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Assets Sales

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will update his estimate of proceeds from the sale of fixed assets contained in table C15 of the Financial Statement and Budget Report 2001; what estimate he has made of the outstanding stock of assets in the public sector; and if he will make a statement. [4456]

Mr. Andrew Smith: Updated information about proceeds of asset sales is contained in table 3.8 of Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2001–02. The estimated outturn for asset sales in 2000–01 is £4,552 million.

The National Asset Register, which is being published today, will set out comprehensive information about the outstanding stock of assets in the public sector.

Single Currency

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of the euro:sterling exchange rate on exports to the European Union since 1997; and what his policy is on the exchange rate. [4633]

Ruth Kelly: In the three months to April 2001 exports of goods to the European Union were 25 per cent. higher than in the same period in 1997.

Stability-orientated policies based on low inflation and sound public finances will deliver a stable and competitive exchange rate over the medium term.

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assumptions his Department will make on the level and evolution of the exchange rate for the purposes of the (a) preliminary technical work on the assessment of the five economic tests on the euro and (b) assessment of the economic tests. [4639]

Ruth Kelly: The Government have said that the Treasury will complete an assessment of the Five Tests within the start of this Parliament. Before any assessment is started, we must, of course, continue to do the necessary preliminary work for our analysis—technical work that is necessary to allow us to undertake the assessment within two years.

Public Services

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his planned level of spending on public services will be over the next three years. [3322]

Mr. Andrew Smith: The Government's forward plans for public spending up to 2003–04 are set out in the 2000 Spending Review, "Prudent for a Purpose: building

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opportunity and security for all", published in July 2000 as Command Paper 4807. The 2002 Spending Review, which will conclude in the summer of 2002, will roll forward existing spending plans and set budgets and outcome targets for Departments up to 2005–06.

Landlords

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of landlords who benefit from the Rent a Room scheme; and if he will make a statement. [4453]

Dawn Primarolo: The number of landlords who benefit from the Rent a Room scheme is not known because many of those landlords do not have to complete a self-assessment tax return. For the purposes of estimating the costs of the scheme, published in Table 1.5 of Inland Revenue Statistics, the Revenue tentatively estimates that around 150,000 landlords may benefit.

Self-assessment (Internet)

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individual taxpayers who file self-assessment tax returns have registered for the Inland Revenue service for filing tax returns on the internet in each month since the service became available; and if he will make a statement. [4457]

Dawn Primarolo: Since the registration service became available on 3 April 2000, 146,397 individual taxpayers who file self-assessment tax returns have registered for the Inland Revenue service for filing tax returns over the internet. The number of registrations in each month were:

Month	Registrations	Cumulative total
April 2000	32,937	32,937
May 2000	14,877	47,814
June 2000	10,677	58,491
July 2000	11,703	70,194
August 2000	11,700	81,894
September 2000	16,557	98,451
October 2000	2,736	101,187
November 2000	1,697	102,884
December 2000	2,902	105,786
January 2001	14,162	119,948
February 2001	595	120,543
March 2001	522	121,065
April 2001	13,485	134,550
May 2001	5,208	139,758
June 2001	4,021	143,779
July 2001 to 16 July 2001	2,618	146,397

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of (a) the fixed cost and (b) the marginal cost of providing self- assessment tax returns on the internet; and if he will make a statement. [4458]

Dawn Primarolo: The estimated cost of implementing the internet service for self-assessment for years one and two is just under £10 million. The ongoing support cost, including maintenance, help desk support and ongoing improvements to the system is around £3 million per annum.

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Drug Trafficking

Mr. Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the policy is of HM Customs and Excise in relation to targeted investigations of major cannabis trafficking into the UK; and if he will make a statement. [4733]

Mr. Boateng: HM Customs and Excise's task, with partners at home and abroad, is to reduce the availability of all prohibited drugs in the UK.

Correspondence

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton can expect a reply to his letter dated 12 June to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury with regard to Mrs. Denise Southworth. [4502]

Mr. Boateng: I have already done so.

National Statistics Annual Report

Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the National Statistics annual report for 2000–01 to be published. [6185]

Ruth Kelly: The National Statistics annual report for 2000–01, which provides a comprehensive report on the opening year of National Statistics, is being published today. The report has been laid before Parliament and copies are available in the Libraries of both Houses.

National Statistics was launched on 7 June 2000, with the overall aim of providing an up-to-date, comprehensive and meaningful description of the UK economy and society. It provides a focus for the work of the Government Statistical Services (GSS), the major provider of official statistics in the UK, with a renewed emphasis on quality, independence and coherence of outputs, to deliver a trusted statistical service for users.

Framework Document for National Savings

Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will publish a revised Framework Document for National Savings. [6347]

Ruth Kelly: I have today arranged for copies of National Savings' revised Framework Document to be published and for copies to be placed in the Library. A copy has also been placed on the agency's website.

It is part of the usual arrangements for Next Steps Agencies to review their operations and revise their Framework Document every three to five years. Following the completion of a review of National Savings, which was announced in July 2000, changes have been made to the agency's objectives and governance arrangements. The revised Framework document reflects these changes and sets out the relationship between National Savings, the Treasury and the Minister responsible for the delivery of its service.

ECOFIN Council

Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the outcome was of the ECOFIN Council held in Brussels on 10 July; what the Government's voting record was at the Council; and if he will make a statement. [6348]

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Mr. Gordon Brown: The Economic Secretary to the Treasury and I attended the meeting of the Economic and Finance Council of Ministers.

The Presidency set out its work programme and stressed the importance it attached to economic policy co-ordination, the introduction of euro notes and coins, and structural reform.

I made a strong appeal for the EU to be outward-looking and reformist: the priority must be to step up the momentum of structural economic reform in product, capital and labour markets rather than, for example, tax harmonisation or a new eurotax. I called for progress in areas such as R&D spending, community patent, and launching a new trade round. I also called on the EU to maximise the impact of its development programmes, and emphasised the importance of the Global Health Fund.

The Council discussed taking forward the mandates from the Gothenburg European Council. The Chair of the Economic Policy Committee set out how the EPC and other committees would take on relevant aspects of the work regarding pension reform and sustainable development.

ECOFIN endorsed the Economic and Financial Committee's report and revised Code of Conduct on the assessment of Stability and Convergence Programmes.

The Commission presented its Communication on future tax policy. No conclusions were drawn, but I stated that ECOFIN's priorities should be completing the Tax Package involving exchange of information on savings income and reaching an appropriate long-term solution to VAT on e-commerce; and made it clear that fair tax competition should be encouraged.

ECOFIN adopted a timetable for the Tax Package.

No votes were taken in the course of the meeting.

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