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Baroness Anelay of St Johns asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by Lord McIntosh of Haringey on Treasury silver on 16 May (WA 64), whether the 16 items of silverware will attract a capital charge of 6 per cent under resource accounting and budgeting if they are retained by the department.[HL4534]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: They will.
Newly Released £5 Notes
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is the estimated cost to the taxpayer of the fault in the new (Elizabeth Fry) £5 note, enabling serial numbers to be rubbed off and making it necessary to suspend issuance.[HL4568]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: Following recent reports that it is possible to remove the serial number from some of the newly released £5 notes, the Bank of England took the precautionary measure of asking the commercial banks and the Post Office to suspend issuance. The Bank is currently in the process of carrying out tests and investigative work on the notes to establish the cause of the fault and how widespread it is. At present it is too early to estimate the potential costs of the exercise.
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will encourage the Bank of England to issue many more of the previous (George Stephenson) £5 notes while the issue of the new (Elizabeth Fry) £5 notes is suspended in order to alleviate the present shortages; and[HL4569]
What steps they and the Bank of England are taking to ensure the shortage of £5 notes, following non-issuance of the faulty new notes, do not disrupt trade or interfere with the public's enjoyment of the Jubilee celebrations and the start of the World Cup over the double Bank Holiday weekend.[HL4570]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: On 27 May 2002, when the Bank of England decided to suspend the issue of
the new £5 note in order to carry out investigative tests, there were around 200 million old £5 notes in circulation. This is in addition to many millions of £5 notes held in commercial cash centres around the country and a small amount held in the Bank's own cash centres. All these notes are available to meet immediate demand from the public.Exchange Rates
Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 27 May (WA 128), what evidence they have for their belief that stability of:
(a) exchange rates; and
(b) the broader macroeconomic environment, "create the best conditions in which United Kingdom business can thrive".[HL4597]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: I refer the noble Lord to my Answer on 27 May (Official Report, col. WA 128), and would add that economic instability in the past brought high and unstable long-term interest rates and high unemployment, constrained the capacity of the economy to expand supply potential and deterred companies from long-term investment.
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The number of Bank of England notes in circulation on the last day of February for the last 10 years is set out below. This information is also available in each year's annual report of the Bank of England.
Notes:
Data are for the last banking day in February.
Figures exclude written off notes from previous series.
(Notes are written off 10 years after the withdrawal of legal tender status.)
Lord Vivian asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from the Director of Economic Statistics, John Kidgell, dated June 2002.
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question concerning the number of young people aged between 16 to 21 who have taken their own lives in the course of each of the years 1994 to 2002 inclusive. I am replying in his absence. [HL4632]
The most recent information available is for deaths in 2000. Figures for each year from 1994 to 2000 are given in the table below.
(1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E950-E959 and E980-E989 excluding E988.8.
Lord Avebury asked her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Filkin): The terms of the insurance for the immigration detention estate are the subject of current negotiations.
All prisons in England and Wales are currently fully insured. However, as a result of the events on 11 September 2001, there have been significant difficulties in the general insurance market. The fire at Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre has exacerbated the problems for all privately managed custodial facilities, including prisons. A cross-departmental team has been set up to discuss with contractors how best to resolve this issue. We are working with the insurance industry to see how to resolve these problems.
Viscount Goschen asked her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach): This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate effort. However, competition remains the cornerstone of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence's procurement policy and around 70 per cent of its business by value is placed competitively.
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville): The Office of Telecommunications (Oftel) regulates the provision of public call box services through telecoms companies' licences. Oftel has no formal powers to require BT to empty cash from public telephone boxes more frequently, nor does it feel that it is necessary to intervene to obtain such powers, as it has confidence that BT has the incentives to minimise attempted theft. Oftel is advised that BT has reduced its losses due to theft and vandalism dramatically over the last 10 years. This shows that BT takes this threat very seriously.
Lord Morris of Manchester asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Sainsbury of Turville: Unfortunately during this session the longest time was 67 calendar days. This was due to the fact that it was originally accepted by another government department.
The Earl of Selborne asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty): The European Commission is responsible for senior staffing within the Commission services. The Commission announced changes affecting 13 senior staff on 24 April. The post of Director-General of Fisheries Policy is being advertised within the Commission. The present director-general remains in post pending the new appointment. I am aware of no evidence that the Presidency had any involvement in these events, and indeed Commission statements have rebutted the suggestion that there was any such involvement.
How many Bank of England banknotes of £5, £10, £20 and £50 respectively were in circulation on 28 February in each of the past 10 years. [HL4614]
£5 £10 £20 £50
1993 232.6 534.8 305.1 54.6
1994 227.0 524.5 340.9 57.7
1995 214.4 534.8 386.2 57.0
1996 213.5 568.8 429.0 62.1
1997 209.4 591.5 477.9 65.5
1998 206.8 596.0 531.1 72.7
1999 222.2 596.6 570.7 79.2
2000 209.0 568.3 659.9 83.9
2001 208.2 610.7 719.1 93.1
2002 208.8 592.8 816.8 104.1
What information they have about the numbers of young people aged beween 16 and 21 who have taken their own lives in the course of each of the years 1994 to 2002 inclusive. [HL4632]
Calendar year Number of deaths
1994 289
1995 313
1996 279
1997 331
1998 304
1999 275
2000 286
Whether they will give details of any changes in the provision of insurance cover to detention centres and privately managed prisons since January 2000.[HL4385]
On how many occasions since 1997 the Ministry of Defence has procured goods or services other than by competitive tender on the grounds of national security.[HL4517]
Whether they will ask telephone companies to increase the frequency of collection of coins from telephone coin boxes so as to reduce the incentive to theft. [HL4321]
What has been the longest time taken to reply to a Question for Written Answer in the House of Lords about an issue within the responsibilities of the Department of Trade and Industry in the current parliamentary session. [HL4482]
Why the European Commission's Director General of Fisheries was transferred to alternative responsibilities; and whether there was any pressure from the Spanish Presidency. [HL4387]
10 Jun 2002 : Column WA9
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