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TREASURY
International Monetary Fund
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his Department will make all future UK quota increases to the IMF subject to parliamentary approval on the floor of the House. [56525]
Ms Hewitt: Section 1(2) of the International Monetary Fund Act 1979 stipulates that, before the Treasury may make an order increasing the UK's quota, a draft of the Order must be approved by a resolution of the House of Commons.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government are taking to ensure that recipient countries of loans satisfy more stringent disclosure requirements as a condition for further lending; and what are the current disclosure requirements. [56531]
Ms Hewitt [holding answer 26 October 1998]: As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer said in his statement to the House on 2 November 1998, Official Report, columns 559-74, immediate action to promote transparency in fiscal policy, financial and monetary policy, and corporate governance should be key components in any reform programme which the IMF and the World Bank agree in coming months. The UK's Executive Director will carefully monitor IMF and World Bank programmes in this respect. He and other G7 Executive Directors have issued a joint statement which commits them to work towards greater disclosure in this area.
To promote greater transparency and disclosure of information in the public and private sectors, the Chancellor had previously called for the urgent
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development and implementation of internationally agreed codes of good conduct that all countries should adopt and apply, on fiscal policy--which the IMF have now completed--monetary and financial policy, and corporate governance.
The G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors emphasised their support for this approach in their recent statement on strengthening the financial system. They called upon the IMF to publish in a timely and systematic way the results of its surveillance of the degree to which each of its member countries meets internationally recognised codes and standards of transparency and disclosure in the form of a Transparency Report.
The current disclosure requirements are decided on a case by case basis and relate to the performance criteria of each loan.
Mr. Tyrie:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the report on the Mexican debt crisis written internally within the IMF by Alan Whittome. [56532]
Ms Hewitt
[holding answer 26 October 1998]: The Chancellor has made clear his view that there should be a general presumption in favour of publishing IMF documents, except where this might compromise confidentiality. Decisions on the publication of Fund documents rest with the IMF Executive Board.
Mr. Tyrie:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the Government will propose that the IMF be remitted to engage in market borrowing. [56530]
Ms Hewitt
[holding answer 26 October 1998]: The Government have no plans to propose that the IMF be remitted to engage in market borrowing.
Mr. Tyrie:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure greater transparency in respect of the disclosure requirements for countries in receipt of IMF loans. [56533]
Ms Hewitt
[holding answer 26 October 1998]: In his statement to the Interim Committee of the IMF on 4 October, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer said that, in most cases, there is a strong argument for publishing Letters of Intent thereby making it clear to the public what has been agreed between the authorities and the IMF. At that meeting, IMF Governors endorsed increased IMF transparency, including the broader publication of Letters of Intent. The Chancellor has continued to emphasise the importance of this in his capacity as chairman of the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. In their recent statement on strengthening financial systems, the G7 reiterated the need for greater transparency in respect of IMF programmes.
Mr. Tyrie:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure that the IMF's accounts make provision for debts in the same manner as private sector institutions. [56529]
Ms Hewitt
[holding answer 26 October 1998]: The Government believe that the Fund must perform its responsibilities in an open and transparent way that enhances public confidence.
The IMF's financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and are certified as representing a true and fair view of
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the Fund's financial position by an external audit committee. The IMF's Annual Report contains further information on its liquidity position and borrowing.
Mr. Tyrie:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will request the IMF to commission an independent study of the way they operate in respect of systemic risk in the global financial system. [56521]
Ms Hewitt:
The Chancellor has called on the IMF to develop a formal mechanism for systematic evaluation, involving external input, of the effectiveness of its operations, programmes, policies and procedures.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the public sector financial obligation in each of the next ten years arising from PFI projects signed since 1 May 1997; and in each case what is the margin of error. [58662]
Mr. Byers:
The information requested is available only at disproportionate cost.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the (a) number and (b) total value of Private Finance Initiative projects signed since 1 May 1997; and estimate their impact on the profile of public sector borrowing in each of the next 10 years indicating the margin of error in his estimates. [58495]
Mr. Geoffrey Robinson:
Since 1 May 1997, 61 PFI projects have been signed which will result in total capital investment of £3.8 billion--equal to the investment from projects signed in the previous 5 years (excluding CTRL).
Almost all signed PFI projects are accounted for wholly as service contracts. The capital investment by the private sector supplier has no impact on public sector net borrowing. Future service payments by the public sector score in total current expenditure, which is a factor in the calculation of net borrowing.
One exception is the Ministry of Defence project for accommodation for military personnel at Lossiemouth, part of which will be accounted for as capital expenditure. Current estimates indicate that this will result in £24 million being scored in public sector net borrowing in 1999-2000.
Caroline Flint:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he has taken to ensure that the unemployment statistics represent the numbers available for and seeking work. [59313]
Ms Hewitt:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Caroline Flint, dated 16 November 1998:
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Caroline Flint:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in the Don Valley constituency have (a) retired from work, (b) taken voluntary redundancy and (c) been made compulsorily redundant for the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available; and what these figures represent as a proportion of the workforce. [59310]
Ms Hewitt:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Caroline Flint, dated November 1998:
Caroline Flint:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of new jobs in Doncaster Borough, broken down by sector, in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [59312]
Ms Hewitt:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
16 Nov 1998 : Column: 360
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on unemployment statistics.
The ONS measure of unemployment, derived from the Labour Force Survey, is defined on a consistent and internationally recognised basis set out by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and counts as unemployed people who are: out of work, want a job, have actively sought work in the previous 4 weeks and are available to start work within the next fortnight or; out of work and
have accepted a job which they are waiting to start in the next fortnight. The ILO methodology has been in use since 1984, and since April 1998 ILO unemployment estimates have been published every month.
ILO unemployment, as measured by the LFS, has high sampling variability for areas below regional level and quarterly unemployment data is only published for larger local authorities. There is an annual Local Area Database (LAD) which, by combining four quarter's samples, provides more robust estimates down to Local Authority/Unitary Authority level. However, the estimates of ILO unemployment for many LAs/UAs are still below the ONS publication threshold of 6,000 for annual averages.
ONS also publishes the monthly claimant count. The claimant count records the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits. These are currently the Job Seeker's Allowance (JSA) and National Insurance credits, claimed at Employment Service local offices. People claiming JSA must declare that they are out of work, capable of, available for and actively seeking work during the week in which the claim is made. They enter into a Jobseeker's agreement setting out the action they will take to find work and to improve their prospects of finding employment.
The claimant count is accurate down to very small geographic areas, such as postcode sectors and wards, from which aggregations such as Parliamentary Constituencies can be made. It is unaffected by sampling variability since it is a 100 per cent count.
ONS is currently investigating improving both the range of labour market indicators available at a local level and the range of geographies for which they are available.
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on people in the Don Valley constituency who have been made redundant or retired from employment.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the ONS's major source of labour market data on individuals including redundancies. It can provide information on why people who are not in employment left their last job (although voluntary and compulsory redundancy are not separately identified). Such analyses can be restricted to people who have left their last job within the last 12 months. However, no LFS data is available at constituency level and no data below county level is available for such analyses. As with any sample survey the LFS is subject to sampling variability and even for South Yorkshire such an analysis will not yield reliable estimates. Unfortunately, no other source can provide the information requested either.
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