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Lord Hogg of Cumbernauld asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What arrangements they have put in place to monitor, control and audit the costs associated with the construction of a parliamentary building at Holyrood in Edinburgh.[HL57]
Lord Sewel: The Scottish Office is putting in place the necessary management and reporting structures and appointments to ensure the effective delivery of the project on time and to budget and to meet the Parliament's requirements. These arrangements will be in line with the Government's recently published guidance on its role as a client for construction projects including achieving value for money. Expenditure by The Scottish Office on the construction of the parliament building will be Voted by Parliament and subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor-General in the same way as other expenditure by the department.
Any expenditure incurred after the transfer of functions to the Scottish Parliament will be subject to audit in the same way as other expenditure for which the parliament will be responsible, arrangements for which are to be agreed as currently provided for in the Scotland Bill.2000 Non-Domestic Rating Revaluation
Baroness David asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What will be the valuation date for the 2000 non-domestic rating revaluation.[HL356]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Baroness Hayman): The next non-domestic property revaluation will come into force on 1 April 2000. We have decided that the antecedent valuation date for England and Wales, that is the common valuation date for the 2000 revaluation, will be 1 April 1998. We have today laid the necessary order before the House. This decision will provide certainty for businesses and will allow adequate time for the assessment to be carried out.
Motorists: Blood and Breath Tests
Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What are the permissible levels of alcohol in the blood for breathalyser tests for motorists in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France and Spain; and how many motorists failed the test in each of the countries in the last three years.
Baroness Hayman: The legal blood alcohol level for motorists in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and Spain is 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood; in France the legal level is 50 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. Legislation to reduce the limit in Germany to 50 milligrammes is currently before the Federal Parliament and Spain is also considering a reduction in its legal limit to 50 milligrammes.
Table 1 below gives the number of breath tests conducted in England and Wales during the latest three years for which the figures are available, and the number of tests which were positive (above the limit) or where a driver refused to take a test. The figures for Northern Ireland for 1995 and 1996 are set out in Table 2 (Prior to 1995 these figures were not available in that form). The figures for Scotland are not available. Table 3 contains the data for France over the period 1994 to 1996.
| Number of breath tests | Number positive/refused | |
| 1994 | 678,500 | 93,300 |
| 1995 | 702,700 | 94,400 |
| 1996 | 781,100 | 100,500 |
Source: Observatoire National Interministeriel de Securite Routiere.
The equivalent information for the other countries
is unavailable or could be obtained only at disproportionate expense.
Lord Braine of Wheatley asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Lord Braine of Wheatley from the Director of the Office for National Statistics, Dr. Tim Holt, dated 28 January 1998.
I have been asked to reply to your recent question on those who are statistically the most likely to undergo an abortion in terms of marital status, age, pregnancy gestation, previous abortions and legal grounds.
The statistically most likely candidate to have an abortion in each of the variables listed is defined as the category with the highest recorded frequency of abortions performed. The percentages are based on all legal terminations performed in each of the last three years for which data are available in England and Wales, and Scotland as residents and non-residents.
The categories with the highest frequencies found in each of the variables, for each year between 1994 to 1996, are as follows:
(2) Statutory ground C: "the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman."
The information for England and Wales residents is available in the OPCS/ONS Abortion Statistics publication, Series AB Nos. 20-23, which is available in the House of Lords Library.
Lord Freyberg asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: There are 8,187 works of art on loan from the government art collection
to government departments, including Nos. 10 and
11 Downing Street. There are 135 works of art on loan from national collections to government departments, including Nos. 10 and 11 Downing Street, via the government art collection.
Lord Freyberg asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The National Asset Register lists these assets by value rather than number. The net book value of works of art owned by the Arts Council of England was £2,213,000 at 1 April 1996. This figure is also published in the Annual Report of the Arts Council of England for 1996-97.
Earl Russell asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to Earl Russell from the Director of the Office for National Statistics, Dr. Tim Holt, dated 28 January 1998.
I have been asked to reply, as Director of the Office for National Statistics, to your recent question on the rate of inflation.
The all items index of retail prices (RPI) for December 1997 was 631.2, taking Jan 1974=100. Thus, prices have risen by 531.2 per cent. between January 1974 and December 1997.
Annual rates of inflation from 1974 to 1997 can be found in Table 12 of the monthly RPI Business Monitor (MM23). The publication is available in the House of Lords Library.
Lord Robertson of Oakridge asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: That issue is a matter for the financial services authority.
Number of breath tests Number positive/refused
1995 7,643 1,773
1996 9,390 2,192
Number of breath tests Number positive
1994 6,157,421 63,162
1995 6,542,198 67,940
1996 6,180,325 71,048
Further to the Written Answer of Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish on 4 July 1996 (WA 117); who were statistically the most likely to undergo an abortion, in each of the years since 1993 for which figures are available, in terms of:
(a) marital status;
(b) age;
(c) the gestation of the pregnancy;
(d) the number of previous abortions undergone; and
(e) the legal grounds under which the abortion was performed.[HL252]
1994 1995 1996
(a) Marital status:
single women No. 118,235 117,110 129,959
% 66 67 69
(b) Age:
20-24 years No. 52,008 50,040 53,176
% 29 29 28
(c) Gestation of the pregnancy: 9-12 weeks No. 83,746 80,430 90,064
% 47 46 48
(d) The number of previous abortions undergone: women who have had no No. 132,065 127,537 138,063
previous legal terminations % 74 73 73
(e) The legal grounds under which the abortion was performed: Statutory Ground C alone(2) No. 157,554 156,314 172,479
% 88 89 91
How many pictures from the government art collection are at present hanging in the private and public offices of Ministers and Ministries, including No. 10 Downing Street; and how many have been borrowed from such national collections as the National Portrait Gallery, the Tate Gallery and the National Maritime Museum.[HL84]
Given that approximately 7,500 works of art are listed in published catalogues of the Arts Council collection, but that the National Asset Register gives the number owned by the Arts Council as 2,213, what has happened to the rest.[HL85]
What is the rate of inflation since 1974, taking 1974 as 100.[HL207]
Whether it is the case as reported in the Sunday Telegraph that some insurance companies are failing in their duty to advise buyers of their annuities who are in a poor state of health that they may qualify for a higher income than the average annuitant; and, if so, whether they will take up the matter with the Securities and Investments Board.
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