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5 Jan 2004 : Column 167W—continued

Pre-Budget Report Summary Leaflet

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many copies of the Pre-Budget Report Summary Leaflet, "The Strength to Take the Long-Term Decisions; Seizing the Opportunities of the Global Recovery", were printed ahead of the Chancellor's statement to the House; and how many such summary leaflets were printed in each of the last six years. [145444]

Ruth Kelly: Around 1.2 million of 2003 Pre-Budget Report summary leaflets were produced. The number of leaflets distributed in past exercises were: Budget 2001—400,000; Budget 2002—2,097,000; Budget 2003—1,230,000; and PBR 2002—1,500,000.

Private Sector Reviews

Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what reviews he has conducted since 1997 of the (a) policy, (b) funding and (c) regulation activity which impacts on the private sector; what the scope of each review was; what the outcome of each review was; and what changes have been made as a result of each review, with particular reference to public spending. [145951]

Mr. Boateng: The Government routinely reviews the impact of its activities on the private sector. Details of measures are found in the Budget, Pre-Budget and Spending Review reports published since 1997.

Public Service Delivery Organisations

Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what reviews he has conducted since 1997 of the way in which (a) policy is set for, (b) funding provided to and (c) quality regulated in front line public service delivery organisations; what the scope of each review was; what the outcome of each review was; and what changes he has made as a result of each review, with particular reference to public spending. [145944]

Mr. Boateng: The Government routinely reviews the impact of its activities on front-line public service delivery organisations. Details of major reforms since 1997 are to be found in subsequent Budget, Pre-Budget and Spending Review reports.

Tax Stamps (Whisky)

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the cost to (a) the Treasury, (b) the whisky industry and (c) others of the proposed tax stamps on whisky; [145618]

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(2) who will pay the cost of the strip stamps on whisky. [145619]

John Healey: The Government have made it clear that they will proceed with tax stamps for spirits if the industry is unable to put forward an alternative proposal that would be as effective in tackling spirits fraud.

Costs falling to the industry will depend on the measures which the Government take to implement tax stamps, and on the detail of the measures the Government plan to introduce to mitigate the impact on the legitimate industry. Details will be set out in the Budget following discussions with industry, and a regulatory impact assessment produced at the appropriate time.

The Government have begun discussions with the industry on the scope for alternative anti-fraud measures, and on both the impact of tax stamps on costs and measures that might help to minimise that impact. A full, updated estimate of those costs will be published in a draft Regulatory Impact Assessment, alongside draft legislation, in the spring.

The Government have estimated that tax stamps would reduce revenue losses from spirits fraud by at least £160 million a year from 2006–07. Customs will be set a precise outcome target for reducing spirits fraud, and the costs to Customs of administering tax stamps from 2006–07 will be considered, as part of the 2004 Spending Review.

Teenage Pregnancies

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many teenage pregnancies there were in the last 12 months. [145316]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Beggs, dated 5 January 2004:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many teenage pregnancies there were in the last 12 months. (145316)

In 2001, the latest year for which provisional figures are available, there were 40,966 teenage pregnancies in England and Wales (pregnancies at ages under 18).

Estimates for March quarter 2002, based on incomplete abortion data, were published in Health Statistics Quarterly 20, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the Houses.

Tonnage Tax Scheme

Mr. Hopkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value was of financial concessions to the UK shipping industry through the tonnage tax scheme in each financial year since the concession was introduced. [145245]

Dawn Primarolo: 2000–01 an estimated cost of £10 million; 2001–02 an estimated cost of £25 million; 2002–03 an estimated cost of £35 million.

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Mr. Hopkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value was of (a) the tonnage tax scheme in (i) 2001–02 and (ii) 2002–03 and (b) tax paid by shipping companies in the last financial year of the previous arrangements. [145246]

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is as follows:

(a) The estimated costs of the tonnage tax regime are published on the Inland Revenue website at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/tax expenditures/00ap b1.htm.


(b) Shipping companies' tax liabilities for 1999–2000 are estimated at £60 million.

Waste Management (Funding)

Sue Doughty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the waste management sector-related payments, subsidies and grants provided by the Government to (a) local authorities and (b) non-governmental organisations in each of the last five years. [144911]

John Healey: The information is as follows:

(a) Funding to local authorities

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Local authorities' waste management responsibilities are funded through Revenue Support Grant, which includes support in respect of new burdens in the waste area. This is a general grant, on the basis of which local authorities are free to invest according to local spending priorities. Local government grant has increased by 30 per cent. in real terms since 1997. Local authorities' spending by area is detailed in table 3.5a of the 2003 edition of Local Government Finance Statistics England, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.

The following table lists additional grants to local authorities introduced in 2002–03 related to waste management activities.

£ million

Source of funding	2002–03	2003–04
Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund	50	114
PFI credits	100	100

(b) Funding to Non-Governmental Organisations

The following table gives details of grants from the Environmental Action Fund since 1999 for projects with a clear waste priority. Information is not available for funding to grant recipients for wider-ranging activities which have had a waste-related component.

£

Funding recipient	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	Total
Community Recycling Network	59,400	59,400	85,450	200,000	219,250	623,500
Composting Association	0	0	0	84,000	93,750	177,750
Recycling Consortium	0	0	0	30,750	32,125	62,875
Waste Watch	99,000	110,000	198,000	200,000	232,934	839,934
National Waste Awareness Initiative	59,400	55,483	51,388	200,000	237,072	603,343
Miscellaneous 'Regional Environmental Action Fund' Grants(47)	259,599	382,274	135,658	57,808	—	835,339
Total	477,399	607,157	470,496	772, 558	815,131	3,142,741

⁽⁴⁷⁾ The regional element of the EAF was wound down in 2002–03. Regional EAF grants were of lower monetary value (starting from £3,500) and individual recipients are not listed.

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HEALTH

Adverse Drug Reactions

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many adverse drug reactions have been reported by (a) nurses and (b) all health professionals to the electronic yellow card scheme since it was launched. [144313]

Ms Rosie Winterton: By 12 December 2003, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) had received 77 reports of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) submitted by nurses using the electronic Yellow Card, out of a total of 293 electronic Yellow Card reports from all health professionals since the launch of the electronic Yellow Card on 31 October 2002. The MHRA is developing proposals to increase the awareness of the electronic Yellow Card by all healthcare professionals.

Age-related Macular Degeneration

Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidance on the use of photodynamic therapy for age-related macular degeneration within the NHS in England and Wales is implemented as soon as possible; and when he expects the implementation to be completed. [142980]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Implementation of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance is underway. Patients are already receiving photodynamic therapy (PDT) on the national health service and we expect implementation of the NICE guidance to have been completed by July 2004. We are working with the NHS to facilitate the implementation and to give patients increased access to PDT during this time.

5 Jan 2004 : Column 172W

NICE have recommended that PDT should be made available to individuals who have a confirmed diagnosis of classic with no occult subfoveal choroidal neovascularisation (CNV), and best-corrected visual acuity of 6/60 or better. PDT is not recommended for the treatment of people with predominantly classic subfoveal CNV (that is, 50 per cent. or more of the entire area of the lesion is classic CNV but some occult CNV is present) except as part of ongoing or new clinical studies.

Department of Health officials held a meeting on 4 November 2003 with specialised services commissioners who are leading the implementation process. It was made clear to specialised services commissioners that full implementation is to be complete by July 2004 and that it is expected that services that have the capacity to increase more quickly should do so. It was also made clear that patients with suspected classic with no occult CNV, for whom treatment has been recommended, should be treated wherever capacity exists to do so.

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