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6 Oct 2003 : Column 1080W—continued

Subcontinent

Mrs. Ann Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on bilateral trade relations with (a) India, (b) Bangladesh and (c) Pakistan. [131009]

6 Oct 2003 : Column 1081W

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Trade relations between the UK and the South Asia markets are strong.

India, Pakistan and Bangladesh provide a wide range of business opportunities for UK companies. Trade Partners UK and Invest UK, the two operating arms of British Trade International (BTI), deliver a package of services to British and South Asian companies wishing to do business with each other.

BTI teams in our High Commission offices in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and in the English regions are available to provide support and advice to British companies wishing to do business with all three countries.

In 2002 the value of the United Kingdom's bilateral trade (in goods) with the three markets was:

£ million

	UK exports	UK imports	Total
India	1,768	1,870	3,638
Bangladesh	68	482	550
Pakistan	234	488	722

Note:

Figures for trade in services in 2002 are currently unavailable.

Union Learning Representatives

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions she has had with trade union representatives on the development of union learning representatives. [130578]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.

Union Learning Representatives are a key component of the Government's new Skills Strategy. In developing the strategy we consulted widely and met with trade union representatives on a number of occasions to discuss the vital role that unions and their learning representatives have to play. The TUC is, of course, a key member of the Skills Alliance which will bring together Government, employers and trade unions to oversee the future development and delivery of the Skills Strategy.

Union Learning Representatives have already proved to be highly effective in helping to encourage workers to improve their skills, particularly workers with low skills and those with literacy and numeracy problems—the very people who so often miss out on learning opportunities. That is why we introduced legislation to give them statutory backing and rights to time off with pay which came into effect at the end of April 2003. This will help to reinforce the invaluable role that Union Learning Representatives are currently playing in the workplace to promote workforce development and open up new training opportunities for their colleagues.

There are currently around 6,500 Union Learning Representatives. The new statutory rights will help their numbers to grow and we look forward to seeing a national network of over 22,000 trained Union Learning Representatives in place by 2010, helping over 250,000 workers a year into learning.

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TREASURY

Breast Cancer

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of breast cancer cases diagnosed in the United Kingdom in each of the past five years. [131314]

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. Julian Lewis, dated 30 September 2003:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question concerning the estimate of the number of breast cancer cases diagnosed in the United Kingdom in each of the past five years. I am replying in his absence. (131314)

The number of registrations of newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer in females in the United Kingdom in the most recent five years for which data are available are given in the following table. The figures shown are for females only and exclude the small number of breast cancer cases that occur in men.

Registrations of newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer in females, UK, 1996–2000

	Females
1996	37,000
1997	39,300
1998	39,500
1999	40,900
2000(16)	40,400

⁽¹⁶⁾ Data for Scotland for 2000 are not yet available. The figure for the UK has been estimated using 1999 data for Scotland.

Sources:

National Cancer Intelligence Unit, Office for National Statistics.

Welsh Cancer Intelligence & Surveillance Unit.

Scottish Cancer Registry, National Health Service in Scotland.

Northern Ireland Cancer Registry

European Union

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the change in Britain's annual financial contribution to the European Union will be after 1 May. [131274]

Ruth Kelly: The Government publishes a trended forecast of the UK's net contribution to the EC Budget. The latest forecast, which was published in the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget Report (HC 500 (Table C11, footnote 3)), covers the period up to 2005–06 and includes the additional costs to the UK arising from enlargement.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost of membership of the European Union was in each year since 1997; and what these figures are expressed as a sum per taxpayer. [131276]

Ruth Kelly: Details of the United Kingdom's net contribution to the EC budget for each of the years 1997–98 to 2002–03, including an estimate per taxpayer, are set out in the following table:

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	Net contribution (£ million)	Net contribution per taxpayer (£)
1997–98	2,567	98
1998–99	4,111	153
1999–2000	3,325	(17)—
2000–01	4,318	147
2001–02	1,488	51
2002–03	3,097	105

⁽¹⁷⁾ Estimates of taxpayers based on the 1999–2000 Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) have been temporarily withdrawn.

Note:

Figures for 1997–98 to 2001–02 are outturn, the figure for 2002–03 is an estimated outturn.

Sources:

Net contribution figures taken from Table 3.1 of 2003 European Community Finances White Paper "Statement on the 2003 EC Budget and measures to counter fraud and financial mismanagement" (Cm 5800).

Net contribution per taxpayer calculated by dividing net contribution figure by number of taxpayers shown in Table 1.4 of Inland Revenue Statistics.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the financial management of the European Union. [131388]

Ruth Kelly: The Government publish an annual statement on European Community Finances, which includes details of recent developments in financial management and the fight against fraud. The most recent Statement was published in April 2003 (Cm 5800).

Financial Services

Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out the timetable for mandatory electronic reporting required for all businesses regulated by the Financial Services Authority. [131257]

Ruth Kelly: The matter raised in this question is the responsibility of the Financial Services Authority. The FSA will be writing to the hon. Member.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he has taken since 1997 to reduce fraud in the financial services industry in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [131385]

Ruth Kelly: The Financial Services Authority has been established to regulate the financial services industry effectively, and has been given a specific statutory objective to reduce the potential for financial firms to be used for financial crime, including fraud.

Household Incomes

Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the number of adults living on an income of less than (a) £5,000, (b) £7,500, (c) £10,000, (d) £15,000, (e) £20,000, (f) £30,000, (g) £35,000, (h) £40,000, (i) £50,000, (j) £75,000, (k) £100,000, (l) £150,000, (m) £200,000, (n) £500,000, (o) £1 million and (p) £10 million in the latest year for which information is available. [130553]

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is provided for households and is set out in the table. The income definition used is household net equivalised income before housing costs.

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Number of households in 2000–01with net equivalised(18) income of less than	Number(19) (thousand)
(a) £5,000	483
(b) £7,500	1,857
(c) £10,000	4,651
(d) £15,000	10,950
(e) £20,000	15,872
(f) £30,000	21,090
(g) £35,000	22,319
(h) £40,000	23,048
(i) £50,000	23,795
(j) £75,000	24,290
(k) £100,000	24,439
(l) £150,000	24,504
(m) £200,000	24,523
(n) £500,000	24,576
(o) £1,000,000	24,586
(p) £10,000,000	24,586

⁽¹⁸⁾ Income is adjusted or equivalised to take into account variations in both size and composition of the household. This process reflects the notion that a family of several people needs a higher income than a single person in order for both households to enjoy a comparable standard of living. Incomes of larger families are adjusted downwards and incomes of smaller households adjusted upwards.

⁽¹⁹⁾ This is based on IGOTM Tax/Benefits model using the Family Resources Survey 2000–01.

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