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Ten-Year Transport Plan
Lord Berkeley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How much private and public sector funding was allocated in the 10-year Transport Plan for rail freight; and, for each year, how much has been spent.[HL1410]
Lord Davies of Oldham: When the 10-year plan was launched, funding for rail freight comprised, roundly, £- billion from the private sector and £3- billion from the public sector.
£69 million was provided for freight in 2001–02 including £16 million from the private sector, and
£49 million in 2002–03 including £15 million from the private sector.Alcohol Excise Duty
Baroness Noakes asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they have concluded their review of the use of tax strips for alcohol excise duty.[HL1478]
Lord Davies of Oldham: Treasury Ministers and their officials are continuing to consult the industry on both the impact of tax stamps for spirits and the industry's proposed package of alternative measures for reducing fraud.
Baroness Noakes asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is their estimate of the compliance cost for United Kingdom businesses in terms of (a) one-off costs and (b) annual costs if tax strips for alcohol excise duty were introduced; and[HL1479]
On which businesses or business sectors the costs of compliance with tax strips for alcohol excise duty would fall if they were introduced; and[HL1480]
What are the cash flow implications for United Kingdom businesses of the introduction of tax strips for alcohol excise duty, analysed by business sector.[HL1481]
Lord Davies of Oldham: The Government announced in the Pre-Budget Report that they intend to introduce tax stamps for early 2006 as part of a reinforced strategy to tackle alcohol fraud. Tax stamps would apply only to spirits, as that is the sector in which fraud is estimated to be particularly high. The Government have also invited the industry to put forward alternative proposals which would be equally effective in tackling fraud. Both the practicalities of tax stamps and possible alternative proposals are being considered now in detailed discussions with the industry.
The costs of compliance for different sectors of the industry would depend on the measures taken to implement tax stamps, and on any measures the Government might introduce to offset that impact. The Government have said that they would consider how the current deferment arrangement for spirits duty could be extended as far as practical in recognition of the cash flow effects of purchasing tax stamps, and freezing spirits duty for the remainder of this Parliament.
A full regulatory impact assessment will be produced if the Government proceed with this measure. This would make clear which business sectors would incur compliance costs, and what the nature and scale of those costs (one-off, annual, cashflow) would be.
Baroness Noakes asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is their estimate of the loss of alcohol excise duty each year due to fraud; and what are the assumptions on which the estimate is based.[HL1482]
Lord Davies of Oldham: HM Customs and Excise's latest estimate of the revenue loss (including duty and VAT) from alcohol fraud in 1999–2000, 2000–02 and 2001–02 are available in its annual report published in December 2003, (HC52). An estimate for 2002–03 is not yet available.
The assumptions used to produce these estimates are set out in Customs' paper Measuring indirect tax fraud published in November 2001, a copy of which is available in the Library. Subsequent improvements to the methodology are described in the follow-up papers: Measuring indirect tax losses (2002) and Measuring and Tackling Indirect Tax Losses (2003).
Baroness Noakes asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether any countries operate effective tax strip systems for alcohol excise duty; and, if so, which.[HL1483]
Lord Davies of Oldham: Tax stamps have been introduced in 40 different countries for a variety of reasons ranging from quality assurance to tackling alcohol fraud.
Lord Chancellor: Cabinet Meetings and Attendance in House of Lords
Lord Trefgarne asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What issue is to be discussed in Cabinet Committee on Tuesday 10 February which requires the Lord Chancellor to give precedence to that duty rather than attend the House.[HL1251]
The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor (Lord Falconer of Thoroton): It is established practice under Exemption 2 of Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information not to disclose information relating to the proceedings of the Cabinet and its committees.
Vocational Rehabilitation
Lord Morris of Manchester asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What progress they have made to fulfil their commitment to develop and publish A Framework for Vocational Rehabilitation; and when they expect this to be published.[HL1416]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Hollis of Heigham): Good progress has been made to fulfil the Government's commitment to develop and publish a Framework for Vocational Rehabilitation by late summer 2004. The Government are currently working with stakeholders to take forward the following work strands: drawing out the key messages from existing reviews and research into vocational rehabilitation; learning the lessons from what we currently do; and gathering additional information from stakeholders.
Confederation of British Industry
Baroness Miller of Hendon asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Answer by the Lord Sainsbury of Turville on 11 February (HL Deb, col. 1100), whether they regard the Confederation of British Industry as an authoritative source of statistical and factual information relating to business upon which Ministers may be questioned.[HL1387]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville): The Government regard the CBI as an authoritive source of statistical and factual information although they do not necessarily agree with all the figures it produces or the interpretation it places on them.
Genetically Modified Foods
Lord Glentoran asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the Lord Sainsbury of Turville, since appointment as Minister for Science and Innovation, has been present at any meeting or participated in any telephone conversation with Ministers or officials in which genetically modified foods were mentioned or discussed.[HL1477]
Lord Sainsbury of Turville: No. Since my appointment as Minister for Science in July 1998, I have not taken part in any government decisions or discussions relating to GM food policy, including the Sci-Bio Committee where I actively remove myself from any discussions taking place on GM food issues and I see no papers on this subject.
Community Punishment Orders
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- In each of the past five years (a) how many individuals were sentenced to community service; and (b) how many hours in total of community service were awarded by the courts.[HL1215]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): The available information, from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database, shows the number of persons sentenced to community punishment orders imposed by courts in England and Wales, and the total hours of community punishment awarded for each of the years 1998 to 2002, is as follows:
| Year | Persons sentenced to community punishment (3) | Total number of hours awarded (3) |
| 1998 | 69,749 | 7,373,633 |
| 1999 | 70,330 | 7,358,844 |
| 2000 | 69,224 | 7,200,420 |
| 2001 | 64,426 | 6,830,099 |
| 2002 | 66,275 | 6,964,449 |
(3) Persons sentenced to community punishment orders and community punishment and rehabilitation orders (community service orders and combination orders prior to April 2000). The number of hours includes those awarded for community punishment orders and also for the community punishment component of community punishment and rehabilitation orders. Data are on the principal offence basis.
Statistics for 2003 will be published in the Autumn of 2004.
The available information, from the Northern Ireland Office Court Proceedings data sets, shows the number of persons sentenced to community service orders and combination orders imposed by courts in Northern Ireland, and the total hours of community punishment awarded for each of the years 1998 to 2001 (2002 information is currently not available), is as follows:
(4) The number of hours includes those awarded for community service orders and also for the community service component of combination orders. Number of hours associated with the community service order aspect of combination orders in 2000 (55 cases) and 2001 (29 cases) is not available. Data are on the principal offence basis.
Statistics for 2002 will be published in June 2004.
Scotland
The available information, from the Scottish Executive Justice Department's Court Proceedings database, shows the number of persons sentenced in courts in Scotland to community service or probation with a condition of unpaid work, and the total hours of community service for each of the years 1998 to 2002, is as follows:
(5) Includes persons sentenced to community service and to probation with a requirement of unpaid work. The number of hours includes those awarded for the former, and also for the community service component of the latter.
(6) Includes a number of cases each year where the number of hours of community service imposed is not known.
Year Persons sentenced to community punishment Total number of hours awarded (4)
1998 706 86,451
1999 715 91,234
2000 810 96,395
2001 661 66,491
Year Total (5) Total hours of community service
1998 6,631 989,089
1999 6,206 925,750
2000 6,051 898,874
2001 6,325 946,282
2002 6,348 954,481
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