| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
14 Jun 2005 : Column 336W—continued
EU Defence Co-operation
Ann Winterton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Government have (a) notified their intentions to the European Council to participate
14 Jun 2005 : Column 337W
in the permanent structured co-operation in respect of the most demanding military missions and (b) made the commitments on military capabilities set out in the Protocol on permanent structured co-operation. [3253]
John Reid: No. The arrangements for participating in permanent structured co-operation and for making commitments under the Protocol are not yet in force as the Constitutional Treaty has not been ratified.
Nuclear Weapons
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent on preliminary (a) studies and (b) projects relating to the possible next generation of British nuclear weapons in each of the past four years; and what sums have been earmarked for expenditure in each of the next four years. [2000]
John Reid [holding answer 8 June 2005]: Decisions on whether to replace the UK's current nuclear deterrent have not yet been taken. We will continue to take appropriate steps to ensure that the range of options for maintaining a nuclear deterrent capability is kept open until that point, in line with the policy set out in the December 2003 Defence White Paper (Cm 6041–1). This includes sustainment of capabilities at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston. It is not possible precisely to assign costs at Aldermaston between work to support current and possible future deterrent systems. Future spending plans in this area have yet to be finalised.
Territorial Army
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the Territorial Army centres in London; and if he will make a statement. [4658]
Mr. Touhig: The Territorial Army is currently being rebalanced to align with the changes to the Regular Army under the Future Army Structures work. We do not anticipate that this will result in significant change to the existing Territorial Army Estate, including in London.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans the Royal Navy has for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles at sea; what the budget level of expenditure on such vehicles over the next 10 years is; and if he will make a statement. [2352]
Mr. Ingram:
There are currently no funded plans to provide military capabilities using unmanned aerial vehicles at sea. Current work is focused on experimentation under the Joint UAV Experimentation Programme (JUEP) to inform the development of user requirements and possible future programmes, including maritime applications. For example, in March 2005 successful trials were conducted at Benbecula, Scotland, in which a UAV was launched and recovered from land but controlled in flight by a Royal Navy warship. We aim to build on this work.
14 Jun 2005 : Column 338W
TREASURY
Air Passenger Duty
Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons passengers using transit flights are exempt from air passenger duty; and if he will assess the environmental effects of this exemption. [4474]
John Healey: Not all transit flights are exempt from air passenger duty and in order to qualify specific criteria must be met. These are set out in HM Revenue and Customs' Public Notice 551, which can be obtained from the Revenue and Customs website at www.hmrc.gov.uk.
Exempting connecting flights ensures that passengers are not taxed twice for a journey simply because they have to make a connecting flight.
The Chancellor keeps under review the structure of all taxes, including the environmental, social and economic effects of exemptions.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much money was raised in air passenger duty in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002, (d) 2003 and (e) 2004. [4186]
John Healey: The amount of Air Passenger Duty received in each of the last five years was:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 931 |
| 2001 | 834 |
| 2002 | 809 |
| 2003 | 778 |
| 2004 | 856 |
These figures are published online in the HMRC Air Passenger Duty Bulletin at www.uktradeinfo.com.
Breast Cancer
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) incidence of and (b) mortality rate from breast cancer in women under 40 years has been in each year since 1975. [3352]
John Healey: The information requested falls with the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Andrew Lansley, dated 14 June 2005:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the (a) incidence of and (b) mortality rate from breast cancer in women under 40 years has been in each year since 1975. I am replying in his absence. (3352)
The most recent available incidence figures are for the year 2002 and the most recent mortality figures are for the year 2004. Age-standardised incidence and mortality rates (directly standardised to the European standard population) for breast cancer in women aged under 40 in England, for each available year since 1975 are given in the attached table.
(34) Age-standardised rates per 100,000 population are directly standardised to the European standard population. In detailed analyses of trends in incidence and mortality over time for a particular cancer, ONS use age-standardised rates. These control for differences in the size and age structure of the population and allow unbiased comparison of rates over time.
(35) From 1975 to 1978, International Classification of Diseases, Eight Revision (ICD-8) code 174; from 1992 to 1994, International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code 174; from 1995 to 2001, International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C50.
(36) The mortality rate for 2004 is provisional: derived from deaths registered in the calendar year (rather than deaths occurring in the calendar year) and the rate is based on the mid-year populations for 2003 (as those for 2004 were not available).
n/a = not available
Source:
Office for National Statistics
Council tax
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the forecast revenue is from council tax in England in (a) 2004–05 and (b) 2005–06. [4619]
John Healey: Net council tax income for England as budgeted for 2004–05 was £17,552 million. Final outturn figures for that year will be published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on 23 June. Net council tax income as budgeted for 2005–06 will be published in November in Local Government Finance Statistics No 16 : 2005.
Emigration
John Hemming:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 25 May 2005,
14 Jun 2005 : Column 340W
Official Report, column 147W, on emigration, how many UK citizens have emigrated from the UK in each year since 1990. [4182]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. John Hemming, dated 14 June 2005:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question regarding the number of UK citizens emigrating from the United Kingdom in each year since 1990.1 am replying in his absence. (4182)
Estimates of UK citizens emigrating from the UK from 1991 to 2003 are shown in the attached table. The figures are derived from the most comprehensive estimate of migration produced by the Office for National Statistics, Total International Migration (TIM), which is based on a number of sources.
TIM estimates using the current methodology are only available from 1991 onwards. The latest estimates, for 2003, were published in the annual reference volume International Migration, Series MN no. 30, on the National Statistics website at the link below on 28th April 2005. Note that Table 2.1 in this volume shows a time series of TIM from 1994 to 2003 by various groupings of citizenship for the UK, and for England and Wales: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/Productasp?vlnk=507
(37) Data for 1991–03 are based mainly on data from the International Passenger Survey. Includes adjustments for (1) those whose intended length of stay changes so that their migrant status changes; (2) asylum seekers and their dependants not identified by the IPS; and (3) flows between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
(38) Citizenship is defined as the nationality of the passport that the traveller is carrying. The British Nationality Act 1981, which came into force on 1st January 1983, replaced citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies, with British citizenship, British Overseas citizenship, and British Dependent Territories citizenship.
Notes:
+ Denotes a net inflow figure.
- Denotes a net outflow figure.
Source:
From Table 2.1 from the MN Series (latest publication no.30) published at:http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=507&More=N
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |