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VAT (Domestic Fuel)
20. Mr. Canavan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has had about VAT on domestic fuel. [17638]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: We have received a number of such representations from Members and direct from the public.
Budget (Impact on Women)
22. Mrs. Jane Kennedy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements exist within his Department to assess the impact of his Budget on women. [17640]
Mr. Jack: The impact of the Budget on all groups is considered very carefully.
Landfill Tax
23. Mr. William O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the income from the tax on waste to landfill sites in (a) 1996-97 and (b) 1997-98; and if he will make a statement. [17641]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: The landfill tax is expected to raise £110 million in 1996-97 and £450 million in 1997-98.
Tax Evasion
24. Ms Lynne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount of revenue lost through tax evasion last year. [17642]
Mr. Jack: There is no reliable way of estimating the amount of tax evaded annually. But in each of the last four tax years, the Inland Revenue has brought into charge approximately £1.5 billion from its counter-evasion work.
7 Mar 1996 : Column: 340
Inheritance Tax
25. Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people receive conditional exemption from inheritance tax because they allow the public access to their land. [17643]
Mr. Jack: As conditionally exempt property may be owned jointly by several persons or held in trust, information in the form requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
However, in the United Kingdom, there have been 189 designations of land for conditional exemption purposes, and 171 designations of historic buildings. Some designations of the buildings will have extended to the surrounding land, and some of the buildings will have been designated for the purposes of the tax provisions on maintenance funds rather than for conditional exemption of the buildings themselves.
Mortgage Interest Rates
26. Mr. John Greenway: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the level of mortgage interest rates for the forthcoming year. [17644]
Mrs. Angela Knight: It is a long-standing practice not to publish the details of the interest rate assumptions underlying official economic forecasts.
However, average building society mortgage interest rates are their lowest for a generation. As a result, average mortgage payments are currently £170 less a month, £150 less a month than five years ago. This has been possible only because of the Government's success in controlling inflation.
Savings
27. Mr. French: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to increase the levels of savings held by the public. [17645]
Mr. Waldegrave: The 1995 Budget reduced tax on savings income for basic rate taxpayers, benefiting around 14 million taxpayers.
Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the levels of savings in (a) the last year and (b) the year to May 1979 in 1996 values; and if he will make a statement. [17988]
Mrs. Angela Knight: It is not possible to quote the levels of saving at 1996 values. Current national accounts practice is to revalue at 1990 prices. Total personal saving at 1990 prices in the 12-month period to September 1995--the latest available year--was £37.4 billion. The corresponding figure for the 12-month period to June 1979 was £30 billion. The national accounts are prepared quarterly and this is the closest period to May 1979 for which there are data. Information on personal sector saving at current prices is published annually in the Central Statistical Office Blue Book and quarterly in the CSO first release quarterly national accounts and is held on the CSO database; all sources are available in the Library.
7 Mar 1996 : Column: 341
Share Option Schemes
Mr. Hawkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what priority he attaches to increasing the number of employees participating in employee share option schemes. [17624]
Mr. Jack: Measures proposed in the Finance Bill are designed to encourage further and additional take-up of these schemes.
Guidance Notes
Mr. Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many pages of guidance notes have been issued by (a) his Department, (b) regulatory authorities and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each of the last three years. [18632]
Mrs. Angela Knight [holding answer 5 March 1996]: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Pre-retirement Courses
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action heads of his agencies are taking to safeguard the provision of pre-retirement courses; and if he will make a statement. [19349]
Mrs. Angela Knight: Each of the Chancellor's agencies offer pre-retirement courses to its staff.
Female Employment
Ms Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for the Staffordshire region how many women are (a) unemployed, (b) in full-time employment and (c) in part-time work. [19491]
Mrs. Angela Knight: There were 7,801 women claiming unemployment-related benefits in Staffordshire in January 1996. The labour force survey sample of International Labour Organisation unemployed women in Staffordshire is too small to provide a reliable estimate.
The latest available information from the labour force survey on employment, however, shows there were 122,000 women in full-time employment and 107,000 in part-time employment in Staffordshire in summer--June to August--1995.
Companies (Reinvestment Relief)
Mr. Barry Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out the rules governing qualification for reinvestment relief relating to the percentage shareholding of any subsidiary companies and any overseas subsidiary companies; and if he will set out the relationship between these rules and the Government's policy drive for exports. [18905]
Mr. Jack: A company must not control, or own directly or indirectly, more than 50 per cent. of the share capital of any company which is not a qualifying subsidiary. There is no relationship between these rules and exports from the United Kingdom.
7 Mar 1996 : Column: 342
Labour Statistics
Mr. Ian McCartney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide a breakdown, by region and gender, for (i) November 1990 and (ii) the latest date available, of (a) employees in temporary jobs because they could not find permanent employment, (b) the total number of employees in temporary jobs and (c) the total number of employees in temporary jobs as a proportion of the total number of employees in employment; [19103]
- (2) if he will provide a breakdown, by region and gender, for (i) November 1990 and (ii) the latest date available, of (a) employees in part-time jobs because they could not find full-time employment, (b) the total number employees in part-time jobs and (c) the total number of employees in part-time jobs as a proportion of the total number of employees in employment. [19104]
Mrs. Angela Knight: The information requested can be obtained via the Quantine labour force survey service available for spring--March to May--1991 and spring 1995, the latest comparable quarter.
VAT (Opticians' Services)
Mr. Nigel Griffiths: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the amount of VAT wrongly levied on opticians' services since 1988; and what steps he is taking to ensure that this money is returned to customers. [18730]
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: It is estimated that the total amount of VAT to be refunded to opticians is of the order of £200 million. Where opticians acknowledge that VAT was passed on to customers, it is for the two sides to agree on the sum to be refunded. Where opticians have absorbed the VAT in their profits, they are under no obligation to pass on the refund to customers. Customs and Excise has no powers to insist that refunds are made to customers where the optician maintains they are not due.
Exempt Works of Art
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of (a) the number and (b) the percentages of items on the register of conditionally exempt works of art for which (i) the location other than the county is not specified and (ii) the listed telephone number is incorrect. [18494]
Mr. Jack: All items in the register of conditionally exempt works of art are shown only by their broad location, usually the county, to take account of owners' concern for the security of the exempted items. The requested information about the listed telephone numbers is not available.
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