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21 Jun 2005 : Column 936W—continued
Economic Forecasts
Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from economic forecasting organisations concerning prospects for the UK economy over the next five years. [5931]
John Healey:
I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 6 June 2005, Official Report, column 300W.
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Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to adjust his growth forecasts. [5133]
John Healey: The Government's latest assessment of economic prospects was set out in Budget 2005 (HC372). This assessment will be updated in the next Pre-Budget Report.
Retail Sector (Interest Rates)
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research he has evaluated on the effects of the level of interest rates on (a) retail sales and (b) the level of employment in the retail sector. [5132]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Interest rate policy is the province of the Bank of England and it is not appropriate for the Government to comment on interest rate decisions taken by the independent Monetary Policy Committee. Commentary on the relationship between interest rates and the performance of the retail sector is contained in the Bank of England's May Inflation Report, (section 2.1, Why has consumer spending growth slowed?").
IR35
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the cost-effectiveness of IR35. [4854]
John Healey: The Intermediaries legislation, often referred to as IR35, is anti avoidance legislation and ensures that where individuals are working in a manner that would have been considered to be that of employment, had it not been for the use of an intermediary (such as a service company), they pay broadly the same amount of tax and NICs as a direct employee.
No data is held on administration and employment costs relating solely to this legislation as it is policed as part of HMRC's general employer compliance activity. HMRC does not routinely collect data in respect of specific types of employer obligations from the PAYE system. It is therefore not possible to isolate the increase in yield to the Exchequer arising from this legislation alone.
Iraq
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Government's most recent estimate is of the cost of the British presence in Iraq in each month since the start of the conflict, broken down by (a) military and (b) reconstruction costs. [4061]
Mr. Des Browne: The Treasury does not estimate costs for Iraq in the manner requested.
The Chancellor set aside £3 billion in Budget 2003 to cover the cost of operations in Iraq. In the PBR 2003 the Chancellor announced the remaining £2 billion of this special reserve would be carried forward to 2003–04. A further £500 million was set aside for the financial year 2003–04 and-a further £820 million for 2004–05 as a prudent allowance to cover Iraq and our continuing international commitment to the war on terrorism. In Budget 2005, a further £340 million was added to the special reserve for 2004–05 and £400 million for the special reserve in 2005–06.
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The Ministry of Defence drew down £847 million in 2002–03 and £1,311 million in 2003–04 to cover the net additional costs of operations in Iraq. They drew down a further £975 million for Operations in Iraq in Spring Supplementary estimates for 2004–05.
At the Madrid Donors' Conference in October 2003, the Government announced a total UK pledge of £544 million towards the reconstruction effort in Iraq, of which DFID committed £380 million to date.
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has discussed with members of the Paris Club the implications for private individuals and small businesses of rescheduling Iraqi debt. [6235]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Saddam Hussein regime paid its creditors little or nothing since August 1990, when United Nations Security Council resolution 660 came into force. The Paris Club of official creditors negotiated a debt deal with the Iraqi Government in November 2004. This treatment sought to restore Iraq's debt sustainability and to tailor Iraq's future debt payment schedule to its capacity to pay. Iraq has committed to negotiate settlements with non-Paris Club creditors on terms comparable to the Paris Club deal. Private individuals and small businesses will therefore benefit from Iraq's new willingness to service as much of its debt as it can reasonably afford.
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with members of the Paris Club regarding the rescheduling of the Iraqi debt since 21 November 2004. [6234]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Officials have had a number of technical discussions regarding the implementation of the Paris Club's agreement with Iraq since 21 November 2004. All creditor positions are given in confidence.
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Paris Club, while discussing the rescheduling of Iraqi debt, considered requiring the immediate payment in full to private individuals and small business creditors owed £250,000 or less. [6236]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: A core principle of the Paris Club is that all non-preferred creditors should bear their proportionate share of the costs of any debt reduction or rescheduling. The Saddam Hussein regime paid its creditors little or nothing since August 1990. Creditors of Iraq who are private individuals and small businesses will therefore benefit from Iraq's new willingness to service as much of its debt as it can reasonably afford.
Deaths
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many deaths have been recorded in the last 30 years which are attributable to magic mushroom use. [6227]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Dr. Iddon, dated 21 June 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many deaths have been recorded in the last 30 years which are attributable to magic mushroom use. (6227)
Available figures relate to deaths where the underlying cause was poisoning and a particular substance was mentioned on the death certificate, not the total number of deaths where the use of the substance in question was a contributory factor. The most recently available information is for deaths in 2003. Figures are not available prior to 1993 as this is the earliest year for which textual information is held on the Office for National Statistics statistical deaths database. Figures are shown in the table below for the calendar years 1993 to 2003.
(20)Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 292, 304, 305.2–305.9, E850-E858. E950.0-E950.5, E962.0 and E980.0-E980.5 for 1993 to 2000, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-I0) codes FI1-F16. F18-FI9, X40-X44, X60-X64, X85 and YI0-YI4 from 2001 onwards.
(21)Drugs mentioned on the death certificate of a death where the underlying cause was drug poisoning.
(22)Data are for deaths occurring in each calendar year.
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Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many deaths there were in NHS hospitals in each year since 1997, broken down by month. [5942]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Steve Webb, dated 21 June 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many deaths there were in NHS hospitals in each year since 1997, broken down by month. (5942)
The latest year for which figures are available is 2003. The number of deaths which occurred in NHS general hospitals within England and Wales are given in the table below by month for the years 1997 to 2003.
Note:
Figures are for deaths occurring in the years 1997 to 2003.
Source:
Office for National Statistics.
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many deaths have been recorded connected to the MRSA bug in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in the last five years, broken down by age group. [5843]
John Healey: The information requested falls with the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Dr. Ashol Kumar, dated 21 June 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many deaths have been recorded connected to the MRSA bug in Middlesbrough South and Cleveland constituency in the last five years; and how old the victims were. (5843)
The latest year for which figures are available is 2003. Fewer than 5 deaths occurred in the five year period 1999 to 2003 to residents of Middlesbrough South and Cleveland constituency where MRSA was a contributory factor 1 As there were fewer than 5 deaths over this period an age breakdown cannot be provided.
1 Identified using the methodology described in Griffiths C, Lamagni TL, Crowcroft NS, Duckworth G and Rooney C (2004) Trends in MRSA in England and Wales: analysis of morbidity and mortality data for 1993–2002. Health Statistics Quarterly 21,15–22.
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