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11 Nov 2005 : Column 774W—continued
Film Industry
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of the Government's tax policy on film production in England. [26341]
Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of the Government's tax policy on film production; and if he will make a statement. [25970]
Dawn Primarolo:
The Government recognises the cultural and economic contribution that the film industry makes and the role that tax incentives play in encouraging the production of culturally British films. The Government launched a consultation, "Reform of
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Film Tax Incentives" in July 2005, which closed in October 2005. The responses that we received are being carefully considered.
Inland Revenue/Customs and Excise
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on progress with the merger of the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise. [26340]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentlemen to my answer on 24 October 2005, Official Report, column 54W to the hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning).
IT Projects
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the spare capacity in the Inland Revenue's computer systems. [26596]
Dawn Primarolo: As part of the normal course of their business both former Departments (Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise) together with their IT Partners conducted on-going reviews of their IT systems' capacity. These reviews have continued following the integration of the two Departments in April 2005 to create HMRC. HMRC is using the opportunity of the integration to conduct a widespread review of the capacity of the IT systems, to identify opportunities for rationalisation and efficiency savings, taking into account past trends and known future work.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of the IT projects costing over £1 million in use in his Department and introduced since 1997 have been scrutinised by the Public Accounts Committee; and if he will list them. [26598]
John Healey: None of the following IT projects costing over £1 million is believed to have been scrutinised by the PAC (Public Accounts Committee). The projects are:
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many IT projects which cost over £1 million and were introduced since 1997 are in use in his Department. [26599]
John Healey:
Five IT projects which cost over £1 million have been undertaken by the Treasury since 1997; three are IT systems software and two provide IT service infrastructure. All five are still in use.
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Pensions
Mr. Newmark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the public sector pension deficit is if calculated using a discount rate based on index linked gilts; and what rate was used for the calculation. [26224]
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2005, Official Report, column 36W on pensions, what discount rate was used to calculate the deficit; what the estimate of the deficit would be if a discount rate of 2.5 per cent. were used; and what assumptions underlay the calculation of the deficit with particular reference to life expectancy; [27117]
(2) pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2005, Official Report, column 360W, on pensions, what the public sector pension deficit would be if the discount rate used was equivalent to that of a 25-year gilt. [27118]
Mr. Des Browne: The deficits and surpluses of funded statutory public service pension schemes such as the local government pension scheme, and those of funded pension schemes in the wider public sector, are not calculated centrally. Discount rates within the range specified by FRS 17 will be used for their individual accounts according to the circumstances of the scheme. To recalculate the liabilities of individual funds would involve disproportionate costs.
Most public service pensions schemes are unfunded and funding deficits do not arise. However, information on the liabilities of unfunded schemes is collected and held centrally. The total liabilities of unfunded pension schemes as at 31 March 2004 are estimated to be £460 billion.
This figure is based largely on pension scheme resource accounts for 2003–04, which used a discount rate of 3.5 per cent. real for that year. Assumptions used were consistent with those the latest actuarial analysis of each scheme's experience. Significant allowance was made for future improvement in mortality, drawing on national population projections and mortality studies undertaken by the actuarial profession.
Government do not as a matter of course re-calculate liabilities published in audited accounts to show what they would have been had discounting assumptions been different from those that were in fact used. However, for the purposes of this question, based on the information held on the liabilities of unfunded public service schemes, the Government Actuary's Department have estimated:
(a) Using a discount rate of 2.5 per cent. per annum net of price inflation, the total liabilities of unfunded schemes would have been around £560 billion as at 31 March 2004.
(b) Using a discount rate of 1.9 per cent. per annum net of price inflation, which was the market yield on the FTSE index of longer-dated index linked gilts as at 31 March 2004, the total liabilities of unfunded public service schemes would have been around £630 billion as at 31 March 2004.
(c) Using a discount rate of 1.7 per cent. per annum net of price inflation, the yield published by the Debt Management Office for the index-linked gilt in issue on 31 March 2004 with duration to redemption closest to 25 years, the total liabilities of unfunded schemes would have been around £650 billion as at 31 March 2004.
The discount rate used to express the net present value of public service pension liabilities does not affect future government cash expenditure on pension payments to former public servants and their dependants.
Projections of cash expenditure on unfunded public service pensions as a proportion of GDP are published alongside the pre-Budget report in the Long-term Public Finance Report as part of Government strategy to monitor the long-term sustainability of public expenditure.
PFI Contracts
Mr. Newmark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list private finance initiative (PFI) contracts which were originally off-balance sheet, but which the Government has taken on-balance sheet at a later date; and how much new public debt each contract represents. [26228]
John Healey: The specific balance sheet treatment of private finance initiative contracts is not determined by the Government, but through the application of established independent accounting standards by the respective independent audit bodies for the public authority—the National Audit Office, the Audit Commission or the audit bodies of the devolved administrations. The balance sheet treatment of private finance initiative contracts, including any changes, is reflected in the audited accounts of the procuring authority.
Public Service Pensions
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the projected savings over the next 50 years from (a) the December 2004 proposed reforms of public service pensions and (b) the revised proposals for public service pensions announced on 18 October. [27050]
Mr. Des Browne: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Yeovil on 25 October 2005, Official Report, columns 313–14W.
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