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Police Officers

Mr. Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many police officers there are in each member state of the Council of Europe; [26356]

Mr. Maclean [holding answer 29 April 1996]: This information is not centrally collected.

30 Apr 1996 : Column: 436

Learmont Report

Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Home Office report on the Learmont recommendations will be published; for how long he has had the report; what are the reasons for the time taken to publish the report; and if he will make a statement. [26668]

Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 29 April 1996]: My right hon. and learned Friend gave his initial response to the report on 16 October 1995, when he dealt with the key recommendations. He agreed that the Prison Service should take forward the policy reviews recommended by Sir John Learmont. My right hon. and learned Friend said that he would come back to the House with a full report in due course. He will do so when he receives the findings of these major reviews.

Mr. Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what extra funding is being made available to meet the cost of implementing the recommendations arising from the Learmont report; and if he will make a statement. [26669]

Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 29 April 1996]: The cost of implementing recommendations arising from the Learmont report is being examined as part of the preparation of my right hon. and learned Friend's response to the report.

NATIONAL HERITAGE

"The Panshangar Fra Bartolommeo"

Mr. Matthew Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what action she intends taking to ensure the retaining in the United Kingdom of the painting "The Panshangar Fra Bartolommeo" by Fra Bartolommeo; and if he will make a statement. [27265]

Mr. Sproat: The Secretary of State has deferred a decision on the export licence application for Fra Bartolommeo's "Holy Family" until after 8 May 1996. The purpose of the deferral is to allow time for a potential purchaser to come forward to keep the painting in the UK, and my Department is aware of the serious intention to make a purchase offer. It is for the owner of the painting to decide whether to accept any forthcoming offer. If such an offer were made and accepted, the licence application would lapse, the painting would become the property of the purchaser and would be retained in the UK. If such an offer were refused, the Secretary of State would take into account the existence of the purchase offer in making a decision on the licence application.

TREASURY

Private Finance Panel Executive

Mr. Derek Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will name the 24 seconded staff in the Private Finance Panel Executive; and if they are employed on civil service pay and conditions. [25360]

30 Apr 1996 : Column: 437

Mr. Jack: There are 25 members of the Private Finance Panel Executive: 13 are seconded; the remaining 12 are employed directly by the PFPE. Panel executive members on secondment from other organisations are:


Secondees to the PFPE remain under contract to their employer and their pay and conditions are a matter for them and their employer. The PFPE negotiates with employer organisations an agreed level of reimbursement.

The PFPE is also subject to an overall budgetary constraint. Within this, it fulfils its remaining staffing requirement through direct employment on the basis of short-term appointments. The PFPE, as a limited company, has management responsibilities for its staff which are unconnected with civil service terms and conditions.

Private Finance Initiative

Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the revenue spending estimated by his Department in connection with the private initiative for (a) 1995-96, (b) 1996-97 and (c) 1997-98. [26633]

Mr. Jack: The estimated revenue spending in connection with the private finance initiative by Departments responsible to the Chancellor of the Exchequer is:


Income Tax

Mr. Forman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 18 March, Official Report, column 52, what would be the estimated full-year costs at 1996-97 income levels of introducing a single positive rate of income tax at 23 per cent. assuming transferable personal allowances of £5,000 per person and the abolition of all other tax expenditures, exemptions and reliefs now allowable against income tax. [27242]

Mr. Jack: The estimated full-year cost of introducing a single 23 per cent. rate of income tax at 1996-97 income levels would be about £3 billion. This assumes a personal allowance of £5,000 transferable between spouses and the abolition of all other income tax allowances, mortgage interest relief, tax relief on employer's contributions to occupational and personal pension schemes, reliefs for TESSAs, PEPs and profit-related pay, national savings certificates, employee share schemes and charitable giving.

30 Apr 1996 : Column: 438

This estimate does not take into account the substantial behavioural effects which might result from the introduction of such a change nor do they allow for any subsequent changes to the tax system, such as changes to tax relief on employer's contributions to pension schemes or relief for investment income in pension funds.

Mr. Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the change in revenue to the Exchequer resulting from a rise in the top rate of income tax from (a) 40 per cent. to 50 per cent. and (b) from 40 per cent. to 60 per cent. [26762]

Mr. Jack [holding answer 25 April 1996]: Estimated full-year yields at 1996-97 income levels are given in the table. The estimates do not take account of any behavioural effects which might result from the introduction of such changes. The figures include consequential effects on the yield of capital gains tax.

Higher rate at:Yield £ billion
50 per cent.4.7
60 per cent.9.3

Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the yield from higher rate income tax charged by direct assessment on investment income received net of lower rate income tax in the latest year for which figures are available. [27033]

Mr. Jack [holding answer 26 April 1996]: In 1995-96, £1.2 billion tax was collected via assessments for additional tax on investment income from which tax had already been deducted at source.

Public Expenditure

Mr. Forman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the (a) identifiable and (b) non-identifiable public expenditure per head in (i) England and (ii) the United Kingdom in the latest year for which figures are available. [27109]

Mr. Waldegrave: The latest available figures are for 1994-95:

£ per head

IdentifiableNon-identifiable
England3,614n/a
Scotland4,505n/a
Wales4,208n/a
Northern Ireland4,976n/a
United Kingdom3,760688

The term "non-identifiable expenditure" is used to refer to spending which cannot be attributed to the benefit of any one part of the Union.

Landfill Tax

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what is the current estimate of the revenue to be expected from the landfill tax; [27378]

30 Apr 1996 : Column: 439

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: The estimated net revenue yield from landfill tax is £450 million in a full year. However, because precise figures about the amount of waste sent to landfill are not available centrally, the revenue estimate for the tax is open to a greater than usual margin of error. The estimate assumes that credits of tax amounting to £50 million will be given to site operators in respect of voluntary contributions they make to environmental trusts, although, on the basis of the revenue projection for the tax and the maximum credit entitlement, as much as £100 million is potentially available for trusts in a full year.

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