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Accountancy Contracts

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the (a) number and (b) value of contracts awarded by his Department to (i) Arthur

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Andersen, (ii) Deloitte Touche, (ii) Ernst and Young, (iv) KPMG and (v) PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants in each year since 1997. [34983]

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the contracts agreed by his Department with the five largest accountancy firms since May 1997; and what was the total value of contracts with each. [42101]

Ruth Kelly: It has not been possible to establish the number and value of contracts awarded to the above named companies since 1997. This information is not held in the format required and any further examination would be of a disproportionate cost.

Second World War Debts

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it Government policy to seek a final settlement with the USA to write-off the outstanding British debt which arises from the conduct of World War II. [41873]

Ruth Kelly: As I stated in my answer to the hon. Member on 28 February 2002, columns 1937–39W, the Government intend to meet their obligations under the 1945 Agreement with the United States Government by repaying in full the amounts lent in 1945.

Household Expenditure (Alcohol)

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the expenditure on alcohol in the family expenditure and resources surveys in each region and nation in the last five years in (a) cash, (b) real and (c) percentage of household expenditure terms. [42614]

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. Jim Cousins, dated 13 March 2002:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question on expenditure on alcohol from The Family Expenditure Survey. (42614)

The information available on a consistent basis from the Family Expenditure Survey is for financial years 1996–97 onwards, and is given in the attached table. Sample size in individual regions is small and data from three years have been combined to increase the reliability of the estimates. The estimates are still subject to sampling variability, however.

The Family Expenditure Survey, like other surveys of households and individuals, is known to understate alcohol expenditure.

For earlier years estimates have been published for the previous Standard Statistical Regions, replaced by Government Office Regions from 1996–97 onwards. They are available at current prices and as percentages of total expenditure in Family Spending 1995–96 and earlier reports, which are available in the House of Commons Library.

Expenditure on alcohol by UK countries and Government office regions: three year averages 1996–97 to 2000–01 (based on weighted data)

	Average weekly household expenditure ($)
	Current prices			At 2000–01 prices			Percentage of total expenditure
Government office region	1996–97 to 1998–99	1997–98 to 1999–2000	1998–99 to 2000–01	1996–97 to 1998–99	1997–98 to 1999–2000	1998–99 to 2000–01	1996–97 to 1998–99	1997–98 to 1999–2000	1998–99 to 2000–01
North East	14.20	14.40	16.50	15.40	15.20	16.90	5	5	6
North West	15.80	16.40	15.50	17.10	17.20	15.90	5	5	5
Yorks and the Humber	15.70	15.90	15.60	16.90	16.70	16.00	5	5	4
East Midlands	13.20	14.50	14.40	14.30	15.30	14.70	4	4	4
West Midlands	13.70	14.20	14.70	14.70	14.90	15.00	4	4	4
East	11.90	12.50	13.00	12.80	13.20	13.30	3	4	3
London	14.10	15.30	16.40	15.20	16.10	16.80	4	4	4
South East	13.10	13.80	14.10	14.10	14.50	14.50	3	4	3
South West	12.70	13.30	14.20	13.70	13.90	14.50	4	4	4
England	13.90	14.50	14.90	15.00	15.30	15.20	4	4	4
Wales	13.30	14.20	13.40	14.40	14.90	13.80	4	4	4
Scotland	13.70	14.70	15.10	14.80	15.40	15.50	4	5	5
Northern Ireland	11.20	12.40	13.20	12.10	13.10	13.60	4	4	4
United Kingdom	13.80	14.50	14.80	14.80	15.20	15.10	4	4	4

Source:

ONS, Family Expenditure Surveys 1996–97 to 2000–01

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Energy Costs

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on energy costs incurred by his Department in each of the last 10 years. [42451]

Ruth Kelly: The table shows energy costs the Treasury has incurred in each of the last 10 years. The figures exclude VAT.

Energy Costs 1990–2001

Year	£
1990–91	487,894
1991–92	448,015
1992–93	411,009
1993–94	364,710
1994–95	420,183
1995–96	328,628
1996–97	330,220
1997–98	305,411
1998–99	316,314
1999–2000	337,396
2000–01	210,696

Chief Economic Adviser

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the Chief Economic Adviser is subject to the Code of Conduct for special advisers. [42929]

Ruth Kelly: Yes.

Bank Accounts

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people hold current bank accounts in each region covered by the regional development agencies in the age ranges (a) 0 to 8, (b) 18 to 24, (c) 25 to 50, (d) 50 to 65, (e) 65 to 85 and (f) 85 years and over at the latest date for which figures are available. [42958]

Ruth Kelly: The information is not readily available. The table sets out estimates (from the Family Resources Survey), of the proportion of respondents in each region and age category who had a bank account in the 2000–01 survey.

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Percentage of respondents by age with a bank account by region

	Age group
Government office region	18–25	26–50	51–65	66–85	86+
North East	76	82	82	72	62
North West and Merseyside	83	86	85	77	59
Yorkshire and the Humber	78	83	82	70	57
East Midlands	83	86	85	79	43
West Midlands	73	83	83	73	63
Eastern	88	93	90	84	80
London	84	85	84	75	57
South East	85	92	92	85	78
South West	86	91	90	85	84

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Equal Opportunities

Mrs. Calton: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what procedures are in place to promote race equality and equality of opportunity for employees in the Palace of Westminster. [41937]

Mr. Kirkwood [holding answer 11 March 2002]: The House of Commons Service values the diversity of its staff and is committed to developing the working practices which will allow every member of staff to contribute his or her best, regardless of race, sex, marital status, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation or any other irrelevant factor. The following arrangements to promote race equality and equality of opportunity for employees are in place:

Equal opportunities training for all staff;


Recruitment monitoring;


Provision of child care vouchers;


Paid maternity and paternity leave;


Access to caring leave;


Job share and part time working arrangements;


Holiday play scheme;


Work experience schemes, targeting under-represented groups;


Provision of prayer room facility during Ramadan;


Preferential access to leave for religious holidays;

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Bullying and harassment policy and procedure;


No nationality restrictions for employment;


All staff are able to apply for any House vacancy following a successful probationary period;


Adaptations and aids available for staff with disabilities;


Rehabilitation leave to facilitate return to work following sickness absence;


Parental leave;


Career breaks.

Sitting Costs

Paddy Tipping: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what estimate the Commission has made of the average cost of a day's sitting of the House in the last session for which figures are available. [41498]

Mr. Kirkwood: The overall cost of running the House administration (excluding capital works, etc.) in 2000–01 was some £103 million, giving an average daily cost of the order of £280,000. The difference in cost between a sitting day and a non-sitting day is negligible: the major costs, of accommodation and staffing, are not affected appreciably by sitting times. These figures do not include the cost of paying Members' salaries or allowances, which are not normally regarded as part of the cost of running the House itself.

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