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TREASURY
Working Families Tax Credit
Mr. Cousins:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many claimants of family credit there were in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in each of the last three years; and how many claimants of the working families tax credit there are in the city. [111360]
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Dawn Primarolo
[holding answer 22 February 2000]: It is estimated that 3,300 families in Newcastle upon Tyne local authority have been awarded the Working Families Tax Credit by the end of January 2000. A further 1,300 families were still in receipt of Family Credit giving a total of about 4,600 on either Working Families Tax Credit or Family Credit. The number of Family Credit cases in payment in earlier years is given in the table:
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| Month/year | Number |
|---|---|
| February 1997 | 4,200 |
| February 1998 | 4,600 |
| February 1999 | 4,300 |
Notes:
1. Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to sampling error.
2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.
Mr. Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many claims and what percentage take-up of the working families tax credit he is assuming is necessary to meet his target of taking 800,000 children out of poverty. [113786]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 9 March 2000]: The estimate that 800,000 children will be lifted out of poverty is based on the combined effect of the tax and benefit changes announced in the last two Budgets--in particular the introduction of the Working Families Tax Credit, the 10p starting rate of tax, the introduction of the Children's Tax Credit, reforms to National Insurance and increases in Child Benefit and child premia within Income Support.
For more detailed analysis behind this estimate I refer my right hon. Friend to the written answer which the Economic Secretary gave to the hon. Member for Northavon (Mr. Webb) on 14 April 1999, Official Report, columns 244-45W.
The Government estimate that around 1.4 million families will benefit from the WFTC. They will be on average £24 a week better off compared with Family Credit.
Mrs. Fyfe:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library the publicity material his Department has published, aimed at low-income families, to encourage take-up of working families tax credit. [114477]
Dawn Primarolo
[holding answer 14 March 2000]: A complete set of the relevant Working Families Tax Credit publicity material has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Mrs. Fyfe:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will amend housing benefit regulations so as to increase the value of working families tax credit to low-income families. [114480]
Dawn Primarolo
[holding answer 14 March 2000]: The Working Families Tax Credit increases the take-home pay for around 1.4 million low income working families. The Government currently estimate that one in eight Working Families Tax Credit recipients will also be in receipt of Housing Benefit. By comparison, around one in three Family Credit recipients were receiving Housing Benefit.
Changes to Housing Benefit regulations are a matter for the Department of Social Security and the wider issues will be considered in the Housing Green Paper.
Increases in the child credits in the Working Families Tax Credit from April 2000 will be matched by increases in the child credits in income-related benefits. This means that all families receiving benefits will see the extra gain because Housing Benefit entitlement will not be affected.
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Housing Benefit regulations are currently being amended to ensure that gains from the child care tax credit will be received in full by all eligible families because they are disregarded in Housing Benefit. The gains from the child care tax credit are particularly targeted on those on the lowest incomes who were not able to take advantage of the child care disregard in Family Credit.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the loss of revenue through the smuggling of petroleum products into Northern Ireland in each year since 1997. [113539]
Dawn Primarolo
[holding answer 7 March 2000]: HM Customs and Excise assess the total revenue lost (excise duty and VAT) through cross-border shopping and smuggling of road fuels in Northern Ireland was about £100 million in 1998.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the level of smuggling of petroleum products into England in 1998 and 1999. [113540]
Dawn Primarolo
[holding answer 7 March 2000]: HM Customs and Excise do not have any estimates of the level of smuggling of petroleum products into England, due to a lack of sufficient information on which to base such estimates.
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent talks his Department has held with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on behalf of HM Customs and Excise on restrictions on illegally imported diesel fuel. [114521]
Mr. Timms:
HM Customs and Excise take this matter very seriously and have introduced a range of measures to counter it.
Mr. Sheerman:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his most recent estimate of (a) the contribution to the gross national product and (b) total revenue to the Exchequer of the activities of the City of London. [114704]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
The Office for National Statistics does not publish estimates for the contribution to GNP of the City of London, nor does it have any plans to. No estimate has been made by the Government of the revenues to the Exchequer from the activities of the City of London.
Mr. Gareth R. Thomas:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the Bank of England will respond to the Treasury on progress by the banking industry in addressing the issues and recommendations highlighted by the Social Exclusion Unit's Policy Action Team report No. 3; and if he will make a statement. [114358]
Mr. Timms:
The report of Policy Action Team 3, "Enterprise and Social Exclusion", was published in November 1999. It recommended that the Bank of
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England should be invited to report regularly on finance for business among deprived groups and communities. The Bank of England has agreed to take on this role, and it will report in due course.
Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the total expenditure of his Department and its agencies on publicity for (a) 1996-97, (b) 1997-98 and (c) 1998-99; what estimate he has made of such expenditure for (d) 1999-2000, (e) 2000-01 and (f) 2001-02; and if he will break these figures down to indicate expenditure on (i) advertising and (ii) Press and public relations. [113891]
Miss Melanie Johnson
[holding answer 14 March 2000]: The information requested could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Mr. Bob Russell:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much money has been allocated from the landfill tax to environmental trusts (a) nationally and (b) in each local authority area in the County of Essex. [114885]
Mr. Timms:
Contributions totalling £246 million have been made under the environmental bodies credit scheme since the introduction of the tax on 1 October 1996 to 15 March 2000. I have asked the Regulator for the scheme, ENTRUST Ltd., to provide such data as it holds on the amounts contributed to bodies in Essex, and will place a copy of their response in the Library.
Mr. Bob Russell:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the maximum sum which could have been allocated from the landfill tax to environmental trusts (a) nationally and (b) in each local authority area in the County of Essex. [114884]
Mr. Timms:
If site operators had contributed to environmental bodies from the introduction of the tax on 1 October 1996 at a level entitling them to claim the maximum tax credit of 20 per cent. of their liability, the maximum credit that could have been claimed nationally, up to 29 February 2000, is £292 million. This represents contributions of £324 million. Operators are not constrained in how they allocate these credits between local authority areas.
Mr. Bob Russell:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will return to local authorities the full value of the landfill tax to fund schemes for reduction, re-use and recycling of waste; and if he will make a statement. [114887]
Mr. Timms:
No. Revenues from the landfill tax contribute to Government spending on its priorities.
Mr. Bob Russell:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been allocated from the landfill tax to develop new waste management strategies in each year since its introduction (a) nationally and (b) in each local authority area in the County of Essex. [114886]
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Mr. Timms:
The information requested about support for waste management strategies is a matter for the Regulator for the environmental bodies credit scheme, ENTRUST Limited. I have asked them to reply, and will place a copy of their response in the Library.
Mr. Bob Russell:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much money has been collected since the landfill tax was introduced (a) nationally and (b) in each local authority area in the County of Essex. [114883]
Mr. Timms:
Total landfill tax receipts net of credits claimed in respect of contributions to environmental bodies since the introduction of the tax on 1 October 1996 to 31 March 1999 were £806.6 million. The forecast for the financial year from 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000 is £400 million. No figures are available for individual counties or local authority areas.
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