§ 15. Mr. LoveTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received regarding the provision of a subsidy through the tax system towards the cost of health care in the private sector. [132070]
§ Dawn PrimaroloWe receive many representations regarding many issues of tax policy.
I remain unconvinced that reducing the NHS budget by £1 billion to subsidise the private health insurance payments of those who already can afford it is an effective use of taxpayers money funds.
314Wchemical quality of water were in the last year for which figures are available. [131072]
§ Mr. MorleyThe following table shows results from the Environment Agency's 2002 General Quality Assessment of rivers and canals in each of the Agency's seven regions. These were published by DEFRA on 23 December 2003 on their website (http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/index.htm).
Chemical quality is one of a range of indicators of the overall quality of a water body and is affected by human activity, natural geography and weather.
The table is presented in order of the percentage of river lengths which are of 'Good and Fair' chemical quality, however this is an arbitrary choice and the order would vary if it was based on a different range of grades.