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30 Oct 2007 : Column 1183W—continued

Departments: Legislation

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many regulations his Department has (a) brought forward and (b) revoked over the last 12 months. [158731]

Angela Eagle: In the past year, the information is as follows:

The Treasury’s Simplification Plan 2006 outlined 22 simplification measures including a regulatory reform order (RRO) to enable the FSA to make minor changes to its consultation procedures on guidance and make the variation of permissions (VOP) process less time consuming, resulting in savings of between £7.5 and £9.3 million per year for business.


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Departments: Ministerial Policy Advisers

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any of his Department's special advisers have declared a conflict of interest. [160789]

Angela Eagle: Special advisers are appointed under the terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.

Departments: Publications

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will place in the Library copies of the last 12 editions of the staff magazines for his Department and each of its agencies; [153964]

(2) if he will place in the Library copies of the last 12 editions of his Department's staff magazine. [159061]

Angela Eagle [holding answer 23 October 2007]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the former Financial Secretary to the Treasury (John Healey) on 5 February 2007, Official Report, column 737W.

Dietary Supplements: Channel Islands

David Tredinnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the Exchequer of low value consignment relief made available to businesses based in the Channel Islands for the import into the United Kingdom of food supplements and herbal remedies; and if he will make a statement. [161795]

Jane Kennedy: No estimate has been made.

Financial Markets

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which of the parties to the tripartite agreement are to carry out a review of their actions during the recent international financial market turbulence. [159270]

Kitty Ussher [holding answer 18 October 2007]: The Chancellor informed the House on 11 October, Official Report, column 463W. of the

The Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England have announced that they will be reviewing the lessons. The Chancellor has announced his intention to evaluate options in the light of these reviews and to publish proposals in the new year.

HM Revenue and Customs: Drug Seizures

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what factors underlie changes in the quantities of class A drugs (a) seized by HM Revenue and Customs and (b) reaching UK streets in each year since 2003-04; and if he will make a statement. [157245]

Angela Eagle: The information is as follows.

(a) There are a wide variety of factors that can underlie change in the quantities of Class A drugs
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seized each year. These include the volume of Class A drugs being targeted on the UK by traffickers, changes in the tactics and opening of new drug routes by traffickers in response to law enforcement activity, and volumes of production in source countries. Since 2003-04, HM Revenue and Customs have seized the following quantities of drugs.

Kilogrammes
Financial year Heroin Cocaine Ecstasy Cannabis

2006-07

527

2,368

1,212

62,966

2005-06

1,057

5,798

468

41,611

2004-05

1,613

8,606

740

57,504

2003-04

1,626

20,727

1,245

57,617


The figures for 2006-07 represent the results of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) activity at the UK frontier. They do not include seizures made in those areas of the Department that were transferred to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) on 1 April 2006, such as investigation and intelligence relating to Class 'A' drugs.

(b) Factors influencing the quantities of drugs reaching the streets will include demand and law enforcement effectiveness. The creation of SOCA in 2006, and the work to improve police capability on protective services are important here and the Government are currently consulting on a new national drugs strategy.

Inheritance Tax

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many estates which were charged inheritance tax were the estates of widows or widowers in each year since 1997; and of these how many were valued as being between the value of the inheritance tax lower threshold and twice the value of the inheritance tax lower threshold. [160521]

Jane Kennedy: Information on the number of estates paying IHT is published on the HMRC website at Table 1.4

Information on the number of widows or widowers paying IHT is not available in the format requested.

Minimum Wage

Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in (a) St. Ives, Cornwall, (b) West Cornwall and Isles of Scilly constituency of St Ives, (c) Cornwall and (d) the UK earn the minimum wage; and what percentage of the population in work each figure represents. [161878]

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 30 October 2007:

Number of jobs paid below the national minimum wage, UK
2006
Number (T housand) Percentage

Full-time

162

0.9

Part-time

174

2.6

All jobs

336

1.3


Estimates of UK jobs paid below minimum wage by Government Office Region, 2006
Government office region Thousand Percentage

North East

16

1.6

North West (including Merseyside)

36

1.3

Yorks and Humber

27

1.3

East Midlands

29

1.6

West Midlands

33

1.4

Eastern

33

1.4

London

23

0.7

South East

41

1.2

South West

33

1.6

Wales

15

1.3

Scotland

41

1.8

Northern Ireland

10

1.3

All(1)

336

1.3

(1 )2006 data are for those aged 16 and over.
Source:
Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.

Northern Rock

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his guarantee given to savers in Northern Rock applies to local authorities who are wholesale investors with Northern Rock. [157699]

Kitty Ussher: I refer the hon. Member to the letter sent by the Chancellor to the Chairman of both the Treasury Select Committee and the Public Accounts Committee on 20 September 2007, a copy of which was placed in the Library of the House.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by what mechanism he has calculated the amount to be paid by Northern Rock for the guarantee given by the Government to that company’s depositors. [158708]


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Kitty Ussher [holding answer 16 October 2007]: I refer the hon. Member to the letter the Chancellor wrote to the Treasury Select Committee and Public Accounts Committee on 11 October.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had about the treatment for accounting purposes of the guarantee given to Northern Rock depositors. [158709]

Kitty Ussher [holding answer 16 October 2007]: The Chancellor has written to the Public Accounts Committee to explain the provision of the Government’s guarantee arrangements as set out on 20 September and how these were extended on 9 October. Both letters confirmed the provision of a loan facility by the Bank of England.

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to ensure that the purchaser of Northern Rock plc fully funds the existing and future liabilities of the employees' pension schemes. [159897]

Kitty Ussher: This is a matter for the trustees of the relevant pension schemes, the company and the pensions regulator.

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he and his officials have made of the maximum potential liability of (a) the Government and (b) the Bank of England for Northern Rock employees' pensions if Northern Rock plc (i) enters administration, (ii) is taken into public ownership by the Bank of England and (iii) is sold at a discount to its net asset value. [159898]

Kitty Ussher: At the request of the company the Government have put in place guarantee arrangements to protect certain deposits in and certain uncollaterlised wholesale borrowing by Northern Rock plc. and the Bank of England is providing loan facilities. These arrangements will allow the company to continue to pursue all its strategic options.

Mrs. Hodgson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on the future operational effectiveness and financial security of the Northern Rock Foundation. [161564]

Kitty Ussher: The Government have received a number of representations on the future of the Northern Rock Foundation.

The Government fully recognise the important contribution and work that the foundation has carried out to improve the conditions of people disadvantaged by age, infirmity, poverty or other circumstances, especially in the North East. At the request of the company the Government have put in place guarantee arrangements to protect deposits in Northern Rock plc and the Bank of England is providing loan facilities. These arrangements will allow the company to continue to pursue all its strategic options.


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