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Inheritance Tax

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the revenue yield of (a) reducing the value below which inheritance tax is not levied by (i) £10,000 and (ii) £20,000 and (b) restricting the value of the personal allowance to (1) the basic rate and (2) 10 per cent. [146250]

Dawn Primarolo: The revenue yield from reducing the value above which inheritance tax would otherwise be levied can be estimated, for increases or decreases of this order of magnitude, from Table 5 of the Tax Ready Reckoner. The Tax Ready Reckoner, November 2000, is in the House of Commons Library.

There is no personal allowance for inheritance tax but the cost of the threshold, below which no tax is paid, is given in Table 7 of the Tax Ready Reckoner.

All-employee Share Ownership Scheme

Helen Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many companies have taken up the new all-employee share ownership scheme; and if he will make a statement. [150095]

Mr. Timms: The all-employee share ownership plan was introduced last year when Royal Assent was given to the Finance Bill 2000. Companies have been going live with their plans since September 2000.

In the first six months, 262 companies have sent in plans to the Inland Revenue.

Government Expenditure

Mr. Jack: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 8 February 2000, Official Report, column 681W, if items described as Government spending can simultaneously be described as Government investment. [150186]

Mr. Andrew Smith: The Government's main measure of public expenditure is Total Managed Expenditure (TME). TME is described in chapters 1 and 4 of Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis 2000-01 (Cm 4601).

Opposition Policies (Costings)

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 24 January 2001, Official Report, columns 647-48W, on opposition policies, (1) on what occasions the Treasury has initiated such costings; and if he will make a statement; [147952]

(2) on what occasions since January 2000 the Treasury has been consulted by other departments on the costings of opposition party policies. [147953]

Mr. Andrew Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 January. The Treasury and other Departments have from time to time costed Opposition policies, and this will have involved discussions between the Treasury and other Departments. The procedure followed is consistent with the principles and practice established by previous Administrations.

14 Feb 2001 : Column: 184W

CABINET OFFICE

Correspondence

3. Mr. Ian Bruce: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress her office has made in encouraging Ministers to reply to letters from hon. Members more quickly. [148767]

Mr. Stringer: All Departments are working hard to improve their handling of hon. Members' correspondence. We are currently collating information on the performance of Departments during the 2000 calendar year and will report back to the House in due course.

Drugs (Young People)

10. Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will make a statement on her Department's response to recent developments in drugs misuse among young people. [148774]

Marjorie Mowlam: The Government's Anti-Drugs Strategy has set a challenging target of halving the numbers of young people using illegal drugs by 2008, and we will back this by increasing spending in this area to £120 million by 2003-04.

In south Cheshire, research from John Moores University on young people's drug use in the area is under way, which will provide a local baseline and identify gaps in provision.

Public Sector Team

11. Mr. Rooney: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will make a statement on the work of the public sector team. [148775]

Mr. Stringer: The public sector team was set up within the Cabinet Offices's Regulatory Impact Unit in November 1999. Its broad remit is to reduce bureaucracy and red tape in the public sector.

In little over a year the team has, in partnership with relevant Government Departments and other stakeholders, taken action to reduce the paperwork burden on the police and head teachers. The estimated savings are 187,000 hours of police time every year, which is equivalent to 100 police officers' standard working hours--employing that many additional officers would cost around £5.5 million; and 4.5 million hours per year across the whole schools system. This equates to over 200 hours every year for a typical school.

The team will shortly be publishing the interim outcomes of its project on reducing GP paperwork.

Drugs Trade

13. Mr. Wilkinson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she has met Government Ministers from south American countries to co-ordinate international anti-drug policies. [148778]

Marjorie Mowlam: The United Kingdom is active throughout Latin America in supporting the efforts that countries there are making to combat drugs and poverty.

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Last year I visited Colombia and Brazil where I discussed with the Presidents of both countries how we can help in addressing the problems of illicit drug production and trafficking in these countries.

The UK also plays an active role in the EU/Latin America/Caribbean Action Plan on Drugs and Co-ordination and Co-operation Mechanism.

17. Helen Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress is being made in international efforts to combat the drugs trade. [148785]

Marjorie Mowlam: The UK is active in international forums, including the UN, G8 and EU, to strengthen the global framework for tackling illicit drugs trafficking. In the year 2000 we were the third largest donor to the United Nations International Drug Control Programme. Ministers and the UK Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator have also been active in supporting anti-drugs efforts in some of the countries which have the most serious problems with the production or transit of illegal drugs.

Progress is being seen in increased seizures of heroin and cocaine en-route to the UK/EU, and increased disruption of criminal groups involved in trafficking.

Drug Use

14. Mr. Pike: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what new steps are under consideration in the Government's campaign to combat drug misuse. [148781]

Mr. Ian McCartney: The Government's future proposals for tackling drug misuse are outlined in the UK Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator's second national plan, published last year.

Measures include:

Internationally:

to support international partners by disrupting production and trafficking of illegal drugs to reduce the availability of controlled drugs entering the UK

Nationally:

to establish the National Treatment Agency from 1 April 2001 to ensure delivery of high quality treatment services across the country

from spring 2001 to pilot three sites for extending drug testing across the criminal justice system to complement the existing Arrest Referral Schemes and Drug Treatment and Testing Orders.

Locally:

we are reorganising the Drug Action Teams (DATs) in England to align with local authority boundaries.

The drugs strategy is underpinned by forward expenditure of up to £1 billion by 2003-04 as part of the Spending Review 2000.

16. Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will make a statement on the progress of the Government's anti-drugs policy. [148784]

Mr. Ian McCartney: The Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator published his annual report for 1999-2000 on 7 November 2000.

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The report shows that we are making progress towards meeting the challenging targets we have set as part of our 10-year anti-drugs strategy. Most of our annual targets were met in full and we are on track to deliver published targets for 2002.

On the Wirral there have been considerable improvements in the treatment services available to drug users, including a significant reduction in waiting lists for treatment. In recent months a needs assessment of the need of young people has been completed and a plan of action is being developed to meet the gaps in provision identified in the report. People needing advice and other assistance because of their drug use are likely to approach the Response Service based in Birkenhead, Wirral Drug Services, which includes a specialist service for young people and/or the Wirral Solvent Misuse Project.

23. Shona McIsaac: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will make a statement on the progress of the Government's anti-drugs policy. [148792]

Mr. Ian McCartney: The Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator published his annual report for 1999-2000 on 7 November 2000.

The report shows that we are making progress towards meeting the challenging targets we have set as part our 10-year anti-drugs strategy. Most of our annual targets were met in full and we are on track to deliver published targets for 2002.

Within the Cleethorpes area, a number of initiatives are in place which address the needs of young people and drug misuse. These include training programmes for professionals working with young people; advice and information offered as part of a 'Nightclub' project; and a young people's conference to address drugs issues.

24. Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the impact of the Government's national drugs strategy has been in (a) Slough and (b) other towns on the periphery of London. [148793]

Mr. Ian McCartney: We are making good progress nationwide in all areas of the Government's anti-drugs strategy as reported in the UK Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator's annual report for 1999-2000, published on 7 November 2000. Effective delivery of the strategy at local level is essential if we are to succeed. In support of this, we are realigning Drug Action Teams along local authority boundaries. This means that Slough now has its own DAT. This should help address local priorities such as outreach services for young misusers; and develop better links with other outer-London Boroughs, which are far more similar in terms of drug and social exclusion issues, than the majority of Berkshire.

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