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20 May 2003 : Column 662W—continued
Working Hours
Keith Vaz : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the total work force worked more than 40 hours a week, on average, in (a) 1990, (b) 1995, (c) 2000 and (d) 2002. [113890]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Cancer Statistics
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the latest five year survival rates for (a) breast, (b) lung, (c) cervical, (d) colon, (e) stomach, (f) prostate, (g) bladder and (h) lymphatic cancer are in (i) England, (ii) Teesside and (iii) the constituency of Middlesbrough, South and East, Cleveland. [114309]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl to Dr. Kumar, dated 20 May 2003:
- The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question concerning what the five year survival rates for (a) breast, (b) lung, (c) cervical, (d) colon, (e) stomach, (f) prostate and (g) bladder and (h) lymphatic cancer are in (i) England, (ii) Teesside and (iii) the constituency of Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East. I am replying in his absence.(114309)
- Cancer survival rates at HA level are routinely estimated for eight cancers: the first seven listed in the question and cancer of the oesophagus, but not "lymphatic" cancer.
- The latest available information for England, Northern & Yorkshire Regional Office area and Tees Health Authority area are given in the table below. Survival rates are not available for other types of area, such as parliamentary constituencies. At the
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- national level, figures are routinely presented for men and women separately, while those at regional and local levels are given for persons only.
| England | Northern & Yorkshire | Tees HA | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer Site | Men | Women | Persons(1) | Persons(1) |
| Breast | — | 75.9 | 74.0 | 69 |
| Lung | 5.5 | 5.5 | 4.4 | 2.8 |
| Cervix | 66.0 | 65.5 | 57 | |
| Colon | 43.5 | 43.3 | 39.0 | 26 |
| Stomach | 11.1 | 11.8 | 10.6 | 6.1 |
| Prostate | 59.8 | 53.4 | 45 | |
| Bladder | 67.1 | 57.6 | 52.5 | 45 |
(1) Figures for breast cancer exclude the very small numbers of cases in men.Source:Report: Cancer survival in the health authorities of England, 1993–2000.Health Statistics Quarterly 13 (2002), 95–103. This is available on our website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme health/HSOl 3 v4.pdf'Cancer survival: five year relative survival rates in England by Health Authority up to 2000' at: http://www. statistics gov.uk/StatBase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D5389.xls for breast (female), lung, colon and prostate cancer.Survival rates for cervical, stomach, and bladder cancer are on the website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D5392.xls
Classified Documents
Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many documents are held by his Department that are subject to security classification, broken down by category of classification. [107351]
Mr. Boateng: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by the Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Mr. Douglas Alexander) on 7 May 2003, Official Report, column 696W.
Earnings
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what analysis has been made of the assessment of earnings levels for (a) each Government office region and (b) each constituency covered by Government Office for the North East, in the New Earnings Survey. [114304]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl to Dr. Ashok Kumar, dated 20 May 2003:
- The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question about the average earnings of people in the Government Office Regions and the constituencies within the North East. I am replying in his absence.
- The attached table shows average weekly earnings for the areas requested. The data are from the New Earnings Survey (NES) and apply to people on adult rates working full-time whose pay was not affected by absence.
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- The NES can provide earnings data for small geographical areas. The release of NES data is restricted to figures that are derived from a sufficiently large sample of employees, and have an acceptable level of accuracy. I have provided the available data for the GO Regions and parliamentary constituencies in GO North East only for those areas where the samples are large enough. These are based on the 2002 NES, the latest survey for which data are available.
| New earnings survey, April 2002 | |
|---|---|
| North East | 399.3 |
| Middlesborough | 366.1 |
| Stockton North | 424.2 |
| Stockton South | 403.0 |
| Bishop Auckland | 388.0 |
| City of Durham | 425.4 |
| Darlington | 365.8 |
| Easington | 354.1 |
| North Durham | 338.7 |
| Sedgefield | 395.3 |
| Wansbeck | 399.0 |
| Blaydon | 359.1 |
| Houghton and Washington East | 414.8 |
| Jarrow | 384.9 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend | 340.7 |
| North Tyneside | 406.6 |
| South Shields | 366.3 |
| Sunderland North | 373.9 |
| Tyne Bridge | 422.4 |
| North West | 426.8 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 409.9 |
| East Midlands | 413.0 |
| West Midlands | 427.3 |
| South West | 421.7 |
| East | 459.6 |
| London | 624.1 |
| South East | 496.7 |
| Wales | 399.7 |
| Scotland | 427.0 |
(2) Full-time employees on adult rates, whose pay was not affected by absence.
ECOFIN Council
Mr. Hood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the outcome was of the ECOFIN Council held on 13th May; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if he will make a statement. [113978]
Mr. Gordon Brown: I attended the ECOFIN meeting on 13 May, which was the first ECOFIN attended by the accession countries as active observers.
The Commission presented the 2004 Preliminary Draft Budget, which will be the first budget for an EU of 25 member states, and also the first to use activity-based budgeting, matching resources to outputs. I tabled a UK paper on the reform of external actions expenditure, emphasising the need for greater poverty focus, effectiveness and efficiency.
ECOFIN had an orientation discussion on the 2003–05 Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPGs). I, along with some other member states, stressed the importance of the EU delivering on its economic reform agenda to boost growth and jobs. It was agreed that Finance Ministers would submit a covering letter to the BEPGs highlighting the key priorities for growth, in particular labour market reform, the implications of
20 May 2003 : Column 665W
ageing populations and the sustainability of public finances. The BEPGs will be agreed at ECOFIN on 3 June for submission to the Thessaloniki European Council.
ECOFIN adopted an Opinion on the Austrian Stability programme, and also agreed a mandate for the Economic Policy Committee to produce a progress report on the overall impact of ageing populations on public finances for the November ECOFIN.
ECOFIN adopted the Occupational Pensions Directive, as amended by the European Parliament, with Belgium making an oral statement and Estonia a written statement. The adoption of this directive, an important cornerstone of the Financial Services Action Plan and the first step towards a single market for occupational retirement provision, represents an excellent outcome for the UK.
I presented the UK's proposal for an International Finance Facility (IFF). This is an important initiative designed to raise substantial extra resources and make a stable, long-term commitment to development countries to help them meet the UN Millennium Development Goals. After discussion, the Presidency concluded that the IFF was an interesting initiative, which should be discussed again by ECOFIN in the near future, following an examination of the financial aspects in the Economic and Financial Committee.
ECOFIN discussed a Presidency paper on the right to deduct value added taxation (VAT). Following discussion, it was agreed that further consideration of this issue by ECOFIN should await the Commission Communication on a VAT Strategy and their proposal on the place of supply of services.
Over lunch, Ministers discussed the tax package and the Italian request for a Council decision under Article 88(2) on the repayment of Italian milk quota fines. Ministers agreed: that the tax package is not to be reopened and that all reservations on it should be lifted; that Ambassadors in COREPER should examine the Italian proposal on milk quotas with a view to allowing the Council to take a decision on this in June; and that the Council should take the final decisions on both the tax package and on the Italian request regarding milk quotas in June.
A vote was held on the Occupational Pensions Directive, with Belgium abstaining.
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