| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
27 Feb 2006 : Column 332W—continued
EU Member States (Payments and Receipts)
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the projected (a) payments to and (b) receipts of payments from the EU of each EU member state for each year between 2007–08 and 2012–13. [53266]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: It is not Government practice to publish exact forecasts of the contributions and receipts of other member states, as this could prejudice the UK's relations with these states. This is a matter for their respective Governments. The Government do, however, publish qualitative indications of member states' contributions and receipts where such information is widely available.
As around 75 per cent. of the Own Resources System that finances the EC budget is funded by member states GNI contributions, most member states make roughly the same contribution to the budget of around 1 per cent. of GNI. The exceptions to this are: Belgium, which pays a disproportionate share of Traditional Own Resources (customs duties, agricultural duties and sugar levies which account for around 10 per cent. of the Own Resources System) because of the port of Antwerp; and Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and the UK which benefit from corrections that lower their contributions to the EC budget.
A member state's total receipts largely depend on their receipts from the Structural and Cohesion Funds and the Common Agricultural Policy which together account for around 75 per cent. of the EC budget. Based on the European Commission's forecasts and assumptions, and using the Financial Perspective table agreed on 17 December 2005, Treasury estimates that the largest recipients (those that receive significantly more than they contribute) are: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Those that receive more than they contribute are: Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Malta, Portugal, Spain and Slovenia. Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK all receive less than they contribute.
EU Projects in the UK
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of the recent EU budgetary agreement on the Government's share of financing EU projects in the UK under the Fontainebleau terms. [53288]
Mr. Ivan Lewis:
The UK contributes to the EC budget as a whole. It is therefore not possible to estimate the UK's financing share of EU projects in the UK. Based on the European Commission's forecasts and assumptions, and using the Financial Perspective table agreed on 17 December 2005, the Treasury estimates
27 Feb 2006 : Column 333W
that the UK's overall financing share in the next Financial Perspective will be around 12.7 per cent. This is similar to the share in the current Financial Perspective.
Financial Education
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 3772W, on financial education, with whom the Department has had discussions on the role non-governmental organisations and social enterprises can play in financial education; and what aspects of financial education were discussed. [53593]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) leads work on the national strategy for financial capability involving a range of other partners, including Government, the financial services industry, employers' organisations and trades unions, the media, consumer bodies and the voluntary sector. Over the coming year the focus for the strategy will be on the following seven key priorities:
Helping students in higher education and young people not in education, employment or training manage their money;
Distributing more widely the financial healthcheck and an on-line tool to help people assess their debt position;
Examination of whether there is a commercial case for the delivery of a more widespread generic financial advice service; and
As part of a revised FSA consumer communication strategy, revamping and re-launching the information and tools it provides to consumers.
As the FSA is an independent body, I will ask the chairman to write to you directly with more details on the work of the strategy and the organisations that are involved. In addition Treasury Ministers and officials regularly meet interested stakeholders such as consumer groups and those from educational institutions to listen to their views and hear in what way they can help in furthering financial education.
Financial Inclusion
Lorely Burt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress the Department is making in the development of the national strategy for financial capability. [54336]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) leads the National Strategy for Financial Capability in partnership with Government, the financial services industry, employer organisations and trade unions, the media, consumer bodies and the voluntary sector. In May 2004 the FSA set out its plans in Building Financial Capability in the UK". A number of initiatives were piloted and last October the FSA decided to concentrate on seven key projects that were considered the most likely to result in a step change in financial capability.
The FSA has conducted a baseline survey into levels of financial capability within the general UK population and the results are due to be published at the end of
27 Feb 2006 : Column 334W
March. The survey will be repeated every four to five years. In addition, the FSA will report annually, via its annual report, on progress on the National Strategy.
The Government fully support financial education. So the Chancellor announced in the 2005 pre Budget report that financial capability will be embedded more explicitly in the schools curriculum by including it in the new functional mathematics component of GCSE mathematics. The Government are also taking steps to strengthen adult financial capability. Building on the work of Skills for Life it will embed financial capability in functional maths aimed at adults and encourage local authorities to provide more financial education to parents through Sure Start children's centres and locally delivered family numeracy activities.
Lorely Burt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what options the Department has considered to increase access to financial advice and information as part of its financial inclusion strategy. [54337]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: In Promoting financial Inclusion", published alongside the 2004 pre-Budget report, the Government recognised that the majority of consumers manage their borrowing effectively, but that there are a minority for whom over-indebtedness can be a problem. For these vulnerable individuals, the supply of free face-to-face money advice falls far short of demand.
In order to meet the Government's aims to see an increase in the capacity of money advice for financially excluded individuals, the Government have allocated £45 million of the £120 million Financial Inclusion Fund to the Department of Trade and Industry to support an increase in the provision of free face-to-face money advice. In addition, £6 million of the Fund has been allocated to the Department of Constitutional Affairs to pilot methods of money advice outreach aimed at those who do not normally present themselves to debt advisers.
Financial Services Authority
Anne Main: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 26 January 2006, Official Report, column 2258W, on the Financial Services Authority (FSA), if he will make a written statement when the FSA has completed its assessment of costs. [54084]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: This is an operational matter for the Financial Services Authority (FSA). However, I understand that the FSA expects to publish the results of the study in the second quarter of 2006.
Foreign Direct Investment
Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much foreign direct investment the UK has received in each year since 2002. [52673]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the national statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 27 February 2006:
As National Statistician I have asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning inflows of foreign direct investment into the United Kingdom from 2002 onwards. (52673)
The results of the quarterly and annual surveys into Foreign Direct Investment are published in the quarterly UK Balance of Payments First Release. The figures for 2002–2004 are shown in the table below. These are taken from table J of the publication, which is available on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/bop1205.pdf
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2002 | 16,782 |
| 2003 | 16,776 |
| 2004 | 42,395 |
Source:
UK Balance of Payments.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |