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Manufacturing (Knitted Goods)
30. Mr. Tredinnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the timetable for the publication of the Office for National Statistics 1999 figures for manufacturers' sales of hosiery and other knitted goods to the public. [116633]
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 Tim Holt to Mr. David Tredinnick, dated 6 April 2000:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent question on the publication of 1999 manufacturers' sales figures of Hosiery and other knitted goods.
Detailed product data from the 1999 quarterly PRODucts of the European COMmunity (PRODCOM) survey of manufacturers' sales of knitted and crocheted articles will be published in a Business Monitor at the end of May 2000.
Provisional results of the 1999 Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) are expected to be published in December 2000. This News Release will contain values for turnover, purchases and gross value added for the textile and textile products industry. More detailed industry results, including those for the manufacture of knitted and crocheted articles, will be published in the summer of 2001.
Employment (South-East)
31. Mr. Prosser: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the impact of his Department's policies on the levels of employment and unemployment in the South-East in the last two years. [116636]
Miss Melanie Johnson: In the South-East, as in the rest of the UK, we have created a sound and credible platform of economic stability that will help us attain our objective of high and stable levels of growth and employment. In the last two years, employment in the South-East has risen by 125,000, and ILO unemployment has fallen by 14,000, both broadly in line with UK trends.
Climate Change Levy
32. Mr. Stunell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from the horticulture sector on the impact of the climate change levy. [116637]
Mr. Timms: My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer received a number of representations from the horticultural sector on the climate change levy. In the light of these and other representations, a package of measures aimed at improving energy efficiency in the horticultural sector, while protecting its competitiveness, was announced in the Budget. These measures include:
- A special package of energy efficiency measures for horticulture, to be allocated from the £50 million energy efficiency fund.
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Extending the list of investments qualifying for enhanced capital allowances to include thermal screens used in glasshouses
A temporary 50 per cent. discount on the levy for a period of up to five years while energy efficiency measures take effect.
Mr. Timms: The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a number of further refinements to the design of the climate change levy in the recent Budget. These will increase the levy's environmental effectiveness while protecting the competitiveness of UK firms.
Many of the representations received since the Budget have welcomed these refinements.
Public Services
33. Mr. Love: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to increase investment in public services (a) in the UK and (b) in London in the year 2000-01. [116638]
Mr. Andrew Smith: All areas of the UK, including London, will benefit from the Budget announcement of an additional £2 billion for health, £1 billion for education, £285 million for the fight against crime and £280 million for transport. All but £100 million of this investment is for 2000-01.
Secretaries of State are announcing the detail of these allocations. The Deputy Prime Minister has already announced £65 million of investment in London Underground to enhance escalator work and frequency and reliability of Northern, Central, District and Jubilee lines and £30 million for the Docklands Light Railway extension to City Airport.
Working Families Tax Credit (North-west Region)
Mr. Ian Stewart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many inquiries have been received by the Working Families Tax Credit response line from the north west region. [116618]
Dawn Primarolo: The response line handled 780,000 inquiries up to 30 November 1999. A breakdown by TV region is available for 670,000 of them; of these, 89,000 came from the Granada TV region.
Migration (London)
Mr. Norman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates his Department has made of the level of migration from the London area to the South East region in each of the last 10 years. [117787]
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. Archie Norman, dated 6 April 2000:
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The Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to reply to your recent question about the estimated migration from London to the South East region for each of the last ten years. I am replying in the Director's absence.
The attached table presents the information that you require. The latest year for which estimates are available is 1998. Data are presented for moves from London to the South East Planning Region. The estimates of internal migration within the United Kingdom are based on the movement of NHS doctor's patients between the former Family Health Service Authorities. They should not be regarded as a perfect measure of migration as there is variation in the delay between a person moving and registering with a new doctor.
| Year | Number of migrants |
|---|---|
| 1989 | 109.8 |
| 1990 | 93.7 |
| 1991 | 108.3 |
| 1992 | 111.0 |
| 1993 | 114.3 |
| 1994 | 119.4 |
| 1995 | 118.5 |
| 1996 | 125.8 |
| 1997 | 132.0 |
| 1998 | 129.7 |
Source:
NHSCR
Population Growth (South-east)
Mr. Norman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what forecast his Department has made of the population growth in the South East Planning Region in the next five years. [117788]
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.
| Projection year | Projected population |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 11,242.0 |
| 2000 | 11,302.6 |
| 2001 | 11,362.4 |
| 2002 | 11,420.9 |
| 2003 | 11,477.6 |
| 2004 | 11,532.6 |
| 2005 | 11,586.0 |
| 2006 | 11,637.9 |
Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the (a) total liabilities
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outstanding under PFI contracts and (b) net public debt over the period 2000-01 to 2004-05 if PFI liabilities were accounted for as debt; and if he will make a statement. [117368]
Mr. Andrew Smith
[holding answer 4 April 2000]: I refer the hon. Member to table C15 of the Financial Statement and Budget Report, laid before this House on 21 March 2000.
Table C15 shows a forecast of the estimated payments for services flowing from new private investment in signed and imminent PFI contacts over the 28 years from 1998-99 to 2025/26; and contains details of payments to PFI contractors from 2000-01 to 2004-05. These payments score as current expenditure and thus are already factored into future spending projections and of spending and borrowing (as set out in table C4).
Sir Sydney Chapman:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total revenue to the Exchequer of all duties levied on hydrocarbon fuels in the 1996-97 financial year; and what was the figure for 1999-2000. [117671]
Mr. Timms:
The revenue from excise duty on hydrocarbon oils for 1996-97 is published in Table K2 of HM Customs and Excise Annual Report. The table does not include VAT receipts. The figure for 1999-2000 is not available yet.
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