§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Treasury's assessment of the five economic tests will begin; and if he will make a statement. [109215]
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§ Ruth KellyThe Government is committed to publishing a comprehensive and rigorous assessment of the five tests within two years of the start of this Parliament. The Government's preliminary and technical analysis supporting the five tests assessment and comprising 18 supporting studies will be published alongside the assessment.
Departments and of her government bodies, including the DTI and the Office of Science and Technology, received training and guidance on the Phase 1 basis of budgeting from the Treasury during 1999 and 2000 in the lead up to Spending Review 2000. Departments were responsible for informing entities within their departmental boundaries such as Research Councils. All departmental budget baselines were converted onto the new basis as part of the Spending Review process to ensure that departments did not benefit or suffer from this transition, hence no additional funding was required.