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TREASURY

Births

Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many babies were born in (a) England and Wales and (b) the Southend area, broken down by maternal age in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how many were under (i) 2,500g and (ii) 3,000g in each case. [9944]

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. David Amess, dated 7 July 2005:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking, how many babies were born in (a) England and Wales and (b) the Southend area, broken down by maternal age: and how many were
 
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under (i) 2,500g and (ii) 3,000g in each case, in each of the last five years for which figures are available. I am replying in his absence. (9944)
 
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Figures covering live births to women resident in England and Wales, for the years 2000 to 2004, are given in the attached table.
Total number of live born babies by maternal age and selected birth weight to women resident in Southend andin England and Wales, 2000–04

	England and Wales			Southend
	Total number	Under 2,500g	Under 3,000g	Total number	Under 2,500g	Under 3,000g
2000
Under 20	45,833	4,251	13,346	172	20	49
20–24	107,705	8,973	30,010	334	21	84
25–29	170,607	12,203	40,509	515	42	125
30–34	180,022	12,413	38,854	563	34	123
35+	99,963	7,840	22,636	295	18	62
Total	604,130	45,680	145,355	1,879	135	443
2001
Under 20	44,178	4,159	13,252	146	13	40
20–24	108,806	9,001	30,630	387	13	91
25–29	159,861	11,573	38,592	503	33	118
30–34	178,817	12,338	39,489	552	40	131
35+	102,698	8,012	23,526	316	19	50
Total	594,360	45,083	145,489	1,904	118	430
2002
Under 20	43,460	4,117	13,257	142	18	40
20–24	110,928	9,559	31,790	349	32	98
25–29	153,328	11,233	37,650	472	26	105
30–34	180,465	12,681	40,159	587	37	125
35+	107,733	8,328	24,811	341	30	83
Total	595,914	45,918	147,667	1,891	143	451
2003
Under 20	44,228	4,259	13,601	135	9	34
20–24	116,581	9,840	33,131	396	30	108
25–29	156,882	11,499	39,011	483	35	110
30–34	187,150	12,967	41,855	551	45	118
35+	116,410	8,966	26,900	346	25	90
Total	621,251	47,531	154,498	1,911	144	460
2004(20)
Under 20	45,033	4,163	13,493	123	10	37
20–24	121,077	9,954	33,770	386	43	109
25–29	159,914	11,701	39,473	490	22	94
30–34	190,365	13,322	42,795	590	34	124
35+	123,120	9,408	28,416	355	28	85
Total	639,509	48,548	157,947	1,944	137	449

⁽²⁰⁾ Provisional

Carbon Capture and Abatement Technologies

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide additional tax and financial incentives to (a) promote the development of carbon capture and abatement technologies and (b) support the development and construction of carbon capture and abatement plants. [10301]

John Healey: As the Chancellor announced in the Budget, the Government are examining how it might support the development of carbon capture and storage within the Climate Change Programme Review, including the potential for new economic incentives. Carbon capture and storage is also eligible for funding through the £25 million Carbon Abatement Technology strategy launched by the Minister for Energy on 14 June.

Cost Recovery

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 28 June 2005, Official Report, column 1424W, on cost recovery, what advice his Department has given to the NHS on reaching agreement with hospices on levels of service and prices reflecting the full cost of services provided in relation to (a) adults and (b) children. [10403]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Treasury has worked with the Department of Health to embed in the NHS principles set out in the 2002 Treasury "Cross cutting review of the role of the voluntary and community sector in service delivery". These apply equally when government funds any service delivered by the voluntary sector, including adults' and children's hospices: (a) working towards agreed levels of service with providers; (b) ensuring that the price for the agreed level of service reflects the full cost of the service to be provided, including the legitimate portion of overhead costs; and (c) achieving this by coming together in partnership with the sector in a compact-compliant manner. More detailed guidance on implementing the principle of full cost recovery will be published in a revised version of "Guidance to Funders" by the end of the year.
 
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EC Officials

Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average pension is of each grade of retired European Communities official; and if he will make a statement. [10083]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: This information is not available.

Government Debt

Chris Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the effects on debt servicing costs if the Government refinanced its debt of 10-year maturity or longer at the same 10-year interest rates paid by (a) Greece, (b) Italy and (c) Spain. [9895]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Government issues gilts at a range of maturities in order to fulfil its commitment to long-term minimisation of debt servicing costs while taking account of risk. The Government issues gilts in economic conditions that differ from those faced by the Eurozone countries when issuing in euros. Therefore, it would not be meaningful to base the costs of financing the Government's borrowing needs on Eurozone interest rates. In particular, the UK economy is growing more rapidly than the Eurozone and is, therefore, at a different point in the interest rate cycle. It would also be misleading to compare debt-servicing costs based on financing borrowing through 10-year bonds only because this would not take account of the range of maturities and yields at which governments issue bonds.

Chris Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what factors underlie the level of long-term interest rates (or bond yields) paid by the Government on their debt with a maturity of 10 years or more; and what assessment he has made of the level of such rates in comparable countries. [10449]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The main factors underlying the level of gilt yields are: (i) the level of short-term interest rates; (ii) investor demand for gilts of different maturities; and
 
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(iii) market expectations about macroeconomic factors such as future inflation and interest rates. The Government issue gilts (denominated in sterling) in economic conditions that differ from those of other sovereign issuers (for example the United States that issues in dollars or Eurozone countries that issue in euros). In particular, the UK economy is growing at a different rate from the Eurozone and US economies and is, therefore, at a different point in the interest rate cycle. It would not be meaningful to assess the costs of financing the Government's borrowing needs by looking at the level of interest rates in other countries.

Hypothermia

Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many deaths linked with hypothermia there were in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) England, (c) Scotland, (d) Wales, (e) Essex and (f) the Southend area of those aged (i) 60 to 64 years, (ii) 65 to 79 years, (iii) over 80 years and (iv) all ages in each of the last five years. [9910]

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. David Amess, dated 7 July 2005:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many deaths linked with hypothermia there were in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) England, (c) Scotland, (d) Wales, (e) Essex, and (f) the Southend area of those aged (i) 60 to 64 years, (ii) 65 to 79 years, (iii) over 80 years, and (iv) all ages in each of the last five years. I am replying in his absence. (9910)

Available information relates to the number of deaths where hypothermia was mentioned on the death certificate. The latest year for which these figures are available is 2004. Figures for the areas requested are given in the attached table, for each of the years 2000 to 2004.
Deaths with a mention of hypothermia⁽²¹⁾on the death certificate, for the United Kingdom by area,⁽²²⁾ 2000 to 2004⁽²³⁾

	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
(a) United Kingdom
(i) 60–64	14	16	15	10	12
(ii) 65–79	105	91	51	43	58
(iii) 80 and over	183	155	121	101	108
(iv) All ages	374	344	255	217	222
(b) England
(i) 60–64	7	12	12	8	8
(ii) 65–79	82	70	40	32	44
(iii) 80 and over	154	123	98	86	85
(iv) All ages	300	250	195	180	167
(c) Scotland
(i) 60–64	7	3	1	2	2
(ii) 65–79	15	12	5	6	6
(iii) 80 and over	20	18	15	9	13
(iv) All ages	49	60	32	22	30
(d) Wales
(i) 60–64	0	1	1	0	2
(ii) 65–79	5	6	3	2	4
(iii) 80 and over	4	6	5	4	7
(iv) All ages	13	18	14	7	14
(e) Essex
(i) 60–64	0	0	0	0	1
(ii) 65–79	3	4	0	1	0
(iii) 80 and over	1	4	4	1	1
(iv) All ages	7	10	6	2	2
(f) Southend
(i) 60–64	0	0	0	0	0
(ii) 65–79	0	0	1	0	0
(iii) 80 and over	1	0	0	0	2
(iv) All ages	2	0	1	0	2

⁽²¹⁾ Deaths with a mention of hypothermia defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code N991.6 for the year 2000 for England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code T68 for Scotland from 2000 to 2004, and for England and Wales and Northern Ireland from 2001 to 2004.
⁽²²⁾ Deaths of usual residents for these areas.
⁽²³⁾ Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year and are provisional for Northern Ireland.



 
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