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Firearms Consultative Committee Report
The Earl of Shrewsbury asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they intend to publish the 11th Annual Report of the Firearms Consultative Committee. [HL3368]
Lord Rooker: We have today placed a copy of the annual report of the Firearms Consultative Committee in the Library. Lynne Policing White Paper Lord Williams of Elvel asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What responses they have received to the White Paper Policing a New Century. [HL3394]
Lord Rooker: We have today placed in the Library a copy of a report which summarises the responses to the White Paper. Copies of the responses from organisations had already been placed in the Library in time for the Committee stage of the Police Reform Bill.
Pension Funds: Changes to Corporation Tax
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How much income pension funds in the United Kingdom have lost through the abolition of dividend tax credits on their holdings of ordinary and preference shares in each of the financial years 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000 and 2000–01; and [HL3174]
What has been the outturn of the estimated year-by-year revenue effects of the July 1997 Budget tax measures to abolish payable tax credits for pension schemes and United Kingdom companies from Budget day and changes for everyone else from 6 April 1999, as set out in Table 2:2 on page 40 of HC 85 (1997–98). [HL3189]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Government's package of corporation tax reforms included measures to boost corporate investment by removing tax distortions. The withdrawal of payable tax credits on dividends was just one part of these measures. Pension
funds and others will share in the long-term benefits from these changes to corporation tax. The overall effects of these changes on pension funds will depend on a variety of factors, including the type of scheme paying the pension; the take-up of private pensions; the level of future pension contributions; pension schemes' asset allocation and investment policies; and investment returns generally.Defined Benefit Pension Schemes
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Under what circumstances they consider it acceptable for companies to stop their employees contributing to defined benefit pension schemes of which they are members. [HL3179]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Hollis of Heigham): Employers provide occupational pensions, including defined benefit pension schemes, on a voluntary basis and are therefore free to decide whether to continue to provide such pensions to their employees in the future. There is legislation in place to ensure that the pension rights that individuals have already built up in schemes are protected. We have commissioned reviews of the regulatory system and the retail savings market which are due to report this summer. lynne
Angola: UK Business Representatives
The Earl of Listowel asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What support they are providing to those United Kingdom businessmen operating in Angola which provide services not associated with the oil industry. [HL2844]
The Minister for Trade (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean): UK business representatives operating in Angola are entitled, as are all UK companies, to take advantage of the range of services offered by Trade Partners UK, in this case via the commercial team at the British Embassy, Luanda. Details of the services can be found at Trade Partners UK's website: www.tradepartners.gov.uk.
Trade Partners UK has recently agreed to increase the size of the commercial team at our Embassy in Luanda, doubling the current commercial staff complement to four. The additional staff will focus on sectors other than the oil and gas industry. This is a significant resource investment in Angola by Trade Partners UK and represents the commitment to UK business involved in non-oil and gas related sectors. The new team will be available to assist UK companies wishing to do business with Angola and also help Angolan companies looking for sources of goods and services from the UK.
GATS: Exhaustion of Natural Resources
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will ask that the exhaustion of natural resources is placed on the list of exceptions that can apply in placing a limitation on trade under the General Agreement in Trade and Services (GATS). [HL3104]
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The Government have no such intention. The exhaustion of natural resources is one of the exceptions in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, as natural resources are by definition goods. During the Uruguay Round, negotiators concluded that a similar exception would not be relevant in the GATS.
Gas Supplies
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Following the publication of the energy review of the Performance Surveillance Unit, whether they will detail their proposed contingency plans and gas supply obligations in the event of a gas supply emergency when the United Kingdom becomes a significant gas importer, in order to cover the obligations which should be placed on market players so that they can maintain minimum level of supply and capacity in the event of a security incident; and where the costs associated with such obligations should be borne. [HL3237]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville): We are looking at all these issues. We have set up the Gas Industry Emergency Committee. Its aim is to ensure that in the event of a gas supply emergency in the UK, plans are in place for a rapid and safe restoration of supplies to consumers. The plans, which will be reviewed and tested regularly, are developed to address emergencies whether they are caused by supply shortages or through infrastructual faults on the UK network. We will publish these plans in April.
Future patterns of gas demand and supply, including import forecasts, are being examined by DTI and Ofgem through a joint working group on security of energy supply. This was set up in July last year. The group will make its first report to Ministers and the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority shortly. Its remit is to monitor security of supply issues and assess any risks to supplies in the future.
The PIU Energy Review and the recent report of the Trade and Industry Committee on security of energy supply raise specific points about whether obligations should be placed on players in the gas market. The Government will address these questions in responding to these reports.
Green Claims Panel
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government: lynne
- Further to the Written Answer by Lord Whitty on 4 December 2001 (WA 131), whether they have decided to establish a green claims panel, particularly in light of the conclusion of the Advisory Committee on Consumer Products and the Environment at its meeting on 12 September 2001. [HL3061]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty): The Government expect to consult further on proposals for a green claims panel with business and consumer stakeholders, as indicated in the reply on 4 December 2001. In doing so, they will take into account the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Consumer Products and the Environment, which is due to publish its second report shortly.
Food Poisoning
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many cases of food poisoning, using the definition: "any disease of an infectious or toxic nature caused by or thought to be caused by consumption of food or water", have been confirmed by laboratory tests for each of the last 10 years, excluding cases of campylobacter. [HL2868]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): This information is not available in the form requested. There is no link between the notifications of food poisoning by medical practitioners to local public health officials and laboratory reports based on samples tested for gastrointestinal infections by public health laboratories and National Health Service laboratories. Both food poisoning notifications and laboratory confirmed infections underestimate the number of cases of illness that can be attributed to food.
There is no definitive figure for the number of cases of food poisoning. However, in setting a target to reduce food poisoning by 20 per cent by 2006, the Food Standards Agency has taken as the baseline for its target the collated laboratory reports in 2000 for five key food poisoning organisms (Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli 0157 and Clostridium perfringens). The following table sets out the number of laboratory confirmed cases of these organisms from 1992 until 2001, both including and excluding Campylobacter.
| Organism | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
| Salmonella (excl. S. typhi and S. paratyphi) | 34,569 | 33,745 | 33,654 | 33,108 | 32,825 | 36,375 | 26,341 | 20,082 | 16,989 | 18,402* |
| E Coli O157 | 586 | 506 | 656 | 1,046 | 1,180 | 1,535 | 1,130 | 1,429 | 1,147 | 1,049* |
| Clostridium perfringens | Data not available | Data not avaialble | Data not available | Data not available | Data not available | Data not available | Data not available | Data not available | 181 | 160* |
| Listeria monocytogenes | 127 | 114 | 129 | 105 | 131 | 134 | 127 | 114 | 113 | 153 |
| Totals | 35,282 | 34,365 | 34,439 | 34,259 | 34,136 | 38,044 | 27,598 | 21,625 | 18,430 | 19,764* |
| Campylobacter | 43,886 | 43,776 | 49,000 | 48,642 | 49,670 | 57,100 | 63,837 | 62,550 | 63,370 | 62,747* |
| Totals including Campylobacter | 79,168 | 78,141 | 83,439 | 82,901 | 83,806 | 95,144 | 91,435 | 84,175 | 81,800 | 84,511* |
(1)Also includes cases thought to have been acquired abroad. These are excluded from the baseline for the Food Standards Agency target.
Sources:
England and Wales—Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS).
Scotland—the Information and Statistics Division (ISD) and the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (SCIEH) divisions of the Common Services Agency of the National Health Service in Scotland.
Northern Ireland—Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety Northern Ireland (DHSSPS).
Data for 2000 updated February 2002.
*Provisional data for 2001.
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