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Local Tax Offices
Mr. Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of local tax offices are meeting their performance targets for dealing with (a) personal callers, (b) telephone calls, (c) repayment claims and (d) correspondence. [17890]
Mr. Jack: The Inland Revenue does not publish its performance against annual targets until results covering the full period are available and appropriate validation and checking of figures has been carried out.
Based on latest provisional figures, most local tax offices are currently on course to meet or exceed their annual targets for personal callers and telephone calls, but are unlikely to achieve their correspondence targets. The claims target applies only to specialist repayment offices, which are on course to meet or exceed this target.
Weatherguard, Halbeath, Fife
Ms Rachel Squire:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list in respect of the action by Customs and Excise against Weatherguard, Halbeath, Fife, in 1992-93 (a) the date and location of the seizure of jackets, (b) the number of jackets seized, (c) their country of manufacture and the manufacturer, (d) the
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haulier involved, (e) the date of the alleged criminal act, (f) the fine charged against the company, (g) the date when the fine was paid and (h) the intended destination of the jackets. [17262]
Mr. Oppenheim
[holding answer 27 February 1997]: The Commissioners of Customs and Excise owe a duty of confidence to the trader in this case and cannot release the information requested.
Mr. Richards:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the revenue consequences of raising the basic rate of income tax in Wales to 25p in the pound.[17869]
Mr. Jack
[holding answer 27 February 1997]: The latest available information is for 1994-95. The full-year yield of increasing the basic rate of tax by 1p under the 1994-95 tax regime and at 1994-95 income levels is £70 million.
Mr. Richards:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate of the revenue raised by a 50 per cent. tax rate on incomes of £40,000 plus per annum in Wales. [17867]
Mr. Jack
[holding answer 27 February 1997]: The latest available information is for 1994-95. The full-year yield under the 1994-95 tax regime and at 1994-95 income levels of introducing a new rate of 50 per cent. on taxable incomes above £40,000 is £30 million. The yield does not take account of any behavioural effects which might result from the introduction of the new rate of tax.
Mr. Richards:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the revenue consequences of raising income tax thresholds in Wales so that 30,000 people would be removed from income tax liability. [17871]
Mr. Jack
[holding answer 27 February 1997]: The latest available information is for 1994-95. The full-year cost under the 1994-95 tax regime and at 1994-95 income levels of increasing non-aged and aged personal allowances by £330 is £70 million--this would have taken 30,000 taxpayers out of income tax.
Mr. Lamont:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the changes in the basic top rates of income tax over the last 30 years. [18144]
Mr. Jack:
Tables 1.5 and 1.10 of the 1996-97 "Tax Benefit Reference Manual" gives income tax rates for years 1967-68 to 1996-97, a copy of which can be found in the Library.
| Taxable income £ per annul | Rate of income tax percentage |
|---|---|
| Up to 4,100 | 20 |
| 4,101-26,100 | 23 |
| Over 26,101 | 40 |
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European Funds (Republic of Ireland)
Mr. Richards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the net transfer of European funds to the Republic of Ireland in each of the last five years. [17875]
Mr. Oppenheim [holding answer 27 February 1997]: The European Court of Auditors annual reports indicate that the net benefits to the Republic of Ireland from the EC budget, for the years 1991 to 1995, the last five years for which information is available, are as listed in the table:
| Year | Million ecu | £ million(3) |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 2357.3 | 1650.3 |
| 1992 | 2140.1 | 1571.3 |
| 1993 | 2371.9 | 1846.6 |
| 1994 | 1752.0 | 1355.6 |
| 1995 | 1886.9 | 1545.2 |
(3) Converted from ecu to £ using the average annual exchange rate listed in the Annual White Paper, "Statement on the Community Budget".
Public Finance Initiative
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide a breakdown by project of PFI schemes identified in table 5.5 of the Red Book. [18126]
Mr. Jack: Table 5.5 of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report 1997-8", the Red Book, is derived from returns made by Departments as part of the pre-Budget expenditure round. Although the Treasury publishes these figures, ultimate responsibility for each departmental figure remains with individual Departments. Detailed questions on table 5.5 should therefore be directed towards the relevant Department.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Private Employment Agencies
Mr. Hall: To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the private employment agencies used by his Department and its agencies in each of the past three years for which figures are available, indicating (a) the names of the agencies, (b) the numbers employed by the agencies in work for his Department, (c) the total cost to his department of using employment agencies and the median cost paid to the agency per person recruited and (d) the average length of contract for persons recruited via such agencies. [16182]
Mr. John M. Taylor: I have asked directors of the Department's executive agencies to reply to the hon. Member separately.
For the headquarters of the Department, excluding agencies and the Government offices, it is not possible to provide information in the form requested. Temporary staff are recruited from employment agencies to cover, usually, short-term secretarial and administrative support duties. Data on the average length of temporary staff recruited from agencies, the numbers employed and the median cost paid to agencies per person employed are not available.
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However, the agencies most commonly used in the past three years are Alfred Marks, Brook Street, Manpower, Josephine Summers and Kelly. The total cost to the Department for agency staff in the past three financial years is as follows;
Expenditure in 1996-97 is not directly comparable with previous years, which do not take account of the machinery of government changes announced in July 1995.
Letter from Peter Joyce to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 28 February 1997:
1994-95 £0.4 million
1995-96: £1.3 million
1996-97 (April-January) £2.1 million
The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your question about the use made by The Insolvency Service of private employment agencies.
I should first explain that The Service undertakes its own recruitment of permanent and many of its casual staff, and does not use the services of employment agencies for that purpose. It does however take on temporary staff from agencies, usually to cover a short-term need for example to assist in the completion of a specific project or to cover for the temporary absence of permanent staff. In addition, The Service has taken on accountancy and legal staff on short term contracts through agencies to support its investigative role.
The total cost to The Service of agency staff in each of the last two years has been--
1994-95: £476,700
1995-96: £2,650,400
The information held by The Service on its agency staff is not maintained in a form which would enable it to provide the further details you have asked for except at disproportionate cost.
| Year | Agency (a) | Numbers (b) | Total cost (c) | Length of contract (d)(4) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employment agencies | ||||
| 1993-94 | Reed Employment | 1 | (5)-- | 14 months |
| 1994-95 | Reed Employment | 1 | (5)-- | 4 months |
| 1995-96 | Reed Employment | 1 | (5)-- | 4 months |
| 1996-97 | Walch Employment Ltd. | 1 | (5)-- | 3 months |
| Recruitment agencies | ||||
| 1995-96 | Capita Recruitment Services | 1 | 1,983 | Permanent |
| 1996-97 | Draft Personnel Ltd. | 1 | 2,645 | Permanent |
(4) We are unable to provide an average length of contract because two recruits remain members of staff.
(5) Because of the nature of payments to Employment Agencies we are unable to extract the information at reasonable cost.
Letter from J. C. Octon To Mr. Mike Hall, dated 28 February 1997:
28 Feb 1997 : Column: 410
In the absence of the Chief Executive I am replying for the Patent Office to your Parliamentary Question to the President of the Board of Trade about the use of private employment agencies.
The Patent Office operates in a competitive international market and has operated a policy of employing agency staff to minimise the risk to its permanent staff of redundancy consequent on fluctuations in demand. The agencies it has used to supply temporary staff are: Reed Employment, Securicor Recruitment Services Ltd., Western Staff Services, Acorn Recruitment, Manpower Employment Agency, Kelter International Ltd., Brook
Street, Meridian Business Support, Kelly Services and Select Appointments PD Bureau--London. The monthly average number of agency staff employed in the last three years has been 1994: 30, 1995: 50 and 1996: 42 and the total annual cost £323,958, £539,689 and £495,240 respectively. The average hourly rate paid to the agencies for the staff supplied was around £4.20 in 1994, £4.50 in 1995 and £4.80 in 1996. The average length of employment for agency staff has been in the range 3.5 to 4 months. The Patent Office also employs a small number of specialist IT practitioners employed normally through specialist companies. The figures given above exclude such staff.
| Year | Agency name | Length of contract | Number employed | Cost per hour £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Jobwise | 5 weeks | 1 | 6.85 |
| 1994-95 | Target | 13 weeks | 1 | 6.50 |
| 1995 | Office Angels | 3 weeks | 2 | 7.35 |
| 1996 | Office Angels | 2-3 weeks | 2 | 8.25 |
| 1996 | Pertemps | (6)2-17 weeks | 5 | (7)6.30 |
(6) Average.
(7)Average 7.
The total cost to the Agency for the years 1995-96 was £20,580; the average cost per person recruited is £6.90 per hour; contract periods average 5-6 weeks per person.
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