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Civil Procurement
Mr. Todd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the Review of Civil Procurement in Central Government; and if she will make a statement. [95452]
Mr. Andrew Smith: Work is progressing to ensure that the Office of Government Commerce will be operational by 1 April 2000. A Chief Executive will be appointed in November and I hope to be able to announce shortly the composition of the Supervisory Board and the transfer of its constituent agencies.
Trade Missions
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many trade missions he has led since taking office; and to which countries. [94973]
Mr. Timms
[holding answer 25 October 1999]: None. Trade missions are usually carried out by the Department of Trade and Industry.
1 Nov 1999 : Column: 48
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to include (i) central Government grants paid to and (ii) the budgets of (a) local authorities in England, (b) the Scottish Parliament and Executive, (c) the National Assembly for Wales and (d) the Northern Ireland Assembly in resource accounting procedures for the 1999-2000 and subsequent financial years. [96459]
Mr. Andrew Smith
[holding answer 29 October 1999]: Central government grants paid to local authorities will be recorded in the resource accounts of the relevant Government departments making these grants. Expenditure covered by the budgets of local authorities in England falls outside the resource accounting boundary, and therefore will not be included in resource accounts.
Grants to the National Assembly for Wales, the Scottish Executive, and, if devolution takes place, the Northern Ireland Assembly will represent the allocation of funds to those bodies, and will be shown in the resource accounts of respectively the Wales Office, Scotland Office, and Northern Ireland Office.
Expenditure by the National Assembly for Wales will appear in its resource accounts.
Accounting policies for expenditure by the Scottish Executive and the Northern Ireland Assembly are a matter for those bodies. I understand, however, that legislation currently before the Scottish Parliament envisages control by the Scottish Parliament of resources, and hence resource accounting.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what amendments, additions and deletions will be made to the Resource Accounting Manual, as published in August 1999, that will apply to the 1999-2000 financial year. [96460]
Mr. Andrew Smith
[holding answer 29 October 1999]: The Resource Accounting Manual is updated as necessary to take into account the impact on resource accounting of new accounting standards issued by the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) and other accounting developments including, for example, refinements arising from the implementation of resource accounting by departments.
The amendments to the version of the Manual published in August 1999, to apply to the 1999-2000 resource accounts, will take into account the amendment to Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 5 "Reporting the Substance of Transactions--Private Finance Initiative and Similar Contracts", and FRS 15 "Tangible Fixed Assets"--both issued by the ASB.
These and future amendments, following consultation with the Financial Reporting Advisory Board, will be included in periodic updates to the Manual, which I understand the House of Commons Library has arranged to receive.
Mr. Brady:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to exempt energy use for all types of industrial electrolysis from the Climate Change Levy. [96709]
1 Nov 1999 : Column: 49
Mr. Timms:
As indicated in the consultation document published by Customs and Excise on Budget day, coal and gas used in chemical reactions will not be subject to the levy. In the light of the representations received on the treatment of electrolysis, my hon. Friend the then Economic Secretary announced on 27 July 1999, Official Report, column 390, that we proposed to extend this exemption to electricity used in certain processes.
Following that announcement we have received further representations, all of which are receiving careful consideration.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if liabilities incurred by Departments of State as a result of (a) private finance initiatives and (b) public private partnerships will be accounted for under the principles outlined in Chapter 4 of the Resource Accounting Manual published in August. [96848]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
Any liabilities incurred as a result of such transactions will be accounted for in line with the requirements of Chapter 9 of the Resource Accounting Manual. This states that for all complex transactions, the overriding principles of Financial Reporting Standards (FRS) 5 "Reporting the Substance of Transactions" should be followed.
In particular, an amendment to the version of the Manual published in August 1999, which has been agreed with the Financial Reporting Advisory Board, will make clear that Private Finance Initiative (PFI) transactions should be accounted for in accordance with the Treasury Taskforce's Technical Note No. 1 (revised) "How to account for PFI transactions".
The Technical Note sets out additional practical guidance on how the Accounting Standards Board's Application Note (AN) "Amendment to FRS 5--Private Finance Initiative and Similar Contracts" is to be followed in the public sector and should be read in conjunction with the AN.
In addition, Chapter 4 of the Manual sets out the disclosure requirements in respect of commitments under contracts for which departments have not made provision in their resource accounts.
Mr. Lilley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is (a) his Department's and (b) the Royal College of Medicine's recommended minimum population which should be served by an accident and emergency unit in England. [92572]
Ms Stuart:
The configuration of local accident and emergency services should be determined in accordance with local needs. Neither the Department of Health nor the Royal Colleges set minimum population requirements.
1 Nov 1999 : Column: 50
Mr. Lilley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will give a substantive reply to the Question tabled by the right hon. Member for Hitchin and Harpenden for answer on 26 July. [96851]
Ms Stuart:
I replied to the right hon. Member today.
Sir Teddy Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to reply to the letter sent by the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East to him on 14 June about representations on the Health Bill [Lords] and Pro-Life legislation. [96484]
Yvette Cooper:
I am sorry the hon. Member has not received a reply to his letter. The correspondence appears to have been misplaced. I have now received a copy of the original papers and will ensure that a reply is sent to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he will publish the NHS guidance on continence services; [96073]
(3) what is the earliest practical date from which local health authorities and social services will have to incorporate the NHS guidance on continence services into their budgets; [96074]
(4) what meetings he and his officials have had with GP representatives to ensure that GPs are proactive in identifying patients who need continence care. [96076]
Mr. Hutton:
We have recently received the report from the working group which was set up to advise the Department on guidance for continence services. We are now considering the report. The working group included a general practitioner representative. We hope to publish the guidance in the near future.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information is provided by NHS Direct to callers who call with inquiries about continence; and what is the source of that information. [96077]
Ms Stuart:
The way in which NHS Direct deals with calls about continence will depend very much on the nature of the caller's symptoms and needs. Calls from members of the public generally fall into two broad categories. If the continence problem is a new symptom for the caller, the nurse adviser would assess the call using the relevant protocol and would refer the caller to the most appropriate health professional, for example the general practitioner. Otherwise, if the call was a general inquiry about continence, the caller would be referred to the most relevant source for further information.
(2) what measures he intends to take to ensure that local health authorities and primary care groups implement the forthcoming guidance on continence services; [96075]
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