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31 Mar 2003 : Column 559W—continued
Company Profits
Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assumptions have been used to form the expectation in paragraph 2.44 of the pre-Budget Report 2002 that financial company profits will return to trend in the medium term. [105321]
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Ruth Kelly: Financial company profits have been depressed by the downturn in international capital markets and global economic uncertainty. However, there is no reason to expect these shortfalls to be permanent, and profits are expected to return towards their medium-term trends as recovery in the world economy becomes more firmly established and gathers pace.
Crown Estate
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 14 March 2003, Official Report, column 491W, on the Crown Estate, when the Government last made an assessment of the level of charges levied by the Crown Estate. [105891]
Mr. Boateng: I am satisfied that the Crown Estate Commissioners exercise their statutory duties under the Crown Estate Act in the light of the commercial environment faced by Crown Estate tenants and the requirements of good management. Crown Estate and Treasury officials meet periodically to discuss matters of mutual interest.
Customs and Excise
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer where the four new national strike teams of Customs officers, whose priority will be meat and animal products, will be based; how many officers each team will comprise; and whether they will be responsible to (a) the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs and (b) Her Majesty's Treasury. [106108]
John Healey: Customs will have responsibility for the detection of undeclared meat and animal products arriving from non-EU locations. Present assessments suggest that risk for this third-country traffic is currently highest in respect of air passengers.
The new national detection teams will operate throughout the UK according to risk assessment.
Customs' strategic approach to tackling this problem is agreed with DEFRA who retain the animal health policy lead.
Customs detection staff tackling the smuggling of meat and animal products will be responsible to the Commissioners of HM Customs and Excise and to Treasury Ministers, as for all other assigned matters.
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will make a statement about co-operation with the wine, spirit and beer sector and HM Customs and Excise in tackling revenue loss through freight smuggling and diversion fraud; [106035]
- (2) if he will promote the development of a Memorandum of Understanding between the wine, spirit and beer trade and HM Customs and Excise in order to combat illicit imports and inward diversion fraud. [106037]
John Healey: Customs and the industry currently work together via the Joint Spirits Fraud Task Force (JSFTF) and the Joint Alcohol and Tobacco Consultation Group (JATCG); both joint initiatives
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aim to identify practical and regulatory ways of tackling revenue loss through freight smuggling and diversion fraud.
This has already resulted in a number of practical measures to tackle fraud, including providing testing kits to help Customs identify counterfeit products and allowing front-line officers to call up instant information about suspect consignments they have intercepted. Customs will build on this good initial progress and will continue to explore with the industry what new steps might be taken to keep pace with the changing tactics of fraudsters, and what further support the industry can provide.
The drafting of a Memorandum of Understanding is part of the on-going work of the JSFTF. Although it concentrates on spirits fraud, many of the practical measures that it implements will apply equally to wine and beer.
Equity Release Products
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what resources the Treasury has allocated to address the question of regulating reversionary equity release products, with particular reference to (a) taking the advice of Counsel and (b) engaging parliamentary draftsmen; [106523]
- (2) what steps the Government is taking in consulting on regulating reversionary equity release products; and whether it intends that the introduction of such regulation will coincide with the regulation of mortgage-based schemes; [106522]
(3) what assessment the Government has made, in the absence of regulation of reversionary equity release products, of the risk to consumer confidence in the overall equity release market; [106524]
(4) what assessment the Government has made of the extent to which partial regulation of equity release products is acting as a barrier to entry. [106525]
Ruth Kelly: As announced in the Government's Green Paper on Pensions, the Government is looking at the options to create a level playing field for the regulation of equity release and home reversion plans to protect consumers and make the market work better. No decisions have yet been taken and consequently no resources allocated for taking the advice of Counsel or engaging parliamentary draftsmen. I will make an announcement in due course.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government is taking to educate the population in the use of equity release products. [106526]
Ruth Kelly: Consumer education in relation to financial services is a matter for the Financial Services Authority.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government is taking to enable providers of equity release products adequately to hedge their exposures. [106527]
Ruth Kelly: Those firms that are authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will be regulated prudentially, that is as to their solvency and risk
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management. Within FSA rules, the financial management of equity release providers is a matter for the managers of such firms.
Euro
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) which Government officials are responsible for liaisons with officials from the Isle of Man in respect of the euro; [106251]
- (2) when the most recent discussion between Government officials and representatives of Guernsey was in respect of the euro; [106416]
(3) whether the issue of the euro has been discussed during recent meetings between Government officials and representatives of Jersey. [106415]
Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 11 February 2002, columns 104–05W.
External Consultants
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost to his Department was of the use of external consultants in 2002. [90505]
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much (a) his Department and (b) each agency and non-departmental public body spent on external consultancy in each year from 1995–96 to 2002–03 (planned); and if he will make a statement. [92234]
Ruth Kelly: The costs to HM Treasury for external consultants were as follows:
| Year | £000 |
|---|---|
| 1995–96(57) | 1,900 |
| 1996–97 | 1,032 |
| 1997–98 | 1,160 |
| 1998–99 | 1,789 |
| 1999–2000 | 1,489 |
| 2000–01 | 1,667 |
| 2001–02 | 1,160 |
| 2002–03(58) | 1,972 |
(57) These figures include expenditure incurred on professional fees in connection with the privatisation programme.
(58) To date.
The current year's figure includes an exceptional number of projects related to cyclical investment in Treasury's IT system. For example we have upgraded our financial accounting and the Economic Forecasting Database (£304,482). In previous years, spend was dominated by large policy projects, rather than replacing IT systems.
Fiscal Projections
Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when key assumptions were used in the fiscal projections of the 2002 pre-Budget report regarding (a) trend GDP growth, (b) equity prices and (c) oil prices last audited by the National Audit Office. [105331]
Mr. Boateng: Box B1 of the 2002 pre-Budget report (Cm 5664) set out when the key assumptions underlying the fiscal projections were last audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General: the trend GDP
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growth assumption was last audited at the time of the Budget 2002 (see HC 760, Session 2001–02); the equity prices assumption was last audited at the time of the 2000 pre-Budget report (see HC 959, Session 1999–2000); and the oil prices assumption was last audited at the time of the 2002 pre-Budget report (see HC 109, Session 2002–03).
Inland Revenue
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff are employed by the Inland Revenue. [105701]
Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue employed 71,873 staff at 1 October 2002, equivalent to 66,400 full time units.
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