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Channel Islands and Isle of Man: Taxation
Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McIntosh of Haringey on the 1 May (WA 99),
- whether the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are free to maintain their existing tax regimes.[HL4265]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Government would like the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man to amend their tax regimes to incorporate the principles in the EU Code of Conduct on Business Taxation and adopt the same measures as those in the draft EU Directive on Savings.
Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 1 May (WA 99), whether they have made any assessment of the effect on the economies of the Channel Islands and Isle of Man if the latter were to accept the tax package adopted by ECOFIN and if other regimes did not accept a similar package.[HL4267]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: Agreement of the draft Directive on Savings is conditional on sufficient reassurances being received that key third countries will adopt equivalent measures. The effect on the economies of the Crown dependencies of adopting the principles of the Code of Conduct on Business Taxation would depend on the nature of the tax changes introduced to replace the current harmful features.
Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 1 May (WA 99), whether they have considered what measures they might apply to the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man if the latter do not accept the tax package adopted by ECOFIN; and, if so, what are those measures.[HL4268]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Government hope that the Crown dependencies will all remove the harmful aspects of their tax regimes and agree to adopt the same measures as set out in the draft Directive on Savings. To protect the UK tax base, the Finance Bill includes the reserve power to bring within the charge to tax under the controlled foreign companies (CFC) legislation all CFCs that are located in overseas jurisdictions where harmful practices continue to be prevalent.
Business Taxation: EU Code of Conduct
Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 1 May (WA 99), whether they wish harmful aspects of the tax regimes in European Union member states and their dependent or associated territories to be terminated in the absence of similar agreements and standards everywhere else.[HL4266]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Government are fully committed to the European Union Code of Conduct on Business Taxation and wish to see all the harmful aspects of tax regimes in EU member states and their dependent and associated territories removed.
These commitments are part of the Government's support for international initiatives aimed at curbing harmful tax practices and anti-competitive tax practices and wider international efforts to ensure fair tax competition. For instance, the UK strongly supports the OECD harmful tax initiative, which seeks to promote fair tax competition worldwide.
Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 1 May (WA 99–100), whether Luxembourg or any other European Union member state has been granted exemptions to ECOFIN's requirements on business taxation; whether any similar exemptions have been offered to the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man; and, if not, why not.[HL4269]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Code of Conduct on Business Taxation applies equally to all member states. No exemptions have been granted.
Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 1 May (WA 100), what
are the "international standards of fair tax competition"; where they are written down; and which countries have signed up to them.[HL4270]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The European Union Code of Conduct on Business Taxation, which was adopted by the ECOFIN Council on 1 December 1997, sets out international standards of fair tax competition by defining the criteria against which potentially harmful tax measures should be assessed.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also published a report, Harmful Tax Competition: An Emerging Global Issue, in April 1998 (available from the House of Lords Library) which sets out factors to be taken into account in considering whether or not particular tax regimes constitute harmful tax practices.
Filipino Nurses
Lord MacKenzie of Culkein asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What action is proposed to deal with the reported exploitation and poor treatment of Filipino nurses in parts of the United Kingdom healthcare system.[HL3962]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): All members of staff employed by the National Health Service through international recruitment are covered by guidance on international recruitment, published by the Department of Health in November1999. This guidance was complemented by a code of practice published in October 2001 which aims to ensure no nurse is financially exploited during the recruitment process.
The Department of Health does not have the power to intervene in the employment of staff by independent or private agencies. However, at the recent Royal College of Nursing conference the Secretary of State for Health announced that we would be establishing a helpline to advise nurses of their options.
Department of Health officials are currently organising a summit to help the situation. A summit meeting is scheduled for 9 May.
In line with the national minimum standards for care homes, employers must have in place appropriate human resource policies for staffing.
French Poultry Meat
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 25 April (WA 59), whether that Answer implies that despite a nil progress report
on the inspection mission in 2000, the European Commission's Food and Veterinary Office did not carry out a further inspection mission in 2001; and whether poultry meat is coming into the United Kingdom from France.[HL4139]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: It is the responsibility of the European Commission to ensure that member states fulfil their obligations under EC rules, and for the Commission to determine the programme of inspection missions by the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO). The FVO did not carry out a further inspection mission to France on poultry meat production in 2001.
Poultry meat is being imported into the United Kingdom from France, and trade figures for 2001 show a total level of imports, for all types and presentations of poultry, of 52,434 tonnes. The fact that the FVO has criticised the authorities in a member state does not mean that meat cannot be produced in accordance with EC law in that member state. The focus of health inspections is on the individual carcass, and meat may be lawfully traded only if it has been passed by veterinary inspection in the slaughterhouse, and has been given a health mark. barry c
Lymphoma Association
Lord Morris of Manchester asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What meetings Ministers have had with the Lymphoma Association to discuss the problems of
- patients needing access to the drug Mabthera; and what plans they have for such meetings in the next 12 months.[HL4253]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Ministers have had no meetings with the association on this issue but, subject to diary commitments, are willing to meet organisations such as the Lymphoma Association.
Food Supplements: Draft European Directive
Baroness Ludford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What assessment they have made of the likely impact of the draft European directive on food supplements (COD/2000/0080) on manufacturers of food supplements and health food shops selling food supplements; and what approach they will take with regard to this draft directive in any discussions in the Council of Ministers.[HL4291]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Food Standards Agency has consulted widely on the likely impact of this directive.
The directive will inevitably impose new labelling costs, although these will be partially mitigated by the two-year transitional period provided for. The task of setting maximum limits for individual vitamins and minerals falls to the Commission acting on the advice of the EU Scientific Committee for Food (SCF). Setting unnecessarily low maximum permitted levels for nutrients in food supplements would have a detrimental impact on both manufacturers and health food retailers and would place an unnecessary restriction on consumer choice. The Food Standards Agency will be encouraging the SCF to liaise closely with the UK's Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals which is already in the process of carrying out similar assessments.
In any future Council discussions, the UK will continue to argue against restricting consumer choice in this area so long as all products placed on the market are safe and properly labelled.
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