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Climate Change Levy

Mr. Hawkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what provision he has made to take account of the

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anti-competitive impact of relief from climate change taxes or levies made by environmental ministries in other EU countries as applied to gas companies. [120100]

Mr. Timms: The Government have sought to design the climate change levy in a way that maximises its environmental effectiveness while protecting the competitiveness of UK firms. This has involved taking into account developments in other EU countries.

In total, seven European Union countries have introduced carbon or energy taxes since 1990. The European Commission considers compliance with state aids rules for any reliefs from these taxes.

On current projections, most OECD countries will need to introduce new measures of one form or another if they are to meet their Kyoto targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Educational Qualifications

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of those in (a) 1980 and (b) 1999 in the lower quartile of earners had no educational qualifications. [120665]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Gerald Howarth, dated May 2000:

The Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to reply to your recent question on the number of people in the lower quartile of earners who had no educational qualifications. I am replying in the Director's absence.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the ONS's main source of labour market data on individuals. It can provide information on the earnings and qualifications of employees. However, no LFS data on earnings are available prior to winter (December-February) 1992/3.
In Great Britain in autumn (September to November) 1993, 1,611,000 employees aged 16 and over in the lower quartile earnings group (based on gross weekly earnings) had no qualifications. This was 30.2 per cent. of all employees aged 16 and over in this earnings group. In autumn 1999, the corresponding figures were 1,140,000 and 91.4 per cent. The figures are not seasonally adjusted.

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of the long-term unemployed in (a) 1970, (b) 1980 and (c) 1999 had no educational qualifications. [120666]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Gerald Howarth, dated 3 May 2000:

The Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to reply to your recent question on long-term unemployed people with no educational qualifications. I am replying in the Director's absence.
Estimates of economic status and educational qualifications are available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Non-seasonally adjusted estimates from the spring (March-May) 1999 quarter for the UK show that 33 per cent. (170 thousand) of long-term unemployed people of working age had no educational qualifications. This compares with 59 per cent. (882 thousand) in the same period in 1984 (the earliest date for which a comparable estimate can be provided.).

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The measure of unemployment derived from the LFS is defined on a consistent and internationally recognised basis set out by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). It counts as unemployed people who are a) without a paid job, b) available to start work within the next two weeks and c) have either looked for work in the last four weeks or are waiting to start a job already obtained. Long-term unemployed are those who have been ILO unemployed for one year or more.

Teenage Suicides

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many teenage suicides there were in (a) 1970, (b) 1980 and (c) 1999; and what percentage of teenage suicides occurred in homes at a time when (i) one parent and (ii) both parents were present. [120663]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Gerald Howarth, dated 3 May 2000:

The Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to reply to your recent question on teenage suicides in (a) 1970, (b) 1980 and (c) 1999; and the percentage of teenage suicides occurring in homes at a time when (i) one parent and (ii) both parents were present. I am replying in the Director's absence.
Figures for the number of suicides for 1970, 1980 and 1998, the latest year for which figures are currently available, are given in the attached table.
For adult deaths our usual practice is to define suicides as including both suicides and deaths from injury and poisoning undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted. It is likely that most undetermined deaths (open verdicts) among adults are cases where the harm was self-inflicted but there was insufficient evidence to prove that the deceased deliberately intended to commit suicide. This is not necessarily the case for children and the categories are therefore separately presented here.
Information is routinely collected on the place of death, but not on the place of occurrence of the suicide attempt. In many cases where the initial attempt was at home, the patient would ultimately die in hospital. Any statistics on suicide deaths at home would therefore understate the real level. Information on persons present at a death is not routinely recorded.

Suicide and undetermined injury deaths for teenagers (ages 13 to 19), England and Wales

	1970	1980	1998
Suicide and self inflicted injury(9)	79	126	110
Injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted(10)	31	62	81

(9) International Classification of Diseases, Eighth and Ninth Revisions, codes E950-E959

(10) International Classification of Diseases, Eighth Revision (1970), codes E980-E989, Ninth Revision (1980 and 1998), codes E980-E989 excluding E988.8

Family Statistics

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the average fall in income arising from divorce for a divorced (a) father and (b) mother with their children in (i) 1980 and (ii) 1999. [120661]

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Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Gerald Howarth, dated 3 May 2000:

The Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to reply to your recent question asking for an estimate of the average fall in income arising from divorce for a divorced (a) father and (b) mother with their children in (i) 1980 and (ii) 1999. I am replying in the Director's absence.
The ONS does not make estimates of this kind. One non-government source that allows this type of analysis is the British Household Panel Study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). This survey has followed a sample of households each year since 1991 and has information about the incomes and marital status of household members in each of these years. The Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER, formerly the ESRC Research Centre on Micro-Social Change) published an analysis showing the effect of marital splits on income between 1991 and 1994. This was published in 1997 as 'Marital splits and income changes: evidence for Britain' (Working Paper 97-4). You can obtain a copy from the information officer at the ISER, tel: [phone].

Divorce

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of (a) the total unemployed and (b) the long-term unemployed in (i) 1970, (ii) 1980 and (iii) 1999 were divorced. [120667]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Gerald Howarth, dated 3 May 2000:

The Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to reply to your recent question on the numbers of unemployed people with were divorced. I am replying in the Director's absence.
Estimates of economic and marital status are available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The table gives non-seasonally adjusted LFS estimates of the unemployed who were divorced in the spring (March-May) quarter of 1999 and the same period in 1984 (the earliest date for which a comparable estimate can be provided).
The measure of unemployment derived from the LFS is defined on a consistent and internationally recognised basis set out by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). It counts as unemployed people who are a) without a paid job, b) available to start work within the next two weeks and c) have either looked for work in the last four weeks or are waiting to start a job already obtained. Long-term unemployed are those who have been ILO unemployed for one year or more.

Divorced persons by length of ILO unemploymentUK, 1999 and 1984, Spring (March to May) of each year

	All persons (000)	Divorced persons (000)	Divorced (%)
1999
All ILO Unemployed	1,752	170	10
Unemployed one year or more	522	68	13
1984
All ILO Unemployed	3,216	167	5
Unemployed one year or more	1,540	99	6

Source:

Labour Force Survey, ONS

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