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Millennium Dome
Lord Gregson asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they will announce further details of the contents of the Millennium Dome.[HL752]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Prime Minister today addressed sponsors and other interested parties at an event at which models of a number of the zones of the Millennium Experience were displayed. Copies of the Prime Minister's speech, and of associated material on the Millennium Dome and its contents, have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Millennium Experience: Sponsorship
Lord Gregson asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What level of sponsorship has to date been achieved in respect of the Millennium Experience at Greenwich.[HL753]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) is today announcing its first four founding partners; BT, Manpower, Sky, and Tesco. These four companies are each committing a minimum of £12 million value to the overall Millennium Experience. The Company is also announcing signed confirmation of the commitments of British Airways and BAA. Together, those six companies are making a direct private sector contribution of nearly £59 million.
The New Millennium Experience Company also has commitments coming up for detailed negotiation which would add a further £16 million, taking the overall level of support to £75 million; and the Company is in serious negotiation with 40 other potential sponsors.
The NMEC is also announcing today that it has reached agreement in principle with Camelot to be the official distributor of tickets for the Millennium Experience at Greenwich. This will mean that there is a ticket outlet within 3 miles of 95 per cent. of the population of the United Kingdom.
The Pound-US Dollar: Purchasing Power Parities
Lord Acton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What has been the purchasing power parity of the pound relative to the United States dollar in each of the last five years.[HL644]
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 Acton from the Director of the Office for National Statistics, Dr. T. Holt, dated 24 February 1998.
I have been asked, as Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), to reply to your recent question on the purchasing power parity of the pound relative to the United States dollar.
Purchasing power parities (PPPs) for the pound relative to the US dollar for the last five years are given in the table below. These are the official international comparisons published by the OECD.
The figures shown for 1993 and 1994 are not entirely consistent with those for later periods. This is because of improvements in the methodology underlying the UK PPP. Further details are given in the article International Comparisons of GDP per head over time which was published in the March 1997 Edition of Economic Trends, a copy of which can be found in the House of Lords Library.
PPPs from 1970 to 1996 can be found in Table 3 (part 8) of the OECD's annual publication, National Accounts Main Aggregates Volume 1, 1998 Edition. Projections for 1997 can be found in the Appendix to the OECD's monthly publication, Main Economic Indicators, February 1998 Edition, copies of which can be found in the House of Lords library. Purchasing Power Parities; Pounds per US Dollar 1997* 0.677 1996* 0.675 1995 0.670 1994 0.646 1993 0.637 *OECD projections, Source: OECD.
Comptroller and Auditor-General and the National Audit Office: Powers
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they are satisfied with the powers given to the Comptroller and Auditor-General and the National Audit Office to track the expenditure of public funds from United Kingdom sources.[HL636]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: Parliament needs to be assured that public bodies and their finances are properly accounted for and managed. The Government
are open to discussion as to whether the powers of the Comptroller and Auditor-General and the National Audit Office need to be changed to meet new challenges, and have yet to form a firm view.The Blind: VAT Relief on Aids
Lord Morris of Manchester asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Following the meeting at the end of January between HM Customs and Excise and charities representing blind people, whether they will now publish the terms of the agreement under which blind people will not be charged VAT on white canes and other such aids.[HL565]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The meeting to which the noble Lord refers established the principles for the continuation of VAT relief on these aids. Subsequently these have been developed into terms of agreement which were sent to the charities involved on 17 February. They are currently the subject of an internal consultation by those charities.
Unemployment Benefit: Percentage of Average Earnings
Lord Monkswell asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What has been, at five-year intervals from 1945, the value of unemployment benefit expressed as a percentage of national average earnings.[HL523]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social Security (Baroness Hollis of Heigham): The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is set out in the table.
| Year | Unemployment Benefit/Jobseeker's Allowance as a percentage of Full Time (Male) Average Manual Earnings | Unemployment Benefit/Jobseeker's Allowance as a percentage of Full Time Average Adult Earnings (All Adults) |
| 1948 | 19.1 per cent. | -- |
| 1950 | 17.3 per cent. | -- |
| 1955 | 14.6 per cent. | -- |
| 1960 | 17.2 per cent. | -- |
| 1965 | 20.4 per cent. | -- |
| 1970 | 18.7 per cent. | 19.3 per cent. |
| 1975 | 17.6 per cent. | 18.2 per cent. |
| 1980 | 18.5 per cent. | 18.9 per cent. |
| 1985 | 18.6 per cent. | 17.8 per cent. |
| 1990 | 15.7 per cent. | 14.2 per cent. |
| 1995 | 15.9 per cent. | 13.8 per cent. |
| 1997 | 15.6 per cent. | 13.4 per cent. |
Sources:
1. Average Manual earnings (Male) Up to 1970--the October Enquiry--men aged 21 and over.
2. 1970--April 1997--Office for National Statistics New Earnings Survey--full time male manual workers aged 21 and over.
3. Full Time Average Adult Earnings (All adults)--The New Earnings Survey from Office for National Statistics for all full time workers aged 21 and over.
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: Medical advisers employed by the War Pensions Agency may seek, for the purpose of determining claims for war pension, medical reports from consultants. Where the issue is particularly complex, or where there is a conflict of medical opinion, reports my be commissioned from consultants who, by reason of particular expertise or length of experience, are recognised authorities in their particular specialty. These consultants, known by the agency as "regional consultants", are appointed nationally by the Chief Medical Adviser to the Department of Social Security; they provide authoritative, impartial medical opinions.
Information regarding the number of consultants who may also advise the Treasury or the Ministry of Defence is not available.
Lord Newton of Braintree asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: The information requested is set out in the tables.
Notes:
1. The estimated savings relate to the proposed measure in the Social Security Bill to reduce the maximum amount of backdating of benefit claims from three months to one month.
2. Estimates are based on an ad hoc survey of backdated benefit claims undertaken during 1996 uprated in line with departmental forecasts of benefit expenditure. The savings are in addition to those estimated for the April 1997 changes which reduced the maximum amount of backdating of benefit claims to three months and benefit reviews to one month. There may be additional savings for benefits not covered in the above tables, but these have not been estimated. The ad hoc survey of backdated claims was limited to those benefits accounting for a significant amount of social security expenditure, so it is not possible to provide estimates for the smaller benefits.
3. Allocation of benefit savings to client groups is in accordance with the convention used in Tables 4 and 5 of the 1997 departmental report. Income support, housing benefit and council tax benefit savings are divided between the expected beneficiaries.
How many doctors who are consultants to whom the War Pensions Agency refers claimants for medical reports are also expert witnesses or advisers to the Treasury or the Ministry of Defence.[HL568]
Whether they will give the estimate of savings expected from Clause 72 of the Social Security Bill, broken down (a) by individual benefits; and (b) by categories of claimant.[HL236]
1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01
Retirement Pension 6 8 8
Incapacity Benefit 3 4 4
Invalid Care Allowance 8 10 10
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit 1 1 1
Contribution-based Jobseeker's Allowance 4 5 5
Income Support/Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance 7 8 8
Child Benefit/One Parent Benefit 6 7 7
Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit 7 15 15
Total 42 58 58
1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01
Elderly 10 14 14
Long-term sick and disabled 6 8 8
Carers 8 10 10
Lone parents 8 10 10
Unemployed 10 16 16
Others 0 0 0
Total 42 58 58