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TREASURY
Debt Relief
Mr. Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on (a) progress made on the second phase of the highly indebted poor countries review, with specific reference to enhanced structural adjustment facility and (b) how the Government intend to link debt relief and poverty eradication. [90508]
Ms Hewitt: The Koln Summit made clear that the link between debt relief and poverty reduction should be strengthened.
The UK has put forward its own proposals for strengthening that link. Among other things, the UK has suggested that:
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The UK's proposals are included in a paper which has been sent to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as part of phase II of the HIPC review. Copies are available in the Libraries of both Houses and on the Treasury's website (www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/docs/1999/hipc2.htm).
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of how the provisions in the document, "Freedom of Information: Consultation on Draft Legislation", Cm 3455, would affect the operation of the Financial Services Authority; and if he will make a statement. [91253]
Ms Hewitt:
It is intended that the FSA should be subject to the Freedom of Information legislation and the implications of the proposed provisions for the FSA's operations are being considered. The FSA will be submitting their response to the Home Office consultations exercise in due course.
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions in each of the last five years his Department has been notified that insurance providers have been in breach of the required solvency ratios; and what corrective action his Department took. [90935]
Ms Hewitt:
Neither the Financial Services Authority (FSA), as contractor for the Treasury, nor the Department of Trade and Industry, as the Department previously responsible, maintains systematic information on notifications of such.
i. Debt relief should be structured both to provide resources for anti-poverty programmes, and to revive business confidence. This requires a balance between debt stock reduction and debt service reduction in the early years. To achieve this:
The World Bank and IMF should put forward a menu of options for achieving the required net present value reduction in their debt, taking into account the overall time profile of a country's debt service and creditor procedures;
This menu should include an option which reduces multilateral debt service by 50-75 per cent. in early years, and another with as much stock reduction as possible;
The indebted country should then be able to negotiate around these options.
ii. Debt relief should provide an opportunity to invigorate the entire government anti-poverty programme. It should not be seen as funding a separate, add-on operation. This anti-poverty programme should be informed by the World Bank and UN's work on social principles, and by the thinking around the Comprehensive Development Framework. It should incorporate a medium-term expenditure framework for the whole budget. Macro policy--and hence ESAF--should be an integral part. It should be as widely owned as possible. Hence, the anti-poverty plan needs to be built on existing processes in-country, rather than on an international blueprint. Although final agreement on IFI support for the programmes should continue to rest with countries and Bank/Fund Boards, other main players should have the opportunity to feed their comments in directly on final drafts before they go to the Boards.
| Year | Cases |
|---|---|
| 1994 | 11 |
| 1995 | 5 |
| 1996 | 5 |
| 1997 | 3 |
| 1998 | 5 |
Source:
Insurance Annual Reports; published by The Stationery Office
Additional action may be taken, depending on the circumstances of the case and the perceived risk to policyholders.
Pesticide Tax
Mr. Sawford:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of (a) farms which may become unprofitable and (b) jobs which may be lost if a pesticide tax is introduced. [91152]
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Ms Hewitt:
No decision has been taken on whether to introduce a tax on the use of pesticides.
Research commissioned by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions on a possible tax or charge on pesticides was published on 24 March focusing on various design options for a charge scheme or tax, and attempting to evaluate the potential impact. Views were invited on the issues raised in the research and this consultation exercise closed on 24 June. The Government will consider the findings of the research project and the views expressed in the consultation exercise in deciding how best to proceed.
Mr. Gibb:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much income, or deemed income, is received from premium bonds per annum; and what percentage of this income is paid out in prizes. [91276]
Ms Hewitt:
Money saved in Premium Bonds forms part of the Government's funding programme; as such no income is generated from them. The return to savers is in the form of the chance to win tax free prizes each month.
The monthly prize fund is calculated by applying a variable notional rate of interest, currently 3.25 per cent. per annum, to the number of eligible bonds.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people, and what percentage of the population, held premium bonds in (a) 1979, (b) 1989 and (c) 1999; and what was the average holding. [91402]
Ms Hewitt:
The number of holdings, percentage of the population holding Premium Bonds and the average holding are shown in the following table.
| Date | Number of holdings (millions) | Percentage of population | Average holdings (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 1979 | 25.5 | 44.5 | 56 |
| March 1989 | 24.2 | 42.2 | 95 |
| March 1999 | 23.0 | 38.8 | 559 |
Royal Mint
Mr. Kenneth Clarke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he will be taking to ensure that the new freedom being given to the Royal Mint to enter into the manufacture of jewellery and other non-coin products will not lead to unfair competition with private sector manufacturers. [91688]
Ms Hewitt: Proposals from the Royal Mint to expand their business in ways which require any change to the Trading Fund Order which currently restricts the Royal Mint's activities will be considered on their merits, taking into account both the viability of the proposals and any wider implications for competition. If agreed, a new Trading Fund Order would be laid before Parliament.
Prince Programme
Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason vulnerable sectors of the population are targeted in the Prince Programme information campaign. [91873]
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Ms Hewitt:
The Prince Programme includes a series of projects with the aim of facilitating the changeover to the euro among vulnerable sectors of the population. These vulnerable groups are being targeted because they have special information requirements.
Mr. Rendel:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the Government will conduct a full review of the NIRS2 project. [91653]
Dawn Primarolo
[holding answer 16 July 1999]: All of the conclusions and recommendations in the Twenty-Second report of the Public Accounts Committee will be considered, including the request for a review of the NIRS2 project, and a full response will be made to the Committee.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the non-departmental public bodies in existence on 1 May 1997 that (a) have been disbanded, indicating when they were disbanded, (b) will be disbanded in the next 12 months, (c) have had their functions transferred to (i) another non-departmental public body and (ii) a democratically elected body, (d) have been renamed but continue to perform a similar role and (e) have been unchanged; if he will indicate in (c)(ii) the relevant successor body; what new non-departmental public bodies have been established since 1 May 1997; and how many non-departmental public bodies his Department currently is responsible for. [90675]
Dawn Primarolo:
The Government are committed to keeping the number of NDPBs to a minimum, and to ensuring that those which remain are open, accountable and effective.
Details of Non-Departmental Public Bodies in existence since 1 May 1997 are listed in "Public Bodies 1998". In addition:
(a) Disbanded:
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(d) Renamed: None
(e) Unchanged:
Statistics Advisory Committee--4 May 1999
(b) Will be disbanded:
Policyholders Protection Board
Financial Services Tribunal
Subject to enactment of the Financial Services and Markets Bill now before Parliament.
The Bill provides for the creation of a Financial Services and Markets Tribunal under the Lord Chancellor's Department, and a Financial Services and Markets Compensation Scheme.
(c) (i) Functions transferred:
Responsibility for the following bodies has been transferred to:
Ministry of Defence:
Armed Forces Pay Review Body
Department of Health:
Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body
Nurses', Midwives' and other NHS Professions' Review Body
Pharmacists' Review Panel
Department for Education and Employment:
Cabinet Office:
Senior Salaries Review Body
(c) (ii) Functions transferred to a democratically elected body: None
Section 706 Tribunal
Royal Mint Advisory Committee on the design of Coins, Medals, Seals and Decorations
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