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Business Tax Reliefs

31. Dr. Palmer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what responses he has received from business to his plans to introduce tax reliefs for large companies that invest in growing firms to generate new jobs. [121402]

Dawn Primarolo: The Government's proposals for a Corporate Venturing Scheme which provides tax incentives for corporate investment in small higher risk trading companies were subject to two rounds of consultation. Feedback from individual businesses and representative bodies endorsed our view that corporate venturing can offer real benefits to the companies concerned and the UK economy as a whole, commented on the form and detail of the scheme, and welcomed the changes made both in the pre-Budget Report and the Budget, which reflect comments made during consultation.

Disabled People

32. Mr. Miller: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to increase the financial benefits of work for disabled people and their families. [121403]

Dawn Primarolo: The Government have set aside £195 million from the receipts of the Windfall Tax specifically to assist people with disabilities. The New Deal for disabled people has been testing a range of approaches--personal advisers, innovative schemes and benefit changes--to find out what helps people return to work. To date, over 2,500 people have been helped into work by the New Deal pilots. The Government are currently developing plans for extending the New Deal for disabled people nationwide and introducing rehabilitation and retention pilots to test different ways to help disabled people move into, and remain in, work.

In October last year, the Government introduced the Disabled Person's Tax Credit (DPTC) to replace Disability Working Allowance (DWA). The new tax credit, which is intended to help people with an illness or disability to return to, or take up, work by topping up income, was more generous than DWA and changes since October have improved it further. This April, the under-11 child tax credit in the Disabled Person's Tax Credit (DPTC) was increased by £1.10 a week over and above indexation, and from June this year, the under-16 child tax credit in DPTC will be further increased by £4.35 a

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week. And from October 2000, a new Fast Track gateway to the Disabled Person's Tax Credit will be introduced to help people who become sick and disabled while working, remain in work.

The numbers on DPTC have increased when compared with the Disability Working Allowance (DWA). At the end of March 2000, there were 21,800 awards of DPTC, compared with 18,500 awards of DWA at the end of July 1999. The average award of DPTC at the end of March 2000 was £70 a week compared to an average £60.50 a week under DWA.

Employment (Eastern Region)

33. Dr. George Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the impact of his Department's policies on the levels of employment in the Eastern region since May 1997. [121404]

Miss Melanie Johnson: In the Eastern Region, as in the rest of the UK, we have created a sound and credible platform of economic stability that will help us attain our objective of high and stable levels of growth and employment. Since the election, employment in the East has risen by 126,000 and unemployment has fallen by 53,000.

Capital Gains Tax

35. Mr. Colman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from business on his decision to cut capital gains tax for long-term investments. [121406]

Dawn Primarolo: Following the 1999 pre-Budget Report, we consulted widely on our proposals to improve Capital Gains Tax business assets taper relief. The respondents to the consultation supported the direction in which we were leading. The views of business on this year's Budget proposals to use taper reform to boost productivity and increase the provision of risk capital have been overwhelmingly positive.

Save-as-you-earn Scheme

36. Mr. Dobbin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the future of the save as you earn scheme following the start of the new all-employee shareholding scheme on 6 April. [121407]

Mr. Timms: The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his Budget Statement that 1.7 million people now in the 'Save As You Earn' scheme will continue to enjoy its benefits.

Give-as-you-earn Scheme

37. Dr. Godman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the cost of the give-as-you-earn scheme in each year since its implementation. [121408]

Miss Melanie Johnson: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 11 November 1999, Official Report, columns 779-80W. The cost of the Payroll Giving scheme since it was introduced in 1986 has been published annually in Inland Revenue Statistics. The total cost of the scheme up to April 1999 was £44 million.

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Commemorative Coins

Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to issue new commemorative coins in 2001. [123247]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Her Majesty the Queen has been graciously pleased to approve the Chancellor of the Exchequer's recommendation that in 2001:

a crown piece should be issued to mark the centenary of the death of Her Majesty Queen Victoria and the end of the Victorian era; and

a special design should be adopted for the reverse of the two-pound coin to commemorate the centenary of Marconi's first long distance wireless transmission from Cornwall to Newfoundland.

Collector versions of the two coins will be available from the beginning of the year and the coins will also be available, later in the year, at face value from most banks and post offices.

Working Families Tax Credit

Mr. Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the average net income (a) before Working Families Tax Credit but with receipt of other benefits, (b) with the addition of Working Families Tax Credit before tapering of other benefits and (c) with the addition of Working Families Tax Credit following the tapering of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit for (i) all recipients of the Working Families Tax Credit and (ii) families earning between (1) £4,000 and £6,000 per year, (2) £6,000 and £8,000 per year, (3) £8,000 and £10,000 per year and (4) £10,000 and £12,000 per year. [122393]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 16 May 2000]: Insufficient data on income are provided by applicants for the Working Families Tax Credit to determine their net incomes including the various benefits mentioned. Also, household survey data available for analysis do not yet cover families receiving the tax credits, and sample numbers may in any case be too small for reliable estimates to be made in the detail requested.

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the (a) number and (b) percentage of claimants of Working Families Tax Credit who also claim (i) Housing Benefit, (ii) Council Tax Benefit and (iii) both Housing and Council Tax Benefit. [122518]

Dawn Primarolo: The receipt of Housing Benefit (HB) and Council Tax Benefit (CTB) cannot be determined from the information processed for applications for the Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC). The receipt of WFTC can however be determined from the information processed for claims for HB and CTB, and I understand from the Department of Social Security that estimates of the numbers requested will be available towards the end of the year. Household survey data available for analysis do not yet cover families receiving WFTC.

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what statistics he collates on the operation of the Working Families Tax Credit; [122516]

(2) when figures on the first six months of operation of the Working Families Tax Credit will be published. [122515]

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Dawn Primarolo: Statistics on Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC) awards are published each quarter. The first tables were published on 11 April, in respect of awards current at the end of November 1999.

Up to the end of March 2000 there had been 1,030,200 awards made of the WFTC. The number of telephone calls handled by the WFTC helpline and the response line in each month to April 2000 was given in a reply to the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts) on 10 May 2000, Official Report, columns 423-24W. WFTC will be covered in the operational statistics shown in the Inland Revenue Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2000, which is due to be published in the autumn.

Capital Modernisation Fund

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the total financial value of (a) applications and (b) successful applications made by each Government Department to the Capital Modernisation Fund in each year of its operation. [121422]

Mr. Andrew Smith [holding answer 9 May 2000]: Allocations from the Capital Modernisation Fund by Department and year are listed in table 1.9 of Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2000-01 (Cm 4601). In line with the practice of successive Governments, applications for funding within Government are not published.

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