---

4 Oct 2004 : Column 1786W—continued

Immigration

Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many immigrants he estimates have entered the United Kingdom from the new EU countries since May. [189534]

Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Chris Grayling, dated 23 September 2004:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question regarding estimates for the number of people migrating to the UK from the new EU countries since May 2004. (189534)

The information requested is not available.

Estimates of total international migration produced by the Office for National Statistics are compiled from a range of survey and administrative sources on an annual basis. Estimates of people migrating from the EU to the UK are primarily produced from the International Passenger Survey. This survey has a small sample size for the EU accession countries, which results in any estimates being subject to a high degree of error. Consequently, it is our present judgement that we will be unable to release reliable estimates for a single year for the accession countries when the 2004 data are published.

Lisbon Agenda

Mr. Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his assessment is of whether the EU has made progress towards achieving the Lisbon Agenda aim of making the EU the world's most competitive economy by 2010 in the last two years. [189518]

Mr. Timms: The Treasury published an assessment of the EU's progress towards the Lisbon goals in February 2004, "Advancing Long-term Prosperity: Economic Reform in an Enlarged Europe". That report noted that the EU and the member states had implemented a number of important reforms, but that further action was needed in order to achieve the Lisbon goals by 2010. In September 2004, the Government also published their submission to the High-Level Group headed by Wim Kok and tasked with conducting a mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy. That report described a range of priority areas for reform to deliver a more flexible and outward-looking Europe.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the Statement of 13 September, Official Report, column 1101, on the Lisbon Agenda, if he will list the 102 benchmarks. [189563]

Mr. Timms: A full list of the 102 structural indicator benchmarks against which Member States' economic performance can be assessed is available on the Eurostat website (http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/). alongside the most recent available data.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the annual Lisbon Agenda score cards will be introduced. [189572]

Mr. Timms: In its September 2004 report, "Mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy: UK submission to the high-level group", the Government proposed that an annual Lisbon Scorecard, ranking national performance against a core set of headline economic reform indicators should be prepared each year for the
 
4 Oct 2004 : Column 1787W
 
spring European Council. At present, the European Commission compares national economic performance against a range of indicators in its annual report to the spring European Council, highlighting the best and worst three performing member states against individual indicators.

Census Results (Manchester)

Mr. Keith Bradley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many 18-year-olds were resident in the City of Manchester at the last census; [189459]

(2) how many 18-year-olds were resident in the Manchester, Withington constituency at the last census. [189460]

Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Keith Bradley, dated 21 September 2004:

As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking how many 18 year olds were resident in the City of Manchester and the Manchester Withington Constituency at the last Census. (189459 & 189460)

Figures from 'Census 2001—Census Area Statistics for Output Areas, Wards and higher administrative geographies in England and Wales' indicate that on Census day (29 April 2001) there were 6,008 18 year olds resident in Manchester Local Authority District, and 915 18 year olds resident in the Manchester, Withington Constituency.

The 'Census 2001—Census Area Statistics for Output Areas, Wards and higher administrative geographies in England and Wales' DVD is available in the House of Commons Library.

The 'Census 2001—Census Area Statistics for Parliamentary Constituencies in England and Wales' CD was released on the 16th of September 2004 and is now available in the House of Commons Library.

Civil Service Redundancies

Mr. Best: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in which (a) departments and (b) agencies civil service job losses will be made. [189135]

Mr. Boateng: There will be an overall gross reduction in posts in UK departments of 84,150 by 2008 and departments are pursuing these reductions in line with business need. All relevant departmental reductions were published in the 2004 Spending Review White Paper, which can be accessed via www.hm-treasury.gov.uk

Mr. Best: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the number of Civil Service jobs that will be lost in (a) Yorkshire, (b) Leeds and (c) Leeds North West following the Spending Review announcement. [189144]

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) which (a) departments, (b) agencies and (c) public bodies will be affected by job losses resulting from his recent announcement in the 2004 Spending Review; [189351]

(2) how many Civil Service jobs will be lost in Castle Point as a result of the recently announced cuts in Civil Service jobs. [189352]

 
4 Oct 2004 : Column 1788W
 

Mr. Boateng: There will be an overall gross reduction in posts in UK departments of 84,150 by 2008 and departments are pursuing these reductions in line with business need, consulting all stakeholders including union and staff. Departments will come forward in due course with details of workforce changes once plans are finalised.

Crown Estate's Communication Department

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the staffing costs for the Crown Estate's Communication Department were in each year since 1997. [188445]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 13 September 2004]: The information is as follows:

	£
1996–97	42,000
1997–98	75,000
1998–99	88,000
1999–2000	109,000
2000–01	110,000
2001–02	128,000
2002–03	133,000
2003–04	138,000

Economic Growth

Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) British and (b) European strategy is for combining economic growth while retaining the priority on social inclusion. [189562]

Mr. Timms: The Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report provides an overview of the Government's policies to promote economic growth and social inclusion.

The Government's approach combines flexibility and fairness, recognising that promoting employment opportunities is central to both economic growth and social inclusion. At the European level, the Lisbon Strategy sets ambitious targets for achieving both economic growth and social inclusion, focussing particularly on employment. The European employment guidelines establish three overarching objectives for Member State action to promote full employment, improve quality and productivity at work, and strengthen social cohesion and inclusion.

Employment and Productivity

Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures the Government are taking to ensure increased employment and productivity in the UK. [189564]

Mr. Timms: The Government is committed to raising the rate of UK productivity growth. The Government's approach is set out in "Productivity in the UK: The Evidence and the Government's Approach" (published alongside the 2000 Pre-Budget Report).

The Government's strategy for ensuring employment opportunity for all has been set out in successive Budget and Pre-Budget reports.
 
4 Oct 2004 : Column 1789W
 

The Government reports on steps to increase productivity and employment in every Budget and Pre-Budget Report.

---