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National Insurance Fund
Mr. Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will add an additional entry to Table 5.5 of the Government Actuary's report National Insurance Fund Long Term Financial Estimates (Cm 4446) giving the surplus to the National Insurance Fund for each of the years there listed if Class 1 and all other contribution rates are held constant. [96243]
Dawn Primarolo: Reliable estimates could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Russia
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much money (a) the UK and (b) the international
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community have provided overall to Russia for economic assistance over the past five years; what assessment he has made of the proportion misappropriated or not used for the purpose for which it was intended; and if he will make a statement. [94806]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
Since the beginning of 1995, the international community has provided the following loan finance (net of repayments over the period) through the International Financial Institutions (IFIs): £8.8 billion through the IMF, £4.0 billion through the World Bank, and £728 million through the EBRD; the IFIs have also provided technical assistance. In August, the Paris Club rescheduled $8.1 billion of Russia's Soviet-era debts. The EU has also provided technical assistance to Russia through its TACIS programme, and food aid.
The UK has made no direct loans to Russia. Since the beginning of 1995, the UK has made £592 million of export credit guarantees available to British firms doing business with Russia, on which Russia is current with repayments. The UK has made technical assistance and humanitarian aid available to Russia. Other countries have also provided bilateral assistance.
There is no evidence that any IMF or World Bank funds have been misappropriated. An investigation by PricewaterhouseCoopers discovered that an overseas subsidiary of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) had used some of its foreign reserves to guarantee loans to commercial banks and buy Russian Government debt in breach of IMF rules and without the IMF's knowledge. Given this misuse of IMF resources, and the seriousness
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of the allegations of misappropriation of IMF and World Bank funds, G7 Finance Ministers' Statement of 25 September said:
As regards EU assistance, on 16 September, Neil Kinnock made a Commission statement on Russia:
Ms Ward:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress is being made on the implementation of IR35; and what recent meetings he has had with business on the issue. [94883]
Dawn Primarolo:
As the Minister in the lead on this measure, I have spoken with a number of people during the course of the consultation period and have received many written representations. Most representative bodies agreed that the Government was right to tackle the problem of avoidance of tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) by using personal service companies.
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In the light of feedback received, we have modified some of the details of the mechanism set out in the Inland Revenue's original information pack. Revised proposals were published on 23 September in the Inland Revenue Press Release, "Personal Services Provided through Intermediaries--Preventing Avoidance, Preserving Flexibility".
Mr. Hilary Benn:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost of sending every income tax-payer a statement of what the Government takes in tax and what it spends with their annual notice of coding. [96181]
Dawn Primarolo:
The cost would depend on the nature of the statement and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Colman:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will require the Financial Services Authority as the new competent authority for listing to ensure that questions of environmental risk are in future contained in all listing particulars as recommended by the Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment. [96896]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
The London Stock Exchange, as Competent Authority, has in the last two years reviewed the statutory requirements to report provisions and disclose contingent liabilities and the accounting rules for disclosure of environmental risks. These do require companies to address, among other things, their environmental liabilities. But, in the absence of clear, recognised disclosure standards, it has not been considered appropriate to introduce a listing rule specifically covering environmental risks. The Financial Services Authority may wish to consider the position afresh when it becomes the Competent Authority, but this will be for the Financial Services Authority to decide.
Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of the tax changes which relate to the status of self-employed workers in the construction industry; and if he will make a statement. [96316]
Dawn Primarolo:
The tax changes brought in by the new Construction Industry Scheme do not affect whether a person is employed or self-employed within the industry. Both the old and the new scheme work in a broadly similar way. Where a contractor makes payments relating to construction operations to a self-employed worker, they must operate the scheme. This means that they must make deductions on account of tax and NICs when making payments to subcontractors who do not qualify under the rules to be paid gross. The changes to the scheme are to control tax evasion.
" . . . we emphasised the critical need for intensified efforts to combat corruption in Russia and money laundering and the importance of adequate safeguards to ensure that funds provided by the international financial institutions are used for their intended purpose . . . IMF financing will be disbursed into an SDR account for the purpose of repaying Russia's obligations to the Fund. Furthermore, we agreed that the CBR, prior to disbursement of the next tranche of the SBA, should take steps identified by the IMF to improve internal controls and to initiate quarterly audits of CBR reserve management . . . In the case of the World Bank, we welcomed the new safeguards, involving greater control and auditing of World Bank funds, introduced in June, and called on the World Bank to work with Russia on additional safeguards . . ."
There is no evidence the EBRD funds were used for a purpose other than that intended at the time of disbursement. A portfolio review conducted by the EBRD, and further investigations carried out by its External Auditor, have satisfied the Bank that disbursements were applied as intended. One case of contract failure involving UK export credit guarantees is being investigated, on which I cannot comment at this stage.
" . . . Community assistance is, as this House will know, primarily delivered through the TACIS programme which is centrally managed from Brussels. The funds concerned are predominantly used to pay EU firms to provide technical expertise and advice for Russia. Only a very small proportion of the funds therefore goes to Russia . . . the Community food supply programme for Russia, that was launched earlier this year, is subject to very close monitoring which involves, amongst other things, checks on the use of the funds generated from the sale of relevant food products on local markets. Moreover, Russia does not currently receive Community loans, and the lending mandate of the European Investment Bank for countries outside the EU does not extend to Russia . . ."