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Good Friday Agreement
24. Mr. Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the prospects for securing the full implementation of the Good Friday agreement; and if he will make a statement. [18117]
Dr. John Reid: The Government believe that prospects for the full implementation of the Belfast Agreement are very good following the significant progress made in recent weeks. This has included IRA decommissioning; the stabilisation of the political institutions; further normalisation; and the publication of the Criminal Justice Implementation Plan. We are committed to building on these developments to ensure steady and continued progress.
Assembly and Executive
25. Paul Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the future of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive. [18118]
Dr. John Reid: The devolved institutions are now established on a very stable basis following the successful election of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister by over 70 per cent. of the Members of the Assembly. We are committed to working to ensure their continued stability, and we will continue to encourage everyone to facilitate their full and unfettered operation in the future.
Bombing Campaign
26. Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment he has made of the capabilities of republican terrorist networks to mount a sustained bombing campaign. [18119]
Jane Kennedy: The Secretary of State continues to monitor the ceasefires of all paramilitary groups. He receives regular briefings from the Chief Constable and his senior security advisers. The decision by the IRA to decommission its weapons has led the Chief Constable to conclude there to be a reduction in the threat to enable further normalisation measures to proceed. However, we are not complacent. There remains a significant threat from dissident republican groups as evidenced by the recent bomb found in Armagh.
Republican Terrorist Groups
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the level of threat posed by dissident republican terrorist groups. [18100]
Jane Kennedy: The level of threat posed by dissident republican groups remains high. Dissidents are believed responsible for the bomb attack on Woodbourne Police Station in October. The security forces continue to frustrate their attempts to disrupt the peace process. The most recent successes are the arrests and subsequent
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charges of republicans after the discovery of a bomb in Armagh, ammunition finds in Lurgan and Moira. Anti-terrorist Branch officers also recently made a number of arrests in north London and Liverpool in connection with the bomb attacks in London and Birmingham.
Gaelic Athletic Association
Ms Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions he has had with the Gaelic Athletic Association on its change of rules to allow fixtures against teams representing the police in Northern Ireland. [18098]
Dr. John Reid: I have not had any discussions with the Gaelic Athletic Association on either matter.
TREASURY
Unemployment Count
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide a breakdown of the average monthly flow from the unemployment count of claimants aged 18 to 24 and unemployed for (a) every six months from April 1993 to May 1997 and (b) each year under the New Deal. [20461]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John Bercow, dated 5 December 2001:
- As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question regarding average monthly flow from the claimant count for people aged 18 to 24 years. (20461)
- The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics for unemployment from surveys following the internationally standard International Labour Organisation definition. ONS also compiles statistics of claimants of unemployment-related benefits. The claimant count consists of all people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or National Insurance credits at Employment Service local offices. They must declare that they are out of work, capable of, available for and actively seeking work during the week in which the claim is made.
- Information on the levels of computerised claims by age can be obtained from the Nomis database at the House of Commons Library. Computerised claims do not include clerical claims which currently make up about one per cent. of the total claimant count.
Census (Twickenham)
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the results of the 2001 census for Twickenham will be published. [20623]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from John Kidgell to Dr. Vincent Cable, dated 5 December 2001:
- The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question on when the results of the 2001 Census for Twickenham will be published. I am replying in his absence (20623).
- The target date for summary Census results—Key Statistics for local authority areas throughout England and Wales is December 2002. They will be laid before Parliament and accessible through
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- the National Statistics website at www.statistics.gov.uk. Detailed results for local authority areas and wards will be available throughout the first half of 2003.
- Census data for the Parliamentary Constituency of Twickenham are planned to be published in the second half of 2003.
- A prospectus giving more detail on publication dates will be issued at the beginning of next year and will be available on the website.
Graduate Earnings
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the average annual earnings for graduates in (a) 1999, (b) 2000 and (c) 2001. [20359]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from John Kidgell to Mr. Stephen Hepburn, dated 5 December 2001:
- The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the average annual earnings for graduates. I am replying in his absence. (20359)
- The Labour Force Survey (LFS) provides estimates of average gross weekly earnings for graduates of working age (i.e. men aged 16–64 and women aged 16–59) who have a first degree qualification or higher.
- The figures for summer (June to August) 1999, 2000 and 2001, are given in the table below.
| Average gross weekly earnings (£) | |
|---|---|
| Summer 1999 | 538 |
| Summer 2000 | 567 |
| Summer 2001 | 601 |
(1) Men aged 16–64 and women aged 16–59.
(2) The definition of full-time is based on respondents' self-assessment not on the number of hours worked
Source:
ONS Labour Force Survey
Financial Products (Quality Standards)
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he plans to take to define quality standards for retail financial products. [20207]
Ruth Kelly: The Government have already introduced benchmark standards for Individual Savings Accounts and mortgages. These standards apply to charges, access and terms, and are known as CAT standards.
In response to proposals in the March 2000 report of the Banking Review led by Don Cruickshank, the Treasury consulted on possible new CAT standards for credit cards and basic bank accounts earlier this year.
The consultation document, "Standards for retail financial products", explored the case for such standards in detail.
The Government are considering the many responses that were received.
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In the case of stakeholder pensions the Government require provider companies to comply with a set of minimum standards, which have similar aims in seeking to offer decent value to consumers.
Pre-Budget Report
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out the plans for 2000–01 on the basis of the Department's listed resource/capital distinction set out in Table B.16 of the pre-Budget report. [20291]
Mr. Andrew Smith: Spending within departmental expenditure limits for resource and capital budgets for 2000–01 was set out in the 2001 pre-Budget report (Cm 5318). Plans in resource and capital terms were last stated in table C13 of Budget 2001 (HC 279).
Cross-border Payments
Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he intends to include sterling denominated payments within the scope of the proposed regulation on cross-border payments in euros. [21456]
Ruth Kelly: The Government do not intend to extend the scope of the proposed Regulation on cross-border payments in euro to sterling denominated payments. The approach taken in the Regulation is inconsistent with the competition-based approach that we believe is the better way of tackling the problem of market failure in cross-border payments. Such an approach would be consistent with our commitment to introduce a new regime for regulating competition in domestic payment systems—as recommended by the Cruickshank report. Not including sterling denominated payments would also avoid the potentially counter-productive effects arising from the proposed Regulation that could be damaging to consumers.
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