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TREASURY
EU Trade-related Agreements
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in what ways eligible third country exporters and producers will benefit from their participation in the import preferences granted their products under the EU's preferential trade-related agreements. [133750]
Dawn Primarolo: The EC's preferential trade agreements offer nil or much reduced rates of duty to qualifying products.
EC-Israel Trade Agreement
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of a failure to collect applicable duties on goods produced in Israeli settlements on their competitiveness in EU markets; and what impact the loss of customs revenues to the (a) Community and (b) UK Exchequer will have on (i) export sales and (ii) export pricing power for the settlement-based producers of those goods. [133710]
Dawn Primarolo: No such assessment has been made.
UK Customs are unable to forecast the impact on any overseas exporter where a potential loss of Community or UK Exchequer customs revenue arises.
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 17 July 2000, Official Report, column 95W, and 1 March 2000, Official Report, column 267W, on the EC-Israel Trade Agreement, if the importation under preferences of goods produced in Israeli settlements reduces their landed cost in the EU; and what financial resources that should accrue to the Community and the UK treasuries thereby accrue to the operators engaged in the production and trade in such goods. [133751]
Dawn Primarolo: The UK is not aware of any circumstances in which financial resources which should accrue to the Community and the UK Treasury would accrue to exporters from Israeli Settlements.
Euro
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the Euro Made Easy programme of DGX of the European Commission; if a report has been submitted to the Council on the programme; and if he will make a statement. [134208]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Commission's 'Euro Made Easy' programme aims to produce information on the euro for those people who do not have easy access to traditional information flows.
I understand from the Commission that to date they have not submitted a report to the Council on this programme.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for how long sterling has maintained stability within the exchange rate mechanism bandwidth vis-a-vis the euro. [134209]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The UK does not participate in the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM).
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Private Sector Secondments
Dr. Brand: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the private sector companies from which secondments have been made to his Department since June 1997. [133873]
Miss Melanie Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Mr. Willis) on 27 March 2000, Official Report, column 47W. Since that reply, the Department has engaged staff on secondment from Freshfields and Financial Services Authority.
Tax Arrears
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what powers of discretion the Paymaster General has over the payment of tax arrears. [133926]
Dawn Primarolo: Treasury Ministers do not intervene personally in the Revenue Departments' application of the tax law or their handling of particular cases. The Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise are independent from Treasury Ministers in administering the tax system and have specific statutory authority for care and management of the various taxes, under which they exercise discretion over the payment of tax arrears, subject to their fundamental responsibility for collecting the tax due.
Business Failures
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of (a) the number of businesses which failed in 1999 due to a tax demand from the Inland Revenue and (b) the cost of these failures to the Exchequer. [133885]
Dawn Primarolo: In the financial year ended 31 March 2000 the Inland Revenue's Enforcement Office obtained Bankruptcy and Winding-up orders in 2,219
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cases. This represents around 5 per cent. of the total number of insolvencies in England and Wales in the same period.
Insolvency proceedings are taken only as a last resort by the Inland Revenue, after all other attempts to secure settlement or negotiate acceptable proposals for payment have failed. In considering such action they try to ensure a balance between the need to collect tax that is due, maintaining a level playing field for other businesses who pay on time, and a proper concern for the taxpayer to stay in business or earn enough to keep going.
Reports
Mr. Stunell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the reports submitted to his Department, by bodies that were created after May 1997 and that include significant and plural membership from outside the Civil Service, stating in each case the body writing the report, the date the report was submitted, how many recommendations were made, the number of those recommendations that have been implemented to date and the number of recommendations that have been rejected; and if he will make a statement. [133557]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Detailed information on reports submitted by each body, including the number of recommendations made; implemented and rejected, is not held centrally and could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
Ministerial Directions
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer concerning Ministerial Directions of 24 July 2000, Official Report, column 483W, if he will place full details of each Ministerial Direction of which the Treasury has been informed in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [133366]
Mr. Andrew Smith: Further to my answer of 24 July 2000, OfficialReport, column 483W, information on the Ministerial Directions referred to in that answer is as set out below.
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Note:
The number of Directions in 1999 notified to the Treasury was four, and not five as indicated in my earlier answer. In addition, a Ministerial Direction was made and notified to the Treasury after the hon. Member asked his question and this has been added to the table.
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23 Oct 2000 : Column: 75W
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