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11 Jan 2005 : Column 443W—continued
Iraq
Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what agreement concerning what proportion of debt has been reached in respect of write-off of Iraq's debts for which non-state actors are creditors; and if he will make a statement. [207266]
Mr. Timms: The Paris Club of official creditors agreed on 21 November 2004 to write off 80 per cent. of Iraq's debt. This agreement with Iraq contains a provision that requires Iraq to seek comparable treatment from all non-Paris Club creditors, including private creditors. The Iraqi authorities are responsible for those negotiations.
Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what conditionality is required of Iraq by the International Monetary Fund; whether (a) the UK Government and (b) other Paris Club Governments are committed to the implementation of this conditionality under the Paris Club debt write-off deal; and if he will make a statement. [207271]
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Mr. Timms: Iraq agreed a programme of emergency post-conflict assistance (EPCA) with the IMF on 29 September 2004, and intends to agree an upper credit tranche IMF Arrangement in 2005. The EPCA document is publicly available. The terms of the upper credit tranche arrangement are yet to be negotiated by Iraq and the IMF. The Paris Club agreement on debt reduction for Iraq will be delivered in three tranches, the second and third of which are linked to the IMF Board's approval, and Iraq's implementation, of an upper credit tranche IMF arrangement.
Millennium Development Goals
Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of alternative financing instruments that could be utilised for raising the finance required for meeting the millennium development goals in the event that insufficient funds are committed to the International Finance Facility. [207137]
Mr. Timms: UK official development assistance will increase to £6.4 billion by 2008, reaching 0.47 per cent. of national income. On this timetable, if current rates of growth are maintained the UK will reach the UN target of 0.7 per cent. ODA as a share of GNI by 2013. The UK encourages other countries not yet at this target to set a timetable towards achieving it.
But to meet the millennium development goals an additional $50 billion of aid is needed immediately, and this scale of resources is far beyond what traditional funding can offer today. That is why the UK has put forward its proposal for a new international finance facility.
The UK will continue to look at other means of increasing development aid, and welcomes the recent findings of the Landau Report and the Report on Action against Hunger and Poverty which call for further work to be done on the options for providing the resources needed for fighting poverty in the longer-term, including international taxes, special drawing rights and voluntary mechanisms.
Newspapers/Periodicals
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the (a) newspapers and (b) periodicals taken by his Department in each year since 1997; and how much the Department spent on each in each year. [207651]
Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by the then Financial Secretary (Ruth Kelly) to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on 29 January 2002, Official Report, column 228W.
Ovarian Cancer
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many incidences of ovarian cancer there have been in the last five years. [207084]
Mr. Timms:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
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Letter from Colin Mowl to Dr. Ian Gibson, dated 11 January 2005:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question concerning how many incidences of ovarian cancer there have been in the last five years. I am replying in his absence. (207084)
The latest year for which figures are available is 2001. The number of newly diagnosed cases of ovarian cancer registered in England, for the 5 years 1997–2001 are given in the table below along with the directly age-standardised rates. 1
(122) Age-standardised rates are directly standardised to the European standard population. These control for differences in the age structure of the population so as to present incidence rates on a comparable basis over time.
(123) International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C56.
Source:
Office for National Statistics
Press Officers
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many press officers are employed in the Department. [206531]
Mr. Timms: The number of press officer posts in the Treasury has changed very little since 1992 and currently stands at nine.
Special Advisers
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many special advisers there are in the Department, broken down by civil service pay grade. [206501]
Mr. Timms: HM Treasury have four special advisers who are not attached to any civil service pay grade. These figures do not include members of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions between 31 March 2002 and 31 March 2003 his special advisers travelled abroad in an official capacity; what places were visited; and how much each visit cost. [207178]
Mr. Timms: I refer to the answer given by the former Financial Secretary (Ruth Kelly) on 15 September 2003, Official Report, column 603W.
Stamp Duty
Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what projections he made for revenue from stamp duty on (a) property and (b) share transactions in each of the last five years; and what projections he has made for each of the next three financial years. [206940]
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Mr. Timms: Estimates of the revenue from stamp duty on both property and share transactions in each of the last five financial years up to and including 2003–04 are given at
Estimated and projected revenues for total stamp taxes in 2004–05 and 2005–06 are published in table B13 of the pre-Budget 2004 report. The breakdown between duty on land and property (Stamp Duty Land Tax) and share transactions is as follows:
| 2004–05 | 2005–06 | |
|---|---|---|
| Stamp Duty Land Tax | 6.2 | 6.6 |
| Stamp Taxes on Shares | 2.6 | 3.0 |
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many stamp duty land tax applications have been received by the Inland Revenue since 1 August; and how many of those applications have been received from solicitors in (a) Scotland, (b) Northern Ireland and (c) England and Wales; [207082]
(2) how many stamp duty land tax certificates the Inland Revenue has issued since 1 August; and how many of those certificates have been issued to solicitors in (a) Scotland, (b) Northern Ireland and (c) England and Wales. [207083]
Mr. Timms: Estimates of the number of applications for certificates received by the Inland Revenue between 1 August and 30 November, and certificates issued between 1 August and 30 November, are given in the following table. The country in the table relates to the country of transaction as it is not possible to give information by location of solicitor.
| Estimated number of: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Country | Applications | Certificates issued |
| England and Wales | 636 | 555 |
| Scotland | 62 | 54 |
| Northern Ireland | 20 | 16 |
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