House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 24 Jun 2002 (pt 18)

Bee Keeping

Mr. Breed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will exclude the bee keeping industry from (a) insurance premium tax, (b) filing fees to the Financial Services Authority and (c) the Financial Services Compensation Scheme; and if he will make a statement. [63523]

Ruth Kelly: Insurance Premium Tax is a consequence of writing contracts of general insurance and it applies to almost all general insurance where the risk is in the UK.

The FSA are aware of the concerns of the Bee Diseases Insurance Limited and discussions are ongoing.

Aviation Insurance

Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the level of Government support for aviation insurance. [63765]

Ruth Kelly: UK airlines, airports and other service providers can purchase third party war and terrorism cover from the Troika insurance scheme, set up and

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reinsured by the Government, above a primary layer purchased in the commercial market, up to the level enjoyed before commercial cover was cancelled following the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September, to a limit of US $2 billion.

EU Enlargement

Mr. Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the impact of enlargement of the EU on the UK economy. [63491]

Ruth Kelly: The Department has not made its own study of the impact of EU enlargement on the United Kingdom economy. However, independent economic studies by the European Roundtable of Industrialists and the Centre for Economic Policy Reform show that EU enlargement will increase UK GDP by £1.75 billion per year and create 300,000 jobs within the EU-15. Copies of these reports are in the House of Commons Library.

Wages

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the (a) average wage and (b) median wage for (i) men and (ii) women in each year since 1997. [63673]

Ruth Kelly: The information falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 24 June 2002:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question on the average and median earnings since 1997. (63673)

The table below gives the information you require.

	Men		Women
April each year	Average	Median	Average	Median
1997	408.70	349.70	297.20	260.40
1998	428.80	363.70	310.30	270.40
1999	444.30	374.80	327.90	285.40
2000	464.10	389.70	343.70	296.70
2001	490.50	407.70	366.80	313.20

The data relate to full-time employees on adult rates whose pay was not affected by any absence.

Gold Reserves

Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been raised from the sale of gold reserves since 1997; and what the value of the gold would be at today's prices. [63790]

Ruth Kelly: The 395 tonnes of gold sold by the Government, as part of the restructuring of the United Kingdom's foreign currency reserves announced in May 1999, raised proceeds of $3.5 billion (around £2.4 billion at exchange rates at close on 19 June), which have been invested in interest-bearing foreign currency assets. At the price of gold at close on 19 June the 395 tonnes of gold would be valued at $4.1 billion (around £2.7 billion at exchange rates at close on 19 June).

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Endowment Mortgages

Ian Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the proportion of people with endowment mortgages who have policies which are unlikely to pay off the loan. [64313]

Ruth Kelly: The Association of British Insurers reported on 13 May 2002 that there is now a significant or high risk that 61 per cent. of the current 10.2 million mortgage endowments (covering 6 million households) will not pay out enough to pay off the target sum, usually the amount of the mortgage loan. This is based on the first 1.25 million re-projection letters and cannot be taken as a representative sample. The percentages are likely to change.

FSA research conducted in spring 2001 indicated that only three out of 10 policyholders had taken action to remedy their potential shortfall. Of the seven out of 10 households that have taken no action, around half had good reasons. For example, they had repaid the loan by other means and were continuing to fund the endowment as a savings vehicle.

Ian Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much compensation has been given to consumers who were mis-sold endowment mortgages since 1992. [64315]

Ruth Kelly: Since 1988, when the system of financial service regulation came into force under the Financial Services Act 1986, and up until the end of the first quarter

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2002, some £151 million in compensation has been paid to endowment policyholders following the complaints process. In addition, and as a result of the Financial Services Authority's (FSA) regulatory activities, some 20 firms have agreed proactively to compensate policyholders who were mis-sold their policies. This involves around 218,000 in policies, leading to total compensation of around £315 million due to be paid.

Demographic Change (London)

Mr. Coleman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Government's projection is for demographic change in London over the next (a) five years and (b) 10 years for the age groups (i) 0 to four, (ii) five to 10, (iii) 11 to 15 and (iv) 16 to 19 years; and if he will make a statement. [64121]

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. Iain Coleman, dated 24 June 2002

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question concerning the projected demographic change in London over the next five and 10 year period for people under the age of 20. I am replying in his absence. (64121)

The attached table shows the projected population in each age group for each year from 2002 to 2012 in the london Government Office Region. The figures are derived from the 1996-based projections published by the Office for National Statistics in the volume Subnational Population Projections, series PP3 No. 10.

Mid 1996-based population projections 2002 to 2012 for all persons under 20 years of age—London GORthousands

Age group	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
0 to 4 years	492.5	490.2	487.3	484.4	481.6	479.1	477.1	475.8	475.3	475.5	476.4
5 to 10 years	568.8	565.1	563.4	560.3	558.3	556.2	552.5	549.7	546.5	543.3	540.4
11 to 15 years	442.9	450.4	452.3	455.1	456.4	452.4	450.3	448.6	446.0	444.6	443.1
16 to 29 years	339.9	344.7	353.8	359.1	364.3	372.6	376.2	378.0	380.5	376.7	373.1

Source:

ONS

Drug-related Deaths

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many deaths there were in each of the last 10 years in (a) Buckinghamshire, (b) Chesham and Amersham and (c) the UK from (i) heroin overdose, (ii) other drug overdose and (iii) suicide other than by a drugs overdose. [62792]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from John Kidgell to Cheryl Gillan, dated 24 June 2002:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question concerning how many deaths there were in each of the last 10 years in (a) Buckinghamshire, (b) Chesham and Amersham and (c) the UK from (i) heroin overdose, (ii) other drug overdose and (iii) suicide other than by a drugs overdose. I am replying in his absence. (62792)

Figures for deaths related to drug poisoning are currently available for 1993 to 2000 for England and Wales. Information for the United Kingdom as a whole could not be collated on a comparable basis in the time available. The information requested is given for 1993 to 2000 in the attached table.

Deaths related to drug poisoning⁽¹⁷⁾, and suicides other than by drugs overdose⁽¹⁸⁾, England and Wales 1993 to 2000⁽¹⁹⁾Number of deaths

	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
(a) Buckinghamshire county⁽²⁰⁾
Drugs mentioned on the death certificate
(i)(a) heroin/morphine⁽²¹⁾ only	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	3	⁽²³⁾—
(i)(b) heroin/morphine⁽²¹⁾ with other drugs	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²²⁾—
(ii) other drugs (heroin/morphine⁽²¹⁾ not mentioned)	6	13	9	11	15	15	10	12
Suicide other than by drugs overdose	42	37	26	23	35	36	28	33
(b) Chesham and Amersham⁽²⁴⁾
Drugs mentioned on the death certificate
(i)(a) heroin/morphine⁽²¹⁾	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²²⁾—
(i)(b) heroin/morphine⁽²¹⁾ with other drugs	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²²⁾—	⁽²²⁾—
(ii) other drugs (heroin/morphine⁽²¹⁾ not mentioned)	3	3	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	5	3	⁽²²⁾—	3
Suicide other than by drugs overdose	8	8	6	⁽²³⁾—	7	5	4	4

(c) England and Wales
Drugs mentioned on the death certificate
(i)(a) heroin/morphine⁽²¹⁾ only	126	197	263	353	332	468	575	716
(i)(b) heroin/morphine⁽²¹⁾ with other drugs	61	80	94	113	113	178	179	210
(ii) other drugs (heroin/morphine⁽²¹⁾ not mentioned)	2,065	2,127	2,206	2,255	2,413	2,276	2,189	2,042
Suicide other than by drugs overdose	3,930	3,818	3,771	3,554	3,526	3,799	3,836	3,643

⁽¹⁷⁾ Selected using the following codes from the International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision:

292 (drug psychoses);

304 (drug dependence);

305.2—305.9 (nondependent abuse of drugs);

E850—E858 (accidental poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biologicals);

E950.0—E950.5 (suicide and self-inflicted poisoning by solid or liquid substances);

E980.0—E980.5 (poisoning by solid or liquid substances, undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted);

E962.0 (assault by poisoning—drugs and medicaments).

⁽¹⁸⁾ Selected using the following codes from the International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision: E950.6—E959, E980.6—E989 excluding E988.8.

⁽¹⁹⁾ Data are for occurrences of death per calendar year.

⁽²⁰⁾ Data are for residents of Buckinghamshire county, based on geographic boundaries as at 2001. The figures therefore exclude data for Milton Keynes, which became a unitary authority in 1997.

⁽²¹⁾ As heroin breaks down in the body into morphine, the latter may be detected at post mortem and recorded on the death certificate.

⁽²²⁾ Zero deaths.

⁽²³⁾ Less than three deaths.

⁽²⁴⁾ Data are for residents of Chesham and Amersham parliamentary constituency based on geographic boundaries as at 2001.

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