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Enterprise Summer School (Wales)

Adam Price: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to hold an Enterprise summer school in Wales. [36063]

John Healey: Enterprise summer schools will be rolled out across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales in summer 2007.

EU Budget

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the UK's net contribution to the EU budget in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement. [36728]

John Healey: The Government's latest forecast of UK net contributions to the EC Budget, which covers the period to 2007–08, was included in footnote 3 to Table B17 of the pre-Budget report (Cm 6701, page 257) published on 5 December 2005.
 
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EU Legislation

Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the proportion of the burden of administration on business that arises from EU legislation; by how much this burden has been reduced by the European Commission during the EU'spresidency; and whether this reduction meets Government targets. [34934]

Mr. Jim Murphy: I have been asked to reply.

The Government announced on 15 September this year that a cross-government project to identify, measure then cut the admin burden placed on businesses, charities and the voluntary sector by Government regulation, which includes European Union regulation, had begun.

We have had an active dialogue with the European Commission during our presidency, and are already showing them the benefits of our approach. One third of the legislative proposals that the Commission screened for impacts on competitiveness were withdrawn in September 2005 and a month later, the Commission adopted a simplification programme involving over 1,400 legal instruments.

In addition my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced on the day of the CBI conference on Tuesday 29 November that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department of Trade and Industry and the Health and Safety Executive are publishing initial draft simplification plans. The results of the measurement exercise, targets and further initial plans for reductions will be published as part of the Budget next year.

Iraq

Chris Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost of the intervention in Iraq from the beginning of operations until the end of this financial year (a) in total and (b) broken down by each service; and from what budgets that cost has been met. [36060]

Mr. Des Browne: The net additional costs of operations in Iraq, as recorded in the Ministry of Defence's Annual Reports and Accounts total £3,068 million as follows:

Financial year	£ million
2002–03	847
2003–04	1,311
2004–05	910

The costs of operations in Iraq in 2005–06 will depend on force levels and operational tempo.

The net additional costs of operations nave been met from the Reserve. The Treasury does not capture costs for each service.

Legislation

Mr. Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what activities have been made unlawful by legislation introduced by his Department since 1 May 2001; and if he will make a statement. [36058]

 
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John Healey: The following activities have been made unlawful by legislation made by the Treasury since 1 May 2001:

Making funds available to a person listed under one of the financial sanctions regimes without a licence;

Knowingly or recklessly providing false information in order to obtain a licence to make funds available to a person listed under one of the financial sanctions regimes;

Supplying restricted goods to a person listed under the al-Qa'ida and Taliban (United Nations Measures) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/111);

Providing technical assistance or training to a person listed under that Order.

The following further activities have been made unlawful by legislation made by the Treasury since 1 May 2001, unless a person has authorisation from the Financial Services Authority:

Issuing electronic money;

Arranging and advising on regulated mortgage contracts;

Dealing as agent and arranging deals in contracts of insurance;

Assisting in the performance and administration of contracts of insurance;

Advising on the merits of buying or selling contracts of insurance.

National Insurance (Musicians)

Mr. Swire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date his Department informed the Department for Culture, Media and Sport that self-employed musicians were liable to pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions. [36227]

Dawn Primarolo: The Department of Social Security, which was then responsible for policy on National Insurance Contributions issued a press release on 15 July 1998 to announce the revised National Insurance arrangements for actors and musicians and changes to legislation from 17 July 1998. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport were closely involved in the discussions leading up to the changes announced which covered actors and musicians.

Nuclear Energy

Peter Law: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research his Department has conducted on the costs of nuclear energy. 35838 [35838]

Malcolm Wicks: I have been asked to reply.

The 2003 Energy White Paper published the results of extensive modelling of the costs of different options for reducing carbon dioxide emissions over the period to 2050. The analysis is available at: http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/whitepaper/phase2.pdf.

The Department is also aware of other recent studies providing estimates of the costs of nuclear energy, notably those by the Royal Academy of Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago.

In November 2005 my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced that there would be a review of energy policy which would report in summer 2006. This will involve further analysis of the costs of different
 
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options, including nuclear energy, for meeting the Government's long-term targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Oil Tax

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact on (a) jobs and (b) investment in the oil industry in the North Sea of the proposed increase in supplementary oil levy. [36861]

John Healey: The changes announced in the pre-Budget report were subject to detailed analysis to ensure that they delivered the Government's objectives of striking the right balance between oil producers and consumers, by promoting investment and ensuring fairness for taxpayers.

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions his Department held with (a) the UK Offshore Operators Association, (b) the trade unions and (c) other interests on (i) oil taxation and (ii) the impact of a supplementary levy for corporation tax on the oil industry. [36862]

John Healey: Treasury Ministers and officials have regular meetings with oil industry representatives including UKOOA, the trade unions and individual oil companies. Such meetings will cover a range of issues relating to the oil industry, including the North Sea fiscal regime.

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he informed the First Minister of Scotland of the proposed changes to the supplementary levy for corporation tax on the oil industry in advance of his pre-Budget report statement; and what discussions his Department held with the Scottish Executive on the impact on jobs and investment in Scotland of the proposed increase to the levy. [36863]

John Healey: The Chancellor of the Exchequer does from time to time hold discussions with the First Minister of Scotland on a range of subjects. Decisions on taxation are a matter for the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

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