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31 Jan 2006 : Column 403W—continued
Master Netting Agreement
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the administration of the master netting agreement of the European Central Bank, with particular reference to potential obligations on the UK Government's maintenance of current practice with regard to European Central Bank's Guideline ECB/2005/15 as expressed in OJ L345 vol. 48 of 8 December 2005. [46486]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: ECB Guideline ECB/2000/1, which has now been amended by Guideline ECB/2005/15, is addressed to the national central banks of the member states that have adopted the euro in accordance with the treaty. The application of the guidelines and of the master netting agreements is a matter for them and their counterparties.
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many visits abroad the Paymaster General has made in relation to the Treasury interest in child care policy since 2001. [45179]
Dawn Primarolo: None personally, but Treasury officials maintain strong links with officials from overseas who work on child care policy issues.
National Insurance
Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the revenue from national insurance contributions was in each year from 2003–04; what the estimate is for 2006–07; and what assessment he has made of the impact on revenue of the National Insurance Contributions Act 2002 in respect of NHS employers' contributions being calculated as a percentage of all earnings. [46798]
Dawn Primarolo: National insurance contribution receipts are published in Table PSF6 of Public Sector Finances. A link to the most recent publication is given as follows.
Estimates of receipts in 2005–06 and 2006–07 were published in Table B14 of the December 2005 pre-Budget report. A link is given as follows.
Estimates of national health service secondary (employers') national insurance contributions for Great Britain in 2002–03 and 2003–04 are given in Appendix 6 of the Government Actuary's Report on the Up-rating and Re-rating orders, 2003. http://www.gad.gov.uk/Publications/docs/2003uprating.pdf.
National Lottery
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to allow 100 per cent. of proceeds from the national lottery to go directly to good causes. [46024]
John Healey: The taxation of the lottery is a principle that has been accepted by Parliament since the lottery was established in 1994. The lottery is a mainstream gambling activity and should, like other gambling activities, make a contribution to revenues for the funding of essential public services.
Payment Protection Insurance
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date his officials last met the (a) Financial Services Authority and (b) Office of Fair Trading to discuss their payment protection insurance inquiries. [46215]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: HM Treasury officials meet a wide range of organisations, including the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), as part of the process of policy development and analysis. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), the FSA is an independent body that regulates financial services in the UK. The Enterprise Act 2002 established the OFT as an independent authority, and as such it is for the OFT to enforce competition law and to investigate markets that may not be working well for consumers.
QinetiQ
Mike Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the loss to the Treasury of the Carlyle share of QinetiQ; and if he will make a statement. [46784]
Mr. Des Browne: The Government believe that it has achieved value from its sale of a minority stake in QinetiQ to its strategic partner, the Carlyle Group.
Self-invested Personal Pension
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether a regulatory impact assessment has been prepared on his decision to withdraw the right to hold residential property in a self-invested personal pension. [47028]
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Mr. Ivan Lewis: A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) covering all additional legislative changes on Pension Simplification announced since April 2004 will be published alongside the Finance Bill 2006.
Stakeholder Pensions
Gregory Barker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average tax relief will be for stakeholder pensions following implementation of the Finance Act 2004; and what the rate was in each of the last three years. [47165]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We do not hold information on the average rate of tax relief for stakeholder pensions. But contributions to stakeholder pensions are tax relieved at the contributor's marginal rate of income tax and this will continue to be the position after the implementation of the Finance Act 2004.
Statutory Instruments
John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the statutory instruments introduced by his Department since 6 May 2005. [46206]
John Healey: The information requested in respect of the Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs is as follows:
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