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HOUSE OF COMMONS
EU Legislation
Sir Richard Body: To ask the President of the Council what percentage of Bills introduced into Parliament in (a) 1976, (b) 1986 and (c) 1996 had the European Union as their legislative source; and if she will take steps to introduce a physical distinction in the publication of such Bills in the future. [4466]
Mrs. Ann Taylor: Very few Bills are introduced with the primary purpose of implementing European Community legislation, although on occasions Bills will include clauses the purpose of which is to implement European Community obligations. Detailed information in the form requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. I have no plans to introduce a physical distinction in the publication of such Bills.
PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL
Privy Council (Membership)
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the President of the Council what powers she has to trigger the procedure for removing a person from membership of the Privy Council; and if she will make a statement. [5584]
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Mrs. Ann Taylor:
The enforced removal of a Privy Counsellor from membership of the Council, which has not occurred since 1921, would be a matter for The Sovereign, acting on the advice of Ministers.
Perjury
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Attorney-General what are the procedures for bringing an action for perjury against a named individual. [5503]
The Attorney-General: The question of prosecution of any individual for perjury cannot be considered until there has been a criminal investigation. It is the function of the police to investigate alleged crime and the proper course for an hon. Member having evidence showing the commission of an offence would be to place that evidence in the hands of the police.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Signals Intelligence Staff
Mr. Peter Bottomley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list for each member of each military alliance of which the
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United Kingdom is part whether signals intelligence staff are (a) civilians, (b) expected to be in membership of an independent national trade union and (c) able to take part in a national strike unrelated to their direct conditions of employment; and in each case whether there has been such a strike in the past 20 years. [3453]
Mr. Robin Cook:
Most of our NATO partners employ civilians in their signals intelligence staff. In the majority of cases these civilians have the right voluntarily to join a national trade union and some have a legal right to take strike action. None, so far as we are aware, has ever taken strike action in the last twenty years.
It is our policy not to comment on the details of the signals intelligence arrangements of other countries.
Mr. Blunt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to increase his Department's resources dedicated to (a) the British Council and (b) the World Service. [5278]
Mr. Fatchett:
We are examining how we deploy all our resources, including those dedicated to the British Council and the BBC World Service, as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review. We shall submit the Review's findings to the Cabinet's Committee.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the Special Advisers in his Department, the minister to whom each is responsible, the subjects on which they advise and the number of advisers in his Department in the year up to 1 May. [5364]
Mr. Robin Cook:
David Clark and Andrew Hood are currently employed as Special Advisers in my Department. They are employed under terms and conditions based on the Model Contract for Special Advisers, a copy of which has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
David Clark is advising me on European Affairs and Security Policy.
Andrew Hood is advising me on policy related to Africa, Middle East, the Americas, Asia, international trade policy, human rights, the global environment, the arms trade and the Commonwealth.
Both work in accordance with Schedule 1 (Part 1) of the Model Contract.
There were two Special Advisers in this Department in the year up to 1 May 1997.
Mr. Paice:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of total income tax yield was paid by (a) the bottom 10 per cent. of taxpayers, (b) the median 10 per cent. of taxpayers and (c) the top 10 per cent. of tax payers, in the last year for which figures are available. [3351]
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Dawn Primarolo:
Estimates for 1997-98 are given in the following table:
| Group of taxpayers per cent. | Percentage of total income tax |
|---|---|
| Bottom 10 | (12)-- |
| 45-55 | 6 |
| Top 10 | 46 |
(12) Less than 0.5 per cent.
Capital Gains Tax
Mr. Norman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the estimated revenues from Capital Gains Tax in 1995-96; and how much of this is derived from gains realised on investments of less than 12 months' duration. [3703]
Dawn Primarolo: Receipts from capital gains tax were £796 million in 1995-96. It is not yet possible to estimate the proportion due to disposals of assets held for less than 12 months.
Income Tax
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total revenue of income tax in the top five percentiles of incomes in (i) 1978-79 and (ii) 1996-97. [3445]
Dawn Primarolo: Based on the estimated distribution of total incomes for taxpayers, the total income tax liability for the top five percentiles was £4.9 billion in 1978-79 and £25.1 billion in 1996-97.
Mr. Paice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of all adults in employment or self-employment pay (a) no income tax, (b) income tax at 20 per cent. only, (c) income tax at 20 per cent. and 23 per cent. only and (d) income tax at 40 per cent. [3354]
Dawn Primarolo: Estimates for 1997-98 are given in the table. The figures include all those with any employment or self-employment income.
| Marginal rate of tax | Percentage of total |
|---|---|
| No tax liability | 15 |
| Lower rate | 20 |
| Basic rate | 57 |
| Higher rate | 8 |
| Total | 100 |
The estimates are based on information from the 1994-95 Survey of Personal Incomes and population estimates from the Government Actuary's Department and are therefore provisional.
Corporation Tax
Mr. Jack:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was in each of the last five financial years the amount of corporation tax paid as a proportion of companies' pre-tax profits. [3375]
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Dawn Primarolo:
United Kingdom taxes on company income as a percentage of trading income before dividends calculated from calendar year national accounting aggregates are as follows:
Mr. Ian Taylor:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he has met representatives of pension funds and charities to discuss the impact of changes in advance corporation tax. [3744]
1992: 16.4
1993: 14.1
1994: 13.7
1995: 17.1
1996: 18.7.
Mr. Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the rate of advance corporation tax on dividends. [3330]
Dawn Primarolo: The rate of advance corporation tax on dividends for the financial year 1997 is 20/80, as set out in the last Finance Act.
Mail Order
Mr. Luff: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received about the Inland Revenue's implementation of the VAT required for mail order trades; and if he will make a statement. [3551]
Dawn Primarolo: Members of the Mail Order Traders' Association (MOTA) and others have made representations to ministers about changes to VAT retail schemes announced in the last Budget by the previous Government and described in Customs and Excise Budget Notice 46/96 and in Press Notice 2 dated 26 November 1996.
MOTA members recently met senior Customs officials for further discussions. As a result, Customs announced in their Business Brief 10/97 a concession which reduces the cash flow impact on affected retailers.
Tax Policy
Mr. Jack: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the statement made in paragraph 6.73 in the Financial Statement and Budget report 1997-98 remains the objective upon which tax policy is based. [3374]
Dawn Primarolo: The Chancellor of the Exchequer will announce the Government's tax objectives at the time of the Budget on 2 July 1997.
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