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Gold

Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make extra provision for debt relief in the highly indebted poor countries whose export revenues and central bank reserves have been affected by falls in the gold price. [88824]

Ms Hewitt: Decisions on the level of reduction in Heavily Indebted Poor Countries' debt burdens needed to achieve debt sustainability take account of economic variables, including the level of exports.

Cabinet Joint Consultative Committee

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many meetings of the JCC he has attended. [89279]

Ms Hewitt: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him by the Prime Minister on 5 July 1999, Official Report, column 362.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list from the JUVOS database for each region of the United Kingdom the proportion of all those who left the claimant count for jobs who left after (a) less than six months claiming jobseeker's allowance, (b) six to 12 months claiming jobseeker's allowance, (c) 12 to 24 months claiming jobseeker's allowance and (d) more than 24 months claiming jobseeker's allowance during (i) April 1997 to April 1998 and (ii) April 1998 to April 1999. [89370]

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 Mr. Paul Keetch, dated 8 July 1999:

As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on those leaving the claimant count for jobs.

The attached tables give the information requested in respect of those claimants whose destination is known.

Claimants leaving the claimant count 10 April 1997 to 8 April 1998 who are known to have found work by duration of claim

	Duration of claim (months)
Government office region	0-6	>6-12	>12-24	>24	All durations percentage
North East	78.6	11.1	5.9	4.4	100
North West	79.9	11.0	5.7	3.4	100
Merseyside	72.6	12.7	8.3	6.4	100
Yorkshire and Humberside	78.5	11.3	6.1	4.0	100
East Midlands	78.6	11.1	6.0	4.3	100
West Midlands	76.9	11.7	6.4	5.0	100
Eastern	77.4	11.8	6.3	4.6	100
London	68.0	13.9	9.2	8.9	100
South East	77.9	11.2	6.1	4.8	100
South West	79.0	10.8	5.9	4.3	100
Wales	78.0	11.6	6.5	3.9	100
Scotland	80.2	11.2	5.5	3.0	100
Northern Ireland	73.9	11.1	7.0	8.0	100

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8 Jul 1999 : Column: 609

Claimants leaving the claimant count 9 April 1998-7 April 1999 who are known to have found work by duration of claim

	Duration of claim (months)
Government office region	>6-12	>6-12	>12-24	>24	All durations percentage
North East	82.7	10.5	4.4	2.4	100
North West	83.6	10.7	4.0	1.7	100
Merseyside	76.3	13.3	6.4	4.0	100
Yorkshire and Humberside	82.0	11.1	4.7	2.2	100
East Midlands	83.8	10.5	4.0	1.7	100
West Midlands	81.1	11.3	5.1	2.5	100
Eastern	82.1	11.0	4.4	2.5	100
London	73.1	14.8	7.5	4.5	100
South East	82.9	10.5	4.3	2.2	100
South West	83.5	10.6	3.9	2.0	100
Wales	82.1	11.1	4.5	2.2	100
Scotland	83.2	11.0	4.2	1.6	100
Northern Ireland	76.5	11.7	5.9	5.8	100

8 Jul 1999 : Column: 609

8 Jul 1999 : Column: 609

ISAs

Mr. Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what research he has commissioned to gauge the take-up of ISAs among new investors; [R] [89321]

(2) how many investors have so far taken out mini or maxi ISA schemes who previously did not have (a) PEPs or (b) TESSAs. [R] [89702]

Ms Hewitt [holding answers 1 and 5 July 1999]: Information on the extent to which ISA investors hold PEPs or TESSAs will be identifiable from the annual returns provided to the Inland Revenue by PEP and ISA managers and TESSA operators after the end of each year.

We keep all aspects of tax policy under review, and commission research where necessary to supplement available data. For example, HM Treasury has commissioned ongoing research on the ISA market from McKinsey & Company, Inc., which will collect data from providers on take-up of ISAs by component, broken down between those accounts meeting the CAT standards and those not.

Euro (EC Seminars)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer further to his answer of 24 June 1999, Official Report, column 423-24, on the Euro (EC Seminars), at which vulnerable sectors of the population The Prince Programme was targeted. [89826]

8 Jul 1999 : Column: 610

Ms Hewitt: The Prince Programme covers an information campaign called the "Euro". This includes a series of projects, with the objective of facilitating the changeover to the euro among vulnerable sectors of the population. Vulnerable sectors covered are those in economic and social difficulty, the elderly, visually impaired, hard of hearing and those with learning difficulties.

Market Research

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the title and purpose of each item of market and opinion research commissioned by or through his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies since May 1997, stating in each case whether the results were published. [89697]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 5 July 1999]: I regret that this information is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Divorce Statistics

Mr. Rooney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give his most recent estimate of the number of marriages which ended in divorce in the last year for which figures are available. [90327]

Ms Hewitt: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.

8 Jul 1999 : Column: 611

Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Terry Rooney, dated 8 July 1999:

As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on the number of marriages estimated to end in divorce.

The table below gives the numbers of marriages which took place in England and Wales in a selection of past years, and the numbers and percentages of those marriages which had ended in divorce by 1994. Also given are the percentages of those marriages estimated to have ended in divorce by the tenth wedding anniversary.

Numbers and percentages of marriages which ended in divorce, by year of marriage, England and Wales

		Marriages which ended in divorce by the end of 1994		Percentage of
Year of marriage	Number of marriages (thousand)	Number (thousand)	Percentage (9)	marriages which ended in divorce by tenth wedding anniversary
1951	361	(10)46	(10)13	(10)3
1961	347	81	23	6
1971	405	119	29	15
1981	352	95	27	21
1986	348	69	20	(10)23
1991	307	18	6	--

(9) Percentage of original number of marriages

(10) Estimates

In addition, an estimate has been made of the percentage of marriages which would end in divorce were the divorce rates by duration of marriage to remain unchanged at their 1993-94 levels. On this basis, 41 per cent. of marriages would ultimately end in divorce.

CABINET OFFICE

Ireland/UK Co-operation

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress has been made in co-operation between Ireland and the United Kingdom in developing east-west relations since publication of the progress report issued on the margins of the European Council Meeting in Luxembourg on 12 December 1997; on what dates the Joint Steering Group co-chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach and the Cabinet Office has met in 1998 and in 1999 to date; if he will list those documents agreed by the Joint Steering Group; and if he will place a copy of each in the Library. [89899]

Mr. Kilfoyle: There has been close and effective co-operation between the two Governments since the Luxembourg Council, and officials and Ministers of both Governments have continued to take forward the programme of work outlined in the Joint Report of 12 December 1997, with frequent ministerial visits in both directions. There was further evidence of the closeness of the relationship when the Prime Minister accepted an invitation from the Taoiseach to address the Irish Parliament on 26 November last year. Co-operation has also been manifested in the efforts of the two Governments to facilitate the Good Friday Agreement of 10 April 1998 and its subsequent implementation. It has not been

8 Jul 1999 : Column: 612

necessary for officials of the Department of Taoiseach and the Cabinet Office to meet specifically in order to co- ordinate this work. The Government look forward to strengthening that co-operation further when the British-Irish Council and the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference, established under the agreement come into operation.

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