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Special Advisers
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will make a statement on the pension arrangements for departmental Special Advisers. [87963]
Mr. Kilfoyle: The pension arrangements for Special Advisers are set out in the published Cabinet Office document, "Special Advisers Pay System", which is available in the Libraries of the House.
Special Advisers are not eligible to be members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, nor do their salaries include any element for pension contribution. Instead, a pension contribution of up to a maximum of 16 per cent. of salary is paid directly into an Adviser's existing or new occupational or personal pension scheme.
TREASURY
Families (Support)
12. Ms Stuart:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures he has put in place to support families. [87068]
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Mr. Milburn:
The Government have announced an ambitious programme of support for families which will mean that by the end of this Parliament we will be spending an extra £6 billion a year on our 13.8 million children.
Families will benefit from the largest ever increase in Child Benefit--an extra £2.50 a week for the eldest child from this April--and further three per cent. real increases for all children from next April. Together with the introduction of the new Children's Tax Credit in April 2001, a family with one child will receive double the support for their child compared to May 1997--£23 a week. We are also targeting extra support on the poorest families through the introduction of the Working Families Tax Credit and increases in IS. On average, £750 more will be going to each of 5.75 million children in low-income households every year by the end of this Parliament. The WFTC will make 1.5 million families on average £24 a week better off, benefiting three million children. It will provide a guaranteed minimum income of £200 a week (£10,400 a year for a family with someone in full-time work on the National Minimum Wage.
These measures combined will lift 700,000 children out of poverty. Families with children will, on average, be £740 a year better off.
13. Mr. David Heath:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of current duty rates on the competitiveness of English wines. [87069]
Mrs. Roche:
The Chancellor takes account of the state of all sectors of the alcoholic drinks industry in the run up to the Budget.
14. Sir Michael Spicer:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on the proposals for a European withholding tax. [87070]
19. Mr. Loughton:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the European Commission's proposal for a council directive to ensure a minimum of effective taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments within the Community. [87075]
Dawn Primarolo:
The Government will not accept the draft directive on Savings in its current form because of its likely impact on our financial markets, particularly the Eurobond market. The ECOFIN Council and the European Commission have come to accept our case, agreed a further review and asked us to submit our proposals for excluding the Eurobond market.
We have received a number of representations from both individuals and City Institutions who share our concern to protect the interests of the UK financial markets. We welcome dialogue and are continuing to work closely with the City.
27. Mr. Syms:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment HM Treasury has made of the effects of the proposed European withholding tax on the financial sector in London. [87084]
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Dawn Primarolo:
The treatment of international bonds as provided for under the draft European Commission Directive on the taxation of savings risks serious damage to the competitiveness of EU financial markets, in particular wholesale markets. The current draft Directive is therefore unacceptable to the UK.
15. Mr. McNulty:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about Public Service Agreements on key public services. [87071]
Mr. Milburn:
We have fulfilled our commitment to publish Public Service Agreements covering all the public services. They set out the concrete improvements to be delivered in return for the extra investment we are making.
17. Mr. Robathan:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the convergence criteria to be adopted prior to joining the single currency. [87073]
Ms Hewitt:
The EC Treaty stresses the need for a
18. Mr. Blizzard:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of families who will be eligible for the Working Families Tax Credit in its first year of operation. [87074]
Dawn Primarolo:
We estimate that 1.4 million families will be eligible for the Working Families Tax Credit in 2000-01, the first full year of operation. These families will on average be £24 a week better off from WFTC alone, or £1,280 a year. Taken together with the reforms to tax, NICs and the largest ever increases in Child Benefit, the WFTC will lift 700,000 children out of poverty.
35. Mr. John Smith:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the implementation of the Working Families Tax Credit. [87093]
Dawn Primarolo:
Work is proceeding to plan for the introduction of the Working Families' Tax Credit. From October, this new Tax Credit will provide a guaranteed minimum income of £200 for families with one member in full time work earning the National Minimum Wage.
20. Mr. David Stewart:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress was made at the G8 summit in Cologne on reducing the debt burden for the world's poorest countries. [87076]
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Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress was made on debt relief at the Cologne summit. [87081]
Mr. Gordon Brown:
At the G7 Finance Ministers Meeting in Frankfurt, I took forward my proposals for faster, deeper and wider debt relief. Agreement was secured at the G8 Summit in Cologne on an initiative which will reduce the debt owed by the poorest countries by $100 billion.
21. Mr. Bill O'Brien:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from pensioner organisations concerning tax payments from pensioners' incomes; and if he will make a statement. [87078]
Dawn Primarolo:
Treasury Ministers have received a number of representations on income tax matters, including matters relating to pensioners.
22. Mr. Bob Russell:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to raise the VAT threshold for businesses in the service sector. [87079]
Dawn Primarolo:
No. A differential threshold for service traders would further complicate the VAT system and create uncertainty, thereby increasing compliance costs for business and administrative costs for Government. Recent consultation on the effect and level of the threshold revealed only minimal support for such a change.
23. Mr. Grogan:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to introduce fiscal measures to encourage housebuilding on brown-field sites. [87080]
Mr. Milburn:
The Government have no present plans to introduce fiscal measures to encourage housebuilding on brown-field sites. However, the Deputy Prime Minister has announced the Government's desire to see the proportion of new homes provided on brown-field sites increased to 60 per cent. over the next ten years. The Government are considering a wide range of measures to help achieve this target. We will study the recommendations of Lord Rogers' Urban Task Force with great interest; and will publish an Urban White Paper later in the year.
25. Mr. Wilkinson:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the present value in sterling of the United Kingdom's gold reserves; and what its valuation was on 1 January. [87082]
Mr. Milburn:
Table 2 of the Quarterly Report on UK Official Holdings of Foreign Currency and Gold for the period October to December 1998 and January to March 1999 provide a breakdown of the size and composition of the United Kingdom's reserve holdings.
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"high degree of sustainable convergence" in EMU. The Government's fundamental economic test for EMU membership is the same. I have set out five economic tests which must be met before UK membership of the single currency can be considered. Our assessment of those tests concluded that the UK needs a period of stability in order to demonstrate convergence which is settled and sustainable. The Government's new macro-economic framework will help to deliver that stability.
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