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Block Grant (Scotland)

Mr. Wilson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value was of the block grant allocation to the (a) Scottish Office and (b) Scottish Executive in each of the last 10 years; and what the projected figure is for the next two years in (a) cash and (b) constant terms. [151967]

Mr. Boateng: Information on the block grant from the Scotland Office to the Scottish Executive and the Scotland Office's own spending is contained in the Scotland Office's Estimates and the Scotland Office Departmental Report (Cm 5927), and prior to devolution in the Scottish Office's Estimates. Information on the Scottish Departmental Expenditure Limit for the period 1998–99 to 2005–06 is contained in table 1.2 of the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses in nominal terms and in table 1.4 in real terms.

Central Government Spending

Mr. Letwin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the loss to public funds was of gross administrative expenditure in central Government for (a) 1996–97 and (b) 2003–04.[R] [145609]

Mr. Gordon Brown [holding answer 5 January 2004]: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to him on 29 January 2004, Official Report, column 448W.

Customs and Excise

Mr. Flook: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the last occasion was that a British citizen was charged under (a) section 42 of the Customs Consolidation Act 1876 and (b) section 170(2) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979; and what resulted from these charges. [151855]

John Healey: Section 42 of the Customs Consolidation Act 1876 imposes a prohibition on the import of indecent and obscene articles. Section 170(2) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 creates the criminal offence of contravening this prohibition. The last occasion on which Customs charged a British Citizen under this legislation was 31 January 2003. This person was sentenced on 12 March 2003 to a three-year Community Rehabilitation Order and ordered to register as a sex offender for five years.

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Since April 2003 Customs and Excise have refocused their strategy for detections of such material at import, placing greater emphasis on working more closely with other agencies, including the passing of intelligence to the police for further investigation and prosecution as appropriate.

ECOFIN

Mr. Hood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the outcome was of the ECOFIN Council held on 20 January; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if he will make a statement. [150137]

Mr. Gordon Brown: I attended ECOFIN on 20 January.

The Irish Presidency presented its work programme. The focus of the first three months would be on the Lisbon economic reform agenda and enlargement for the final three months. I stressed the importance of the Lisbon Agenda, the need for ECOFIN Ministers to be fully engaged in the forthcoming debate on future financing of the EU and the importance of re-invigorating the EU/US economic relationship.

The Council agreed opinions on the updated Stability and Convergence programmes for Denmark, Austria, Finland and Sweden.

The Council discussed the Report of the Employment Task Force (Kok Report) on the basis of a note prepared by the Economic Policy Committee. The report set out that the EU was likely to miss the 2005 and 2010 Lisbon employment targets without immediate implementation of labour market reforms. I welcomed the report and its recommendations and stressed the onus was now on member states to demonstrate the political will to reform. The Presidency agreed concluding that follow-up to the Kok report was a priority for the spring Council.

Following a French request, the Council again briefly discussed VAT reduced rates. There was no consensus and the Presidency concluded that the item would return to a future ECOFIN. The Council also discussed a French paper on raising minimum rates on tobacco tax. The Commission and Presidency agreed there was little prospect of agreeing further harmonisation of rates.

The Commission reported to the Council on discussions with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on proposed revisions to International Accounting Standards 32 and 39, relating to accounting for financial instruments. The Presidency welcomed the setting up of a High Level Group under IASB chairmanship to help find agreement on the outstanding issues.

The location of the three Lamfalussy Committees of banking, insurance and securities supervisors was agreed at lunch. The Banking Committee will be located in London, the Insurance Committee in Frankfurt and the Securities Committee will remain in Paris.

No votes were taken at the meeting.

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Gold Receipts

Mr. Viggers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been received from the sale of gold since 7 May 1999; how the receipts have been reinvested; and what the current market value of those reinvestments is. [152144]

Ruth Kelly: The proceeds from the sale of part of the United Kingdom's gold holdings between 6 July 1999 and 6 March 2002 totalled approximately $3.5 billion. These proceeds were invested in interest-bearing foreign currency assets in broadly the same proportion as currently held in the net foreign currency reserves (40 per cent. dollars; 40 per cent. euros; 20 per cent. yen). The gold sales reduced risk by around 30 per cent. (as measured by value-at-risk) and are not expected to deliver a loss in return when measured over the medium to long-term, the appropriate time horizon for such a decision.

The United Kingdom has been at the forefront internationally in promoting openness and transparency in reserves data. Details, including currency composition, are available from the Bank of England's website: www.bankofenqland.co.uk. The investment policy for the reserves is also outlined in the Exchange Equalisation Account Financial Accounts, most recently published on 1 December 2003 for financial year 2002–03. We do not provide market-sensitive information, however, about individual assets within the reserves portfolio.

Iraq

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the cost of United Kingdom military operations in Iraq. [151656]

Mr. Boateng: Of the £3 billion set aside by the Chancellor in last year's Budget to cover the cost of operations in Iraq, £1 billion was drawn down in the spring Supplementary Estimate for 2002–03. The remaining £2 billion of this special reserve has been carried forward to 2003–04.

In the recent PBR the Chancellor announced a further £500 million set aside for this financial year and a further £300 million for 2004–05 as a prudent allowance to cover Iraq and our continuing international commitment to the war on terrorism.

Public Service Agreements

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on value for money in public service agreements relating to the environment. [151682]

Mr. Boateng: The latest Public Service Agreement (PSA) for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) was published in "2002 Spending Review—Public Service Agreements 2003–2006" (Cm 5571). DEFRA's PSA included a value for money target, focusing on a reduction in the unit

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cost of administering Common Agricultural Policy payments, and an increase in electronic service delivery capability. DEFRA published a report of performance against this target in its Autumn Performance Report in November 2003 (Cm 6017), and will update this further in the departmental report later this spring.

Tax Stamp Regimes

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with (a) countries which have abolished tax stamp regimes for whisky and other spirits, (b) countries which, after consideration, decided against introducing tax stamps and (c) countries which have tax stamps regimes; and what the outcome of those discussions was. [151694]

John Healey: Officials are in regular discussions with other countries on these matters. Tax stamps have been introduced in 40 different countries for a variety of reasons ranging from quality assurance to tackling fraud. Of eight European Union and accession countries where direct inquiries have been made, Denmark, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic have no plans to withdraw their schemes. Greece have withdrawn their 'quality' marker stamp and Belgium decided after consideration not to introduce tax stamps. Additionally, we are aware that the USA withdrew their tax stamps in 1985 when the 1954 law governing marks on spirits was repealed. The variety of reasons for introduction and withdrawal of tax stamp schemes highlight that direct comparisons between different countries' excise regimes cannot be easily drawn.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect on free trade of tax stamps. [151695]

John Healey: Under formal European Union agreements (Council Directive 92/12/EEC) member states may require the use of tax stamps or other fiscal marks on products subject to excise duty. Any such scheme must ensure that the tax stamps do not create obstacles to the free movement of the products.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what effect he expects the electronic control of movements systems which will be in place in the EU by 2009 to have on tax stamp regimes. [151696]

John Healey: The EU Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS) should be introduced by July 2009 and should reinforce the Government's strategy to tackle alcohol duty fraud. It will allow member states to monitor, in real time, the despatch and receipt of movements of alcohol, as well as tobacco and certain fuel products, between tax warehouses located in different member states. EMCS will be an improvement on the current paper-based system of Accompanying Administrative Documents. However, tax stamps are still likely to have a useful role to play in the detection of smuggled and diverted products after the full implementation of EMCS.

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