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Business Taxation

20. Mr. Wilkinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received from representative organisations of commerce and industry about his policies on business taxation. [135968]

Dawn Primarolo: We have received a number of representations from business organisations on the pre- Budget Report and Budget, including the Confederation of British Industry, the British Chamber of Commerce and the Institute of Directors.

24. Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his policy for business taxation. [135975]

Dawn Primarolo: The Government's policies on business taxation are set out in the Financial Statements and Budget Statements, copies of which are available in the House of Commons Library.

27. Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the consequences for business of tax changes since 1997. [135978]

35. Mr. Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the additional taxes payable by businesses since May 1997. [135986]

Dawn Primarolo: All changes to the tax system are included in the relevant Budget Reports. These are available in the Library of the House.

Higher Rate Tax

21. Mr. Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much an increase in top-rate tax from 40p to 50p in the pound would raise if that were applied to those earning over £250,000 per annum. [135969]

Dawn Primarolo: The full-year yield from raising the top rate of income tax to 50 per cent. on taxable income of over £250,000 is £1.5 billion in 2001-02.

The estimate is based on the Survey of Personal Incomes and is consistent with the March 2000 Budget.

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Industrial Tribunals

22. Dr. Iddon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on negotiations with the Society of Registration Officers regarding its access to industrial tribunals in unfair dismissal cases. [135973]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Current legal proceedings may conclude that this access is available. If this does not transpire, the Government are committed to making such access available. The Registrar General will pursue an Order under the Employment Relations Act 1999 if this proves necessary to give registration officers access.

Public Spending

23. Ms Drown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to relate the level of public spending to economic growth. [135974]

Mr. Andrew Smith: The Government's expenditure projections are set out in Table B13 of the pre-Budget Report.

Unemployment

25. Mr. Khabra: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the revenue consequences of the changes in unemployment levels since May 1997. [135976]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The extent to which higher employment affects Government revenues will depend on a number of assumptions, in particular the extent to which higher employment reflects permanently higher output growth. Research published by the Treasury indicates that a 1 per cent. increase in output relative to trend increases the ratio of Government receipts to GDP by about 0.2 per cent. after one year. This is equivalent to an increase in receipts of about £6 billion.

Low Pay

26. Mr. Heppell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures he is taking to increase the take-home pay of those in low paid work. [135977]

Dawn Primarolo: Measures introduced during this Parliament have provided significant extra help for those in low-paid work.

The National Minimum Wage, introduced in April 1999, is estimated to have increased the wages of 1.5 million low-paid workers.

The new 10p starting rate of income tax has halved the marginal tax rate for 1.9 million low-paid working people, and reforms to employee National Insurance Contributions mean that one million people no longer have to pay NICs.

Through the Working Families Tax Credit, the Government are giving additional support to over 1.1 million working families with children who are now receiving on average £30 more per week compared to old Family Credit.

These measures demonstrate the Government's commitment to increase the incomes of people in low-paid work and to ensure that work pays more than benefit. By the end of this Parliament, a family on half

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average earnings--£12,500--and with two children will be £2,600 a year better off as a result of the tax and benefit reforms.

Living Standards

28. Mr. Derek Twigg: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on changes in household living standards since April. [135979]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Living standards for a single-earner family on average earnings with two children are expected to increase by 10 per cent. in real terms over the Parliament. For a single-earner family on half average earnings with two children, living standards have increased by 18 per cent. in real terms over the last year.

Fuel Prices

29. Mr. John Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to reduce the impact of increased fuel prices for people on low incomes and rural dwellers. [135980]

Mr. Timms: The Chancellor announced a package of measures in his pre-Budget Report which will be of benefit to both people on low incomes and those living in rural areas.

Pensioners (Savings Limit)

30. Helen Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his review of financial support for pensioners with special reference to the savings limits disregard. [135981]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Government announced in the Budget that the savings limit in the Minimum Income Guarantee will double next April from £3,000 to £6,000. Today the Secretary of State for Social Security is publishing a consultation document outlining plans for a Pension Credit from 2003 to reward low and modest income pensioners who have worked hard to save for their retirement.

Family Taxation

31. Mr. Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the net change to tax on families payable in this Parliament as a result of his Budget measures so far. [135982]

Dawn Primarolo: As a result of personal tax and benefit measures introduced during this Parliament, by April 2001, on average families with children will be £850 a year better off. The direct tax burden on a single-earner family on average earnings with two children is expected to fall from 20.9 per cent. in 1997-98 to 18.6 per cent. in 2001-02--it's lowest level since 1972.

Disabled Person's Tax Credit

32. Mr. Goggins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in the north-west have claimed the Disabled Person's Tax Credit since October 1999. [135983]

Dawn Primarolo: The number of individuals and families in the north-west in receipt of the Disabled Person's Tax Credit at the end of August 2000 is

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provisionally estimated at 3,900. This compares with 2,800 in receipt of the Disability Working Allowance at its peak, in July 1999.

Fiscal Intervention

33. Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the cost to the UK of the intervention to purchase euros and the additional purchase of euros by his instruction to the Bank of England to sell gold. [135984]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The $2.1 billion proceeds from the gold auctions held to date have been reinvested in interest-bearing foreign currency assets broadly in the proportions 40 per cent. dollars; 40 per cent. euros; and 20 per cent. yen.

The only intervention undertaken, since the euro was launched, was on 22 September 2000 when 85 million was purchased against sterling.

To provide a short-term snapshot of the value of these investments would not be meaningful as it would reflect distortions arising from short-term fluctuations in asset prices and currencies.

Pre-Budget Report

34. Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what impact his proposals in the pre-Budget statement will have on the incomes of women and children. [135985]

Dawn Primarolo: As a result of personal tax and benefit measures introduced over this Parliament, by April 2001:

on average, women will be £400 a year better off, compared to £290 a year for all individuals;

families with children will be £850 a year better off;

a family with two young children on income support will be £1,500 a year better off;

a lone parent with two young children in work on £12,500 a year will be £2,600 better off.

Some of the major changes that affect women and children are:

the introduction of the Working Families Tax Credit, which is already helping around 1.1 million families;

changes to the National Insurance Contributions system which will remove around 750,000 women and 250,000 men from NICs liability by 2001-02;

a 26 per cent. real terms increase in Child Benefit over the Parliament.

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