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Wembley Stadium

Mr. Greenway: To ask the Prime Minister what representations he has received from the Football Association for Government funding for the redevelopment of Wembley Stadium. [160274]

The Prime Minister: The Football Association informed the Government that it was unable to secure the necessary private-sector investment to proceed with the Wembley project, and sought discussions on future options. This work is now under way.

Entertainment Budgets

Mr. Evans: To ask the Prime Minister what the entertainment budget was for Number 10 Downing street in each of the years from 1997 to date. [160097]

The Prime Minister: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr. Gibb) on 17 January 2000, Official Report, column 268W.

The total cost to my office of official entertainment at 10 Downing street and Chequers was:

£

Year	Cost
1999-2000	60,652
2000-01(16)	72,790

⁽¹⁶⁾ This figure is given on a cash accounting basis

Costs vary depending on the nature of events as they did under previous Administrations.

The programme of events at No. 10 is designed to give access to as many people as possible and includes regular children's tea parties and receptions for a wide cross section of the community. In the past year these have included events for teachers, doctors, members of the emergency services and victims of the floods.

Over the past year, to discuss developments in the business world, I have hosted more working breakfasts than in the previous year. I also jointly hosted a reception for 800 people to mark the outstanding performance of British athletes at the 2000 Olympics.

Ministerial Correspondence

Mr. Baker: To ask the Prime Minister how he applied the rules governing disclosure of ministerial correspondence to requests for disclosure of the letter he received from the Countess of Wessex. [160639]

8 May 2001 : Column: 50W

The Prime Minister: Under section 3 of Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information it is not our practice to comment on whether there has been or has not been correspondence between the Royal Household and Ministers.

Correspondence

Sir Brian Mawhinney: To ask the Prime Minister when he will reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire of 22 March. [160335]

The Prime Minister: My right hon. Friend the President of the Council replied on my behalf on 4 May.

Missile Defence

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister on how many occasions he has been contacted by President Bush on missile defence systems; and what response he gave. [160536]

The Prime Minister: I am in regular contact with President Bush on a range of issues including policy on missile defence. We have not discussed specific systems.

TREASURY

Cancer Survival Rates

Mr. Quentin Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the proportion of patients who, having been diagnosed with (a) lung cancer, (b) bowel cancer, (c) breast cancer, (d) cervical cancer and (e) prostate cancer survive for five years; and what the comparable figures are for (i) France, (ii) Germany, (iii) Sweden and (iv) the USA. [160240]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Quentin Davies, dated 8 May 2001:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the five year survival rates are for (a) lung, (b) bowel, (c) breast, (d) cervical, and (d) prostate cancer, and what the comparable figures are for (i) France, (ii) Germany, (iii) Sweden, and (iv) the USA. (160240)

The latest available five-year survival rates for England are for cases diagnosed in the three year period 1992-94 and followed up to 31st December 1999. Data for eight common cancers including (a) lung, (b) colon, (c) female breast, (d) cervical, and (e) prostate cancer are available on the National Statistics website, www.statistics.co.uk, under "Health and Care". (Figures for (a) and (b) are presented for males and females separately).

Survival from cancers of the colon and rectum, which together form the large bowel, are similar. Hence figures for colon alone are included in the presentation of survival in eight common cancers on the National Statistics website for patients diagnosed in 1992-94. Survival from cancer of the rectum for patients diagnosed in 1991-93 in England and Wales was published in the summer 2000 edition of Health Statistics Quarterly (number 6).

Five-year survival data for the USA can also be found on the National Statistics website, at the address shown above, for patients diagnosed during 1986-90 and followed up to 31st December 1995 for equivalent sites.

8 May 2001 : Column: 51W

Comparable data for France, Germany and Sweden are published in Berrino F, Sant M, Verdecchia A, Capocaccia R (eds). Survival of cancer patients in Europe-the EUROCARE study II. IARC Scientific Publications No.151. Lyons: International Agency for Research on Cancer, 1999, a copy of which is in the House of Commons library.

Ultra-low Sulphur Diesel

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to promote the use of (a) LPG, (b) ultra-low sulphur petrol and (c) ultra-low sulphur diesel in rural areas. [160347]

Mr. Timms: The Budget day reductions in excise duty on all these fuels were designed to encourage the widespread use of more environmentally friendly road fuels throughout the UK.

Government Spending

Mr. Love: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of gross domestic product central Government spent on (a) education, (b) health, (c) housing and (d) social housing (A) in each year since 1979 and (B) as projected to the end of the current spending review period. [159690]

Mr. Andrew Smith [holding answer 30 April 2001]: The information requested is available in Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA) 2001-02 (Cm5101), tables 3.4 and 3.5. Some series are only published in cash terms, a long run series for money GDP is available from the ONS.

Expenditure is planned on a departmental basis, not a functional basis, and spending plans for expenditure on health, housing, and on social housing are not available on a consistent basis. Forward projections for education spending in cash terms are published in PESA 2001-02 table 1.2.

A consistent long run functional series for central Government expenditure is not currently available--the references are based on total expenditure.

Retirement Flats (VAT)

Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the average cost to residents of retirement flats of the imposition of VAT on service charges. [158954]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 26 April 2001]: Service charges to residents of retirement flats are exempt from VAT.

Credit Unions

Mr. Gareth R. Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what further action he is taking to establish a central support organisation for credit unions; and if he will make a statement. [160279]

Miss Melanie Johnson: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him on 14 March 2001, Official Report, column 654W.

Beer Duty

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many written representations he has received from the hon. Member for Lewes (Mr. Baker) asking for the introduction of progressive beer duty. [160199]

8 May 2001 : Column: 52W

Mr. Timms: The hon. Member for Lewes (Mr. Baker) was a signatory to an early-day motion on progressive beer duty in 1998, but I have received no more recent representations from him on this subject.

Insurance Brokers (Registration) Act

Mr. Greenway: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements have been made to provide continuing access to compensation under the Insurance Brokers Registration Council "Grants and Indemnity Scheme" for general insurance losses incurred by the clients of registered insurance brokers, following the repeal of the Insurance Brokers (Registration) Act 1977 on 30 April. [R] [160599]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The grants scheme was entirely discretionary. But the IBRC had a public law duty to consider reasonably claims that it received under the scheme. The general public law duty does not form a liability that has now transferred to the Treasury under the Insurance Brokers Registration Council Dissolution Order (SI/2001/1283). Nevertheless, the Treasury will consider reasonably claims relating to activities prior to the IBRC's dissolution.

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