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22 May 2003 : Column 884W—continued

Golden Shares

Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the Government's golden shares and their value at current equity market prices. [114635]

Mr. Boateng: The Government holds special shareholdings in the following companies.

No information exists about equity market value as these shareholdings are not tradeable.


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Illegal Food Imports

Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer, of 14 May 2003, Official Report, columns 261–62W, on food imports, (a) whether the personnel for the new mobile anti-smuggling teams will be drawn from existing Customs personnel, (b) which regions the new anti-smuggling teams will operate in, (c) which regions the detector dogs will operate in, (d) what provisions are in place for replacing ill detector dogs and (e) when the publicity campaign at ports and airports in the UK and overseas will be unveiled. [114950]

John Healey: Staff for the new teams will be drawn from existing Customs personnel. The anti-smuggling teams and detector dogs are mobile and the locations of their deployment will be varied according to risk. Where illness or injury seriously impairs a detector dog's long-term effectiveness, the dog would normally be retired from duty, Customs would then arrange for the supply and training of a new dog as soon as possible.

DEFRA publicity is continuing while Customs publicity material is developed. This will be rolled out later this year.

International Finance Facility

Mr. Key: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what discussions his Department has had with the relevant finance and development departments of other donor countries regarding the proposed International Finance Facility; and if he will make a statement; [114665]

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John Healey: The UK Government continue to press the urgent case for an International Finance Facility to raise the additional finance needed to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 in all relevant national and international fora.

The UK Government are committed to the UN 0.7 per cent. ODA/GNI ratio target. The UK will reach an ODA/GNI ratio of 0.4 per cent. in 2005–06 from a level of 0.26 per cent. in 1997 and 0.33 per cent. in 2003–04.

Further details of the IFF proposal, including its proposed structure, can be found in the IFF proposal document published in January 2003 and an accompanying technical note published in February 2003. Both these documents are available in the Library of the House and on the Treasury website at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/IFF.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to change (a) duty levels on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and (b) the level of grants available for vehicles converting to LPG. [114742]

John Healey: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East (Dr. Kumar) on 14 May 2003, Official Report, column 262W.

The consultation mentioned in that reply will seek stakeholders' views on the effectiveness of a range of potential incentives, including fuel duties and the grants for LPG vehicles currently offered through the TransportEnergy PowerShift programme.

Ministerial Correspondence Unit

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff have been employed in the Ministerial Correspondence Unit of the Department in each of the last two years. [115873]

John Healey: The unit's complement of nine staff in 2001 was increased to 10 in 2002.

Public Service Agreements

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Department has taken to publicise its Public Service Agreement targets; and at what cost to public funds. [114445]

Mr. Boateng: Information on Public Service Agreement targets is published on the Treasury public website and included in routine publications, such as the Treasury departmental report, which involve no significant extra cost.

Royal Mint

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the independent review of the Royal Mint will be published. [114594]

Mr. Boateng: Grant Thornton undertook an independent review of the Royal Mint's financial control systems in 2002. This is available on the Mint website.

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Sustainable Development

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the departmental strategy for sustainable development will be published; and what steps (a) are being taken and (b) are planned to take forward the actions outlined. [114894]

John Healey : A joint Sustainable Development Statement for the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Departments and Agencies was agreed last year and a copy is available on the Treasury website. They are all adhering to the Government's objectives for sustainable development as set out in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate.

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what remit relating to sustainable development is undertaken by his Department's (a) executive agencies, (b) advisory non-departmental bodies, (c) executive non-departmental bodies, (d) tribunals, (e) public corporations and (f) other bodies. [114895]

John Healey: This remit is contained in the Joint Sustainable Development Statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Departments and Agencies published last year. A copy is available on the Treasury's website.

Timber

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department's procurement policy includes timber used in the construction of departmental building projects; and if he will make a statement. [114842]

John Healey: It is Government policy to use timber from certified sustainable sources for all departmental new builds or refurbishments.

VAT Registration

Mr. Barnes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what powers he has over the operations of VAT to prevent master franchises from using coercive attempts to press their franchisees into registering for VAT as a means of the master franchises obtaining an exemption under the provisions of the Trading Schemes Act 1996; and if he will make a statement. [114818]

John Healey: In Budget 2003, the Government raised the registration threshold for VAT to £56,000—the highest threshold in Europe. Businesses with a taxable turnover above this threshold are required to register for VAT. Businesses with a turnover below £56,000, and which make taxable supplies, are entitled to register for VAT voluntarily by application to HM Customs and Excise. Customs have no powers to determine, or to intervene in, the circumstances behind an application for voluntary registration.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Advertising

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total expenditure on advertising by the Department

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was in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03; and what the level of planned expenditure is for (i) 2003–04 and (ii) 2004–05. [114423]

Alun Michael: The Department does not maintain records of its expenditure on advertising separately. The expenditure for publicity by Defra's Communications Directorate, which includes advertising, publications, events, shows and direct information literature mailings in financial year 2001–02 was £6.6 million and in 2002–03 is estimated to be £6.0 million. The allocation for 2003–04 is £4.3 million.

This includes communication on a very wide range of matters, much of it necessary or beneficial to the public and the wide range of industries in which Defra has an interest, together with local government, voluntary organisations and other bodies.

Decisions on publicity budgets for 2004–05 have not yet been made. These will be made later this year as part of the planning process

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