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11 Sept 2003 : Column 454W—continued
Vocational Qualifications
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action he is taking to increase qualifications at (a) apprenticeship, (b) skilled craft and (c) technician level. [128209]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We will reform the qualifications framework so that it is more flexible and responsive to employers' and learners' needs. In particular, we will strengthen and extend Modern Apprenticeships as a top
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quality vocational route, lifting the age cap so that adults can benefit. Through the Learning and Skills Council, we will improve standards in Modern Apprenticeships, engage more employers in providing them and ensure they meet employers' needs. Our target is that by 2004, 28 per cent. of young people will start a Modern Apprenticeship by age 22. We will also support individual learners through a new guarantee of free tuition for any adult without a good foundation of employability skills, so that many more can progress to skilled craft and technician level qualifications, and from there on to the Foundation Degree, a vocational, higher education qualification. We will test this approach from September 2004, before beginning to roll out nationally from 2005 onwards.
LEADER OF THE HOUSE
Explanatory Notes
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Leader of the House what plans he has to ensure that Government departments make Explanatory Notes available (a) on the first day that a Bill is published and (b) well in advance of Second Reading. [128647]
Mr. Hain: The usual practice is for Explanatory Notes to Government Bills to be made available with the Bill when it is first published. Only very occasionally has there been any delay, and in those cases the Explanatory Notes have been made available well in advance of Second Reading. Departments have been made aware of the importance of avoiding late publication.
TREASURY
Alcohol Imports
Mr. Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the volume of (a) tax-paid wine and (b) tax-paid beer imported from EU member states in (i) 2002 and (ii) 2003.[R] [127947]
John Healey: UK trade imports of beer and wine from EU member states enter the UK free from taxes and duties levied in the exporting country but pay UK duty and tax on entry into this country.
Imports into the UK arising from cross-border shopping or cross-channel passenger smuggling typically enter the UK having already paid duty and tax elsewhere in the EU and do not additionally pay UK tax and duty—legally so in the case of cross-border shopping, illegally so in the case of smuggling.
The most recent available volumes of wine and beer imported into the UK where tax was paid in another EU member state are shown in the tables. Estimates for 2003 are not yet available.
| Million litres | |
|---|---|
| Beer | (6)100 |
| Wine | (6)100 |
(6) Rounded to the nearest 50 million litres.
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| Million litres | |
|---|---|
| Beer | (7)15 |
| Wine | (7)5 |
(7) Rounded to the nearest 5 million litres.
Cigarette Imports
Mr. Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax-paid cigarettes were imported from EU member states in (a) 2002 and (b) 2003. [R] [127948]
John Healey: UK trade imports of cigarettes from EU member states enter the UK free from taxes and duties levied in the exporting country but pay UK duty and tax on entry into this country.
Imports into the UK arising from cross-border shopping or cross-channel passenger smuggling typically enter the UK having already paid duty and tax elsewhere in the EU and do not additionally pay UK tax and duty—legally so in the case of cross-border shopping, illegally so in the case of smuggling.
The most recent available volumes of cigarettes imported into the UK where tax was paid in another EU member state are shown in the table. Estimates for 2003 are not available.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Cross-border shopping—financial year 2001–02 | (8)3.5 |
| Cross-channel passenger smuggling—calendar year 2002 | (9)900 |
(8) Rounded to the nearest half billion sticks.
(9) Rounded to the nearest hundred million sticks.
Correspondence
David Winnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the hon. Member for Walsall, North will receive a reply to his letter of 24 July regarding a constituent, ref: 2/03382/2003. [128956]
Mr. Boateng: I have replied to my hon. Friend.
Debt and Borrowing
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what he estimates will be the levels of (a) national debt and (b) government borrowing in each of the next five years. [129082]
Mr. Boateng: I refer the hon. Member to table 2.7, Chapter 2 of the Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report, Budget 2003, Building a Britain of economic strength and social justice.
European Court of Justice
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the implications for public procurement policy of the ruling of the European Court of Justice in the Helsinki buses case (18 September 2002) about the use of environmental criteria in public procurement. [129366]
Mr. Boateng: There are no implications for the Government's public procurement policy stemming from the ruling of the European Court of Justice in the
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Helsinki buses case. While the Court stated that it is permitted in principle to use criteria "relating to the preservation of the environment" when awarding a contract, the judgment makes it clear that such criteria must: be linked to the subject of the contract; not confer an unrestricted freedom of choice on the authority; be expressly mentioned in the contract documents or the tender notice; and comply with all the fundamental principles of Community law, in particular non-discrimination. This is in line with the UK's understanding of the position under the current EC procurement directives and is consistent with the Government's procurement policy based on value for money.
Net Income
Mr. Keith Bradley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the net income of a family with two dependant children aged 18 and 12, with a gross income of £15,000 a year; and what assessment he has made of the sources of that net income. [129181]
Mr. Boateng: A single full-time earner family with two dependent children aged 12 and 18 in full-time education and gross earnings of £15,000 a year will have an annual household income of nearly £16,600. This comprises the following elements:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Gross earnings | 15,000 |
| Income tax | 2,050 |
| NICs | 1,140 |
| Child benefit | 1,390 |
| Child tax credit | 3,390 |
| Total | 16,590 |
As a result of direct tax and benefit measures introduced since 1997 a single earner household with gross earnings of £15,000 a year and two dependent children aged 12 and 18 in full-time education is now nearly £2,750 a year better off in real terms.
Poverty Reduction
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the role of international trade in the reduction of poverty in the poorest countries. [129083]
John Healey: According to figures produced by the World Bank, international trade, under the right conditions, has the ability to lift up to 300 million people out of poverty by 2015. Global trade talks need to deliver on the interests of developing countries. It is for this reason that the UK government is committed to the Doha Development Agenda of achieving a fairer world trade system for developing countries.
Privatisation
Mr. Dobson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total amount received from the sale of (a) the electricity supply industry, (b) the water supply industry and (c) British Rail was, broken down by year in which revenue was received. [128306]
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Mr. Boateng: A detailed analysis of privatisation proceeds from 1979–80 to 1996–97 was published in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses ("PESA") 1997–98 (Cm 3601), Table 3.13. The outturn for 1996–97 and figures for subsequent years are shown in the table.
| Electricity supply | Water supply | British Rail | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1.4 |
| 1997–98 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.9 |
| 1998–99 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 1999–2000 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2001–02 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2002–03 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
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