§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the cost of abolishing the North Sea royalty for each year from 2003–04 to 2005–06; what the reasons were for this decision; and if he will make a statement. [130235]
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§ Dawn PrimaroloNorth Sea Royalty was abolished from 1 January 2003 as part of the package of measures introduced by the Chancellor in his 2002 Budget to modernise the North Sea fiscal regime. Along with the other measures in the package its abolition will promote long-term investment in the North Sea, make the tax regime more closely linked to profits and ensure a fairer return for the nation from profits derived from a national resource. The estimated cost of abolition is given in the table A2 of the Financial Statement and Budget Report 2003 [HC 500].