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Petrol Duty

Mr. Richards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer at what point in the supply process the tax point arises for duty levied on petrol refined in the United Kingdom, in the case of supply to (a) independent retailers and (b) supermarket petrol outlets; if he will make a statement on the reasons for any difference of treatment in the two cases; and what plans he has to review policy in this matter. [8519]

Mr. Oppenheim: The duty point at which the duty charge arises in respect of UK-refined petrol is the same regardless of whether it is supplied to independent retailers or supermarket forecourts. In both cases, the duty is charged at the time the product is supplied from the refinery for delivery to the UK domestic market.

Housebuilding

Mr. Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consultations he undertook with the housebuilding industry prior to the publication of the booklet "Are Your Workers Employed or Self-employed?"; what representations he has received from housebuilders since the publication; and if he will make a statement. [8320]

Mr. Jack [holding answer 12 December 1996]: A wide range of bodies representing the construction industry, including housebuilders, were involved in consultations on employment status with officials from the Inland Revenue and the Department of Social Security. Since the publication of leaflet IR 148/CA69, "Are Your Workers Employed or Self-employed?" in October 1995 a number of representations have been received from the construction industry. Industry representatives have asked for more information about when contractors should complete their reviews of the employment status of their workers and make necessary changes. They have requested more time to implement those changes and help in explaining to their workers what a change in employment status means. The industry also sought an assurance that, by a given date, all construction firms must have made any necessary changes in the employment status of their workers and the deducting pay-as-you-earn and national insurance contributions so that there is a level playing field when firms compete for contracts. A new leaflet and a poster to help construction workers will be available in the new year. Details of the help provided for the industry on employment status are set out in a joint Inland Revenue and Contributions Agency press release issued on 19 November 1996, copies of which are available in the Library.

Mr. Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to treat construction operatives in the housebuilding sector as self-employed for taxation purposes until such time as he has consulted (a) the Housebuilders Federation, (b) the Manufacturing and Construction Industries Alliance and (c) other bodies representing the interests of housebuilders and their workers. [8323]

Mr. Jack [holding answer 12 December 1996]: No. The law on employment status applies in the housebuilding sector in the same way as it does in any other industries. A wide range of representative bodies

18 Dec 1996 : Column: 640

from the construction industry, including groups representing the housebuilding sector, have already been consulted on these issues. We shall continue to work closely with these representatives.

Gold Reserves

Mr. Butcher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 4 November, Official Report, column 544, what proportion of British gold reserves are held outside the United Kingdom; and what proportion of the externally located gold reserves are held in western Europe. [3830]

Mrs. Angela Knight: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 6 November, Official Report, column 544. Because the number of appropriate locations is limited, for security reasons we do not disclose the amounts held at different sites. However, less than half the UK's gold reserves are physically located outside the United Kingdom. Of this, less than 1 per cent. of the total is located in western Europe.

Economic and Monetary Union

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if Her Majesty's Government will assess the advantages of the redistribution of funds to the worst affected regions and countries along the lines proposed by the McDougal report to offset the effects of monetary union. [4753]

Mr. Oppenheim: The Government do not accept the case for any increase in fiscal transfers as a result of economic and monetary union. There are no implications for the EC budget, except that the euro will replace the ecu as the unit of account.

Incontinence Products

Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what plans he has to make adjustments to the NHS budget to compensate for extra expenses incurred as a result of the recent change in the regulations governing VAT on incontinence products; [9160]

(2) what estimates he has made of the revenue which will be raised from the recent changes in the regulations governing VAT on incontinence products. [9161]

Mr. Oppenheim [holding answer 16 December 1996]: There have been no changes to the regulations governing VAT on incontinence products. VAT has always been chargeable on incontinence products supplied to the NHS. The policy was confirmed in October 1995 following evidence of contrived tax avoidance schemes; but customs set guidelines to enable recovery of tax in cases where NHS trusts truly acted as agents for suppliers or patients. It later became clear that these arrangements did not reflect the normal position in the NHS, and they were withdrawn in August 1996. Few NHS trusts are thought to have used the guidelines, but details are not held centrally and so no reliable revenue estimates can be made. However, the NHS is in any case funded on the basis that its purchases of incontinence products are taxable.

Incontinence products supplied directly to disabled people are zero-rated.

18 Dec 1996 : Column: 641

Earned Income

Mr. Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the average earned income in the most recent year for which figures are available for (a) the fifth percentile and (b) the 95th percentile of taxpayers. [9570]

Mr. Jack: Based on the estimation of earned income for taxpayers in 1997-98, the fifth percentile is about £4,200 and the 95th percentile is about £36,000.

Tobacco Smuggling

Mr. Byers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to take further action against those involved in the illegal importation of cigarettes and tobacco; and if he will make a statement. [9655]

Mr. Oppenheim [holding answer 17 December 1996]: As my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced as part of his Budget package, Customs and Excise is to deploy 70 additional front-line staff to combat single market smuggling of alcohol and tobacco. There will be increases in intelligence and investigation staff to deal with excise fraud and evasion.

18 Dec 1996 : Column: 642

Diesel Duty

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the levels of duty and VAT on diesel in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) France, (c) Germany and (d) Belgium. [9130]

Mr. Oppenheim: The information is shown in the following table:

Country	Excise duty on diesel Pence per litre	Duty plus VAT(16) Pence per litre	VAT rate on diesel Per cent.
United Kingdom	36.86	43.31	17.5
France	29.0	34.97	20.6
Germany	27.0	31.05	15
Belgium	24.8	30.01	21

(16) Because the amount of VAT depends on the retail price, the figure shown here is duty plus consequential VAT on the duty element of the price.

Value Added Tax

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many VAT (i) registrations and (ii) deregistrations there have been in each Customs and Excise area in each year since 1990-91. [9741]

Mr. Oppenheim: Customs holds registration and deregistration information by local office and groups these offices to form collections. The information, by collection, is in the schedule.

However, changes in collection boundaries over the years make year-on-year comparisons between them inappropriate in some cases.

18 Dec 1996 : Column: 641

Registrations and deregistrations by calendar year

Collection	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995
Registrations
Northern Ireland	4,226	3,607	3,674	4,034	3,652	3,735
Central England	22,257	18,239	18,983	17,735	16,161	16,216
Anglia	17,436	15,347	14,087	14,350	13,083	10,744
South-east England	16,122	13,562	12,403	12,689	11,522	7,019
South England	18,813	15,544	13,934	14,295	13,056	13,348
Thames Valley	25,524	21,723	20,478	20,956	19,999	19,362
London Central	15,840	13,907	14,194	13,705	12,468	15,529
London South and Thames	9,303	8,018	7,519	11,176	10,171	12,307
East England	22,923	19,599	17,559	18,280	16,665	16,380
North-west England	20,574	18,645	17,326	16,412	15,174	15,174
North England	19,180	16,362	15,374	15,331	14,081	13,522
Scotland	15,350	13,395	12,792	12,966	11,985	12,204
Wales West and Borders	25,381	21,578	20,066	20,030	18,621	15,931
Deregistrations
Northern Ireland	3,113	3,783	3,595	3,176	3,495	3,099
Central England	16,799	22,540	22,082	20,822	17,979	17,506
Anglia	13,851	21,972	19,977	17,511	16,303	11,034
South-east England	11,648	19,650	18,342	15,906	14,317	7,885
South England	14,782	21,828	20,813	19,457	16,422	14,810
Thames Valley	17,943	24,925	25,509	23,518	21,162	19,048
London Central	12,666	15,779	17,109	14,818	11,905	12,991
London South and Thames	7,531	9,247	8,989	10,546	9,604	12,187
East England	18,483	24,212	22,424	21,145	18,729	17,727
North-west England	16,015	21,486	21420	20,752	18,600	17,065
North England	16,154	20,649	18,904	17,427	16,955	17,261
Scotland	12,619	15,399	13,790	14,206	12,877	12,666
Wales West and Borders	20,773	27,797	25,691	25,236	23,346	17,616

18 Dec 1996 : Column: 643

Registrations and deregistrations by financial year

Collection	1990-91	1991-92	1992-93	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96
Registrations
Northern Ireland	4,195	3,600	3,759	4,000	3,666	3,744
Central England	20,639	17,968	17,593	16,685	16,469	16,362
Anglia	16,166	12,695	14,104	14,230	13,470	10,481
South-east England	14,067	10,682	12,439	12,405	11,339	6,946
South England	17,621	14,956	13,853	13,984	12,979	13,485
Thames Valley	24,028	21,201	20,108	20,899	20,325	19,476
London Central	15,197	12,564	13,946	13,472	12,456	15,930
London South and Thames	8,349	8,043	8,328	10,857	9,588	12,118
East England	21,492	18,677	17,919	17,402	17,028	16,165
North-west England	20,752	18,091	17,003	15,876	15,064	14,611
North England	18,350	15,777	15,382	14,817	13,795	13,604
Scotland	15,020	12,799	12,891	12,682	12,103	12,243
Wales West and Borders	23,605	23,531	19,993	19,621	17,771	16,010
Deregistrations
Northern Ireland	3,128	3,934	3,303	3,417	3,280	3,160
Central England	17,007	23,887	21,698	20,607	17,593	16,622
Anglia	14,443	20,244	19,332	17,924	15,283	10,703
South-east England	11,544	17,115	17,600	16,121	13,193	7,705
South England	15,185	22,852	20,675	18,065	16,687	15,149
Thames Valley	18,641	26,612	24,822	23,514	20,130	18,630
London Central	12,848	15,905	16,197	14,222	11,558	12,767
London South and Thames	7,680	9,610	6,999	11,151	8,696	11,701
East England	18,839	25,010	21,822	21,197	18,851	17,651
North-west England	15,971	23,017	20,868	21,104	17,304	16,750
North England	16,470	21,289	18,708	17,030	16,665	16,759
Scotland	12,852	15,777	13,368	14,458	12,316	12,664
Wales West and Borders	21,516	29,357	25,971	25,396	21,996	17,163

18 Dec 1996 : Column: 643

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