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TREASURY
Pensions Annuities
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what statutory provisions govern the type of securities which underpin private pension annuities; and what plans he has to review those provisions. [102446]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 13 December 1999]: The Insurance Companies Act 1982 and associated regulations require insurance companies to maintain appropriate assets to match their liabilities. Companies base their decisions on asset allocation on advice from their appointed actuaries. In practice, this usually means that annuity liabilities are matched by high quality longer term and low-risk, near cash instruments, often gilt- edged securities.
Citizens Panel
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the questions submitted by his Department for inclusion in the next wave of questions for the Cabinet Office's Citizens Panel. [102322]
Miss Melanie Johnson
[holding answer 13 December 1999]: Questions to help judge the responsiveness of services to consumers are under consideration for the People's Panel. To ensure the representativeness of the survey, questions are not published in advance. However, my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office, will write to the hon. Member with
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the relevant questions once the fieldwork is complete. Questions are made public when the results are published and copies will be placed in the House of Commons Library at that point.
Mrs. Lawrence:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to change the overall 1999-2000 Departmental Expenditure Limit for expenditure financed by the Windfall Tax. [102903]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
The overall Departmental Expenditure Limit for expenditure financed by the Windfall tax will be increased by £43,454,000 from £1,491,839,000 to £1,535,293,000. The increase is the effect of the take up of end year flexibility entitlements announced by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 27 July 1999, Official Report, column 393W, by the Department for Education and Employment (£38,654,000); the Prison Service (£173,000); the Department of Social Security (£3,378,000); the Scottish Executive (£460,000) and the National Assembly for Wales (£789,000).
The individual elements of the increase have already been announced but the impact on the overall limit has not. The increases will be charged to the Reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.
Mrs. Lawrence:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to publish a report on UK operations at the International Monetary Fund. [102986]
Mr. Gordon Brown:
I am today publishing the first Annual Report to Parliament on UK operations at the IMF. Copies are available in the Library of the House.
Mr. Todd:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what analysis his Department has made of the potential impact on Government revenues of a reduction in the duty on beer. [102825]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
The potential impact on Government revenues of a change in beer duty is shown in Table 6 of the Tax Ready Reckoner and Tax Reliefs, published by HM Treasury in November of this year.
Mr. David Davis:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have put in place for the taking and keeping of minutes of meetings between Ministers and people outside his Department. [102375]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
Records are kept of meetings attended by Treasury Ministers as the occasions demand.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will hold a further consultation with the Professional Contractors Group over the proposed change in the definition of employment status. [102764]
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Dawn Primarolo:
I met representatives of the Professional Contractors Group on 9 December. We have no plans to change the definition of employment status.
Mr. Ruane:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families will benefit from the working families tax credit by constituency. [102591]
Dawn Primarolo:
Reliable estimates for the numbers in receipt of the Working Families' Tax Credit by constituency are not yet available.
Mr. Ruane:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many teenage pregnancies there were in each constituency in each of the past 10 years. [102616]
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. Chris Ruane, dated 14 December 1999:
Sir Michael Spicer:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the projected costs of the Financial Services Authority for the financial years (a) 1999-2000 and (b) 2000-01. [102753]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
Full details for 1999-2000 are available in the Plan and Budget published by the FSA in February, copies of which are available in the Library. The budget for 2000-2001, with revised estimates for costs for 1999-2000, will be published by the FSA early in February 2000.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for each of the buildings under his Department's control how many rooms are set aside for (a) ethnic minority religious use, (b) pregnant and nursing mothers and (c) smokers. [102327]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
This information is not held centrally for the buildings under the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Departments. It could therefore be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Sir Teddy Taylor:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the expenditure by the EU and by member states of that organisation in subsidising the export of food to nations outwith the EU in the most recent year for which such figures are available. [102630]
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Ms Quin:
In the 1998 budget year expenditure on export refunds under the Common Agricultural Policy to non-EU countries was 4.8 billion ecu. This was from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, there being no expenditure by individual member states on export refunds.
Mr. Paul Marsden:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he plans to lift the beef on the bone ban. [101126]
Ms Quin:
I refer my hon. Friend to my right hon. Friend the Minister's statement to the House on 30 November 1999, Official Report, column 151W. Subject to the outcome of the statutory consultation now under way, and Parliamentary approval of the necessary legislative changes, it is the Government's intention to lift the retail ban on beef on the bone with effect from Friday 17 December. A copy of the consultation package is available in the Library of the House.
Mr. Robertson:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate how much will be paid to British farmers in 1999-2000 in support of their incomes by (a) the European Union and (b) the British Government; and if he will make a statement. [102223]
Ms Quin
[holding answer 13 December 1999]: Forecast figures for 1999-2000 are unavailable. "Agriculture in the UK 1999", which will show estimates of payments to farmers in 1999, will be published on 16 March 2000.
Mr. Robertson:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions he has had with European Union agriculture ministers about the level of regulation of farm assured schemes; what assessment he has made of the extent to which rules governing such schemes are being followed in other EU member states; and if he will make a statement. [102221]
Ms Quin
[holding answer 13 December 1999]: None. Assurance schemes are framed by industry in the light of local circumstances.
Mr. Robertson:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what regulations exist to ensure that food labelling is not misleading (a) generally and (b) regarding content and country of origin; and if he will make a statement. [102224]
Ms Quin
[holding answer 13 December 1999]: (a) The Food Safety Act 1990 makes it an offence for anyone selling a food product to describe it in a way which is false or likely to mislead the consumer as to its nature, substance or quality. It is also an offence under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 for a product to carry a false or misleading description.
(b) The Food Labelling Regulations 1996 (as amended) require labels to contain quite detailed information about the product, including its name and a list of ingredients.
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Place of origin marking is required where failure to provide it may mislead the purchaser as to the product's true origin.
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on teenage pregnancies by constituency.
The information requested would only be available at a disproportionate cost. Figures for health authority areas are published annually.
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