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23 Jun 2003 : Column 621W—continued
Customs and Excise
Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many frontline Customs officers will be remaining in Wales following the proposed operational changes to primary use of the National Strike Force; and where they will be based. [118541]
John Healey: Modern criminals are well orgainised, well financed and highly adaptable and use ever more sophisticated methods. To tackle them, Customs is continuing to develop a more skilled, flexible and keenly targeted organisation, replacing predictable and often unproductive activities.
Under Customs proposals, a permanent law enforcement presence will be maintained at Holyhead, Swansea and Cardiff. Customs law enforcement activity throughout Wales and the West Midlands will be by targeted, flexible and less predictable attendance, in variable numbers, drawn from a contingent of approximately 100 Detection and 215 investigation officers based in Wales: Bristol and the West Midlands. They will be directed and supported by intelligence resources located within analytical teams, joint intelligence cells and central teams based in Wales, elsewhere in the UK and in key strategic locations overseas. Over and above the purely regional resources in Wales and the West Midlands, Customs can call on additional resources from the 120 strong National Strike Force. This capability to conduct intelligence-based targeted operations of greater intensity will help provide a real deterrent to serious criminals—not only professional smugglers and bootleggers—and will better safeguard communities throughout Wales.
Equity Release Schemes (Northern Ireland)
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason equity release schemes are not available in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement. [121127]
Mr. Boateng: We are aware of no impediment to the sale of equity release plans in Northern Ireland.
Euro
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost has been of preparations for British membership of the euro; and what the estimated future cost is of such preparations. [120455]
Mr. Boateng: Details of expenditure on euro preparations were included in the third outline National Changeover Plan, published on 9 June 2003. Copies of the document are in the Library of the House.
Financial Services Ombudsman
Mr. Willis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what statutory powers he has to review decisions taken by the financial services Ombudsman. [120682]
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Mr. Boateng [holding answer 23 June 2003]: Treasury ministers have no statutory powers to review decisions taken by the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Illegal Immigrants (Wales)
Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many times in the past two years Customs officers based in Swansea and Pembroke have been involved with immigration officials in detecting illegal immigrants. [118536]
John Healey: Over the past two years, the Customs Officers based at Swansea and at Pembroke have not detected any illegal immigrants at Swansea. Last year Customs teams based in Pembroke took part in a 3-day exercise with HM Immigration at Fishguard during which a number of illegal immigrants were detected.
Independent Financial Advisers
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Independent Financial Advisers are operating in the United Kingdom; and how many Independent Financial Advisers had confirmed that they had obtained professional indemnity cover, as at 30 May 2003. [119844]
Mr. Boateng: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) tell me that between 1 September 2002 and 31 May 2003 2,911 Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) were due to renew their Professional Indemnity (PI) cover. 2,001 IFAs have confirmed that they have done so and 116 have been granted a waiver of the requirement to have PI cover because they have adequate resources.
The FSA is in discussion with the other firms, and works with them to find a solution in light of their individual circumstances.
IFAs may be reluctant to confirm that they have PI cover until they have a policy document, even if they have agreed terms. This means that the reported position can appear less positive than it is.
Last month the FSA authorised a new insurance company that intends to provide cover for IFAs. The FSA also published a consultation paper on its future PI policy in February 2003 and is currently analysing the responses. The FSA is in ongoing discussions with IFAs, PI insurers, PI brokers and other interested parties about the situation in the PI market.
Inflation Measures
Mr. Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the occasions since January 2000 in which a HICP target of 2 per cent. plus or minus 1 per cent. would have failed to have been met, and would have occasioned a letter from the Governor of the Bank of England; and what conclusions he draws about such a target for the conduct of UK monetary policy. [120331]
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Mr. Boateng [holding answer 19 June 2003]: The Monetary Policy Committee's target since 1997 has been RPIX inflation of 2½ per cent. Since 1997 the Governor has not had cause to write a letter because inflation has not deviated from the target by more than 1 percentage point.
In his statement on 9 June, the Chancellor said that, the advantage of the internationally recognised index of consumer prices—HICP—is that it is a better measure, will improve the quality of our target, is in line with best international practice and is used by every other G7 nation but Japan and by our neighbours in Europe.
National Insurance Contributions
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount of national insurance contribution being collected which is attributable to benefits in kind in the form of payment by employers of employees' London congestion charges. [120585]
John Healey: The information on which to base an estimate is not available.
Port/Airport Security
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on recent increases of security at ports and airports to counter illegal imports of meat. [121270]
John Healey: Following a Cabinet Office Review, which reported in November 2002, into the organisation of controls on products of animal origin, fish, plants and forestry products, responsibility for anti-smuggling activities relating to illegal imports of meat arriving from third countries was transferred to Customs on 11 April.
Customs will receive £4m of new Government investment in 2003–04 which will enable it to:
- Establish four new flexibly deployed strike force teams that can be mobilised to respond quickly to identified threats anywhere in the UK.
Expand the detector dog programme from two to six.
Provide extra intelligence activity.
Provide publicity in ports and airports in the UK and overseas.
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which was published on 17 June. The Plan is available on the Defra website: www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/illegali.
Single Currency
Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 16 June 2003, Official Report, column 38W, on the euro, where in his statement of 9 June he set out the reasons for deciding that it is not necessary to rejoin the ERM before joining the euro. [120284]
Mr. Boateng: I refer the hon. Member to the comments made by the Chancellor to the Treasury Committee on 27 February 2003 (HC 187–11, 1075–1077).
Mr. Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost has been of the various ministerial road-shows to promote the euro to (a) the Treasury and (b) other departments since 1997. [120345]
Mr. Boateng: The arrangements for any events taking place on EMU adhered strictly to the published Ministerial Code. The Code governs the boundary between the legitimate presentation of Government policy, for which Government resources can be used, and party political activities, for which they cannot.
Mr. Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the final changes were made to the 18 EMU studies which accompanied the Treasury's assessment of the five economic tests. [120348]
Mr. Boateng: The 18 EMU studies were circulated to the Cabinet on 17 May 2003.
Suicide Statistics
Mr. Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many suicides there were of (a) males and (b) females aged (i) under 16, (ii) between 16 and 18 and (iii) between 18 and 21 years in each of the past five years. [120586]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Hendry, dated 23 June 2003:
- As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question the number of suicides for (a) males and (b) females aged (i) under 16, (ii) between 16 and 18 and (iii) between 18 and 21 years in each of the past five years. (120586)
- The most recent available data are for deaths occurring in the calendar year 2001. Figures for each year from 1997 to 2001 are given in the attached table.
(44) The cause of death for intentional self harm was defined using the International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E950-E959 for the years 1997 to 2000, and, for the year 2001, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes X60-X84.
(45) The cause of death for injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E980-E989 excluding E988.8 for the years 1997 to 2000, and, for the year 2001, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10 codes Y10-Y34 excluding Y33.9 where the Coroner's verdict was pending. It is assumed likely that most of these deaths at ages over 13 are cases where the harm is self-inflicted but there was insufficient evidence to prove that the deceased deliberately intended to kill themselves. As there were no intentional self harm deaths on children under the age of 13, data for undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted have not been included.
(46) Figures are for deaths occurring in each calendar year from 1997 to 2001.
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