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NIRS2
Mr. Webb:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the amount of interest received by the Government as a result of the late payment of benefits to pensioners due to the NIRS2 computer problem (a) to date and (b) by the end of 2000. [109849]
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Dawn Primarolo
[holding answer 11 February 2000]: I regret the information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Ruane:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will list the average household income for each region in descending order for each of the past 10 years; [110207]
Miss Melanie Johnson
[holding answer 15 February 2000]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Chris Ruane, dated 16 February 2000:
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Note:
ONS, Family Expenditure Surveys 1992 to 1998-99 © Crown copyright 2000
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Mr. Ruane:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the average level of consumer debt owed by families for each of the last 10 years; and what his forecast is for each of the next three years. [110210]
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Mr. Timms
[holding answer 15 February 2000]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Chris Ruane, dated 16 February 2000:
Mr. Ruane:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the average savings per person expressed as a percentage of take-home pay for each of the past 10 years. [110168]
Mr. Timms
[holding answer 15 February 2000]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Chris Ruane, dated 16 February 2000:
Mr. St. Aubyn:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the latest estimate of total household debt (a) including housing debt and (b) excluding housing debt; and what were the comparable figures for each May since May 1997. [110092]
Mr. Timms
[holding answer 14 February 2000]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Nick St. Aubyn, dated 16 February 2000:
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(2) if he will list the percentage of household incomes derived from social security benefits in each region of the UK in descending order. [110211]
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary questions on average household incomes and the percentage of household incomes derived from social security benefit.
The attached table shows information from the Family Expenditure Survey (FES) for the period 1992 to 1998-99. Data for earlier years are not readily available and are for two-year periods.
Like all estimates from sample surveys, these figures are subject to sampling variability, so while general trends can be seen, care should be taken in interpreting short-term changes in the data. In 1998-99, for example, in most regions the true average is unlikely to differ from the estimate by more than 7 per cent either way, but in Northern Ireland it may be 15 per cent either way and in the North West 13 per cent, both areas having small samples. In the Rest of the South East, however, the range is only 5 per cent either way. Standard Statistical Regions (SSRs) are used for England because data are not available for Government Office Regions for the earlier years.
The FES shows the proportions of household income derived from social security benefit for 1996-1999 as follows.
SSRs and UK countries Proportion of gross income deriving from social security benefits
Northern Ireland 22
Wales 19
North 18
Scotland 16
North West 15
Yorkshire and Humberside 15
West Midlands 14
East Midlands 13
United Kingdom 13
England 12
South West 12
East Anglia 12
Greater London 10
Rest of South East 9
Technical note
The ranges quoted are the 90% confidence intervals. There is only a one-in-ten chance that the true figure lies outside this estimated range.
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question on consumer debt.
The consumer borrowing series that are readily available, consumer credit and mortgage lending, are published in Table 3.2B of Financial Statistics, a copy of which is in the House of Commons library. The database identifiers are VZRD and AMWT respectively.
Information is not available on the number of families, from which to derive an average. Data on the number of households in Great Britain are published in the annual volume Housing and Construction Statistics, published by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. Using estimates of the number of households in the United Kingdom (UK), the average level of consumer borrowing per household was approximately £22,800 in 1998, the latest data available.
We do not make forecasts of these series.
As Director of the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your question on average savings per person expressed as a percentage of take home pay.
The precise information requested is not available. However, the households' saving ratio is considered to provide the best available indicator of trends in changes in saving rates. This is derived as the ratio of savings to the total of resources available (more commonly known as disposable income) of the combined households and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) sector.
The households' saving ratio is published quarterly in the ONS First Release, "Quarterly National Accounts". The series is held on the ONS database. All sources are available in the House of Commons library.
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question on household debt.
The figures you requested are tabulated below. National accounts are prepared quarterly and the closest period to May 1997 for which there are data is end-June 1997.
Information on the financial liabilities of the household sector is published in the ONS "Financial Statistics", and is held on the ONS databank. All sources are available in the library.
Total Excluding loans secured on dwellings
June 1997 574.0 153.7
June 1998 608.1 166.7
June 1999 651.8 179.8
September 1999 666.7 183.0
Database identifier NNPP NNPP-NNRQ-NNRR-NNRS
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