15 Dec 2004 : Column 1083W
Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 15 December 2004
TREASURY
Accounting Officers
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions since 1 June he has been informed of a Minister issuing a direction to an accounting officer as set out in paragraphs 14 to 17 of the Treasury document, The Responsibilities of an Accounting Officer; on which grounds the note of dissent was issued; and if he will make a statement. [204782]
Mr. Timms: The Treasury has not been informed of any directions issued by Ministers to Accounting Officers under this guidance since the reply given to the hon. Member by my predecessor on 8 July 2004, Official Report, column 810W.
Cricket
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 29 November 2004, Official Report, column 16W, on the International Cricket Conference Headquarters, from which International Sports Federations he has received representations on taxation issues affecting their proposed headquarter locations. [203729]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 9 December 2004]: The Government have received a representation from the UK Sports Council. The Government welcome any further representations there may be on taxation issues.
Departmental Files
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is the policy of the Department to retain for the benefit of future (a) historians and (b) applicants under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the same (i) complete categories of files, (ii) numbers of files and (iii) representative examples of files from categories of files destroyed as had been preserved prior to the passage of that Act. [203319]
Mr. Timms: In accordance with the Public Records Act 1958 S.3, the selection of records of enduring historical value for permanent preservation at The National Archives (TNA) will continue to take place in HM Treasury under the guidance and supervision of TNA staff. The Department will also comply with the Code of Practice on Records Management, issued by the Lord Chancellor under S.46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which underlines the importance of having clear selection policies and disposal schedules in place.
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many departmental files have been destroyed in each of the past five years. [203320]
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Mr. Timms: Records are appraised 29 years after the oldest paper on the file. In accordance with The National Archives' guidance, the Treasury has destroyed the following number of files in each of the last five years.
| File year | Destroy |
|---|---|
| 1970 | 1,615 |
| 1971 | 1,609 |
| 1972 | 1,962 |
| 1973 | 1,650 |
| 1974 | (1)1,747 |
(1) Provisional.
Entertainment Costs
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been spent on entertainment by his Department in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) food, (b) alcohol, (c) staff and (d) accommodation. [204357]
Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 12 May 2004, Official Report, column 355W. Expenditure on official entertainment for 2003–04 was £116,000. Further analysis could be provided only at disproportionate cost. All expenditure on official entertainment is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on the principles set out in "Government Accounting".
European Union
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list activities in which his Department has been involved to promote the benefits of the Government's policy towards the European Union; what the costs were; what partner organisations were involved; and if he will make a statement. [204225]
Mr. Timms: The Government work with a wide range of partners to develop and communicate their policy towards the European Union, including the CBI, Chambers of Commerce, trade unions and more, including other EU member states and EU institutions. Costs of these activities are covered from departmental budgets, as set out in annual departmental reports.
GDP (Pendle)
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the per capita GDP was for the Pendle local authority area in each year since 1995. [205007]
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. Gordon Prentice, dated 15 December 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about GDP per capita for Pendle local authority. (205007)
Pendle local authority is in Lancashire County Council (NUTS3 area), which is currently the lowest geographic level at which GVA per capita is published. The latest published information is for 2001.
The estimates in table A are based on the regional Gross Value Added 1 (GVA) estimates published in December 2003. These are available on the National Statistics website at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=10904&More=n
| Gross value added (GVA)(2) per head for Lancashire County Council (NUTS3 area) at current basic prices 1995 to 2001 | |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 9,791 |
| 1996 | 10,141 |
| 1997 | 10,527 |
| 1998 | 10,996 |
| 1999 | 11,496 |
| 2000 | 12,034 |
| 2001 | 12,534 |
(2) Information presented here is Gross Value Added (GVA) which is Gross Domestic Product (GDP) less taxes (plus subsidies) on products.
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Industrial Redundancies
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many redundancies per 1,000 workers are estimated from the Labour Force Survey to have been experienced in each industrial sector since 1997. [204612]
Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibilities of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Jim Cousins, dated 15 December 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about redundancy.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) provides estimates of redundancies experienced by survey respondents in the three month period before their survey interviews.
The table overleaf shows the rates of redundancies per 1,000 employees in each industrial sector of the UK in each three month period since 1997. The data are up-dated quarterly in the "Jobleavers and redundancies" section of the ONS website.
(3) The redundancy rate is based on the ratio of the redundancy level for the given quarter to the number of employees in the previous quarter, multiplied by 1,000
Source:
ONS Labour Force Survey
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