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4 Jul 2005 : Column 81W—continued
Double Taxation Agreements
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with how many countries the UK has a double taxation agreement or treaty. [8426]
Dawn Primarolo: The UK has comprehensive double taxation agreements with 109 countries or territories.
Drug Deaths (Lincolnshire)
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many fatalities attributed to drug use in Lincolnshire there have been in each year since 1997. [9246]
John Healey:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
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Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Mark Simmonds, dated 4 July 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many fatalities attributed to drug use in Lincolnshire there have been in each year since 1997. (9246)
Figures are readily available from death certification on deaths due to drug poisoning, not the total number that were attributable to drug use. The most recent year for which figures are available is 2003. Numbers of deaths certified as due to drug poisoning for Lincolnshire in the seven years 1997 to 2003 are given in the table below.
Figures are not readily available where death was indirectly related to the use of drugs as the direct cause is generally selected as the underlying cause of death (e.g. HIV infection).
| Number of deaths | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 16 |
| 1998 | 37 |
| 1999 | 20 |
| 2000 | 26 |
| 2001 | 25 |
| 2002 | 30 |
| 2003 | 27 |
(14)Defined using the following codes from the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision for 2001–2003: F11-F16, F18-F19, X40-X44, X60-X64, Y10-Y14, X85 and the following codes from the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision for 1997–2000: 292, 304, 305,2–305.9, E850-E858, E950.0-E950.5, E962.0 and E980.0-E980.5
(15)Usual residents of Lincolnshire.
(16)Data are for deaths occurring in each calendar year
Source:
Office for National Statistics.
Drug Smuggling
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government are taking to stop drugs being imported into the UK; and how much the Government has invested in drugs detection technology in (a) ports and (b) airports since 1998. [8538]
Dawn Primarolo: The updated drug strategy 2002 sets out HMG's approach to tackling drugs in the UK. Responsibility for driving forward the supply side activity rests with those law enforcement agencies and other bodies engaged in tackling drug supply, working together as the concerted inter-agency drug action group (CIDA).
CIDA agencies recently agreed a new delivery strategy, which aims to improve our performance and to achieve a sustained impact on the availability of class A drugs in our communities, thereby reducing the harm that drugs cause. It broadly covers four areas:
Harm reduction in UK communities: Measuring the impact of supply side activity in terms of the outcomes in UK communities.
Zonal linkages: Prioritising efforts across and within geographical zones" of action, trying to maximise our impact.
Street level up: Testing a new approach of tracing the supply chain back from street level problems (called street level up"), and then hitting it in a co-ordinated way.
As for drug detection technology, until recently expenditure on proven drug detection technologies had been limited by their capability and value for money.
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However, technology research in port and airport security dramatically increased post 9/11, and in the last 18 months we established that systems primarily built for this purpose were readily adaptable for identifying drug concealments. Working in partnership with manufacturers we have established a project aimed at purchasing new systems and providing testing opportunities, at border controls to inform further development and enhance workable solutions.
Post 1998 and prior to the project we spent in the region of £10 million on technology and scientific aids to provide additional tools for front line officers in the fight against drugs smuggling. In these early stages of the new project we have contributed £300,000 to the research and development of two new technologies, including capital for the purchase of a prototype.
The project has identified a number of new technologies for the short, medium and long-term, which will see further substantial investment in new and more reliable product-specific technology to combat drug importations more successfully.
Emigration
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many UK subjects have emigrated to live in Commonwealth countries since 2001. [8536]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Andrew Rosindell, dated 30 June 2005:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your question regarding estimates for the number of UK subjects who have emigrated to live in Commonwealth countries since 2001. Iam replying in his absence. (8536)
The table below shows annual estimates for the number of British citizens migrating to Commonwealth countries between 2001 and 2003. The definition of a migrant used in the calculation of these estimates is a person who changes their country of usual residence for a period of at least a year. Therefore, some of the people estimated to have migrated to the Commonwealth over this period may have subsequently returned to the UK.
(17)Estimates for 2001–03 are based on data from the International Passenger Survey only. They do not include adjustments for those whose intended length of stay changes so that their migrant status changes.
Note:
International Passenger Survey estimates are subject to sampling and non-sampling error since they are derived from a sample survey. One standard error for each outflow shown above is equal to 8 per cent.
The annual reference volume Series MN, International Migration" includes a table (Table 3.1) showing migration estimates by country of last or next residence for British citizens (and other groups of citizens). The most recent annual reference
- volume is Series MN No. 30, International Migration, 2003". This publication, and earlier editions, can be accessed at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/Product.asp?vlnk=507.
European Union
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the unfunded pensions liabilities of the European Union institutions are; what Council Decision forms the legal base for supporting the accounting entry for pension liability; and if he will make a statement. [9106]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: There are no unfunded pension liabilities of the European Community Institutions. Like almost all member states, the European Union has a funded pension scheme for its civil servants. The pension scheme for civil servants of European Community Institutions is funded partly by the officials themselves, who contribute to one third of the scheme's financing, with the balance funded by member states through the annual European Community Budget. The Staff Regulation (Council Regulation 723/2004 amending the Staff Regulation) governs the funding of the pension scheme for civil servants of European Community Institutions. The Financial Regulation (Council Regulation 1605/2002) requires the Commission to keep accounting records. In the Commission's balance sheet, a provision is entered on the liabilities side in respect of the estimated amount of pension rights (the amount is based on an actuarial study); however this is balanced by an entry on the assets side to reflect the undertaking given by member states to the Communities to pay Community pensions.
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