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Mr. Bill Walker : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give details of Scottish-based income tax which is collected via computer- based offices ; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which computers make the collections easier and less costly to collect.
Mr. Maude : No information is available on total income tax collected in Scotland as opposed to the liabilities of those resident there. Computerisation projects are subject to rigorous investment appraisal before approval to proceed is given. In the 10 years to 1991 a reduction of 6,260 Inland Revenue staff is attributable to computerisation.
Uniform Business Rate
Mr. Edwards : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from the Abergavenny chamber of trade concerning the uniform business rate ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : I have received a letter.
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Energy Efficiency
Ms. Walley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider introducing capital allowances for equipment installed as part of an energy efficiency drive.
Mr. Maude : I cannot anticipate my right hon. Friend's Budget statement.
Taxpayers
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the number of people paying tax in each year since 1978-79, giving the numbers on basic rate and higher rate tax.
Mr. Maude : Latest estimates are given in table 1.5 of "Inland Revenue Statistics 1991".
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the latest estimate of the number of taxpayers divided into basic rate and higher rate, and by sex, in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Maude : Estimates at 1991-92 levels of income are as follows :
|Number of
|million
--------------------------------------
Basic rate men |14.2
Higher rate men |1.4
Basic rate women |9.3
Higher rate women |0.2
|-------
Total |25.1
Single Person's Allowance
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost in 1992-93 of an increase in the single person's tax allowance of (a) £50, (b) £100, (c) £150, (d) £200, (e) £250 and (f) £300, giving the numbers taken out of tax in each case, in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Maude : Estimates are given in the table.
Increase in |Exchequer |Exchequer |Numbers personal |cost in |cost in |taken out allowance<1> |1992-93<2> |full year<2>|of tax £ |£ million |£ million |thousands ----------------------------------------------------------------- 50 |260 |330 |100 100 |510 |650 |190 150 |770 |970 |300 200 |1,020 |1,300 |400 250 |1,270 |1,620 |480 300 |1,520 |1,940 |570 <1> Including the personal allowances for the over-65s and over-75s. <2> Over and above statutory indexation.
Married Couples Allowance
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the effect on revenues in 1992-93 of freezing the married couples allowance instead of index-linking it.
Mr. Maude : A yield of about £180 million in the first year and £230 million in a full year.
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Civil Service Relocation
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what further plans he has to relocate civil service staff to the regions ; what performance assessment he has made of the civil servants in the north-west ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 4 December 1991, Official Report, columns 163-64, to my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Greenway). Under the Government's relocation policy, it is for Departments and agencies to review the location of their work regularly and systematically, with the intention of finding sites offering better value for money. Departmental Ministers will announce their own decisions on significant relocations on completion of the essential processes of assessment and consultation.
Performance assessments of civil servants are made by their line managers within the department or agency in which they work. These assessments are neither collected nor analysed on a regional basis.
Civil Servants
Mr. Carrington : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress is being made to reduce the number of civil servants.
Mr. Maples : I refer my hon. Friend to table 4.13 of the "Statistical Supplement to the 1991 Autumn Statement", Cm. 1920, presented to the House last month, which shows that civil service manpower fell by 171,000 between 1978-79 and 1991-92.
Civil Servants (Scotland)
Mr. Strang : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many civil servants from Departments and agencies other than the Scottish Office are based in Scotland.
Mr. Maples : I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Garscadden (Mr. Dewar) on 21 February 1992, at columns 308-10.
Competitive Tendering
Mr. Steen : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements his Department has to assess proposals for regulations on competitive tendering and their effect on existing small firms ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maude : My Department well appreciates the effects of changes of policy on small firms. When assessing proposals for regulations on competitive tendering, full consideration is given to the impact upon small firms. My Department consults the Department of Employment, which has responsibility for Government policy on small firms. Minimising the costs of regulation for business is an important part of the Government's programme to create the conditions to promote prosperity.
Training
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received in favour of treating training as an investment qualifying for an investment allowance against corporation tax.
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Mr. Maude : I have not received any such representations.
Earnings
Mr. Richard Shepherd : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of taxpayers earned over £55,000 a year gross in each of the past five tax years.
Mr. Maude : Estimates are readily available for both 1990-91 and 1991-92. About three quarters of 1 per cent. and just under 1 per cent. of taxpayers respectively are estimated to have gross earnings from employment and self-employment of over £55,000 in these years.
Taxes
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list those taxes which have to be renewed annually by resolution of the House.
Mr. Maude : Income tax and corporation tax.
Fiscal Drag
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the latest estimate of the amount of revenue that would accrue to the Government from fiscal drag if the tax system were simply indexed in the 1992 Budget, in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Maude : The amount of real fiscal drag that accrues to the Government in any one year depends on the rate of growth of the economy and on the composition of demand. But on average over a cycle it might be expected to raise the ratio of tax receipts to GDP by about 0.2 percentage points per year.
Disabled Taxpayers
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what, in the latest year for which information is available, is the total number of people in receipt of a disability benefit who pay income tax ; and how many pay VAT.
Mr. Maude : The latest estimates for 1991-92 of the numbers of people in receipt of a disability benefit who pay income tax are as follows :
|Thousands
-------------------------------------------------
Invalidity benefit |220
Severe disablement allowance |20
These estimates are based on Department of Social Security estimates of the total numbers in receipt of each benefit and information on taxpayers derived from the results of the 1990 family expenditure survey. The figures are, therefore, provisional. VAT is chargeable on a wide range of consumer expenditure and it seems likely that everybody has to pay some during the course of a year.
Tax Inspectors
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the latest estimate of the amount of revenue brought in by each tax inspector in a year ; and what is their average salary.
Mr. Maude : In the year to 31 March 1991 the average yield of inspectors of taxes in local offices involved in
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counter evasion and avoidance and technical review work was £700, 000. A figure for average salary is not available, but the average overall cost of such an inspector was £32,000.Business Expansion Scheme
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was for each year of the years of the existance of the business expansion scheme, the total amount invested in BES, the total cost to the Exchequer, and the percentage and amount of BES money invested, and associated cost to the Exchequer, in residential and assured tenancy schemes.
Mr. Maude : The business expansion scheme was extended to include investment in private rented housing in 1988-89. The latest estimates are as follows :
Amounts invested Cost of income tax
relief
Total of which investment in Total of which in
private rented housing respect of
investment in private
rented housing
amount
|£ million|£ million|percen- |£ million|£ million
|tage
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1983-84 |105 |- |- |50 |-
1984-85 |148 |- |- |75 |-
1985-86 |157 |- |- |85 |-
1986-87 |169 |- |- |95 |-
1987-88 |201 |- |- |120 |-
<1>1988-89 |420 |368 |88 |150 |130
<1>1989-90 |211 |160 |76 |75 |55
<1>1990-91 |320 |280 |88 |120 |105
<1>provisional estimates.
Information is not yet available for 1991-92.
Taxation
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will bring up to date his answer of 25 November 1983, Official Report, columns 316-17 showing the proportion of taxation levied on capital, labour and other.
Mr. Maude [holding answer 19 February 1992] : In the table, taxes on capital include corporation tax, North sea taxes and royalties, income tax on rent, dividends, interest and so on, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, development land tax, and national non-domestic rates. Taxes on labour include income tax on earned and self-employment income-- including pensions and benefits to the unemployed--and employer's and employees' national insurance contributions. Other taxes--mainly taxes on expenditure and community charge--are not allocated.
On this basis the figures for 1990-91 are as follows :
Percent Capital |Labour |Other |Total ---------------------------------------- 19.4 |44.0 |36.6 |100.0
Mortgage Tax Relief
Mr. Battle : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of people receiving mortgage tax relief are first-time buyers.
Mr Maude [holding answer 21 February 1992] : Information on the proportion of all those receiving
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mortgage tax relief who were first-time buyers when the mortgage was taken out is not available. Almost 50 per cent. of those mortgages taken out in the year ending September 1991 were for first-time buyers.Invalidity Benefit
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer under what conditions and at what rate he expects to initiate the taxation of invalidity benefit ; if he proposes at the same time to review the taxation liability of the invalidity benefit supplement to the retirement pension ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maude [holding answer 21 February 1992] : It remains the Government's intention to bring invalidity benefit into taxation when operationally possible. When taxation is introduced the benefit will form part of the recipient's taxable income and will therefore be taxed at the taxpayer's marginal rate. The Government have no intention of changing the tax treatment of the addition to retirement pension given to those previously entitled to the invalidity allowance.
Alcohol Duty
Dr. Marek : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his policy relating to European Community legislation with regard to duty on (a) vin doux naturel and (b) vin de liqueur compared with still table wine.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding answer 20 February 1992] : The UK excise duty bands of wines and made-wines are based solely on alcoholic content. These constitute neutral and objective demarcations between alcoholic drinks of different strengths. I see no reason to make any fiscal distinction between fermented and distilled alcohol and will seek to retain our existing arrangements in future EC negotiations.
Royal Mint
Dr. Marek : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the members of the board of the Royal Mint, together with the ranges of pay applicable to their position and any appropriate qualifications.
Mr. Maples [holding answer 20 February 1992] : The members of the management board of the Royal Mint, their current ranges of pay, including performance-related pay, and appropriate qualifications are :
Member and Relevant Qualification |Pay Range
|£
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. A. D. Garrett MA
Deputy Master and Comptroller
(Chief Executive) |up to <1>66,000
Mr. D. C. Snell FCMA MBCS
Director of Finance and Corporate
Services (Deputy Chief Executive) |<2>42,724 to 47,921
Mr. A. R. W. Lotherington
Sales Director |<2><3>37,928 to 49,671
Mr. R. D. Burchill MSc C.Eng MIEE
Director of Operations |<2>34,667 to 46,122
Mr. B. D. Williams
Marketing Director |<2>26,622 to 41,120
Mr. C. J. J. Boyle FIPM
Director, Human Resources and
Establishment Officer |<2>26,622 to 41,120
Mr. S. G. Cameron MC
Non-Executive Director |<4>3,000
Mr. J. Burnett-Stuart BA
Non-Exective Director |<4>3,000
<1> Including special performance-related bonus.
<2> Excluding bonuses payable under the Mint's profit-sharing scheme.
<3> Including London weighting.
<4> Fee paid.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Lockerbie Disaster
Sir Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make contact with Mr. Mazn Abu Shriff about responsibility for the Lockerbie air disaster ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : No. I refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by the Foreign Secretary on 14 November. A thorough three-year investigation into the Lockerbie disaster by the Dumfries and Galloway police revealed no evidence to suggest that any other countries or groups were behind the attack on Pan Am 103.
Publicity
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list all the television advertising campaigns and all other publicity campaigns costing over £100,000 to be carried out by his Department in February, March, April, May or June of the current year.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is continuing its campaign of consular publicity. For the period in question new versions have been commissioned of films on drug smuggling and holiday medical insurance, made for free showing on TV as public service announcements and aimed at viewers planning holidays overseas. The cost of producing the films will be around £160,000.
Spanish customs Officers
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Spanish Government on the problems likely to be encountered by Scottish fish processors as a result of industrial action by Spanish customs officers.
Mr. Garel-Jones : I have had no discussions with the Spanish Government about the industrial action by Spanish customs agents. The embassy in Madrid is monitoring the situation.
WALES
Publicity
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list all the television advertising campaigns and all other publicity campaigns costing over £100,000 to be carried out by his Department in February, March, April, May or June of the current year.
Mr. David Hunt : The Welsh Office does not plan to run any television campaigns. At present the Department plans to run the following three publicity campaigns :--
Education--including teacher shortage
Industry--including Enterprise Wales
Road Safety.
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PRIME MINISTER
Lockerbie
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Prime Minister if he will raise with President Bush the circumstances of involvement of non-Libyans in the Lockerbie bombing.
The Prime Minister : We remain in close contact with the United States over the Lockerbie bombing. We and the United States authorities share the view that there is no evidence to suggest that any countries other than Libya were responsible for the Lockerbie bombing.
HEALTH
Ministerial Engagements
Mr. Callaghan : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) hospitals and (b) clinics in the Greater Manchester area he has visited in the last year.
Mr. Waldegrave : My Ministers and I regularly visit hospitals and clinics in the course of our official duties and I last visited hospitals and clinics in the Greater Manchester area on Tuesday 12 March 1991.
Cataract Operations
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice he issues to regional health authorities about adding cataract patients to the waiting list when it may be many months from diagnosis to preparedness for an operation for medical reasons.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Guidance on the management of waiting lists, issued by the Royal College of Surgeons in July 1991, states that patients should only be placed on a waiting list when they are clinically ready to undergo surgery. This advice is reiterated in departmental guidance which was issued to all health authorities at the same time.
Procurement
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements his Department has to assess the effect of proposed regulations made by his Department affecting companies involved in the procurement process ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : Where regulations are planned which are likely to impact on the business sector a compliance cost assessment is prepared wherever possible in order to provide an indicative guide to costs and other effects. The Department seeks wherever possible to reduce the burden of regulations or other Government procedures on the business sector.
Dentists
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has evaluated the effect on national health service patients of any changes to dentists' fee structures ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : The health departments have been consulting dentists' representatives on dental remuneration. The health departments and the general dental
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services committee have now agreed to re- examine the detailed elements of the levels of fees. They will simultaneously begin a more fundamental review of the dental remuneration system, as recommended by the doctors and dentists review body.Publicity
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list all the television advertising campaigns and all other publicity campaigns costing over £100,000 to be carried out by his Department in February, March, April, May or June of the current year.
Mr. Dorrell : Television advertising campaigns during February are :
Solvents Misuse
Nursing Regional
Other planned publicity campaigns likely to cost over £100,000 from February to June are :
Food Safety
Blood Donor Recruitment
Health Advice for Travellers
Nursing
AIDS
Drugs Misuse
Back to Sleep
Help with NHS Treatment Costs
Individual campaign allocations from April 1992 have yet to be confirmed.
Local Government Electors
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish a table to show for England the number of local government electors on each of the 1985 to 1990 electoral registers, together with the estimated resident population for the mid point of each preceding year, including those aged 17 years and over, and 63 per cent. of those aged 16 years.
Mr. Dorrell : Numbers of local government electors on the 1985 to 1990 registers have been published in annual volumes of "Electoral Statistics"--series EL nos. 13 to 17 copies of which are available in the Library. I have arranged for the requested resident population estimates to be prepared and sent to the hon. Member, and a copy will then be placed in the Library.
Parkside Health Authority
Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will begin a review into the adequacy of hospital services in Parkside health authority.
Mr. Dorrell [holding answer 11 February 1992] : We are satisfied that Parkside health authority is fulfilling its statutory duty to provide a comprehensive health service for its residents, within the resources available. We do not intend to institute an inquiry.
EMPLOYMENT
Small Businesses
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what arrangements his Department has to assess the effect of proposed new regulations affecting small firms and enterprises ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Forth : In line with the deregulation initiative and in common with other Government Departments, all regulations proposed or approved by my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Employment are assessed for their impact on business. Details of these assessments are provided to the deregulation unit in the DTI and are publicly available. Because of my responsibilities for small firms, I take a keen interest in the impact on small firms of regulations proposed by other Government Departments.
Job Discrimination
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has made to those companies who impose an age limit of 50 years on job applicants to ensure people above this age group do not suffer discrimination.
Mr. Forth : The Department regularly urges employers to give proper recognition to the qualities that older workers possess. They should abandon arbitrary age limits in recruitment and treat everyone on their merits. To assist this process, my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Employment announced on 11 February that we propose to set up an advisory group on older workers. The group will have an important role to play in the identification and dissemination of good practice in the employment of older people.
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