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20 Oct 2004 : Column 702W—continued
Fuel Duties
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the duty is on a litre of (a) diesel, (b) leaded and (c) unleaded petrol; and how much it would have been if the fuel price escalator had not been abolished. [192418]
John Healey: The current duty rate on a litre of (a) ultra low sulphur diesel, (b) leaded petrol and (c) ultra low sulphur petrol is 47.10p per litre, 56.20p per litre and 47.10p per litre respectively.
If the fuel duty escalator had been applied at every Budget since 2000 then the current duty rate on (a) ultra low sulphur diesel, (b) leaded petrol and (c) ultra low sulphur petrol would be 70.96p per litre, 79.48p per litre and 70.96p per litre respectively.
Drug Misuse
Tom Cox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many deaths have been caused in the Greater London area as a result of people using class A drugs in the last year for which figures are available. [192617]
Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 20 October 2004:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question asking how many deaths have been caused in the Greater London area as a result of people using Class A drugs in the last year for which figures are available. (192617)
Figures are readily available from death certification on deaths due to drug poisoning. The most recent year for which figures are available is 2002. 1 In Greater London 2 in that year there were 160 deaths related to drug poisoning where a Class A drug was mentioned on the death certificate. 3
Figures are not readily available where death was indirectly related to the use of Class A drugs as the direct cause is generally selected as the underlying cause of death (e.g. HIV infection).
1 Data are for deaths occurring per calendar year
2 Usual residence of the deceased.
3 Defined using the following codes from the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision for 2002: FII-FI6, X40-X44. X60-X64, Y10-Y14,X85,wherea Class A drug was also mentioned on the death certificate.
Economic Indices
Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much the (a) housing cost and (b) general inflation indices changed in each of the last 10 years. [190974]
Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Robert Spink, dated 20 October 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question, by how much the (a) housing cost and (b) general inflation indices changed in each of the last 10 years. (190974)
The following table gives the annual average index numbers for housing costs and for the All Items Retail Prices Index (RPI) for the years 1994–2003, along with the corresponding annual percentage changes. The RPI provides the most appropriate basis for such comparisons because the Consumer Prices Index excludes
- most elements of owner-occupier housing costs. The figures for 2004 will become available with the release of the December figures on 18th January 2005.
| RPI (Housing)(9) | RPI (All items) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Index | Percentage | Index | Percentage | |
| 1994 | 156.0 | 3.3 | 144.1 | 2.4 |
| 1995 | 166.4 | 6.7 | 149.1 | 3.5 |
| 1996 | 168.6 | 1.3 | 152.7 | 2.4 |
| 1997 | 179.6 | 6.5 | 157.5 | 3.1 |
| 1998 | 195.4 | 8.8 | 162.9 | 3.4 |
| 1999 | 196.9 | 0.8 | 165.4 | 1.5 |
| 2000 | 214.4 | 8.9 | 170.3 | 3.0 |
| 2001 | 221.1 | 3.1 | 173.3 | 1.8 |
| 2002 | 226.9 | 2.6 | 176.2 | 1.7 |
| 2003 | 244.1 | 7.6 | 181.3 | 2.9 |
(9) Includes rent, mortgage interest payments, depreciation, council tax and rates, water and other charges, repairs and maintenance charges, do-it-yourself materials and dwellings insurance and ground rent.
European Structural Fund
Tom Cox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much money was allocated to the London borough of Wandsworth from the European Structural Fund in each of the last three years. [192676]
Mr. Raynsford: I have been asked to reply.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is responsible for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in England. The London borough of Wandsworth has not received any support from this European Structural Fund. However, £2,701,448 has been committed since October 2001 to date under the Objective 3 European Social Fund (ESF) programme to 13 organisations for 18 projects based in the London borough of Wandsworth.
Green Ministers
Mr. Horam: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many meetings of the Ministerial Sub-Committee of Green Ministers were attended by the Department's Green Minister in (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04. [190871]
John Healey: I am the Treasury's Green Minister and in this role I am a member of the Ministerial Sub-Committee of Green Ministers. It has been established practice under successive governments not to disclose information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees. Exemption 2 of Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information applies.
Information and Communication Specialists
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Department spent on outside information technology and communication specialist consultants and engineers in the 2003–04 financial year. [191911]
Mr. Timms: In order to secure value for money for public spending, the Chancellor's Departments procure consultancy services through a range of centrally negotiated framework contracts.
During 2003–04, Inland Revenue had major contracts with two strategic technology partners, EDS and Accenture, to provide its IT systems and support, including development and maintenance services.
20 Oct 2004 : Column 704W
£300-£400 million is spent annually through these contracts. Expenditure incurred with EDS specifically on IT consultancy could be provided only at disproportionate cost. No IT consultancy services were obtained through the Accenture contract (which is purely for operational services). During 2003–04, Inland Revenue obtained additional IT consultancy services through a number of contracts let by other Government Departments or agencies, including the Office of Government Commerce's S-Cat, and its own framework contract with Computacenter (for the supply of IT equipment, software and associated services). Expenditure through these contracts was in the region of £28 million.
HM Customs and Excise spend on IT consultancy in 2003–04 was in the region of £28 million. Information relating to HM Treasury could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mobile Phones
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many mobile phones were used by (a) Ministers and special advisers and (b) officials in his Department in each year since 1997; how many were (i) lost and (ii) stolen; and what their cost was. [191444]
Mr. Timms: The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
ONS Neighbourhood Statistics
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent changes have been authorised in relation to the publication of statistics concerning marriage in the Office of National Statistics neighbourhood statistics; and if he will make a statement. [191714]
Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Paul Goodman, dated 20 October 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what changes have been authorised in relation to the publication of statistics concerning marriage in the Office of National Statistics neighbourhood statistics recently. (191714)
There have been no recent changes in policy regarding the publication of marriage statistics through the Office for National Statistics Neighbourhood Statistics Service (NeSS). Census 2001 marital status statistics are already available through NeSS and registration service based marriage statistics would be made available if they could be produced at an appropriate geographic level and released in a non-disclosive manner. The issue is kept under regular review within the NeSS Programme.
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