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Piers
Lord Fearn asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many English piers are listed structures; and how many have received grant aid in their reconstruction and development during the years 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and in 2002 to date.[HL4357]
The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Blackstone): There are currently 80 listed piers in England. Of these, five have been given grant aid by English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund since 1998. English Heritage provided one grant in 2000. The Heritage Lottery Fund gave a grant to one pier in the financial year 1998–99, three in 1999–2000, and one in 2000–01.
Care Home Fees and Income Support
Baroness Greengross asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the funding for the transfer of people with preserved rights to income support from the Department for Work and Pensions to local authorities includes an amount to meet the shortfall between what was paid in income support and the full cost of the nursing or residential home without local authorities requiring a third-party payment.[HL4359]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Hollis of Heigham): The transfer of resources in respect of people with preserved rights was calculated by deducting ongoing benefit liabilities from the expenditure the Department for Work and Pensions would have incurred if the changes had not been implemented. The transfer was supplemented by an additional sum of £100 million per year for Great Britain to cover the additional costs faced by local authorities; that is, the shortfall between care home fees and preserved rights limits. Under the residential care means test, local authorities will receive further contributions to the cost of the care home fees from the normal income support personal allowances and appropriate premiums to which many residents continue to be entitled.
Smallpox Vaccine
Baroness Noakes asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Which pharmaceutical companies they approached about the purchase of smallpox vaccine; and whether those companies included Bavarian Nordic.[HL3923]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): Detailed confidential discussion were held with five major pharmaceutical companies which were known
to have vaccine manufacturing capability either in the United Kingdom or in Europe. The companies, whose agreement to being identified has been obtained, were Acambis, Aventis Pasteur, GlaxoSmithKline, PowderJect and RIVM. Bavarian Nordic was known to be working with PowderJect and was approached, and made it clear to the Department of Health that all discussions regarding the supply of its product were to be conducted through PowderJect.Wales: Gross Value Added
Lord Roberts of Conwy asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How much in percentage terms the gross domestic product of Wales has grown since the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales.[HL4315]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: Annual Welsh gross value added (GVA), in current prices, is currently only available up to 1999. Figures for 2000 and 2001, and revisions for previous years, will not be released until later this year. These data are provided by the ONS, and are published on the ONS website. Constant price GVA estimates and quarterly current price GVA estimates for Wales are not available.
Scotland: Gross Value Added
Lord Roberts of Conwy asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How much in percentage terms the gross domestic product of Scotland has grown since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament.[HL4316]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: Scottish gross value added, in real terms, rose by almost 3 per cent between 1999 Q2 and 2001 Q4. The Scottish Executive produces a constant price index of GVA for Scotland. These data are available on the Scottish Executive website.
Procurement
Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:
- In relation to procurement decisions, whether public sector authorities have a duty to consider the benefit of tender for the public at large or exclusively for the contracting authority.[HL4410]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: In making procurement decisions that are subject to the EC rules, contracting authorities are required to award contracts on the basis of "the most economically advantageous tender to the contracting authority".
United States: War Loans to UK
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they owe money to the United States Government as a result of World War Two debt; if so, how much is owed; when it will be repaid; and what representation they have made to the United States Government concerning the debt being cancelled.[HL4422]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: Under a 1945 agreement, the United States Government lent the United Kingdom a total of $4,336 million (around £1,075 million at 1945 exchange rates) in war loans. These loans were taken out under two facilities: (i) a line of credit of $3,750 million (around £930 million at 1945 exchange rates); and (ii) a lend-lease loan facility of $586 million (around £145 million at 1945 exchange rates), which represented the settlement with the United States for lend-lease and reciprocal aid and for the final settlement of the financial claims of each government against the other arising out of the conduct of the Second World War. Under the agreement the loans would be repaid in 50 annual instalments commencing in 1950. However, the agreement allowed deferral of annual payments of both principal and interest if necessary because of prevailing international exchange rate conditions and the level of the United Kingdom's foreign currency and gold reserves. The United Kingdom has deferred payments on six occasions. Repayment of the war loans to the United States Government should therefore be completed on 31 December 2006, subject to the United Kingdom not choosing to exercise its option to defer repayment. As at 31 March 2001, principal of $346,287,953 (£243,573,154 at the exchange rate on that day) was outstanding on the loans provided by the United States Government in 1945. The Government intend to meet their obligations under the 1945 agreement by repaying the United States Government in full the amounts lent in 1945 and so no representation has been made.
Small Breweries
Lord Hardy of Wath asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many small breweries will benefit from the reduction in duty now to be available for such enterprises.[HL4450]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: HM Customs and Excise estimate that around 400 of the 450 or so registered breweries active in 2001 will be eligible, representing 90 per cent of active brewers.
Exchange Rates
Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether exchange rate stability between sterling and currencies of the United Kingdom's main trading partners favours United Kingdom trade and investment with those partners; and what evidence they have for this.[HL4479]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Government strongly believe that stability of both exchange rates and the broader macroeconomic environment would create the best conditions in which business can thrive. The effects of exchange rate stability on trade and investment cannot be determined without knowing the consequences for other economic indicators, such as inflation.
Age Discrimination
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they intend to introduce legislation making it unlawful to discriminate on grounds of age not only in employment but also in the provision of facilities and services to the public; and, if not, why not; and[HL4309]
Whether they will reconsider their timetable for the introduction of age discrimination legislation so as to ensure that such legislation has been enacted and brought into force before the next general election.[HL4310].
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville): Implementing the age strand of the Employment Framework Directive (2000/78) is a significant undertaking. The directive includes proposals for outlawing unfair discrimination at work and in vocational training, on the new grounds of not only age, but also sexual orientation and religion or belief. This is a major step in itself, and the Government do not believe it would be sensible to be distracted from the difficult task of resolving the complexities associated with outlawing age discrimination at work and in training. Therefore, the Government have no plans at present to extend legislation to goods and services. There are significant practical issues to be worked through in consultation with employers, particularly small businesses, and others who may be affected. Unlike sexual orientation and religion, differences of treatment on the grounds of age are capable of objective justification under the directive in certain circumstances. The directive itself acknowledges that age is more complex than the other strands by allowing a longer time for implementation—December 2006 instead of December 2003. The Government will make full use of the extra time to make sure that eventual legislation is practical and helpful to employers and employees.
We have already undertaken widespread consultation to identify what age-related practices employers have and why they might need to retain them. The consultation document Towards Equality and Diversity identified, and invited views on, key age issues. We want to prohibit unfair practices so as to remove the barriers which people of all ages can face in the workplace. We do not want to ban employment practices which can be clearly and objectively justified. We shall consider each of these areas in the light of the responses to the consultation, and will consult again with a set of firm proposals.
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