---

Prospectus Directive

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in negotiations on the proposed prospectus directive to minimise the disclosure costs of issuers. [32686]

Ruth Kelly: The UK's objective is to secure a prospectus directive that will strike a more appropriate balance between the need to keep the cost of raising capital as low as possible and to protect the interests of investors.

I am encouraged by both the direction that negotiations in council working group are taking, and the work of the European Parliament to date.

However, all parts of the proposed prospectus directive are still subject to further negotiation.

Inland Revenue (Internet Access)

Mr. Gray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when officers of Inland Revenue in the (a) Special Compliance Office Bristol, (b) Large Business Office Bristol and (c) Business Tax Group of International Division were first provided with personal direct access to the Internet from their desk workstations. [32722]

Dawn Primarolo: The information is as follows:

(a) There is only one person in Special Compliance Office Bristol with personal direct access to the internet from their desktop. That access was provided on 27 April 2001.

4 Feb 2002 : Column 695W

(b) There is nobody in Large Business Office Bristol with personal direct access to the internet from the desktop.

(c) Twenty members of the Business Tax Group of International Division were provided with personal direct access to the internet from their desktops. That access was provided on 10 September 2001.

Private Medical Insurance (Buckingham)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many residents in the Buckingham constituency have private medical insurance. [24868]

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. John Bercow, dated 4 January 2002:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question on the number of residents in the Buckingham constituency with private medical insurance. (24868)

4 Feb 2002 : Column 696W

The latest available information is from the 1995 General Household Survey. Because this is a survey based on a sample of the population, it can only provide information in percentage terms, and only down to Government Office Region level, not by parliamentary constituency.

In 1995 18 per cent. of people (of all ages) had private medical insurance cover in the South East Government Office region (which includes Buckinghamshire). The figure for Great Britain was 9 per cent.

Demography

Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of (a) men and (b) women aged (i) 60 to 64, (ii) 65 to 74, (iii) 75 to 79 and (iv) 80 years or above, in each region of the UK. [32766]

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. Steve Webb, dated 14 January 2002:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your parliamentary question concerning the number of men and women in each region of the UK. I am replying in his absence. (32766)

The requested information is provided in the attached table. These data are provided for the Government Office Regions (GORs) of England and for Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

Estimated resident population mid-2000 for Government office regions of England and country totals for Wales, Scotland, and Northern IrelandThousand

	Males				Females
Area	60–64	65–74	75–79	80 and over	60–64	65–74	75–79	80 and over
England
North East	63.5	106.6	36.8	29.6	68.1	124.1	52.5	67.4
North West	167.8	265.7	93.3	82.3	175.4	309.2	136.7	188.6
Yorkshire and the Humber	121.9	195.2	71.8	63.8	127.7	227.2	100.2	141.0
East Midlands	102.6	168.5	62.5	55.3	104.6	187.8	83.9	112.9
West Midlands	132.5	212.8	74.5	65.4	134.5	237.7	105.6	141.6
East	130.9	218.1	79.1	76.3	134.4	242.5	108.5	151.6
London	144.3	219.9	78.1	78.9	149.7	249.4	111.0	170.8
South East	189.6	310.2	114.0	115.9	196.6	354.5	162.9	243.9
South West	124.4	214.0	83.0	83.8	129.6	244.3	116.6	171.7
Wales	75.1	124.9	46.1	41.0	77.5	142.9	64.6	88.9
Scotland	122.7	196.7	65.3	56.1	136.6	243.0	99.0	127.0
Northern Ireland	35.2	54.4	18.6	16.5	38.1	67.5	28.0	36.1

Source:

Office for National Statistics, General Register Office Scotland and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate how many women aged (i) 60 to 64, (ii) 65 to 74, (iii) 75 to 79 and (iv) 80 years or above (a) are married, (b) are widowed, (c) are divorced and (d) have never been married. [32765]

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. Steve Webb, dated 14 January 2002:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your parliamentary question concerning the number of women 60 years of age and over by their marital status. I am replying in his absence. (32765)

The table gives the requested information.

The mid 2000 marital status estimates for females in Great BritainThousand

	0–64	65–74	75–79	80 and over
Single	69.1	150.1	79.6	140.5
Married	1,017.1	1,464.1	422.6	286.5
Widowed	193.0	765.2	588.6	1,142.7
Divorced	155.5	183.3	50.8	35.8
Total	1,434.7	2,562.6	1,141.6	1,605.6

Source:

Office for National Statistics and the General Register Office for Scotland

Special Advisers

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the record kept under Clause 9 of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers of contacts between his special advisers and the news media since September 2001; and if he will make a statement. [32509]

4 Feb 2002 : Column 697W

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Winchester (Mr. Oaten) on 31 October 2002, Official Report, columns 741–42W.

Earnings Statistics (Greater London)

Mr. Cox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average earnings were for (a) men and (b) women working in the Greater London area at the latest available date. [32120]

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. Tom Cox, dated 4 January 2002:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question on average pay in Greater London. I am replying in his absence. (32120)

New Earnings Survey (NES) provides earnings data for full-time employees on adult rates of pay. In April 2001, the latest date for which figures are available, estimates of the average weekly pay in the Greater London Government Office Region are £667.70 for men and £483.10 for women.

Public Spending

Tony Baldry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has made to the IMF to ensure that public spending targets account for the need to finance free basic education in developing countries. [31673]

Mr. Boateng: The UK has been at the forefront of encouraging the IMF to reform their medium term programmes to ensure that these deliver growth and poverty reduction. A key element of the new design of IMF programmes is the undertaking to support pro-poor budgets, which includes protecting and expanding where possible education spending. In recent years the IMF programmes have supported the introduction of free education in several countries, including Uganda and Tanzania.

Departmental Contracts

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the (a) number and (b) value of Government contracts awarded to (i) Arthur Andersen, (ii) Deloitte and Touche, (iii) Ernst & Young, (iv) KPMG and (v) PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants in each year since 1997. [33415]

Mr. Andrew Smith: This information is not held centrally. Each Department is responsible for its own contracts.

---