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Finance Bill

Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Finance Bill will be published; and if he will make explanatory notes on the Bill's clauses available to hon. Members. [117043]

Dawn Primarolo: The Finance Bill will be published on Friday 7 April. Explanatory Notes on the Bill's clauses will be placed in the Vote Office and the Libraries of both Houses that day. Members of the public will be able to obtain copies of the Explanatory Notes from the Treasury; these will also be available on the Treasury's Internet site (http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk).

Earnings (Greater London)

Mr. Cox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the number of (a) men and (b) women living and working in the Greater London area who earn less than £4 per hour. [116321]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 27 March 2000:

The Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to reply to your recent question on workers living and working in London earning less than £4 per hour. I am replying in Dr Holt's absence.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the ONS's major source of labour market data on individuals. It can provide information on the earnings of employees both by their region of workplace and their

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region of residence. In autumn (September to November) 1999 the number of male employees living and working in London earning less than £4.00 per hour was 102,000. The corresponding figure for female employees was 120,000.
The LFS is the most appropriate source of data to answer this question. It provides fuller coverage of people on low pay than the other major source of earnings data, the New Earning Survey (NES). In addition the NES can only supply earnings information for the region of workplace of employees.

Tax Relief (Pensions)

Mrs. Lait: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will break down the amount of tax relief for approved pension schemes by each category of scheme. [116322]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Available information on the breakdown of the costs of tax reliefs for approved pension schemes was published in table 7.7 of "Inland Revenue Statistics 1999", a copy of which is in the Library.

Software Provision

Mr. Luff: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to provide software to (a) self-employed persons and (b) small and medium sized businesses, to enable them to calculate money owed to Her Majesty's Government as a result of taxes (i) due from them and (ii) collected by them from their employees; and if he will make a statement. [116362]

Dawn Primarolo: The Budget contained a number of substantial new measures to help small firms comply with their payroll obligations. They will be able to claim 100 per cent. Capital Allowances for investment in Information and Communications Technology equipment, and will be eligible for discounts for internet filing and the use of Internet payroll services. A £60 million package of measures will help them get on-line and use on-line services. And the Inland Revenue Payroll Software Standard will further encourage small employers to use software packages, Internet payroll services and payroll bureaux to calculate their payroll.

Banking Services

Mr. Wray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what incentives the Government will propose to encourage wider use of banking services among benefit claimants. [116366]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Government wish to encourage banks to develop basic bank accounts suitable for those who are financially excluded. From 2003 to 2005 the DSS will move progressively to the use of automated credit transfers to make benefit payments into bank or building society accounts. People who wish to continue to collect their cash at post offices will continue to be able to do so, before and after the change in 2003.

Mr. Wray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many adults purchased no banking services (a) within the United Kingdom and (b) within Scotland in each of the last three years. [116367]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Various surveys indicate that the percentage of adults in the United Kingdom who have neither a current account nor a savings account is in the range 2.5 to 3.5 million. Figures supplied by the Association for Payment Clearing Services in respect of

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Great Britain and Scotland, for adults aged 18 and over without a bank, building society or National Savings account are as follows:

Thousand

	Great Britain	Scotland
1997	2,222	271
1998	2,331	286
1999	2,381	312

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts Council

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many employees the Arts Council of England (a) has currently, (b) had on 1 May 1997 and (c) had on 1 May 1999. [116540]

Mr. Chris Smith [holding answer 28 March 2000]: The number of full-time equivalent employees of the Arts Council of England was: 240.52 in May 1997; 278.3 in May 1998; 212.7 in May 1999; and 204.5 in March 2000.

The Arts Council's staff numbers rose between May 1997 and May 1998, largely because of the operation of the Lottery Arts4Everyone programme, a major lottery revenue programme run centrally by the Arts Council of England.

Arts Boards

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list the number of employees (a) currently, (b) in May 1997 and (c) in May 1999 of each of the regional arts boards. [116539]

Mr. Chris Smith [holding answer 28 March 2000]: I have asked the Arts Council of England, as the body responsible for the regional arts boards, to provide this information. When it is available, I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy in the Library of the House.

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Quigley Committee

Mr. Michael J. Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the report of the Quigley Committee. [117208]

Mr. Blunkett: I established a committee under the chairmanship of Sir George Quigley in December 1998, as required by section 25(4) of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998, to review fee support for students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the fourth year of first degree courses at Scottish institutions. The report is laid today before Parliament and placed in the National Assembly for Wales and the Scottish Parliament.

I welcome the report and congratulate Sir George and the other members of the committee on their thorough examination of all the relevant issues. The Government accept the recommendations addressed to it set out in the

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report. The Scottish Executive has accepted that it should meet the net costs of the tuition fees of students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland in their fourth year in Scottish universities.

The Government will discuss with the Executive the precise mechanism for paying those fees and the impact on student support. I expect this to come into effect for students who enter the first year of their courses in September 2001.

Public Bodies

Mr. Quinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many board members he appoints to each non-departmental public body. [116339]

Mr. Wills: A full list of the non-departmental bodies to which the Secretary of State makes appointments can be found in the document "Public Bodies 1999" (ISBN 0-11-430159-X), copies of which are available in the House Library.

"Computers for Teachers"

Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to include school librarians in the Computers for Teachers scheme; and if he will make a statement. [115591]

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to classify school librarians as teachers for the purposes of the Computers for Teachers initiative. [115810]

Mr. Wills [holding answer 22 March 2000]: The scheme, as currently constituted, is focused upon serving teachers in state maintained schools. Schools have a legal obligation to teach Information Technology, both as a curriculum subject in its own right and across all other subjects. The burden of this teaching role falls largely upon the classroom teacher.

In order to provide teachers with the skills to discharge this responsibility, the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) ICT Training programme was developed specifically for teachers in schools, and it aims to give serving teachers the opportunity to raise their pedagogical capability to that now required of newly qualified teachers. The purpose of the Computers for Teachers initiative is to complement that training by raising teacher competence and confidence in their personal use of ICT. Given the access which school librarians generally have to ICT within the school library, the Government have decided to give priority for the funding available under this initiative to teachers.

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