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Diesel Fuel
Sir Brian Mawhinney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average retail price per litre of diesel fuel two weeks (a) before his 1999 Budget and (b) after his 2000 Budget; and in each case how much of the price was attributable to (i) fuel duty and (ii) VAT. [125195]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 9 June 2000]: The retail price and duty rate for diesel fuel in February 1999 are published in Tables 9.14 and 9.16 in the Department of Trade and Industry publication "Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics 1999".
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The average retail price for a litre of diesel fuel in April 2000 was 81.07p. The duty rate is 48.82p per litre.
The rate of VAT for diesel fuel is 17.5 per cent..
VAT (Youth Organisations)
Mr. Bob Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received in favour of the restoration of zero rating for value added tax on (a) new scout hall buildings, (b) scout hall extensions and (c) other community youth organisations; when the decision was taken that VAT should be levied; if he will rescind that decision; and if he will make a statement. [R] [125073]
Dawn Primarolo: When VAT was introduced the construction and extension of any building was zero-rated. In 1984 the relief for extensions was withdrawn. Following infraction proceedings by the European Commission, the relief for constructing new buildings became restricted to only certain types of building in 1989. New buildings used by charities for non-business purposes or as village halls can still be zero-rated. Agreements with our European partners mean that we cannot re-introduce any zero rates that we have given up.
In common with all charities Scout and other youth halls will benefit from the zero rate where the conditions for relief are met. Treasury Ministers have received a number of representations on this matter on behalf of the Scout Association.
ECOFIN Council
Mr. Hood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the outcome of the ECOFIN Council held in Luxembourg on 5 June; and if he will make a statement. [125123]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Chancellor of the Exchequer attended the Economic and Finance Council of Ministers.
ECOFIN approved the text of the Broad Economic Guidelines for submission to the Feira European Council, with slight amendment.
There was a discussion of the Code of Conduct group and the proposed Savings Directive. It was agreed that ECOFIN would meet ahead of the Feira European Council for a further discussion.
Correspondence
Sir Brian Mawhinney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the right hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire will receive a reply to his letter of 3 April on behalf of his constituent, Mrs. Hall. [125399]
Mr. Andrew Smith: I replied to the right hon. Gentleman on 5 June.
Government Borrowing
Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the Government's borrowing plans. [125981]
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Miss Melanie Johnson: In light of recent developments which have increased cash receipts this financial year by £19.5 billion more than the Budget forecast, the Government are making the following changes to the Debt Management Office's gilt remit for 2000-01.
The DMO will aim for gilt sales of £10 billion in 2000-01, a reduction of £2.2 billion on previous plans. There will be no further reductions in gilt sales this financial year.
Amount and Maturity Mix of Conventional Gilt Issuance
DMO will hold two further conventional auctions in the long (15 years and over) maturity area. DMO should aim for total conventional gilt sales of £6.5 billion for 2000-01.
Exercise of contingency measures in the Debt Management Report
HM Treasury will accommodate £5.9 billion of the receipts by pre-financing £3.9 billion of foreign currency debt due to mature in 2001-02 and £2.0 billion of foreign currency debt due to mature in 2002-03. This differs from the £5.7 billion figure in the Debt Management Report due to the fall in sterling against the dollar since the Budget.
The planned Treasury Bill stock will also be reduced by £0.7 billion to £8 billion.
The buy-back programme may be increased later in the year to a maximum of £5 billion. This will be decided at the time of the Pre-Budget Report.
The remaining proceeds (£10.7 billion before any increase in buy-backs) will be used to reduce net short term debt (the Ways and Means balance, Treasury Bills less short term assets). Given that £10 billion of the proceeds are not expected until later in the year, decisions on the composition of the reduction in net short term debt will also be made at the time of the Pre-Budget Report, also taking into account any revision to the forecast Central Government Net Cash Requirement.
The reduction in net debt will be unwound in 2001-02 and 2002-03, reducing gilt sales during this period.
| Date | Type |
|---|---|
| 2000 | |
| Wednesday 26 July | Index-linked |
| Wednesday 25 October(10) | Index-linked |
| Late November/early December(10) | Conventional |
| 2001 | |
| Wednesday 24 January | Index-linked |
| Wednesday 28 March(10) | Conventional |
(10) Exact dates subject to confirmation following the Chancellor's decision on the Budgetary timetable.
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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Welsh and Scottish Universities
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what incentives for collaboration between business and universities are to be offered to Welsh and Scottish universities. [121664]
Ms Hewitt: In addition to support from the devolved Administrations, Scotland and Wales also benefit from the LINK programme that supports collaborative R&D projects involving HEIs and business, and from the TCS Programme which supports high quality graduates working in companies, normally for two years, on technology transfer projects central to the needs of participating companies. In addition, institutions in both Scotland and Wales are eligible to participate in Science Enterprise Challenge and University Challenge.
The Government intend to publish a Science and Innovation White Paper following the Spending Review 2000. Among other things, it will consider how we can further promote university-industry collaboration, and how we might better encourage our scientists, engineers and business people to take full advantage of the UK's expertise in science and technology, to create wealth and improve the quality of our lives.
Assisted Areas Map (Angus)
Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures he will take to offset the losses to Angus if the revised assisted area boundaries proposals are introduced. [123576]
Mr. Caborn: None. Local economic development is a matter for the Scottish Executive.
Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what analysis he has made of the impact on the local economy of the loss of assisted area status to the four Angus wards. [123577]
Mr. Caborn: The needs of all areas including Angus were considered in drawing the revised assisted area proposals.
Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reason the four Angus wards were included on the original assisted area map submitted in July 1999; and what economic factors have changed in the meantime to form the basis for their exclusion from the revised map. [123579]
Mr. Caborn: The exclusion of the four Angus wards from the revised assisted areas proposals did not reflect a change in the needs of those wards but rather was a consequence of changes made to meet the European Commission's concerns about our July proposals.
ECGD
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what is the total sum of (a) premiums received by the Export Credits Guarantee Department and (b) claims paid out by the ECGD for each of the last 10 years in respect of defence exports; [124659]
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- (2) what was the net cast outflow from the Export Credits Guarantee Department attributable to defence exports, broken down by (a) cost of interest rate support, (b) claims paid, (c) interest paid and (d) operating expenses, for each of the last 10 years. [124661]
Mr. Caborn: The following table details Claims Paid and Premium Earned in request of Defence related business in each of the last ten Financial Years. The cost of Interest Rate supported has been estimated on the proportion of ECGD credit business constituted by defence related business. For completeness the table also includes details of recoveries of claims on defence related business.
| Year | Premium Earned | Claims Paid | Estimate of Interest Rate support | Recoveries received |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990-91 | 16 | 79 | 81 | 3 |
| 1991-92 | 11 | 79 | 2 | 24 |
| 1992-93 | 44 | 94 | 26 | 21 |
| 1993-94 | 38 | 83 | -7 | 9 |
| 1994-95 | 16 | 92 | -1 | 17 |
| 1995-96 | 23 | 90 | 2 | 28 |
| 1996-97 | 8 | 50 | 1 | 2 |
| 1997-98 | 12 | 39 | 4 | 3 |
| 1998-99 | 18 | 31 | 3 | 6 |
| 1999-2000 | 27 | 152 | 1 | 9 |
| Total | 213 | 789 | 112 | 122 |
As for the further information my hon. Friend requests, I am afraid ECGD does not hold its records on a basis which would enable it to provide the level of details he has requested. It would involve disproportionate cost to produce it.
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