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25 Jan 2007 : Column 1982W—continued


Legal Advice

David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent by the Department on external legal advice in each of the past five years. [109095]

Mrs. McGuire: Although the Department records expenditure incurred on professional services it does not specifically identify the total amount spent on external legal advice. However, external legal advice is purchased by the Department’s own lawyers can be identified and the cost of this is as follows:


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£ million

2001-02

3.753

2002-03

4.023

2003-04

3.940

2004-05

4.595

2005-06

5.084


Duchy of Lancaster

Cabinet Office Grants

Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if she will list the grants the Cabinet Office awarded in 2005-06, broken down by recipient. [114090]

Hilary Armstrong: In 2005-06 the Cabinet Office awarded grants to the bodies shown in the table.

Grants

BBC Accounts Receivable

Grants to Public Corporation

Civil Service Benevolent Fund

Grants to CS bodies

Civil Service Retirement Fellowship

Grants to CS bodies

Civil Service Sports Council

Grants to CS bodies

Coutts Information

Public Access Scheme Library

Coventry university

Civil Defence Grants

Dandy Booksellers

Public Access Scheme Library

HSE Books

Public Access Scheme Library

Latitude

Public Access Scheme Library

London Fire and Emergency Planning

Civil Defence Grants

MacMillan Distribution Ltd.

Public Access Scheme Library

The Chequers Estate

Other grants

The Stationery Office Books

Other grants/Public Access Braille Scheme

Whitehall and Industry Group

Grants to Private Sector/other grants

Windsor Leadership Trust

Grants to Private Sector

Silver and Cream Ltd.

Grants to Private Sector

Buckinghamshire county council

Civil Defence Grants

Warrington borough council

Civil Defence Grants

Cheshire county council

Public Access Scheme Library

Plymouth city council

Public Access Scheme Library

Essex county council

Public Access Scheme Library

Staffordshire county council

Civil Defence Grants

Sheffield city council

Public Access Scheme Library

Coventry city council

Civil Defence Grants

London borough of Camden

Civil Defence Grants

Royal B Kensington and Chelsea

Public Access Scheme Library

London borough of Bromley

Civil Defence Grants

London borough of Ealing

Civil Defence Grants

London borough of Hounslow

Civil Defence Grants

Aberdeen city council

Public Access Scheme Library

Newport county borough council

Civil Defence Grants


Departmental Fixed Assets

Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which fixed assets her Department sold for more than £10,000 in (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005-06; and what the (i) sale value, (ii) purchaser and (iii) date of sale was of each asset. [110793]


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Hilary Armstrong: The Department has not sold any fixed assets in this period.

Government Auctions

Mr. Marsden: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster where her Department publishes information about Government auctions which it arranges or to which it contributes in (a) Blackpool, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West; and when the next such auction will take place in each area. [117435]

Hilary Armstrong: The Cabinet Office has not held any such auctions and there are no plans to do so.

Parliamentary Questions

Mrs. May: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many written parliamentary questions to her Department in the 2005-06 session were answered with a reply that it had not been possible to reply before Prorogation. [112947]

Hilary Armstrong: 15 parliamentary questions were answered with a reply stating that it had not been possible to reply before Prorogation in the 2005-06 session.

Treasury

Financial Advice

12. Ann McKechin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the planned review of the provision of generic financial advice to the public. [111032]

Ed Balls: Our goal is to ensure that all adults can have access to high-quality generic financial advice to help them to engage with their financial affairs. The Government have asked Otto Thoresen, chief executive of AEGON UK to lead a feasibility study to design a national approach to generic financial advice. The study will report to HMT Ministers at the end of this year.

Public Sector Debt

13. Mr. Newmark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the level of public sector net debt if unfunded public sector pension liabilities are included. [111033]

Mr. Timms: Public sector net debt is measured by means of National Accounts aggregates compiled by the independent Office for National Statistics using internationally accepted methodology. The Government use this agreed methodology, which does not include unfunded public sector pension liabilities.

Education Funding

14. Mr. Mackay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on the level of funding for the school capital programme for the next three years announced in the 2006 pre-Budget report. [111035]


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Mr. Timms: Treasury Ministers have regular discussions with Ministers at the Department for Education and Skills on a range of issues, including school capital programmes. The 2006 pre-Budget report announced that capital investment in education will rise to £10.2 billion in 2010-11, with additional investment of £250 million, £750 million and £1,850 million over the years 2008-09 to 2010-11—equivalent to annual average real growth of 4.1 per cent. a year.

Manufacturing

15. Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many jobs there were in manufacturing in (a) 1997 and (b) 2006. [111036]

John Healey: The UK economy is restructuring and the fall in relative share of manufacturing is a common feature of all advanced economies. The fall in manufacturing jobs has been more than balanced by a growth of 3.77 million jobs in other sectors.

Financial Education

16. Mr. Todd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the Government's strategy to improve financial education and public knowledge of basic financial products. [111037]

Ed Balls: The Government launched their long-term approach for financial capability on 15 January. It will improve information and advice for young people, promote opportunities for children to learn about money, and signpost to information and advice for parents through extended schools and Sure Start children’s centres. It will also give financial education a secure place on the educational agenda and issue revised curriculum guidance, promote the Child Trust Fund as a tool for teaching financial education, and integrate financial education into basic skills learning by promoting the use of financial education as a route to literacy and numeracy skills. The Government have also asked Otto Thoresen, Chief Executive of AEGON UK to lead a feasibility study to design a national approach to generic financial advice.

Millennium Development Goals

17. Christine Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contribution his Department is making to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal for every child to receive a primary education. [111038]

Ed Balls: In April 2006, the Chancellor and Secretary of State for International Development announced a UK commitment to spend at least £8.5 billion on aid for education over the next 10 years, entering into 10 year agreements to help finance poor countries’ education plans.

HM treasury has been working closely with DfID and other Government Departments to ensure that primary education is high on the international agenda.

While some progress has been made globally over the past decade, universal primary education will not be
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achieved by 2015, unless we take urgent action. Every day almost 80 million primary school aged children do not go to school.

The UK has led the way by making a long-term commitment, demonstrating the high priority we place on this issue. We will now continue to urge other donors to deliver on their 2005 promises by providing long-term predictable financing for education.

The Chancellor has called for a high level international conference to take forward this agenda, which the European commission will host in Brussels in April. This will bring together Ministers from EU, G8 and developing countries, NGOs and opinion-formers. It will be an opportunity for the international community to demonstrate its commitment to achieving the education MDGs and making faster progress in this area.

Air Passenger Duty

18. Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will offset the revenue resulting from the increase of Air Passenger Duty in February with an equal reduction in revenue elsewhere in the tax system. [111039]

Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to offset the increase in Air Passenger Duty in February with a reduction in revenue elsewhere in the tax system. [111027]

John Healey: The changes to Air Passenger Duty will secure resources in the coming spending round for our priorities such as public transport and the environment.

Nuclear Defence

19. Alan Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which Government Departments have made submissions for funding for expenditure related to nuclear defence in the context of the comprehensive spending review. [111040]

Mr. Timms: The White Paper, ‘The Future of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Deterrent’, published in December 2006, set out that decisions on the level of investment in nuclear and conventional capability will be taken in the Comprehensive Spending Review, the results of which will be announced later this year. Departmental submissions on a range of spending issues will be considered in the CSR and the outcomes published in due course.

Environmental Taxes

20. Mr. Jack: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which methodologies his Department uses to evaluate the effectiveness of environmental taxes; and if he will make a statement. [111041]

John Healey: An update on the impact of the environmental taxes is included in the Budget and pre-Budget report. This covers analysis and summaries of data received from a range of sources, including:


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