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19 Jan 2004 : Column 1046W—continued
Statutory Sick Pay
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many people employed in her Department have claimed statutory sick pay for (a) less than one week, (b) one to three weeks, (c) four to six weeks, (d) seven to 12 weeks, (e) 13 to 20 weeks and (f) 21 to 28 weeks in each year since 1997. [148633]
Ms Hewitt: The work involved for my Department to gather the requested information would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.
The recent AON Limited report "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service, 2002" is a useful source of reference for some sickness absence data.
Trade Statistics
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the volume of United Kingdom trade has been with (a) Singapore, (b) Thailand, (c) Malaysia, (d) Vietnam, (e) Cambodia and (f) Laos in each of the last five years. [148218]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The information is in the following table.
Source:
Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom, HM Customs and Excise.
19 Jan 2004 : Column 1047W
Vehicle Exports
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with representatives of the car industry on exports of UK built (a) cars, (b) vans and (c) trucks. [148419]
Jacqui Smith: I have frequent discussions with individual automotive manufacturers and with the SMMT, covering a broad range of issues touching on the competitiveness of the automotive industry, including those which impact on exports. It has been pleasing to see that manufacturers in the UK have in general been very successful in improving their export performance over recent years, often in markets which have been particularly tough.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the number of new UK built (a) cars, (b) vans and (c) trucks exported in each of the last three years. [148473]
Jacqui Smith: A breakdown of UK vehicle production for export is attached. The light commercial vehicle figure comprises vans, and also van-derived minibuses. Full figures for 2003 are yet to be published, but the table includes an estimate based on published data to end-November.
| Cars | Light CVs | Heavy CVs | Buses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,062,990 | 71,667 | 4,220 | 294 |
| 2001 | 894,204 | 91,127 | 4,776 | 321 |
| 2002 | 1,047,668 | 109,308 | 4,702 | 225 |
| 2003 estimate | 1,137,000 | 96,700 | 4,200 | 200 |
World Trade Organisation
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the members of the World Trade Organisation, broken down by the size of their (a) gross domestic product and (b) per capita income. [146643]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Government do not produce their own data on these categorisations, but instead draw on publicly available information produced by international organisations such as the IMF and the World Bank. I will write to the hon. Member enclosing this information and will place a copy of the letter in both Libraries of the House.
19 Jan 2004 : Column 1048W
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Fines
Mr. Forth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) what his estimate is of the revenue cost as a result of (a) unpaid and (b) uncollected fines in the last five years; [147966]
- (2) what proportion of fines were not (a) paid and (b) collected in the last five years. [147967]
Mr. Leslie: Information on fines imposed and collected is provided by the 42 Magistrates Courts Committees (MCCs) in England and Wales. A new data collection procedure was implemented in 1999–2000. Comparable figures are therefore only available from that period, and are set out in the table.
In addition, last year, I agreed to a revision of the enforcement payment rate target so that it focuses clearly on fines.
The April to November row of the table sets out year-to-date performance on the basis of the new formula which excludes other financial penalties such as confiscation orders.
| Period | Total imposed | Total paid | Payment rate (%)(24) | Total arrears outstanding(25) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 431,111,249 | 267,326,873 | 62 | 227,361,076 |
| 2000–01 | 384,958,059 | 242,455,701 | 63 | 225,908,941 |
| 2001–02 | 387,020,885 | 228,122,287 | 59 | 246,481,521 |
| 2002–03 | 425,863,782 | 236,320,110 | 55 | 276,870,306 |
| April-November 2003 | 247,135,001 | 139,353,460 | 72 | (26)— |
(24) Payment rate percentage for periods 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, and 2002–03 was based on amount paid divided by new amount owed. For the period April-November 2003 as a result of the Minister's statement on 25 June 2003 the payment rate has changed to: amount paid divided by new amount owed less amount judicially cancelled. Therefore a direct comparison can not be made between the payment rate for April-November 2003 and previous years.
(25) Total arrrears outstanding includes arrears outstanding from previous years
(26) Total arrears outstanding for the Year to Date ending November 2003 is not currently available
Mr. Syms: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what proportion of fines levied by the courts were collected in full in the last year for which figures are available. [148335]
Mr. Leslie: Information on fines imposed and collected is provided by the 42 Magistrates Courts Committees (MCCs) in England and Wales. Figures for the financial year 2002–03 are set out in the table.
In addition, last year, I agreed to a revision of the enforcement payment rate target so that it focuses clearly on fines.
The April to November row of the table sets out year-to-date performance on the basis of the new formula which excludes other financial penalties such as confiscation orders.
19 Jan 2004 : Column 1049W
| Period | Total imposed | Total paid | Payment rate %(27) | Total arrears outstanding(28) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 425,863,782 | 236,320,110 | 55 | 276,870,306 |
| April-November 2003 | 247,135,001 | 139,353,460 | 72 | (29)— |
(27) Payment rate percentage for 2002–03 is based on amount paid divided by new amount owed. For the period April-November 2003 as a result of the Minister's statement on 25 June 2003 the payment rate has changed to: amount paid divided by new amount owed less amount judicial cancelled. Therefore a direct comparison can not be made between the payment rate for April- November 2003 and previous years.
(28) Total arrrears outstanding includes arrears outstanding from previous years
(29) Total arrears outstanding for the Year to Date ending November 2003 is not currently available
Immigration Appellate System
Mr. Crausby: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the cost was in each of the last five years of the administration of the Immigration Appellate System. [147783]
Mr. Lammy: The costs of the administration of the Immigration Appellate system in each of the last five years are as follows:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | (30)67.3 |
| 1999–2000 | (30)77.5 |
| 2000–01 | 116.8 |
| 2001–02 | 181.1 |
| 2002–03 | 269.8 |
(30) The costs of administration of the Immigration Appellate System for these years are estimates. Detailed financial reporting information was not available to capture the full cost of administering the process.
These figures include the cost of administering the Immigration Appellate Authority, the Legal Services Commission, provision of legal aid and the Department for Constitutional Affairs Asylum Policy and Programme Division.
The rising costs reflect a significantly increased caseload (reflecting the clearance of the backlog of cases) and the Government priority that has been given to fast and effective processing of asylum claims—in order to ensure the end to end system is as cost effective as possible.
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