§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what the level of duty is in(a) the UK, (b) France and (c) Spain on (i) beer, (ii) wine and (iii) spirits; [155234]
(2) if he will estimate the effect on United Kingdom duty revenues of equalising UK duty on (a) wine, (b) beer and (c) spirits with levels in France. [155239]
§ John HealeyAlcohol duty rates in European Union member states are published in the European Commission's 'Excise Duty Tables—Alcoholic Beverages'. The table gives figures for the UK, Spain and France from the tables published in December 2003, converted to pounds sterling from euros using the average exchange rate for December 2003 as published by the Office for National Statistics in Table 7.1A of "Financial Statistics", and converted to pounds per hectolitre per cent. of alcohol (where necessary) using an approximation of 12.5° Plato to 5 per cent. alcohol by volume (ABV).
parliamentary question for ordinary written answer; and what the greatest number of days taken to answer such a question was. [155915]
§ John HealeyIn the 2002–03 Session, Treasury Ministers answered ordinary written questions substantively in an average of just under six working days. 2,548 of 3,343 questions concerned (76.2 per cent.) were answered within a week of tabling.