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Workstart
Sir Ralph Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith) of 5 February, Official Report, column 68, what financial evaluation has been made of the workstart pilot scheme in (a) east Kent, (b) south London, (c) the north-east and (d) Devon and Cornwall. [15841]
Mr. Forth: The evaluation reports of the initial pilots were published on 12 December 1994 and copies are available from the Library.
Sir Ralph Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury of 5 February, Official Report, column 69, what was (a) the saving in benefits of all kinds and (b) her Department's estimate of income from income tax and national insurance contributions, which resulted from the workstart pilot scheme in (i) east Kent, (ii) south London, (iii) the north-east and (iv) Devon and Cornwall; and what was the net saving or cost of the scheme. [15842]
Mr. Forth: This information is not available. Savings to the Exchequer from any employment programme arise from long-term improvements in the functioning of the labour market and cannot be calculated in the terms requested.
South Thames Training and Enterprise Council
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what changes in policy and procedures have been introduced following South Thames training and enterprise council going into receivership. [15559]
Mr. Paice
[holding answer 16 February 1996]: The relationship between Government and training and enterprise councils is under continual review. TECs are private companies operating under a contract. Since 1994, when South Thames TEC was placed in receivership the contract has required TECs to pay due regard to the code of practice on the financial aspects of corporate governance--the Cadbury code--and to the "Framework for Local Accountability" published by the TEC National
19 Feb 1996 : Column: 14
Council. TECs are also required to remain within the financial low risk band category as determined by the Department.
Further guidance to Government offices in the regions now ensures the prompt recovery of any overpayments. Licensing arrangements require TECs to meet and maintain published standards set by the Department. All TECs must be licensed by 1997.
Mr. Byers:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the percentage of hard-to-fill vacancies in (a) the south-east, (b) London, (c) the south-west, (d) the west midlands, (e) the east midlands, (f) eastern, (g) Yorkshire and Humberside, (h) the north-west, (i) the north-west (Greater Manchester) and (j) northern areas over the previous 12 months in 1994 and 1995. [15561]
Mr. Forth
[holding answer 16 February 1996]: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Mike Fogden to Mr. Stephen Byers, dated 19 February 1996:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the percentage of hard to fill vacancies in the English regions over the previous 12 months in 1994 and 1995.
We do not collect the information you have requested. However, during July to September 1994 a trial was undertaken to assess the feasibility of using hard to fill vacancies more widely to test clients' commitment to returning to employment and their availability for work.
The trial revealed that the types of vacancy which are hard to fill vary widely between localities and it is difficult to be prescriptive about which particular vacancies fall into the hard to fill category. We do not, therefore, collect statistics on hard to fill vacancies.
I hope this is helpful.
Tax Regime
Mr. Robert Ainsworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the change in taxation relative to an indexed 1978-79 tax regime for a married couple with two children with one adult earning (a) 25 per cent. of average earnings, (b) 50 per cent. of average earnings, (c) 75 per cent. of average earnings, (d) 100 per cent. of average earnings, (e) 200 per cent. of average earnings, (f) 300 per cent. of average earnings, (g) 400 per cent. of average earnings and (h) 500 per cent. of average earnings. [13929]
Mr. Jack:
The weekly reduction in income tax liability for 1996-97 compared with the 1978-79 indexed regime
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and the weekly reduction as a percentage of earnings in 1996-97 is given in the table.
| One earner married couple with two children under 11 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Multiple of average earnings(2) 1996-97 | Reduction in income tax(3) in 1996-97 compared with the 1978-79 indexed regime | Reduction in income tax(3) as a percentage of weekly earnings in 1996-97 |
| £ | ||
| ¼ | -3.18 | 3 |
| ½ | -8.30 | 4 |
| ¾ | 17.24 | 6 |
| 1 | -26.18 | 7 |
| 2 | -50.91 | 6 |
| 3 | -143.54 | 12 |
| 4 | -281.82 | 18 |
| 5 | -452.66 | 23 |
(2) Full time males on adult rates, all occupations.
(3) Net of child benefit.
Property Valuations (Reading)
Sir Anthony Durant: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average percentage increase in property valuations for business rate purposes by the Inland Revenue for (a) Reading town centre and (b) the Oxford road, Reading, and the number of appeals received and the number of appeals completed. [13823]
Mrs. Angela Knight: Broad street is the main street in Reading town centre, and comprises mostly shops, where rateable values have increased by about 27 per cent. on average in the 1995 rating list above their previous 1990 list levels.
In Oxford road, Reading, rateable values of shops have generally remained unchanged.
To date, the valuation officer at Reading has received 50 appeals for Broad street shops and 46 appeals for Oxford street shops. No appeals have been settled so far but discussions with ratepayers are expected to begin soon.
Outside London, rate increases, in 1996-97 are limited to 5 per cent. for small businesses, 7.5 per cent. for legal businesses and 2.5 per cent. for composite properties after inflation.
Mr. Robert Ainsworth:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the amount of advance corporation tax reclaimed by tax exempt institutions each month over the past five years. [13928]
Mr. Jack:
Advance corporation tax paid by companies is not repayable to shareholders. Exempt institutions, such as pension funds, insurance companies' exempt funds and charities are, however, entitled to payment of the tax credit issued with the dividends and other qualifying distributions they receive. This recognises that the dividends have already borne tax at the company level. Tax credits to exempt institutions are not separately accounted for and precise statistics are, therefore, not available. It is estimated, however, that exempt institutions will receive around £3.5 billion in payments of tax credits from qualifying distributions in 1995-96.
19 Feb 1996 : Column: 16
Mr. Chris Davies:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how participation in a local exchange and trading scheme affects the assessment of taxable income. [15430]
Mr. Jack:
Participation in a local exchange and trading scheme does not itself affect what is and is not taxable income. It is the participant's activities that mater. Thus, anyone who provides either goods or services for reward, either inside or outside a local exchange and trading scheme, is likely to be liable to income tax.
However, the form of these organisations can differ and as members, activities can vary from individual to individual, it is important that the scheme's organisers contact their local tax office with the full details of their particular scheme to check whether there are any tax implications. Similarly, any scheme member who has doubts about his own tax liability should check with his own tax office.
Mr. Spellar:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 6 February, Official Report, columns 117-18, what was the number of (a) basic rate and (b) higher rate taxpayers in 1993-94 in each constituency in the west midlands county area. [15464]
Mr. Jack:
I regret that estimates below county level are not available.
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made towards completing the joint research project to establish the current compliance costs of tax/national insurance contributions legislation and systems referred to in his White Paper, "The Way Forward". [15588]
Mr. Jack:
The contract to carry out the study was awarded to the Centre for Fiscal Studies at Bath university in October 1995. The work is expected to take around 18 months to complete and should give an up-to-date picture of those aspects of the system which give rise to the largest compliance costs for business. The research team has been asked to identify options for simplification of current operational procedures which could reduce those costs.
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