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NATIONAL FINANCE
Textile Firms, Leicester
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to make available to hon. Members the report of the revenue special investigation team into tax evasion by textile firms in Leicester.
Mr. Norman Lamont : Details of Inland Revenue investigations are not published.
Composite Rate Tax
Mr. Riddick : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people pay composite rate tax on investment income (a) in total, (b) who have a tax liability and (c) who do not have a tax liability.
Mr. Norman Lamont : I regret that information is not available in the form requested. There were some 64 million accounts subject to composite rate and which earned over £1 interest in 1986-87, some of which were held by clubs or other non-individuals. Of these accounts, it is provisionally estimated that 49 million were held by investors whose composite rate interest would be wholly liable to tax in the absence of a composite rate system, and 13 million by investors none of whose composite rate interest would be liable. The balance of about 2 million accounts was held by investors, part of whose interest would be liable to tax if there were no composite rate system.
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Mortgage Tax Relief
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing the total value of mortgage tax relief by planning region in each of the past 10 years.
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Mr. Norman Lamont : Estimates for the years 1979-80 to 1982-83 have been derived from the results of the survey of personal incomes and are given in the table.
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|c|Cost of mortgage interest relief (£ million)|c|
|1979-80|1980-81|1981-82|1982-83
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |60 |80 |70 |95
Yorkshire and Humberside |110 |155 |150 |160
North West |135 |200 |180 |215
East Midlands |85 |115 |110 |130
West Midlands |145 |160 |190 |170
East Anglia |45 |50 |60 |75
Greater London |235 |280 |290 |260
Other South East |375 |555 |600 |650
South West |110 |140 |170 |140
Wales |45 |65 |80 |80
Scotland |85 |125 |120 |140
Northern Ireland |20 |35 |30 |30
|--- |--- |--- |---
United Kingdom |1,450 |1,960 |2,050 |2,150
Following the introduction of MIRAS in April 1983, regional information on the cost of mortgage interest relief cannot be extracted from Inland Revenue records. The regional distribution of mortgage interest can be estimated from the family expenditure survey (FES) but, as the sample size for the FES is relatively small, it is not possible to provide robust estimates of regional trends for the period after 1982-83. Accordingly, the following tables show the cost of mortgage interest relief in the United Kingdom from 1983-84 to 1988-89 with the percentage distribution of the relief by region, based on FES data from 1984 to 1986.
$
|c|Cost of mortgage interest
relief|c|
|(£ million)
------------------------------------
1984-85 |3,580
1985-86 |4,750
1986-87 |4,670
1987-88 |<1>4,800
1988-89 |<1>5,500
<1> Provisional.
|c|Regional share of mortgage interest
relief based on FES data for|c|
|c|1984 to 1986|c|
|per cent.
---------------------------------------------
Northern |3.8
Yorkshire and Humberside |7.2
North West |9.3
East Midlands |6.3
West Midlands |7.8
East Anglia |3.5
Greater London |14.1
Other South East |26.6
South West |8.5
Wales |4.2
Scotland |7.4
Northern Ireland |1.3
|----
United Kingdom |100.0
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the additional annual cost to the Exchequer in tax relief on mortgage interest payments of every 1 per cent. rise in mortgage interest rates.
Mr. Norman Lamont : I refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Argyll and Bute (Mrs. Michie) on 12 December 1988 at column 426 .
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Mr. Soley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the saving to the Exchequer of paying mortgage income tax relief at the standard rate of tax only.
Mr. Norman Lamont : The direct Revenue yield in a full year, at 1988 -89 income levels, from restricting mortgage interest relief to the basic rate is estimated to be £330 million. No allowance has been made for the effect of any consequential changes to the distribution of outstanding mortgages.
Tax Fraud
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the names and addresses of those prosecuted and convicted of tax fraud in 1987-88 ; and if he will make it his policy to categorise future prosecutions by locality or region.
Mr. Norman Lamont : No. Names and addresses of those prosecuted and convicted of tax fraud are already released to the press by the Inland Revenue with details of the offences.
Tax Avoidance and Evasion
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to carry out investigations to establish how much revenue is lost each year through tax avoidance and evasion.
Mr. Norman Lamont : The Inland Revenue is already alert for areas where tax is lost through avoidance and evasion. Precise quantification of the total tax involved each year would be impracticable.
Spending Plans
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will provide a table giving for 1987-88 the difference between spending plans, as given in the public expenditure White Paper, Cm. 56 and estimated outturn (a) due to capital receipts, (b) resulting from current spending of Departments and (c) resulting from classification changes ;
(2) if he will provide a table giving for 1988-89 the difference between spending plans, as given in the public expenditure White Paper, Cm. 288. and estimated outturn
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(a) due to capital receipts, (b) resulting from current spending of Departments and (c) resulting from classification changes ; (3) if he will provide a table giving for 1989-90 the difference between spending plans, as given in the public expenditure White Paper, Cm. 288. and estimated outturn (a) due to capital receipts, (b) resulting from current spending of Departments and (c) resulting from classification changes.Mr. Major : The available information is given in the table. Full information on capital receipts, other than for local authorities, is not available.
|c|Differences between public expenditure figures in the 1989 public|c|
|c|expenditure White Paper and plans in previous White Papers|c|
£ million
|<1>1987-88|<2>1988-89|<2>1989-90
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Differences arising from
(a) Local authority capital receipts |-1,286 |-1,733 |-2,105
(b) Changes in current expenditure |+2,677 |+1,494 |+4,199
(c) Classification changes |+94 |+64 |-38
<1> Comparison with 1987 public expenditure White Paper.
<2> Comparison with 1988 public expenditure White Paper.
Company Cars
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give for 1987-88 and 1988-89 the number of tax units liable for tax on a company car, the amount of tax for which they are liable and the total tax yield.
Mr. Norman Lamont : Provisional estimates based on projections from the 1985-86 survey of expenses and benefits are given in the table.
|1987-88 |1988-89
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of directors and higher
paid employees with private
use of a company car |1.2 million |1.3 million
Tax liability on this benefit |£280 million|£530 million
ACT (Dividends)
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the number of zero rate taxpayers reclaiming advance corporation tax on dividends and the amount of tax reclaimed in 1988-89.
Mr. Norman Lamont : I regret that the information is not available centrally.
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Taxation
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will give for 1988-89 (a) the composite rate tax paid by zero rate taxpayers on interest from bank and building society accounts, (b) the number of zero rate taxpayers who are paying composite rate tax, (c) the total amount of composite rate tax paid by basic rate taxpayers and (d) the number of basic rate taxpayers paying composite rate tax on bank and building society accounts.
Mr. Norman Lamont : In 1987-88, the latest year for which information is available, about £450 million of the composite rate tax accounted for by building societies, banks and other deposit takers was due in respect of interest that would not have been liable to tax in the hands of its recipients in the absence of a composite rate scheme, and about £3,050 million was due in respect of interest that would have been liable to tax.
I regret that the remainder of the information is not available in the form requested. But of accounts earning more than £1 interest in 1986-87, some of which were held by clubs or other non-individuals, 49 million are provisionally estimated to have been held by investors whose composite rate interest would be wholly liable to tax in the absence of a composite rate scheme, and 15 million to have been held by investors at least part of whose composite rate interest would be non-liable.
Public Appeals
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will specify each donation made by his Department in response to public appeals for financial aid during each financial year since 1979-80.
Mr. Brooke : Since 1979-80 no donations in response to public appeals for financial aid have been made directly by Her Majesty's Treasury.
Corporation Tax
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the revenue from corporation tax from 1978 onwards, distinguishing wherever possible between corporation tax and advance corporation tax ; and if he will express such revenues in index form taking 1984-85 tax year's revenues as the base.
Mr. Norman Lamont : The information requested is as follows :
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Year |Total |of which ACT |Total index |ACT index
|(£ million) |(£ million) |(1984-85 = 100)|(1984-85 = 100)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1978-79 |3,940 |1,380 |47.2 |43.8
1979-80 |4,646 |1,831 |55.7 |58.1
1980-81 |4,645 |1,823 |55.7 |57.9
1981-82 |4,930 |1,993 |59.1 |63.3
1982-83 |5,677 |2,222 |68.1 |70.6
1983-84 |6,184 |2,118 |74.1 |67.3
1984-85 |8,341 |3,149 |100.0 |100.0
1985-86 |10,708 |3,808 |128.4 |120.9
1986-87 |13,495 |4,456 |161.8 |141.5
1987-88 |15,734 |4,939 |188.6 |156.8
One-parent Families
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many one-parent families benefit from the additional personal allowance.
Mr. Norman Lamont : About half a million one-parent families benefit from the additional personal allowance. This estimate is based on a projection of the 1986-87 survey of personal incomes and is provisional.
Pension Schemes
Mr. Ralph Howell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide his best estimate of expenditure in 1988 on devolved public service pension schemes.
Mr. Brooke : Of the main public service superannuation schemes, only those covering local government employees and the police and fire services are not centrally administered. For the financial year 1987-88, the most recent period for which information is available, the estimated net expenditure by employing authorities in Great Britain on those schemes is :
|£ million
-------------------------------------
Local government |895
Police |259
Fire service |70
Information on expenditure on the smaller schemes operated by non- departmental public bodies for their staff is not held centrally. It could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Allen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if any guidance is given to Departments on the procedures for answering parliamentary questions for written answer.
Mr. Norman Lamont : No. The procedure adopted is essentially a matter for the departmental Minister concerned. Guidance, reflecting the recommendations of the Select Committee on Parliamentary Questions of Session 1971-72, can be found in "Erskine May" (20th edition, pages 331- 47).
Departments have been given an advisory level at which the cost of answering a parliamentary question should be referred to Ministers ; that level is currently £250 and was announced in a written answer on 14 March 1988 by my right hon. Friend the Paymaster General at column 429. This does not, however, alter the discretion of individual Ministers to decide that a particular question should be answered partially or in full, regardless of cost.
Credit Cards
Mr. Wray : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the present charges to credit card holders by each one of the credit card companies operating in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Lilley : This is a matter for the companies concerned.
Mr. Wray : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list each of the credit card companies operating in the
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United Kingdom ; and, as far as the information is available to him, the names of those operating in (a) Austria, (b) each one of the European Community countries, (c) Sweden, (d) Canada and (e) the United States of America.Mr. Lilley This information is not held.
Civil Service Pension Scheme
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will list the grades of civil servants who are currently not members of the principal Civil Service pension scheme.
Mr. Brooke : Membership of the principal Civil Service pension scheme does not depend upon the grade of the civil servant. Most civil servants are eligible for membership. The exceptions are : staff covered by another occupational scheme
those who work less than fifteen hours a week
staff employed on a casual, fee-paid, or sessional basis some staff engaged locally overseas
staff specifically engaged on terms that exclude PCSPSmembership staff who exercise their right to opt out of the scheme
Seal Products (Illegal Trading)
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the prosecutions for the illegal importation of harp and hooded seal skins since the implementation of the ban on imports ; and if he will list the numbers of cases in which charges were preferred, and convictions obtained.
Charities (Payroll Giving)
Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide figures for (a) the total number of employees currently making donations to charity under the payroll deduction scheme introduced in the 1987 Budget, (b) the total number of companies from which employees are currently making donations to charity under the payroll deduction scheme, (c) the amount of money raised in the financial year 1987-88, under the scheme, (d) the total amount of money that has been raised to date for charities under the payroll deduction scheme and (e) the estimated amount of money that will have been raised for charities under the payroll deduction scheme by 1 April 1989.
Mr. Norman Lamont [holding answer 8 February 1989] : In 1987- 88 it is estimated that about 60,000 employees participated in the scheme and £1 million was donated. The number of participants and the amount of donations are expected to be considerably higher in 1988-89. Current indications are that about 100,000 employees are participating, but it is not possible to provide a reliable forecast at this stage for the year as a whole. About 3,400 schemes have been set up to date, but a figure for the number of separate companies participating in the scheme is not available. Public authorities and other employers may also operate schemes and one company may register separate schemes for different payrolls ; conversely a single scheme may cover a group of companies.
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EC (Contributions)
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what part of the receipts recorded in the White Paper on European Economic Community contributions, Cm. 603, relates to sums paid to British traders to subsidise the export of food to third countries under the common agricultural policy arrangements.
Mr. Brooke [holding answer 7 February 1989] : The proportion of the receipts from the EC budget recorded in the White Paper, Cm. 603, which relate to export refunds paid to United Kingdom traders are as follows :
|Per cent.
------------------------------
1983-84 |18.6
1984-85 |20.5
1985-86 |19.0
1986-87 |14.5
1987-88 |27.7
1988-89 |20.0
1989-90 |21.5
1990-91 |23.0
1991-92 |22.0
Industrial Trust
Mr. Skinner : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the Inland Revenue will investigate companies making donations to the Industrial Trust and claiming tax relief ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norman Lamont [holding answer 6 February 1989] : The Inland Revenue is responsible for determining taxpayers' tax liabilities, and any reliefs they may be entitled to, in accordance with the law, and subject to the taxpayers' rights of appeal to independent appeal commissioners and the courts.
I regret that I cannot comment on the affairs of any taxpayer.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Horticulture R and D
Mr. Cran : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has any plans to modify the proposed reduction in research and development funding in near market research in horticulture.
Mr. MacGregor : The planned reduction in Government expenditure on near-market research and development announced last autumn related to agriculture, fisheries and food as a whole. Consultations with industry organisations on the funding of near market work in individual sectors are continuing. Final decisions on the reductions in funding for horticulture and other sectors have not yet been taken.
Fraud
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking to detect and prosecute cases of agricultural fraud.
Mr. MacGregor : All agricultural subsidies paid in the United Kingdom are subject to pre or post-payment verification, by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, IBAP or Agriculture Departments as appropriate.
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Any suspicious or irregular payments are investigated, and recovery action is taken. When justified by the evidence available, prosecutions are brought (19 in the period 1984-88).Set-aside Scheme
Dr. Michael Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the take up of the set-aside proposals ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. MacGregor : Over 1,800 farmers in the United Kingdom are setting aside nearly 58,000 hectares (143,000 acres) of arable land in the current crop year. I shall shortly be publishing full details of the analysis of this years response.
Mr. Martlew : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many farms have taken the option of the set-aside scheme for agricultural land ; and what effect this has had on the number of employees working on those farms.
Mr. Ryder : Over 1,800 farmers in the United Kingdom are setting aside arable land in the current crop year. It is too early to assess the impact on agricultural employment.
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many farms have taken the option of the set-aside scheme for agricultural land in (a) Suffolk and (b) Norfolk ; and what is the total acreage involved.
Mr. MacGregor : The information is as follows :
|Number of farms |Acreage of set-aside land
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Suffolk |83 |4,723
Norfolk |65 |4,355
NFU (Meeting)
Mr. Burns : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last met the president of the National Farmers Union ; and what they discussed.
Mr. MacGregor : I meet the president of the National Farmers Union on various occasions to discuss agricultural matters.
Chickens and Eggs
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he received a report following the meeting at the central veterinary laboratory on 4 February 1988 called to discuss infections in chickens and eggs.
Mr. Donald Thompson : No meeting took place at the central veterinary laboratory on 4 February 1988 about infections in chickens and eggs.
Covent Garden
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the Covent Garden market authority last met ; and what was discussed.
Mr. MacGregor : The Covent Garden market authority is an independent statutory body. My responsibilities in relation to this body are laid down by statute, and I have no role at the authority's meetings, which are matters for the authority itself.
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Surplus Food
Mr. Allen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the current arrangements for the distribution of surplus European Economic Community food to pensioners and others ; and how they differ from previous years.
Mr. Ryder : In the United Kingdom, 127 charitable and non-profit making organisations were designated in 1988 to distribute surplus beef and butter during 1988 and 1989. The definition of those eligible to receive produce is restricted to those receiving income support or family credit and those of no fixed abode or living in welfare hostels. Detailed distribution arrangements are a matter for designated organisations to determine according to local needs and the resources available, but the organisations have to follow the conditions attached to their participation in the scheme. They are entitled to reimbursement of transport and administration costs
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within the limits laid down in the European Community legislation. The scheme first operated in 1988 and the rules are not expected to be changed for 1989.There have been no directly comparable schemes in previous years. During the winter of 1986-87, arising from severe weather throughout Europe, a number of products were distributed to the most needy by charitable organisations ; and at Christmas time in both 1982 and 1984, subsidised butter was sold to the general public through retail outlets.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the (a) quantity and (b) cost of each foodstuff distributed under arrangements for surplus EEC food distribution for each year since accession to the EEC.
Mr. Ryder : Since accession to the European Community, the quantity and value of each foodstuff distributed in the United Kingdom under various arrangements for surplus EC food distributions is as follows :
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|Butter |Concentrated butter|Cheese |Whole milk |Semi-skimmed milk |Beef
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1982<1>
Quantity (tonnes) |23,197 |- |- |- |- |-
Value (£) |16,895,739 |- |- |- |- |-
1983<2>
Quantity (tonnes) |39,144 |- |- |- |- |-
Value (£) |39,930,292 |- |- |- |- |-
1986-87<3>
Quantity |13,624 tonnes |113 tonnes |8,558 tonnes |8,637,975 pints |2,559,924 pints |974 tonnes
Value (£) |26,602,197 |99,622 |19,660,197 |1,963,767 |537,404 |2,140,865
1988<4>
Quantity (tonnes) 2,463 - - - 1,775
Value (£) 5,049,583 - - - 4,385,385
<1> "Christmas Butter Scheme"-subsidised butter was sold to the general public through retail outlets at a maximum cost of 44p per 250 grams.
<2> "Christmas Butter Scheme"-subsidised butter was sold to the general public through retail outlets at a maximum cost of 42p per 250 grams.
<3> "Cold Weather Aid"-free produce distributed by charitable organisations was made available to the most needy. Butter and beef were made available from
intervention stores. Whole milk, semi-skimmed milk, cheese and concentrated butter were purchased on the open market.
<4> "EC Surplus Food Scheme"-butter and beef from intervention stores were made available for distribution by designated organisations only to those on Income
Support or Family Credit and to those of no fixed abode or living in welfare hostels. Produce made available free or at a nominal charge (not exceeding 20p per
kilogramme).
Source: IBAP.
Bee Products
Mr. Allen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if bee products have ever been distributed under the EEC surplus food distribution ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ryder : If the hon. Member is referring to the current EC surplus food scheme, which is aimed at reducing stocks held in intervention, bee products are not subject to intervention arrangements and are not covered by this scheme.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what EEC policies currently pertain towards bee products ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ryder : The only EC controls in this area are those contained in Council directive 74/409/EEC on the harmonisation of the laws of the member states relating to honey.
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Meat Products
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what regulations there are requiring cooked food retailers and caterers to specify the meat content of meat-style products ; (2) what requirements there are for indicating to consumers the levels of mechanically recovered meat within overall meat contents.
Mr. Ryder : The Meat Products and Spreadable Fish Products Regulations 1984 require most meat products to be marked or labelled with a declaration of their minimum meat content. These regulations do not require the presence of mechanically recovered meat to be indicated separately.
However, the Food Labelling Regulations 1984 require food treatments and/or the names of ingredients to be appropriately indicated where an omission to do so could mislead purchasers. Both sets of regulations apply to retail sales and sales to caterers.
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Mr. Cousins : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what regulations there are to control the production of mechanically recovered meat in terms of hygiene and safety.
Mr. Ryder : All mechanically recovered meat is produced from carcases which have been inspected and passed as fit for human consumption.
In England and Wales, the Slaughterhouse (Hygiene) Regulations 1977, as amended, apply to the production of mechanically recovered red meat in cutting plants attached to slaughterhouses. The Poultry Meat (Hygiene) Regulations 1977, as amended, apply to mechanically recovered poultry meat produced in licensed cutting premises. Mechanically recovered meat produced in other premises is subject to the Food Hygiene (General) Regulations 1970.
Similar legislation applies in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
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