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1 Nov 2005 : Column 984W—continued
Enterprise Management Incentives
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the cost of reducing the minimum holding period for (a) investments under the Enterprise Investment Scheme and (b) venture capital trusts in each year from 2000–01 to 2009–10; what economic effects have resulted from these changes; and if he will make a statement. [22700]
John Healey: When these changes were introduced the cost was forecast to be £5 million in 2000–01, £15 million in 2001–02, £25 million in 2002–03 and £30 million thereafter. These costs are still our current best estimates, although the corresponding figures for 2004–05 and 2005–06 will be slightly higher due to the enhanced tax incentives introduced for VCTs during this period.
Regarding the economic benefits, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 15 September 2003, Official Report, column 599W by my right hon. Friend the Paymaster General to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws).
Fuel Oil Tax (Northern Ireland)
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue was received in total from the duty on the sale of fuel and diesel in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [22989]
John Healey: Excise duty receipts for Hydrocarbon Oils are included in Table 3 of the HM Revenue and Customs statistical Bulletin for Hydrocarbon Oils, which can be found on HM Revenue and Customs website address at: http://www.uktradeinfo.co.uk/index.cfm?task=bullhydro
HM Revenue and Customs does not hold regional oil receipts data centrally.
Gershon Review
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many full-time equivalent employee reductions have been made as a result of the Gershon review; what (a) cost savings relating to IT projects and (b) total value of efficiency savings (i) were achieved in 2004–05 and (ii) are expected to be achieved in 2005–06; and if he will make a statement. [23687]
Mr. Des Browne: In Budget 2005 the Chancellor reported that Departments have delivered the first 12,500 reduction in civil service posts and achieved £2 billion of efficiency gains in 2004–05, and Departments will be reporting further progress in their Autumn Performance Reports.
It is expected that by 2007–08, Departments will be achieving annual efficiency gains of £21 billion, but there is no intermediate target for 2005–06. The Transactions Workstream of the Efficiency
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Programme, which is improving interactions between citizens and the Government through IT-enabled change programmes, will contribute annual efficiencies of £1 billion by 2007–08. Many other efficiency gains will also be enabled by IT. Departmental plans to achieve the 2004 Spending Review targets are set out in Efficiency Technical Notes", which are available on departmental and HM Treasury websites.
Government Expenditure (Wales)
Mrs. Betty Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much public money has been spent in Wales by the UK Government in each of the last five years. [23017]
Mr. Des Browne: Chapter 8 of the annual Treasury publication Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses details expenditure on services in the regions and countries of the United Kingdom. Total identifiable spending in Wales for the years 1999–2000 to 2004–05 is contained within table 8.1 of the 2005 edition of PESA.
Industrial Wage
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the average industrial weekly wage in (a) England and Wales and (b) Northern Ireland. [22852]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Gregory Campbell, dated 1 November 2005:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average industrial wage in (a) England and Wales (b) Northern Ireland is in 2005. (22852)
Currently average earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for full time employees on adult rates of pay whose pay was unaffected by absence during the pay period. This is the standard definition used for ASHE. The ASHE does not collect data on the self employed and people who do unpaid work.
Data for 2005 will not be published until 10 November 2005. I will forward the appropriate data to you after this date.
International Finance Facility
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the implications for public finances of counting the International Finance Facility as Government borrowing; and if he will make a statement. [22559]
John Healey: The Treasury will formally approach the Office of National Statistics (ONS) on the classification in National Accounts of UK contributions to an International Finance Facility (IFF) when its final technical details and governance structure have been agreed.
In the case of the pilot IFF for Immunisation (IFFIM), Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, decided on 2 August that:
The borrowing of IFFIM should be considered as the borrowing of a non-government unit, and not as the borrowing or debt of donor countries"
Literacy and Numeracy
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what steps he is taking to promote uptake of the national tests in adult literacy and numeracy among employees of his Department; [23442]
(2) how many employees in his Department requested training to improve their (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills in each year since 2002; [23400]
(3) how much his Department spent on in-house training on (a) literacy and (b) numeracy (i) in total and (ii) per head in each year since 2002. [23365]
John Healey: Basic literacy and numeracy are the minimum entry-level requirements for the most junior positions within HM Treasury and no staff have requested basic literacy or numeracy training since 2002. Consequently, only higher level training is provided and it has not been appropriate for us to promote uptake of the national tests in adult literacy and numeracy skills for Treasury employees or to provide in-house training in basic literacy and numeracy.
Lyons Review
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in his Department were relocated in 2004–05 as a result of the Lyons review of public sector relocation, broken down by location; to which locations they have been relocated; how many are expected to be relocated in 2005–06; and if he will make a statement. [23688]
Mr. Des Browne: HMRC are committed to moving 4,250 posts from London and the South East by 2010 and are making good progress towards this total.
The Office of Government Commerce (an independent office of HM Treasury) relocated two posts from London to Norwich in 2004–05. So far in 2005–06 it has relocated four posts to Norwich, with one further move proposed before the end of this year. OGCbuying.solutions (an OGC agency) will also relocate 15 posts from London to Liverpool by April 2006.
Milton Keynes
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much funding was allocated by his Department to Milton Keynes for (a) capital projects and (b) revenue funding in each of the last five years. [23502]
John Healey: The Treasury allocates resources to Departments to fund their policy objectives. The location where the funds are spent is a matter for Departments to decide. Chapter 8 of Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis shows the outturn of public expenditure by region.
Ministerial Cars
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many ministerial cars have been supplied to his Department by the Government Car and Despatch Agency Service in each of the last five years for which records are available. [23651]
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John Healey: The Government Car service has supplied six cars to the Treasury, in each of the last five years.
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