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Golden Shares

Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in which companies the Government retains a golden share; and on how many occasions in the last year the Secretary of State has exercised his right to intervene in respect of each of these companies. [110543]

Mr. Timms: The Government currently retain a special share in the following companies:



The powers of the various special shares are not identical, but none of them enable Ministers to "intervene" in the day-to-day running of the companies. I believe that there have been only three cases (Ministerial consents to company restructuring, requested by BG plc, Cable and Wireless plc and ScottishPower plc) in the last year when Ministers have exercised their powers as owners of special shares. However, in the time available, it has not been possible to establish conclusively that these are the only cases.

Petroleum Products

Mr. Fabricant: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions Treasury Ministers and officials have (a) held since 7 October 1999 and (b) plan to hold with their counterparts in the Irish Republic to discuss the taxation and smuggling of petroleum products; and if he will make a statement. [110417]

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Mr. Timms: The matter of differential fuel taxes was raised at the British-Irish Inter-Governmental Conference held in London on 17 December and attended by the Prime Minister and other Ministerial colleagues. The resulting bilateral work programme will be taken forward by officials with the aim of achieving closer co-operation between the Governments on issues of shared interest.

At an operational level, officials of HM Customs and Excise have regular contact with their counterparts in the Irish Revenue Commissioners to discuss issues of common interest including smuggling of fuel.

Advertising Budget

Mr. Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his Department's advertising budget for (a) 1999-2000 and (b) 2000-01. [110260]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 16 February 2000]: The Treasury's advertising 1999-2000 budgets total £7.765 million.

Any expected spending on advertising in 2000-01 will be included in the department's Supply Estimates, which will be presented to Parliament in April.

Economic and Monetary Union

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 19 January 2000, Official Report, column 515W, on economic and monetary union, what the level of preparedness was of small and medium sized enterprises as a whole in April 1999. [110760]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The most recent survey commissioned by the Treasury in April 1999 showed that 14 per cent. of the UK's small and medium sized enterprises had made preparations for the euro.

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what studies have been made of the effectiveness of the national communications campaign, outlined in page 8 of the Outline National Changeover Plan, aimed at raising business awareness of the implications of the launch of the Euro; how many factsheets were asked for; and if he will make a statement. [111250]

Mr. Timms: In October 1998, following the national euro business information campaign, the Treasury commissioned a survey which showed that the number of firms preparing for the euro had trebled since the initial survey in May 1998. The survey also revealed that there was a high level of campaign recognition among the target audience of small and medium sized enterprises.

To date, around 400,000 factsheets have been sent out in response to requests by businesses and other key intermediary bodies.

Testimonials (Taxation)

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to review the taxation status of income received by professional sports people in testimonial games. [110923]

Dawn Primarolo: I have no such plans.

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Mr. Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the taxation revenue that would accrue from taxing the incomes received by professional sports players in testimonial games. [110922]

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available.

Pesticides

Mr. Horam: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will place in the Library the British Agrochemicals Association's draft proposals to minimise the environmental impact of pesticide use; [111082]

Mr. Timms: The Government announced on 1 February that the proposals brought forward by the British Agrochemical Association to minimise the environmental impacts of pesticides form a useful basis for discussing with the industry and other interested parties what form a partnership approach might take. Subject to further detailed discussions on these proposals, the Chancellor will not proceed with the introduction of a pesticides tax in the Budget. Discussions with the industry will continue in the run up to the Budget. Should these discussions continue after the Budget, the Government will consult with interested parties before any final decisions are taken on the detailed measures aimed at reducing the environmental impacts of pesticide use.

Average Incomes

Mr. Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average gross weekly income of households in each region of the UK in descending order of region in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what proportion of income was derived from social security benefits in each case. [110828]

Mr. Timms: I refer my hon. Friend to the answers that my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary gave him on 16 February 2000, Official Report, columns 610-12W.

NHS Expenditure

Mr. St.Aubyn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate the Treasury has made of the consequences for interest rates and the value of sterling of a rise in NHS expenditure over five years to the EU average, funded by additional taxation. [110829]

Mr. Andrew Smith: It is the task of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee to set interest rates to ensure the Government's inflation target is met. Price stability will also help to promote exchange rate stability, consistent with the Government's objective of a stable and competitive pound over the medium term. Decisions on future NHS expenditure will be taken in the Spending Review.

Dividends Tax Credit

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the costs of allowing

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non-taxpayers to reclaim the tax credit paid on dividends; and what estimate he has made of the number of people who would benefit. [110919]

Dawn Primarolo: Dividends are paid without any deduction of tax, so there is no tax to reclaim.

Energy Efficiency

Mr. Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what industries will be eligible to claim grants for energy efficiency measures under the scheme announced in his pre-Budget report; how such awards will be calculated; and what will be the maximum amount available; [111018]

Mr. Timms: In the November 1999 Pre-Budget Report, the Chancellor announced that, following the responses to the consultation exercise on the climate change levy carried out after the March 1999 Budget he would be trebling the support for energy efficiency measures under the climate change levy package. This is to say that £150 million of levy revenues, not £50 million as originally proposed, will be made available to fund energy efficiency measures in business in 2001-02. This additional support will represent a step change in the level of funding for energy efficiency measures in the business sector.

The £150 million of additional support that will now be available in 2001-02 will have two elements. The first is £50 million energy efficiency fund, first announced in the March 1999 Budget. This fund will be used to:


Final decisions on the use of the £50 million fund will be made in the Spending Review 2000.

The second element is enhanced capital allowances for firms making energy saving investments. Firms making qualifying investments will be able to deduct the full costs of those investments in arriving at their income tax or corporation tax bills. All firms making qualifying investments will be eligible to claim the allowances. A consultation exercise has just been carried out on which energy efficient technologies and products might qualify for the enhanced allowances. The Government's suggested initial selection includes combined heat and power, boiler systems, motors, variable speed drives and lighting systems. Depending on take-up, the scheme might have an Exchequer cost of up to £100 million in 2001-02.

Taken together, these measures will give a considerable boost to energy efficiency measures in the business sector and help meet the Government's targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

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