---

PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL

People's Peers

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council what the value was of the interview expenses of applicants for a people's peerage; and how many applicants declined to be reimbursed. [151201]

Mrs. Beckett: All nominees invited for interview will be offered full reimbursement for expenses they incur, although overall costs are not available yet.

I understand, however, that no nominee has stated that he or she will decline reimbursement.

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council if she will make it her policy for the application forms of applicants for a people's peerage in future rounds to be deposited in the Library. [151218]

28 Feb 2001 : Column: 714W

Mrs. Beckett: No. People should be able to make an application to the Appointments Commission in confidence.

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council if those selected as people's peers are expected to be broadly representative of the social class and educational background of the population of the United Kingdom. [151203]

Mrs. Beckett: The Government hope that the new method of selecting non-political peers will increase the extent to which the House of Lords is representative of the country as a whole.

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council if she will make it her policy to require the House of Lords Appointments Commission to consider and invite for interview applicants for a people's peerage who are or were engaged in a manual occupation. [151204]

Mrs. Beckett: No. The Appointments Commission should make its nominations on the overall criteria set out in its application process.

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council if she will make it her policy to require the House of Lords Appointments Commission to request details from applicants for a people's peerage of how many domestic properties they own. [151217]

Mrs. Beckett: No.

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council if she will make it her policy to require the House of Lords Appointments Commission to include in its recommendations for people's peerages, in the next round of applications, individuals who live in council or social housing. [151219]

Mrs. Beckett: No.

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council if she will list the first part of the postcodes of (a) applicants for a people's peerage and (b) those invited to interview. [151202]

Mrs. Beckett: The Appointments Commission made it clear to applicants that their applications would be treated in confidence.

However, the Commission's website shows the following regional breakdown of applications:

Region	Percentage of applicants	Percentage of population
South West	9	8
South East	18	14
East Anglia	6	9
London	27	12
East Midlands	6	7
West Midlands	6	9
Wales	4	5
North West	9	12
Yorkshire	4	8
North East	3	4
Scotland	5	9
Northern Ireland	2	3
Other	1	--

28 Feb 2001 : Column: 715W

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council if she will make it her policy to require the House of Lords Appointments Commission to give to rejected applicants for the people's peerage the reasons for their rejection if so requested. [151200]

Mrs. Beckett: No. As stated in the information pack, the Commission does not undertake to provide reasons as to why a nomination has been unsuccessful but it has made clear that nominations will be assessed fairly and consistently against its stated criteria.

Ministerial Visits (Peterborough)

Sir Brian Mawhinney: To ask the President of the Council if she will list the Ministers in her Department who visited any of the constituencies which are in the Peterborough Unitary Authority area between 1 January 2000 and 14 February 2001, indicating in each case (a) the date of the visit, (b) the constituencies included in the visit and (c) if the local hon. Member met the Minister. [151032]

Mrs. Beckett [holding answer 26 February 2001]: The information requested is as follows.

I have made no such visits to the Unitary Authority.

My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Privy Council Office: (a) undertook two engagements on Monday 5 February 2001 to constituencies within the Peterborough Unitary Authority. The MPs for both these constituencies were forewarned; (b) undertook one political engagement to the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Mrs. Brinton) and one official engagement to the constituency of the hon. Member for North-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Moss); (c) met my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Mrs. Brinton).

SCOTLAND

Eurozone

Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent advice she has given to the Prime Minister regarding the readiness of the Scottish economy for the entry into the eurozone. [145644]

28 Feb 2001 : Column: 716W

Mrs. Liddell: I have regular discussions with my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on a wide range of issues. The determining factor underpinning any Government decision is whether the economic case for the UK joining the single currency is clear and unambiguous. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor has clearly set out the Five Economic Tests, which must be met before any decision to join can be taken. The Government will make another assessment of the Five Economic Tests early in the next Parliament. The Five Tests will assess the economic case for entry of the whole of the UK, including Scotland.

Vehicle Fuel Duties

Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will make a statement on the impact of the vehicle fuel duties on the rural economy in Scotland. [145640]

Mrs. Liddell: Vehicle fuel duty is only one of many factors that have an impact on Scotland's rural economy and needs to be seen in the context of overall UK fiscal policy. The measures announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his pre-Budget report to reduce fuel duties for cleaner fuels and vehicle excise duty will benefit all Scottish motorists and bring significant financial benefits to Scotland's economy. In particular, the abolition of Vehicle Excise Duty for Tractors and agricultural vehicles will benefit up to 20,000 agricultural producers in Scotland.

Independent research commissioned by my Department has shown that the level of taxation paid by private motorists in Scotland is lower than in other European countries such as Netherlands, Finland, Ireland and Portugal. The average Scottish driver pays £1,000 a year less than in Denmark.

Minimum Income Guarantee

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many pensioners in Glasgow, Pollok are now receiving the Minimum Income Guarantee. [147870]

Mr. Foulkes: In August 2000, there were around 3,400 recipients of the Minimum Income Guarantee in Glasgow, Pollok.

Prisoners

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) men and (b) women were serving a life prison sentence for murder in Scotland on 1 February. [150448]

Mrs. Liddell: This is a devolved mater and is therefore the responsibility of the Scottish Executive.

---

---