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13 Jul 2004 : Column 1012W—continued

TREASURY

Blind and Partially Sighted People

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of blind and partially sighted people of working age were in employment in each of the last six years. [182536]

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

Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. David Stewart, dated 13 July 2004:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question on the percentage of blind and partially sighted people of working age in employment in each of the last six years. I am replying in his absence. (182536)

The attached table gives the available information from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) relating to people identified in the survey as "partially sighted" who have difficulty in seeing even while wearing spectacles or contact lenses. Information separately identifying blind people is not available.

As with any statistical sample survey, estimates for the LFS are subject to sampling variability.
Employment rates for partially-sighted people of working age⁽¹⁾—United Kingdom—three months ending in February each year from 1999 to 2004

	Per cent
1999	36
2000	39
2001	37
2002	35
2003	38
2004	38

⁽¹⁾ Working age refers to men aged 16 to 64 or women aged to 16 to 59.
Source:
ONS Labour Force Survey




 
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Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the public service agreements contain, for all departments, targets for reductions in carbon dioxide emissions; and if he will make a statement, with particular reference to the Department for Transport. [183701]

Mr. Boateng: It would not be appropriate for all departments to have targets relating to carbon dioxide emissions.

The Department for Transport, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department of Trade and Industry share responsibility for delivering the PSA target on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide emissions.

Details of all PSA targets can be found in the 2004 Spending Review PSA White Paper, published on 12 July 2004.

ECOFIN

Mr. Hood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the outcome was of the ECOFIN Council held on 5 July; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if he will make a statement. [182778]

Mr. Gordon Brown: The Council took note of the presentation by the Presidency of its work programme on economic and financial affairs for the second half of 2004. Five priorities were identified in the work programme: reduction of the administrative burden on companies; progress with work on the EU's financial perspective for the 2007–13 period; combating terrorism, and specifically the financing of terrorism; financial services; and taxation. The work programme was approved.

ECOFIN adopted opinions on the Convergence Programmes of the new member states, and excessive deficit recommendations on Cyprus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia. Given the different starting points and different budgetary plans of the member states concerned, the Recommendations set different target dates for bringing their deficits below 3 per cent. of GDP: 2005 for Cyprus, 2006 for Malta, 2007 for Poland and Slovakia and 2008 for the Czech Republic and Hungary.

ECOFIN adopted a decision on the existence of an excessive deficit in Greece, and a recommendation on action to be taken to correct it. In its Recommendation, the Council called on Greece to put an end to the excessive deficit situation by 2005 at the latest, requiring action to be taken to this end by 5 November 2004, and to ensure that budgetary consolidation towards a medium-term position of close to balance or in surplus is sustained. Greece accepted the recommendation.

The Italian budgetary position was discussed. ECOFIN welcomed the Italian government's commitments to improve the position and, in light of those commitments, the Council considered that Italy had responded to the concerns expressed in the Commission's 28 April 2004 recommendation to issue an Early Warning in order to prevent the occurrence of an excessive deficit. The Council will continue to monitor
 
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the budgetary position, in particular debt dynamics and the plans for 2005. The Council conclusions were approved unanimously.

The EU-Terrorism Co-ordinator, Gijs de Vries, presented the financial aspects of on-going work in the fight against terrorism, emphasising ECOFIN's role. The UK welcomed the emphasis on effective implementation and the Dutch Presidency's intent to make fighting terrorism a priority.

The Commission outlined developments within its Accounting Regulatory Committee (ARC) on the introduction into EU law of revised International Accounting Standards (IAS) and in particular IAS 39. The Council called on the Commission to continue work on the standards with a view to making progress on the remaining problems within the timeframe allowed for by the endorsement procedure. The Presidency concluded that the ARC should consider the issues and report back to ECOFIN.

Fuel Duty

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will undertake (a) not to increase taxes on petrol for the lifetime of this Parliament and (b) to scrap plans to increase petrol tax this autumn. [183246]

John Healey: Decisions on duty rates are taken by the Chancellor after consideration of all relevant social, economic and environmental factors. As the Chancellor announced at the 3 June OPEC meeting, we will review progress and will make a judgment on the planned duty change due on 1 September.

Lloyd's Immunity

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to remove immunity from prosecution for negligence and misrepresentations from Lloyd's; and if he will make a statement. [183288]

Ruth Kelly: The Lloyd's Acts 1871 to 1982 provide the constitution of the Society of Lloyd's. Section 14 of the Lloyd's Act 1982 exempts the society from liability in damages to members of the Lloyd's community in certain circumstances. The immunity only applies to liability incurred in the exercise of or omission to exercise a statutory function or power ie those aspects of the society's functions that it is required to exercise to organise the Lloyd's market. The immunity does not extend to acts which are either done in bad faith or which do not involve the exercise of discretion.

The Government have no plans to change this position.

Tax Credits

Alan Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families are estimated to have received working tax credit overpayments in 2003–04; what the estimated average working tax credit overpayment is per family in 2003–04; and what the overall estimated (a) overpayment and (b) debt was in 2003–04. [183135]

 
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Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Jarrow (Mr. Hepburn) on 22 March 2004, Official Report, column 663–64W.

Voting Age

Brian Cotter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many 16 and 17-year-olds live in the Weston-super-Mare constituency. [183917]

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

Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Brian Cotter, dated 13 July 2004:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many 16 and 17 year olds live in the Weston-Super-Mare constituency. I am replying in his absence. (183917)

Figures from the "Census 2001 Report for Parliamentary Constituencies" indicate that on Census day (29 April 2001) there were 2,308 people aged 16–17 living in Weston-Super-Mare parliamentary constituency.

The information below has been extracted from the CD supplement to the "Census 2001 Report for Parliamentary Constituencies", which is available in the House of Commons Library.

Area	All people	People aged 16–17
Weston-Super-Mare	97,105	2,308

Source :
Table KS02 Census 2001 Report for Parliamentary Constituencies.

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