Supplementary questions from the Environmental
Audit Committee to HM Treasury
CLIMATE CHANGE
LEVY
1. What progress has the Government made
on its negotiations with the European Commission over the possible
treatment of rebates as state aid? Could the Government also provide
details of the scope and timetable of the EC review of this area?
2. Mr Timms did not have a figure for the
value in the first year of the £100 million enhanced capital
allowances in resource accounting terms (Q94). Can he now provide
this figure, together with the assumptions used to calculate it?
PESTICIDES
3. The BAA (now the Crop Protection Association)
have now released their full proposals for consultation. Are there
any Government documents relating to the consultation? Could we
also have a copy of the proposals submitted to the Government
by the BAA in January?
4. How will the Government proceed after
the close of the consultation, and when will it announce its decision
on whether to proceed with voluntary proposals or a tax?
5. What criteria will the Government use
to assess the benefits of the voluntary proposals against those
of a tax?
AGGREGATES
6. Now that Mr Timms has had the opportunity
to read the QPA memorandum, how does he respond to their criticisms?
7. The Government proposes to finance the
Sustainability Fund by hypothecating any revenue from the tax
which is in excess of the cost of cutting NI contributions.
(a) Will the Treasury confirm that the cost
of cutting NI contributions by 0.1 per cent in 2002-03 will be
£350 million (Q61)?
(b) Given our understanding that the demand
for primary aggregates fell to 208 million tonnes in 1999, can
the Treasury set out how the figure of £385 million in table
A13 of the Budget report has been calculated?
(c) What will be the implications for the
proposed Sustainability Fund if tax revenues do not exceed the
cost of the NI cut?
OTHER ISSUES
Environmental appraisals
8. In its reply to the Committee's Eighth
Report 1998-1999 (see the Committee's Fourth Report, 1999-2000,
HC76-I, Appendix 1 conclusion (i)), the Government stated that
it "would expect to publish an ex post evaluation of its
existing environmental tax measures on an annual basis, to complement
the appraisal data for proposed new or amended measures which
are already included in the budget." What is the timetable
for implementing this measure? Will ex post evaluation data be
included in the table of estimated environmental impacts on an
outturn/estimate basis?
VAT on energy saving materials
9. Mr Timms promised to supply detail both
on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation research project and also on
the Commission's change of policy (Q21). The Committee would appreciate
receiving this information.
10. Mr Timms stated that the Paymaster General
had written to Commissioner Bolkenstein on 21 March to press the
case for a reduced rate of VAT for DIY energy saving materials.
What progress has been made since then?
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