§ Mr. St. AubynTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if the receipts from the third generation mobile spectrum auction which have already been received are to be treated under resource accounting rules as capital receipts; [128068]
(2) if the future receipts from the third generation mobile spectrum auction are to be treated as capital receipts; [128069]
(3) if the future receipts from the third generation mobile spectrum auction are to be treated under resource accounting rules as an accrual at the time the obligation was secured. [128070]
§ Mr. Andrew Smith[holding answer 28 June 2000]: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has provisionally decided to classify the receipts from the auction of licences for the third generation mobile spectrum as current receipts (rents) in the UK national accounts, and to accrue the receipts over the period of the licences, according to the treatment it sees as best fitting the principles of the European System of Accounts 1995 (ESA95). ONS are consulting Eurostat about the classification. The treatment of the proceeds under resource accounting will require an accruals, rather than a cash, basis of accounting for the receipts.