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22 Nov 2005 : Column 1903W—continued
West Papua
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give details of UK-supplied military equipment currently deployed in West Papua; what guarantees he has from the Indonesian government concerning the use of UK-supplied military equipment in West Papua; what measures he has taken to ensure that UK-supplied equipment in West Papua is used in compliance with guarantees given by the Indonesian government; and if he will make a statement. [26136]
Ian Pearson: We are not aware of any UK-supplied equipment currently deployed in Papua. We have consistently made clear to the Indonesian authorities that no British-supplied equipment, or indeed any other equipment, should be used in any human rights abuses.
All export license applications for Indonesia are rigorously assessed on a case by case basis against the EU Consolidated Criteria taking account of the circumstances prevailing at the time. We no longer seek guarantees or assurances over and above these Criteria for the use of British built equipment. If a licence application is not consistent with these Criteria it stands to be refused. Assurances are not enforceable and cannot override the assessment of the application against the criteria.
TREASURY
0870 Numbers
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the occasions in the last five years on which 0870 telephone numbers have been used by his Department as contact numbers for members of the public; and how much revenue was received from the use of 0870 contact numbers in each of the last five years for which records are available. [24461]
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John Healey: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) currently has contracts with two companies for telecommunications services, including non-geographic number provision (eg 0870). In the former Inland Revenue, 0870 numbers have been used mainly to provide international access to a range of customer contact services and helplines, including for example, the international Self Assessment orderline, IR35, and Construction Industry Scheme orderline, as well as new tax credits. In the former HM Customs and Excise, 0870 numbers have been used mainly in the law enforcement area.
On average HMRC receives around 50,000 calls from the public to 0870 numbers every month. A detailed breakdown of calls to these numbers over the last five years would be available only at disproportionate cost. HMRC does not make any profit from the use of 0870 numbers.
HM Treasury does not use 0870 numbers.
Average Annual Wages
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average yearly wage was in each region of the United Kingdom in 2004. [30226]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl to Dr. William McCrea, dated 22 November 2005:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what the average yearly wage in each region of the United Kingdom was in 2004. I am replying in her absence. (30226)
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 who have been in the same job for more than one year. This is the standard definition used for ASHE. The ASHE does not collect data on the self employed and people who do unpaid work.
The attached table shows the Average Gross Annual Earnings for full time employees in all regions of the UK for 2004. These statistics are also available on the National Statistics website http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=13290&More=n. Table 7 is earnings by region for place of work; Table 8 is earnings by region for place of residence.
The ASHE, carried out in April of each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It is a one per cent sample of all employees who are members of pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) schemes.
(17) Employees on adult rates that have been in the same job for more than one year.
Notes:
1. The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, (ASHE), carried out in April of each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It is a one per cent sample of all employees.
2. Average gross annual earnings for employees on adult rates who have been in the same job for more than a year.
3. Northern Ireland unit level data are collected by DETINI under the same criteria as ASHE. The dataset is then passed to ONS.
4. The median replaces the mean as the headline statistic. The weighted mean is the sum of the weighted values divided by the sum of the weights. The median is the value below which 50 per cent. of employees fall. It is preferred over the mean for earnings data as it is influenced less by extreme values and because of the skewed distribution of earnings data.
Source:
Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.
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Charity Collections
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether (a) guidance and (b) rules are in place on collections for charities within the Department and agencies for which he is responsible. [29465]
John Healey: Each Government Department determines its own policies towards collecting monies for charities. There is no explicit guidance, nor rules relating to collections for charities within the Treasury or its associated bodies, but across the Chancellor's Departments, charities are supported through practical means. For example, the Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have provided secondments to the Giving Campaign and the Princes Trust, have a payroll giving scheme which has been opened and promoted to staff and have also publicised particular charitable appeals.
Construction Industry Scheme
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the merits of an exemption for charitable organisations from the construction industry scheme prior to the implementation of the remainder of the deferred scheme; and if he will make a statement. [31193]
John Healey: The regulations which were laid on 25 July 2005 exempt charities and others from the operation of the new scheme.
There are currently no plans to make any alterations to the existing scheme, which is now expected to continue until 5 April 2007.
Departmental Performance Reports
Dr. Tony Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library the guidance provided to Government Departments by his Department on what they should disclose in their 2005 autumn performance reports. [30682]
Mr. Des Browne:
A copy of the guidance issued for the 2005 autumn performance reports has been placed in the Library.
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EU's Financial Services Action Plan
Michael Gove: To ask Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of the measures outlined in the EU's Financial Services Action Plan have been implemented in the UK; whether an impact assessment has been made of each measure; and what estimate he has made of (a) the financial costs and (b) the benefits of each measure. [29451]
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what cost impact assessment has been undertaken of the (a) EU Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, (b) EU legislation agreed under the Financial Services Action Plan and (c) EU Capital Adequacy Directive implementing the Basel 2 Accord; and if he will place copies of such assessments in the Library; [29765]
(2) whether the Department has conducted cost impact assessments in relation to the Prospectus Directive; [30230]
(3) whether his Department has conducted cost impact assessments in relation to the EU Market Abuse Directive. [30274]
John Healey: Of the 42 measures in the Financial Services Action Plan, 16 are Commission communications or recommendations which do not require transposition into member states' national law and regulations. For a further seven measures the deadline for transposition has not yet been reached. The UK has transposed the remaining 19 measures, although only partially in the case of the Directive on Occupational Retirement Provision. The Government expect the legislation required to complete its transposition to be in place before the end of 2005.
The impact, financial costs and benefits of FSAP measures, including the Market in Financial Instruments Directive, the Capital Requirements Directive, Prospectus Directive and Market Abuse Directive, which require transposition and have a regulatory impact have been assessed in the documents listed as follows.
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