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Sport
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what date he proposes to announce his strategy for sport. [84222]
Mr. Banks [holding answer 14 May 1999]: We are currently consulting with a range of interested parties and I expect the sports strategy to be published in the autumn.
TREASURY
Open Government
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applications for information he received under the Open Government: Code of Practice on Access to Government Information in the last parliamentary session; and how many of these applications were granted. [83106]
Ms Hewitt [holding answer 10 May 1999]: For monitoring purposes this information is collected on a calendar year basis. Information for 1997 was published last year in the "Open Government: Code of Practice on Access to Government Information 1997 Report". The table shows the information for 1998 for the Chancellor's Departments.
| Department | Number of applications | Number granted |
|---|---|---|
| HM Treasury | 12 | 12 |
| HM Customs and Excise | 32 | 27 |
| Inland Revenue | 99 | 82 |
| National Savings | -- | -- |
| Office for National Statistics | -- | -- |
| Royal Mint | -- | -- |
| Valuation Office Agency | 108 | 98 |
17 May 1999 : Column: 280
European Central Bank
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the UK subscription to the capital of the European Central Bank (a) in total and (b) as paid-up capital. [83943]
Ms Hewitt: In accordance with the formula for the subscription of the ECB's capital set out in Article 29 of the Statute of the ESCB (Protocol No.3 to the EC Treaty), the UK's share in the subscribed capital of the ECB is 734,055,000 euro.
In accordance with Article 48 of the Statute of the ESCB, the ECB General Council decided in September 1998 that the national central banks of non-participating Member States should pay up 50 per cent. of their subscription to the ECB's capital. The Bank of England was therefore required to pay up 36,702,750 euro to cover its share in the subscribed capital of the ECB. This amount is settled by offset against the proceeds of the liquidation of the EMI.
Treasury Management Board
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the remuneration is of the new non-executive director of the Treasury Management Board. [84305]
Ms Hewitt: The non-executive director of the Treasury Management Board will receive remuneration of £5,000 per annum.
Euro
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the change in the value of the euro against sterling since January. [84084]
Ms Hewitt: The Government's objective is for a stable and competitive pound in the medium term, consistent with the objective of price stability. The Government believe sound fundamentals are what matters for exchange rate stability. The Government's new macroeconomic framework is aimed at achieving sustained growth, sound public finances and low inflation, which should also promote exchange rate stability.
Duty-free Sales
Mr. Shaw: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on recent developments in the negotiations on duty free sales. [84300]
Dawn Primarolo: Recent discussions on intra-EU duty free sales have not secured agreement on extending the current arrangements beyond 30 June 1999. The Government have never underestimated the difficulty of achieving this as it requires unanimity amongst member states. Ministers take this issue very seriously and the UK will continue to explore with our European partners options for the best way ahead.
Exchange Rates
Mr. Loughton:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his forecast for the average (a) sterling- euro, (b) sterling-dollar and (c) sterling-yen exchange rate in 1999. [84289]
17 May 1999 : Column: 281
Ms Hewitt
[holding answer 14 May 1999]: As stated on page 127 of the Budget 1999 Red Book in footnote 2:
Ms Perham:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give a breakdown by age range of the incidence of breast cancer in women in England in each of the last five years. [84258]
Ms Hewitt:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
"The forecast is based on the assumption that the exchange rate moves in line with an uncovered interest parity condition, consistent with the interest rates underlying the economic forecast."
| 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993(3) | 1994(3) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 1-4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5-9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10-14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 15-19 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| 20-24 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 20 | 22 |
| 25-29 | 148 | 129 | 170 | 141 | 150 |
| 30-34 | 399 | 442 | 487 | 460 | 512 |
| 35-39 | 874 | 919 | 964 | 882 | 953 |
| 40-44 | 1,717 | 1,831 | 1,791 | 1,577 | 1,703 |
| 45-49 | 2,246 | 2,441 | 2,818 | 2,707 | 2,882 |
| 50-54 | 2,693 | 3,007 | 3,124 | 2,946 | 3,086 |
| 55-59 | 3,086 | 3,482 | 3,298 | 2,984 | 3,004 |
| 60-64 | 3,794 | 3,984 | 3,859 | 3,447 | 3,136 |
| 65-69 | 3,352 | 3,133 | 3,057 | 2,698 | 2,719 |
| 70-74 | 2,647 | 2,865 | 2,998 | 3,006 | 3,168 |
| 75-79 | 2,624 | 2,694 | 2,597 | 2,336 | 2,251 |
| 80-84 | 2,000 | 2,166 | 2,282 | 2,052 | 2,096 |
| 85+ | 1,913 | 2,105 | 2,138 | 2,129 | 1,911 |
| All ages | 27,521 | 29,229 | 29,618 | 27,392 | 27,598 |
(3) Provisional
(4) Provisional
(5) Directly age standardised using the European standard population
17 May 1999 : Column: 282
Air Passenger Duty
Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will exempt disabled passengers from air passenger duty on flights within the United Kingdom. [84408]
Mrs. Roche: I have no plans to do so.
Gold Prices
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the change in the value of gold in sterling since January. [84085]
Ms Hewitt: The price of gold (in sterling) on 4 January 1999 was £173.538 an ounce and on 13 May 1999 was £171.4383 an ounce.
Mr. Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his forecast for the average gold price in (a) 1999, (b) 2000 and (c) 2001. [84286]
Ms Hewitt [holding answer 14 May 1999]: The price of gold is determined by the market. The Government do not forecast it.
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