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SCOTLAND

Shipbuilding (Clyde)

Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the Government's support for shipbuilding on the Clyde. [115197]

Dr. Reid: This Government fully recognise the importance of shipbuilding industry generally, and the Clyde shipbuilding industry in particular. We will continue to do everything we can to support the industry.

Assisted Areas

Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 29 February 2000, Official Report, column 260W, on assisted areas, what are the problems of population sparsity affecting the Inverness travel-to-work area. [115781]

Dr. Reid [holding answer 21 March 2000]: Extremely low population density leads to additional costs in the provision of goods and services. There is a lack of economies of scale and, in combination with peripherality, this makes for structural economic weaknesses. The whole of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise area was thus proposed for inclusion in the new Assisted Areas map.

Websites

Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the expenditure incurred by his Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies on (a) the setting up and (b) the operation of websites, indicating the cases in which the expenditure has been above that budgeted; and if he will list for each website (i) the topics which have been covered, (ii) the current average number of hits per months and (iii) the estimated expenditure on each website for each of the next three years. [115802]

Dr. Reid: The information is as follows:

(a) Set up costs: £2,700

(b) Operating costs to date: £1,300

(c) Topics covered in the Scotland Office website (www.scottishsecretary.gov.uk):

Welcome message from the Secretary of State

Scotland Office news releases

Profiles of the Ministers

Transcripts of speeches

What the Scotland Office does

Advocate General for Scotland (currently under construction)

Contact addresses and phone numbers

Selected links to other sites (mainly Government)

(d) The website was launched in November 1999. The number of hits has risen from 14,775 in November to 83,857 in February 2000. The number of page requests per month over the same period has risen from 2,407 to 8,883. The number of unique visitors to the site is not currently measured.

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(e) Annual expenditure on the website over the next three years is currently estimated at £2,000 per year but the design and content of the site will be kept under review.

Insolvency

Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what advice is given by the Accountant in Bankruptcy in Scotland to insolvency practitioners in personal sequestrations with regard to the vesting of (a) personal pensions, (b) retirement annuity contracts and (c) occupational pension schemes. [116230]

Dr. Reid [holding answer 27 March 2000]: The Accountant in Bankruptcy provides written guidance in the form of "The Accountant in Bankruptcy's Notes for the Guidance of Interim and Permanent Trustees". Section 6.18 of this guidance covers the treatment of pensions.

ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS

Housebuilding (Chelmsford)

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 20 March 2000, Official Report, column 402W, on housebuilding (ref. 114782) and his proposed changes to Regional Planning Guidance for the South East and East of England on 27 March, if he will assess the impact of his statement on housebuilding on 7 March 2000, Official Report, columns 863-67, on the Chelmsford local authority area, indicating the number of houses to be built in Chelmsford over the next (a) five years and (b) 16 years. [116029]

Ms Beverley Hughes: I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 16 March 2000, Official Report, column 330W and to the pursuant answer of 20 March 2000, Official Report, column 402W. Full details of our proposed changes to the draft RPG for the South East were published on 27 March. These included an illustrative breakdown of housing within the region to county level, including an annual rate of provision for Essex. It will be for the Essex County Structure Plan to determine the level of housebuilding to be included in the Chelmsford Local Plan area.

Hedges

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what response he has received to the consultation paper on controlling nuisance hedges in residential areas; and if he will make a statement. [116382]

Mr. Mullin: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, South (Mr. Cunningham) on 21 March 2000, Official Report, column 471W.

Foreign Commercial Vehicles

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will introduce a road tax or vignette on foreign commercial vehicles entering the United Kingdom. [116536]

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Mr. Hill: Any vignette scheme, or any form of levy, would have to apply to domestic vehicles as well as foreign. To discriminate against foreign vehicles would be illegal under Community law. The Transport Bill contains enabling powers for local authorities to introduce charging schemes on their roads, but there are no plans at present to introduce widespread charging on the trunk road network.

Electronic Vote Counting (London Elections)

Ms Rosie Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if electronic counting of votes will be used at the forthcoming election of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly on 4 May. [116695]

Mr. Hill: The Greater London Returning Officer has informed me that following a successful trial on 22 February 2000, he intends to use electronic counting equipment to count the votes cast in the first election of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly on 4 May. He is satisfied that the system can deliver a speedy and accurate result and at the same time safeguard the probity and secrecy of the ballot.

Wild Birds Directive

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the sites so far classified or identified for classification as special protection areas under the EC Wild Birds Directive (79/409/EEC) in the UK. [116738]

Mr. Mullin: The Joint Nature Conservation Committee, in co-operation with the statutory nature conservation agencies, have been conducting a major review of the UK list of Special Protection Areas following the agreement and subsequent publication of SPA selection guidelines in July 1999. Ministers will be consulting interested parties about those sites which are not already classified as SPAs. The new list has today been placed in the Library.

TREASURY

Climate Change Levy

Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of Article 52 of the EC Treaty on the provisions for persons to notify the Commissioners when they are liable to be registered for the climate change levy. [116581]

Mr. Timms: I am satisfied that the provisions for climate change levy which will appear in the Finance Bill will be compatible with all our obligations under the EC Treaty.

Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if the climate change levy will be levied upon (a) actual and (b) estimated energy supply in a period; and what provisions are to be made for overpayment on the basis of estimated bills; [116586]

(2) what factors may be taken into account in determining culpability for the late submission of climate change levy returns; and if he will introduce an element of culpability to the penalty regime; [116587]

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(3) if he will make a statement on the definition of (a) taxable commodity under schedule 1 paragraph A3(1)(b) of the climate change levy legislation and (b) utility, contained in the legislation to ensure that suppliers liable to climate change levy are easily identifiable. [116591]

Mr. Timms: HM Customs and Excise have undertaken an extensive consultation exercise on the draft climate change levy legislation published on 26 November 1999. The results of this consultation are being taken into account in the proposed legislation. This will be contained in the Finance Bill to be published shortly.

Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will confer on Her Majesty's Customs and Excise discretion to reduce penalties for late submission of climate change levy returns; and if he will review the interest rate on the penalty for small businesses. [116588]

Mr. Timms: As a result of the consultation exercise undertaken on the draft climate change levy legislation by HM Customs and Excise, I will be proposing changes to the penalty system for late submission of climate change levy returns. I have no plans to review the interest rate on the penalty for small businesses.

Mr. Swinney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his reasons for exempting Northern Ireland from the climate change levy. [116578]

Mr. Timms: I have announced that we shall be exploring with the European Commission the scope for allowing a temporary exemption from climate change levy for natural gas in Northern Ireland for a period of up to five years. This reflects the very different nature of the energy market in Northern Ireland and the fact that gas is only as yet available in a limited area. A temporary exemption will facilitate the development of the infrastructure and make gas available to a greater number of potential customers.

Mr. Swinney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer to what extent the climate change levy will be charged on supplies of energy (a) from Northern Ireland to other parts of the United Kingdom and (b) from other parts of the United Kingdom to Northern Ireland. [116579]

Mr. Timms: Climate change levy is only charged on supplies to final consumers. If the proposed exemption from climate change levy for natural gas in Northern Ireland is approved by the European Commission, climate change levy will be charged on all sales of products within the scope of the levy where the customer is located in the United Kingdom, except for sales of natural gas where the customer is located in Northern Ireland. The location of the supplier is not relevant.

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