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Embassy Running Costs
Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 11 January 2000, Official Report, column 132W, on embassy running costs, if he will break down the percentages listed under other activities. [105254]
Mr. Hain: The 'Other Activities' listed in the previous answer are made up of the following: (1) Economic, (2) Aid Administration, (3) Consular, (4) Work for other Government Departments, (5) Administration and Security and (6) Miscellaneous.
The percentages are broken down as follows:
| (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European Union | ||||||
| Vienna | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 43 | 0 |
| Brussels | 8 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| Copenhagen | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 27 | 1 |
| Dublin | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 37 | 3 |
| Helsinki | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 28 | 2 |
| Paris | 6 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 31 | 13 |
| Bonn | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 43 | 10 |
| Athens | 10 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 38 | 4 |
| Rome | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 40 | 8 |
| Luxembourg Cy | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 37 | 2 |
| The Hague | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 19 |
| Lisbon | 2 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 25 | 6 |
| Madrid | 5 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 33 | 12 |
| Stockholm | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 23 | 1 |
| USA | ||||||
| Washington DC | 4 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 37 | 11 |
Miscellaneous includes such things as Science and Technology, Agriculture, Culture and Labour.
It is not possible to break Miscellaneous down to its constituent parts.
17 Jan 2000 : Column: 329W
Charlotte Atkins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when the Waterhouse report into abuse in North Wales children's homes will be published. [105099]
Mr. Paul Murphy:
I shall publish the report of the North Wales Child Abuse Inquiry as soon as possible.
Mr. Wigley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the public bodies to which he makes appointments. [103052]
Mr. Paul Murphy:
I make one appointment to the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for Wales.
In addition, the Secretary of State for Wales has power under their Royal Charters to make appointments to a number of public bodies which operate in relation to matters for which responsibility has transferred to the Assembly. Those bodies are considering whether their Royal Charters should be amended to transfer these powers to the Assembly, but that process is not yet complete.
Mr. Crausby:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what action he is taking to increase the productivity and reduce the running costs of his Department. [103841]
Mr. Paul Murphy:
My Department came into existence on 1 July 1999 following devolution in Wales. The planned complement of staff has not yet been recruited but we are working to ensure that our systems maximise productivity and effectiveness.
Mr. Edwards:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he intends to meet the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to discuss National Lottery funding of theatre companies in Wales. [100199]
Mr. Hanson:
The Secretary of State meets the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on a regular basis. National Lottery funding of theatre companies in Wales is not the responsibility of either my office or the Department for Culture Media and Sport, but is a matter for the relevant distributor in Wales.
Minimum Income Guarantee
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he is taking to ensure that all those pensioners entitled to the Minimum Income Guarantee take it up. [104600]
Mr. Rooker:
An announcement of our plans to encourage pensioners to take-up their entitlement to the Minimum Income Guarantee will be made shortly.
17 Jan 2000 : Column: 330W
Mr. Webb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if it is his policy that, following the introduction of the State Second Pension, all employees below state pension age who have not contracted out of the state scheme will earn entitlements under the rules for the State Second Pension rather than SERPS; and if this is the assumption which underlies his estimates of the distributional impact of the reform. [104687]
Mr. Rooker:
Following the introduction of State Second Pension, all employees below State Pension age, who have paid Class 1 National Insurance Contributions on earnings at or above the Lower Earnings Limit and who have not contracted out of the State scheme, will accrue entitlement to a second pension under the rules for the State Second Pension. Any SERPS entitlement they have already accrued will be preserved. So when a person reaches State Pension age they will receive, in addition to their basic Retirement Pension, a second pension made up of any preserved SERPS plus entitlement under State Second Pension.
State Second Pension will reform SERPS so that those with low earnings will get much more additional pension. All those earning between £3,432 (the annual Lower Earnings Limit) and £9,500 will accrue at least twice as much entitlement under State Second Pension than they would have done under SERPS. The highest proportionate gains will go to those on the lowest earnings.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the cost of backdating the State Second Pension to (a) 1978, (b) 1981, (c) 1986, (d) 1992 and (e) 1998 for carers in receipt of Invalid Care Allowance. [105251]
Mr. Rooker:
The information is not available.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the costs which would result if the state second pension were backdated to (a) 1978, (b) 1981, (c) 1986, (d) 1992 and (e) 1998 for carers of ill, elderly or disabled relatives in receipt of Home Responsibilities Protection. [105252]
Mr. Rooker:
The information is not available.
Home Responsibilities Protection can currently be claimed at any time up to State Pension age for qualifying periods since 1978. Since only very small numbers have so far claimed Home Responsibilities Protection for caring for a sick or disabled person, any estimate based on our usual 1 per cent. sampling method would not be reliable.
Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the items in the National Assets Register sold by his Department, its agencies and associated public bodies since 16 February 1999, stating in each case the amount of money realised; if he will estimate the total amount raised from such sales to date; and if he will make a statement. [104486]
17 Jan 2000 : Column: 331W
Mr. Rooker:
The National Asset Register published in November 1997 showed the assets held by the Department, its agencies and associated public bodies to be 195 freehold properties, 54 historic leasehold properties, 59,500 personal computers, 24,400 printers and 2,853 vehicles.
The Department's freehold and historic leasehold properties were transferred to the private sector as part of two Private Finance Initiative deals. On 8 January 1998 the Department transferred the six properties in the Newcastle Estate (Newcastle Longbenton, Gosforth Broadway West, Newcastle Ponteland Road, Washington Emerson House, Newcastle Tyneview Park and Washington Durham House) to the Newcastle Estate Partnership. The Department did not receive a cash sum but will be charged rentals at a reduced rate for the period of the contract. On 1 April 1998 the remainder of the Departmental estate was transferred as part of the Private Sector Resource Initiative for Management of the Estate (PRIME). The Department received cash consideration of £250 million. In addition, the sale of vehicles in the period up to the end of January 1999 realised an estimated £2,223,458.
Following the transfer of properties, the Department no longer holds fixed assets of significant value. In the period from the beginning of February 1999 to the end of December 1999, the Department sold a small number of low value items such as personal computers and printers. In addition, sales of vehicles realised an estimated £794,998.
The estimated total cash raised from such sales to date is therefore £253,018,456.
Ms Kelly:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what estimate he has made of the additional cost to the Exchequer of providing credits to a stakeholder pension for a parent with a child under the age of five years who stays at home to look after the child; [104873]
Mr. Rooker:
We have no plans to provide credits to stakeholder pension schemes. Under our proposals for State Second Pension qualifying carers will be treated as if they had earnings of £9,500. This will, for the first time, give carers the chance to build up a second pension. A qualifying carer will be:
17 Jan 2000 : Column: 332W
(2) what estimate he has made of the additional cost to the Exchequer of providing credits to a stakeholder pension for someone not in employment who looks after a dependent relative. [104874]
someone receiving Child Benefit for a child under six;
someone entitled to Invalid Care Allowance; or
someone given Home Responsibilities Protection because they were caring for a disabled person.
Assuming State Second Pension is introduced in 2002, the estimated gross costs of giving carers of disabled people and those receiving Child Benefit for a child aged under six State Second Pension entitlement are shown in the following table.
| 2010 | 2020 | 2030 | 2040 | 2050 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carers of disabled | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.7 |
| Carers of child under six | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 2.0 |
| Total | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 2.7 |
Notes:
1. Figures, supplied by the Government Actuary's Department, are in £ billion at 1999-2000 prices. They make no allowance for income-related benefit offsets.
2. Figures are calculated to the nearest £100 million. Totals may include amounts of less than £100 million not otherwise shown in the table.
3. Real earnings growth of 1.5 per cent. per annum has been assumed.
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