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Parliamentary Questions
Ms Buck: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the questions tabled by the hon. Member for Regent's Park and Kensington, North on 14 and 15 February (ref. 110547 and 111271) relating to child care costs. [113926]
Dawn Primarolo: I have already done so.
Taxation
Mr. Webb:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the effect on the net income of each decile group of (a) benefit units and (b) households, of increasing the personal tax allowance to £10,000 per annum for all taxpayers; and if he will estimate the cost of such a policy. [110220]
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Dawn Primarolo:
The estimated cost of increasing the personal tax allowance to £10,000 per annum for all taxpayers in 2000-01 is estimated to be £27½ billion in the full year. The table shows estimated average gains in net income.
| Decile | Benefit unit income | Household income |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest | 11 | 10 |
| 2nd | 6 | 8 |
| 3rd | 8 | 10 |
| 4th | 12 | 17 |
| 5th | 18 | 22 |
| 6th | 23 | 28 |
| 7th | 27 | 33 |
| 8th | 31 | 38 |
| 9th | 36 | 42 |
| Highest | 46 | 50 |
Notes:
1. The revenue effect is based on the 1997-98 Survey of Personal Income data projected to 2000-01 and is consistent with the November 1999 pre-Budget Report.
2. Deciles are defined in terms of equivalised net income on a benefit unit and household net income basis using the McClements scale; decile boundaries are higher for households than benefit units.
National Insurance
Mr. Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employers make national insurance contributions in each of the postal districts in Birkenhead. [113188]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 6 March 2000]: I regret that the information requested is not available. Data are not recorded on that basis.
Petroleum Products Smuggling
Mr. Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many successful prosecutions there were in 1998 and 1999 for smuggling petroleum products into Northern Ireland; and what estimate he has made of the tonnage smuggled. [113537]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 7 March 2000]: Customs have made the following successful prosecutions for smuggling petroleum products into Northern Ireland.
| Financial year | Number |
|---|---|
| 1998-99 | 12 |
| 1999-2000(4) | 11 |
(4) April to February
No estimate of the tonnage smuggled has been made.
Red Diesel
Mr. Alasdair Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received from Her Majesty's Customs and Excise requesting increased funding to improve enforcement of regulations pertaining to the use of red diesel. [113606]
Mr. Timms:
The question of funding for Customs and Excise for this and the Department's other responsibilities will be considered as part of the Spending Review 2000.
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Mr. Alasdair Morgan:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the efficacy of arrangements for enforcing the regulations pertaining to the use of red diesel. [113612]
Mr. Timms:
Enforcing the regulations on the use of red diesel is a matter for Her Majesty's Customs and Excise. The efficacy of enforcement arrangements is subject to continuous assessment by Customs.
Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the gross budgetary cost to the Exchequer of the Treasury's funding matching available Objective 1 funding; how much EU funding would be unlocked each year over the planning period; and what the cost to UK public funds would be after taking account of the subsequent impact on the British budget rebate. [113607]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
European Structural Funding is used alongside, and matched by, money already provided at the national and local level. It is a matter for regional partners to identify match funding from existing sources, both private and public. There are a wide range of existing Government programmes from which match funding can be drawn.
The total allocation to the new UK Objective 1 programmes for 2000-06 is around 4.7 billion euros. The annual allocations profile is likely to be broadly flat. It is not yet possible to determine what the resulting annual expenditure profile will be.
The effect of the UK abatement is, broadly, to refund around two thirds of the difference between the UK's gross contributions to and receipts from the EC Budget. The size of the abatement for a particular year can only be determined once overall EC expenditure for that year is known. Latest forecasts for the UK's net contributions to the EC Budget up to 2001-02 are contained in the 1999 pre-Budget Report (Cm 4479).
Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the (a) purpose and (b) running costs in this financial year of the European Communities' Prix Niki. [112349]
Mr. Vaz:
I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is readily available from the European Commission.
Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on progress made since the 1999 British-Italian conference on considering the effect of EMU on pension provision. [112342]
Mr. Vaz:
I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is readily available from the European Commission.
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Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what increase there will be in the number of offenders eligible for release under the home detention curfew scheme if the Criminal Justice (Mode of Trial) (No. 2) Bill is enacted; and if he will make a statement. [112795]
Mr. Straw
[holding answer 3 February 2000]: On the assumptions we have made about the overall effect of the Bill, there would be no increase.
Mr. Hope:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will wind up the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board; and if he will make a statement. [114489]
Mr. Straw:
Under the original criminal injuries compensation scheme, established in August 1964, compensation was assessed by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (CICB) on the basis of common law damages. That scheme was superseded from 1 April 1996 by a tariff-based scheme administered by two new bodies, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) and the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel (CICAP). The Board was then left with the residual task of dealing with all outstanding claims lodged before 1 April 1996. There were some 110,000 such cases.
By the end of the current financial year, the Board will have resolved over 100,000 of those cases and its work will largely be done. The Board will accordingly be wound up on 31 March 2000. Any residual old scheme cases still outstanding at that time will be transferred for resolution by legally qualified members of CICAP in accordance with the transitional provisions of the 1996 scheme. Present estimates are that around 6,000 cases will be transferred. The Panel will be set the target of clearing them within two years. The Panel is being strengthened considerably to ensure that it can cope with this additional workload without prejudicing its capacity to deal with appeals made under the 1996 scheme.
I am sure that Ministers in previous Administrations would wish to join me in extending a sincere vote of thanks to all Board members, past and present, for the care and dedication with which they have dealt with claims over the past 35 years.
Mr. Hope:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to announce the membership of the Gambling Review Body. [114490]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
Further to the reply my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary gave my hon. Friend the Member for Enfield, Southgate (Mr. Twigg) on
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16 February 2000, Official Report, column 537W, I have today appointed the following people to be members of the Gambling Review Body:
Mr. David Bishop
Mr. Mihir Bose
Professor Jeffrey Gray
Mr. Peter Dean CBE
Sir John Hoddinott QPM
Mr. Anthony Mackintosh
Ms Phillipa Marks
Ms Sara Nathan
Ms Anesta Weekes QC
Mr. Jonathan Wolff.
Between them, the members will bring a wealth of experience in many areas relevant to the review, such as business, law, economics psychology, accountancy and law enforcement.
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