041]

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Mr. Wills: The answer is as follows:

(a)
Table 1: Gross fixed capital formation, expressed as a percentage of GDP, in the United Kingdom

Year	Percentage of GDP
1997	16.7
1998	17.3




Source:

Office for National Statistics (ONS). Derived from figures in First Release ONS (99) 69






(b) The ONS do not publish estimates of fixed capital formation covering all economic activity on a regional basis. The ONS do publish regional estimates of gross domestic fixed capital formation for a range of industries. The latest figures are for 1995.

Table 2: Gross domestic fixed capital formation, as a percentage of gross domestic product for selected industries, in Standard Statistical Regions in 1995(10)

Region	Percentage of GDP(10)
North	15.1
North West	15.9
Yorkshire and Humberside	17.1
East Midlands	13.5
West Midlands	14.4
East Anglia	12.8
South East	16.3
South West	14.0
England	15.4
Wales	17.9
Scotland	14.2
Northern Ireland	18.2
United Kingdom	15.5




(10) Figures cover only Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing, Mining, quarrying (inc. oil and gas extraction), Manufacturing, Electricity, gas and water, and Transport, storage and communication

Source:

Office for National Statistics (ONS). Derived from figures in Economic Trends (June and January 1998)

(c)
Table 3: Gross fixed capital formation, expressed as a percentage of GDP in 1997, in OECD countries

OECD member	Percentage of GDP
United Kingdom(11)	15.6
Australia	21.5
Austria	24.1
Belgium	17.8
Canada	18.8
Czech Republic	30.7
Denmark	20.1
Finland	16.9
France	17.1
Germany	19.9
Greece	20.0
Hungary	21.0
Iceland	18.8
Ireland	18.7
Italy	16.7
Japan	28.3
Republic of Korea	35.0
Luxembourg	22.4
Mexico	19.6
Netherlands	20.0
New Zealand	19.9
Norway	23.0
Poland	21.2
Portugal	25.1
Spain	20.6
Sweden	13.7
Switzerland	19.6
Turkey	26.4
United States	17.4




(11) Not comparable with equivalent figure in Table 1. The ONS figures in Table 1 are calculated using the new European System of Accounts (ESA 1995) while the OECD figures use an earlier national accounts classification.

Source:

OECD National Accounts 1999 Volume 1

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Data Protection

Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the measures currently planned to be taken, pursuant to the enactment of Common Position (EC) 8/1999 (1999/c 55/01), with particular reference to (a) recitals 8 and 16, (b) their costs and (c) data privacy. [75709]

Mr. Kilfoyle: I have been asked to reply.

The Common position is that adopted by the Telecommunications Council on 21 December 1998 on a series of guidelines, including the identification of projects of common interest, for trans-European networks for the electronic Interchange of Data between Administrations (IDA). IDA aims to achieve the most efficient and cost effective means of data interchange in support of European Community policies.

The Common position relates to a second phase of IDA that will run for five years from the point of adoption. The first phase ran from 1995-1997 and supported Community policies by the development of networks for the exchange of data related to subjects including agriculture, fisheries, health, statistics, employment and customs matters. The second phase is likely to continue work in some of these areas and other areas where Member States and the European Community identify the need for data interchange.

At this stage, there are no specific proposals on exchange of information related to Recitals 8 and 16 of the Common position text. The proposed budget for the IDA guidelines proposal is estimated as euro 38.5 million for the first three years of the programme.

Any work carried forward under IDA, will take full account of the sensitivity of the data to be passed across a network and the relevant data protection legislation. Appropriate security measures will be taken to protect sensitive data.

SOCIAL SECURITY

National Insurance Contributions

Mr. Pond: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the increase in revenue to the Exchequer in the financial year 1999-2000 as a result of (a) raising the upper earnings limit on employee national

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insurance contributions to £602 per week and (b) removing the upper earnings limit on employee national insurance contributions altogether. [74396]

Mr. Timms: Estimated additional revenue of some £1.8 billion would be raised in 1999-2000 if the Upper Earnings Limit on employees' Class 1 contributions was increased from its present level to the same level as the threshold of higher rate income tax, which is to be set at £622 a week from April 1999. If the Upper Earnings Limit was removed, the estimated additional revenue raised would be £4.2 billion for that year.

The figures assume that the current 10 per cent. Class 1 contribution rate would apply to earnings above the present Upper Earnings Limit, and that this limit would remain in place for the calculation of employee and employer contracted-out rebates.

Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the number of employees who will pay higher national insurance contributions as a result of the increase of the upper limit in (a) the standard rate and (b) the contracted out rate of national insurance contributions. [76454]

Mr. Timms: The information is in the table.

Estimated average weekly numbers of employees in Great Britain who will pay more National Insurance Contributions following the increase of the upper earnings limit to £535 per week from April 2000 and to £575 per week from April 2001

	2000-01	2001-02
Contracted in employees	1,400,000	1,380,000
Contracted out employees	2,500,000	2,460,000
All employees	3,900,000	3,850,000

Note:

Rounded to the nearest ten thousand

Source:

Government Actuary's Department

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